A Prophet Like Moses--and More!
 |
| "Moses" by James I. Tissot |
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ!
In the Book of Deuteronomy, Israel is on the verge
of a new journey. The nation had traveled from Egypt to Sinai and from Sinai to
Kadesh-barnea. After forty years in and around Kadesh-barnea, Israel traveled
north on the King’s Highway, around Edom, through the plains of Moab, and now, is
on the east bank of the Jordan River gazing west into the Promised Land.
It is an exciting moment, a joyful time, yet one
filled with the fear and trepidation that comes with a new adventure into the
unknown. Had not the spies some forty years earlier said, “The land, through
which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and
all the people that we saw in it are of great height?” (Numbers 13:32). What (or
who) would they face when they came into the land?
And there was still a faith problem. The regular religious
life of Israel had been on hiatus. Oh, God had spoken with Moses regularly. He
had given them His Word on Mount Sinai, including the specs for the tabernacle
and the rules for worship and governing the land once they took possession of
it. He had provided them with manna from heaven and water from the rock. But visible
signs of the covenant were absent. There had been no circumcision or Passover among
Israel for forty years. Aaron had died, and now, Moses would be leaving them,
too.
And then there was the challenge of logistics. Getting
through the Jordan River presented a huge problem. And Jericho with its walls
was looming in the immediate future. Making matters worse, “The Amalekites
dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites
dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the
Jordan” (Numbers 13:29). Israel stands on the edge of a new adventure. They had
never been this way before.
You know that same gut-churning feeling, don’t you?
Maybe you’re terrified at the thought of bringing a new child home or watching
your last child leave home. Maybe you’re facing a situation on the job that has
your stomach tied up in knots. Maybe it’s a financial setback or aged parents who
are succumbing to dementia. Perhaps it’s a personal health crisis. Some of us
are facing a future that’s so painful and so private that it’s only known to
our God. So, what do you do?
The temptation is to seek direction in ways that
only bring death. The nations who would be dispossessed of the Promised Land
sought comfort in occult worship practices: child sacrifice, divination,
fortune telling, sorcery, conjuring up spirits, and speaking to the dead—means
and methods that promised to reveal secrets and truth, but are only darkness
and lies.
In like manner, Satan lies to us. He whispers in our
ears, “Take no chances. Say no to courage and yes to caution. Expect the worst.
Triple-lock all your doors. Protect yourself in a tight radius of won’ts, don’ts,
can’ts, and quits. Think about every possible peril, focus on the dangers, and
worry yourself with ‘What if?’” Satan and the world offer no hope, only lies.
Who will lead us into the future?
Because Israel’s new homeland is teeming with false
prophets and those who practiced the forbidden arts, where can Israel find
reliable information for their lives? The Lord had as immediate answer for
their needs as well as a long-range solution to the problem of receiving God’s
message. Moses promises, “The Lord will raise up for you a prophet like me.”
Because Moses was under divine judgment and
therefore unable to lead Israel into the Promised Land, he promises another
prophet just like himself. The Lord knows that unknown territory is not
conquered by promising, “I’ll be with you in spirit.” A mystical, abstract, vague
presence does no good. Such journeys need a real person with a loving and
authoritative voice.
Moses describes the coming prophet as one who will
be “like me,” one who enjoys a unique relationship with the Lord similar to
that enjoyed by Moses. No other Old Testament prophet spoke with the Lord the
way Moses did. The Lord announced to Aaron and Miriam, “If there is a prophet
among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him
in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses. He is faithful in all My house. With
him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the
form of the Lord” (Numbers 12:6-8).
Yet Moses also promised that this prophet would come
“from your brothers.” He would be a fellow Israelite, who could trace his
family tree back to one of the sons of Jacob. This is “just as you desired of
the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly,” Moses said, but we don’t
read about any request like that in Exodus chapter 20. Instead, “when all the
people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the
trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they
stood far off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, lest we die’” (v. 18, 19).
Moses apparently promised that they would receive what he could see they
wanted, though they hadn’t in so many words requested such a mediator.
The fear Israel felt at
Sinai is the kind of terror people will always feel when they’re faced with
God’s perfect demands and must reckon with their own sin. We can’t comprehend how
fully we’ve failed to do what God wants us to do until we’ve tried our hardest
and still fall short. “The Lord promises nothing except to perfect keepers of
His law,” wrote John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion,
“and no one of that kind is to be found.”[i] After we try over and over
to be good but fail every time, we finally arrive at the frightening moment
when we turn to God and say, “If there’s any hope for me at all, it has to come
from You. I can’t do it!”
The Lord emphasized the
authority of this coming prophet: “I will put My words in his mouth, and he
shall speak to them all that I command him” Forty years earlier the Lord
described a prophet’s function to Moses in a similar way. In designating Aaron
as Moses’ spokesman, the Lord said, “You shall speak to him and put the words
in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach
you both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your
mouth, and you shall be as God to him” (Exodus 4:15,16). The Lord told
Jeremiah, “To all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you,
you shall say… Behold, I have put My words in your mouth” (1:7,9). The Lord
further underscored the prophet’s authority when He said, “Whoever will not
listen to My words that he shall speak in My name, I myself will require it of
him.”
Joshua was the first of these prophets who was like
Moses and spoke the Lord’s words. Joshua safely led Israel to inherit the
Promised Land. Other prophets like Moses included Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha.
These prophets were the Lord’s voice, leading Israel in her journey of faith.
In contrast to the other offices given by the Lord, the prophets were the final
authority. The prophetic Word endured forever; it alone was all-powerful and
able to lead Israel.
But there is one specific Prophet of whom Moses
speaks when he says, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me.”
Moses is the type; Christ is the antitype. Moses, sinful though he is,
foreshadows the sinless Christ to come.
But this is more than a classic instance of prophecy
and fulfillment. The mercy of God keeps leaking through. Verse 16 tells us that
God remembers the fear of the Israelites at the sound of God’s voice and the
sight of the fire of His presence might cause them to die. Their puniness
versus God’s majesty, their impurity versus God’s purity—what chance did they
have to survive? So, God, aware of their—and our—legitimate concern kindly
decides to send a certain kind of Prophet.
Like Moses, the Christ to come will be flesh and
blood. Like Moses, the Christ to come will be one of them, an Israelite. Like
Moses, the Christ to come will be an intermediary between sinful people and the
sinless God, taking their part and representing their needs. Like Moses, the
Christ to come will speak with the full authority of God. In this Christ to
come, people will hear and see the fullness of God, yes, but will hear and see
the fullness of God in such a way that they will not merely avoid death but have
life—and have it more abundantly.
The final fulfillment of the Lord’s promise of a
prophet like Moses is Jesus, who is greater than Moses. Jesus not only speaks
the truth, He is thea truth (John 14:6). He not only speaks God’s Word, He is
God’s Word Incarnate (John 1:14). Jesus not only knows the Father face-to-face
(Deuteronomy 34:10), He is the face of the Father (2 Corinthians 4:6). Moses
longed to see the Lord’s glory (Exodus 33:18), while Jesus is the glory of the
Father (John 1:14). Moses led Israel to the brink of the Promised Land; Jesus finishes
what He began (Philippians 1:16).
Some who heard Jesus did everything they could to silence
His teaching. When their evil scheming failed, they finally employed Judas and
Pilate. They used whips and thorns, nail and spear. “There!” they thought. “He
will never speak again!” But three days later, the prophet spoke, “Peace be
with you!” (Luke 24:36). “Receive the Holy Spirit: (John 20:22). “All authority
in heaven and earth has been given to Me” (Matthew 28:18). Unlike Joshua,
Samuel, and other prophets, Jesus carried out all of the Father’s promises.
When He rose from the dead, He put the “Yes!” and “Amen!” behind all of what
the Father said (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Alive on the third day, Jesus lives to lead us by
His Word. The giants of sin and selfishness are slain by His Word (Ephesians
6:17; Hebrew 4:12). Unclean spirits submit to His teaching (Mark 1:21, 26). The
enemy called Lucifer and Satan and the devil must bow to His Word (Matthew
4:1-11). Jesus leads us by the Gospel proclaimed, the baptismal deliverance
remembered, and the body and blood of the Eucharist celebrated. “This is the
feast of victory for our God” (LSB,
p. 155). With confident hope, we await our final journey, the resurrection of
the body, and the life of the world to come!
Just as the Lord provided Moses as well as many
other prophets to lead Israel, so the Lord provides us His final Prophet—Jesus—whose
death and resurrection empower us to march forward in faith. We know not what
tomorrow may bring, but we do know what eternity holds, and we do know Who holds
our eternity. As we go along, He promises to be with us every step of the way,
always to the very end the age.
So, go in the peace and strength of the Lord. You
are forgiven for all of your sins.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen
Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English
Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[i] John Calvin, Institutes
of the Christian Religion,
III,17,1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, reprint 1975), vol. 2, p. 105.
Comments