God Has Spoken (Pt 3)

"God Has Spoken Through a Prophet Like Moses."

"The Lord said to Moses, 'What they say is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put My words in His mouth, and He will tell them everything I command Him'" (Deuteronomy 18:17-18).

Deuteronomy 18, which gave a test for prophets, also gave this remarkable promise about another future Prophet. He would come from "among their brothers." That is, He also would be an Israelite (also called Hebrew or Jew). Of greatest importance was that He would be like Moses -- this is how He would stand out so that people could recognize Him.



God's Glory Too Great for Man

Why was it so important to have this special Prophet like Moses? The same passage explained:

"The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from
among your own brothers. You must listen to Him. For this is
what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb...when you said,
'Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this
great fire anymore, or we will die'" (Deuteronomy 18:15-16).

God met the Israelites at Mount Horeb (Mount Sinai) after they had left Egypt. He came down in terrible fire and smoke on the mountain. The whole mountain shook. Thunder boomed from mighty flashes of lightning. A trumpet call grew louder and louder, and then God Himself spoke!

God's glory (described in Exodus 19 and Deuteronomy 5) was too great for them. The people trembled with fear. The fire and the voice of God were so awesome that the people thought they were going to die. The begged Moses,

"Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not
have God speak to us or we will die" (Exodus 20:19).

God replied,

"What they say is good" (Deuteronomy 18:17; also 5:28).

The people had seen that God was far too great for them to deal with Him directly. He "lives in unapproachable light" (1 Timothy 6:16).

They needed someone to represent them before God, someone to go between them and God. The first such go-between, or MEDIATOR, was Moses. He went to the people, taking to them God's messages. But a mediator works to bring BOTH sides together. So Moses also went to God. He took the needs of the people to God. In this way Moses did much good for his people. Yet God knew that people in the future also would need a mediator. So He promised in Deuteronomy 18 to send another Prophet from among the Israelites, a Prophet LIKE Moses.


We Need a Mediator, Not Mediums

Deuteronomy 18 shows another important reason for a mediator. God knows that people need answers for solving life's many problems. They need to make the best choices about how to live. God also knows that people often look for answers in the wrong places. For example, many turn to spirit mediums who claim to speak for the dead or other spirits. Many also seek answers in witchcraft, spiritism, magic spells, omens and other signs, such as the stars. In Deuteronomy 18:9-14, God commanded His people NOT to use these methods (also Leviticus 19:31; 1 Chronicles 10:13; Isaiah 8:19; Acts 19:19; Revelation 21:8). Was He trying to keep them from finding spiritual answers? Actually, God was keeping them from these methods because they give FALSE answers, which harm people (Isaiah 47:8-15; Jeremiah 27:9-10).

God's love went even further. Rather than stopping the search for answers, He opened the way for ALL the answers we need. For immediately after speaking against mediums, God promised to send the Prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19). People do not need "mediums" because God gives His Mediator! God assured them,

"I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell
them everything I command him" (Deuteronomy 18:18).

Unlike messages from mediums, this message would be true and trustworthy. For it would be GOD'S OWN WORDS. "Everything" from God would be faithfully passed along to the people by the Prophet like Moses.



No Prophet Like Moses

Weren't all prophets "like Moses"? No. Even at the time of Moses there were other prophets, such as Miriam and Aaron. Yet God made it plain that Moses was quite different from them. God spoke to Moses in a far more open, direct and personal way. This is what God said:

"When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal Myself
to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is
not true of My servant Moses...with him I speak face to
face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the
Lord..."(Numbers 12:6-8).

Joshua came after Moses. Yet even in the passage which speaks of Joshua's greatness, Deuteronomy ends with these words,

"Since then, no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses,
whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all the miraculous
signs and wonders...For no one has ever shown the mighty
power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the
sight of all Israel" (Deuteronomy 34:10-12).

Clearly, the other prophets were not like Moses. God was more direct with Moses. God used him as His special agent and lawgiver. Because of His unique authority, all other Israelite prophets, from Joshua on, taught their people to follow "the law of Moses." The coming Prophet would serve, like Moses, as God's mediator with special authority to give God's commandments to the people. And here is another important point: From Deuteronomy 34, we learn that being truly, "like Moses" had to include showing miracles of MIGHTY POWER.



Promises of "The Messiah"

After God's promise in Deuteronomy 18, many years passed with no prophet arising who seemed to match Moses. Yet God was not silent. He carefully guided history in the direction He had chosen. Along the way, God used prophets to give the meaning of His actions and to point ahead to what He planned.

Again and again, these prophets told of "One to come." He would be a King from David's family line (2 Samuel 7; Psalm 89; Isaiah 11). He would serve as "Priest forever" (Psalm 110). This same Psalm that said that he would be a Priest also pictured Him as David's "Lord". He would rule from the highest place, at God's right hand. Similar prophecies showed that this coming PROPHET, the coming PRIEST, and the coming KING would be the same Person – the MESSIAH!



Is Jesus that Messiah?

When an Israelite man was officially made a prophet or priest or king, oil was usually poured on his head. Such pouring was called "anointing," and served as a sign of the authority to lead. The Hebrew word Messiah means "Anointed One" (Psalm 2). This same word from the Greek language is CHRIST. Today most people who know the word "Christ" think immediately of JESUS Christ. This is because many proofs point to Jesus as the One promised by God. Jesus fits the descriptions of the Messiah or Christ as foretold by the Old Testament prophets.

Jesus also did the miracles of MIGHTY POWER that we would expect of the Prophet like Moses. He healed the blind, deaf and lame. He stilled storms and walked on the water. He gave life back to the dead! At the town of Nain, Jesus met a funeral group going to bury the only son of a widow. When He saw the widow's great sorrow, He went to the coffin. He touched it and called out, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" Many were present. They saw the boy arise from death! Luke 7:16 reports,

"They were all filled with awe and praised God. 'A great
prophet has appeared among us,' they said. 'God has come
to help His people.'"

The people knew what they had seen. Jesus lived among them. Many were present to see His great works. Here were miraculous "signs" showing more clearly than ever the power that only the Creator has over His creation. Therefore Jesus really was "a great prophet." The people who saw these things reasoned correctly,

“When the Christ comes, will He do more miraculous
signs than this man?” (John 7:31)

Here were the greatest teachings ever heard, and the greatest miracles ever seen. If Jesus was not the Christ, who could possibly do greater things? So even at that time many realized that He had to be the Prophet (John 7:40). If so, that also meant He was the Christ. When Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem for the last time they welcomed Him as "THE SON OF DAVID," "THE KING" and "THE PROPHET" (Matthew 21:8-11; Luke 19:37-38).



THE GREATEST SIGN

Jesus often foretold that He would be killed by the Jewish and Roman leaders (Matthew 16:4; 17:12,23; 20:18-19; 26:2). His death, He said, would be by crucifixion, in which a person was nailed to a wooden cross and left to die in great pain. He explained that His death would allow people to be forgiven of their sins (Matthew 20:28; 26:28). Yet, along with predictions of His death, Jesus promised that His greatest "SIGN" would be to RETURN from death in three days (Matthew 12:38-40; 17:23; John 2:19-22).

As is well-recorded by history, Jesus went on to actually fulfill that promise (Matthew 28; John 20; Acts 2)! Not even the greatest prophet, priest or king had ever dared to make such a promise for himself. And certainly none had been able to raise himself from the grave. Jesus, by God's power, both predicted it and accomplished it. Could there be any doubt that the Prophet foretold by Moses had finally arrived?

Peter was one of the eyewitnesses of these things. He had once fled from the enemies who killed Jesus. But after Jesus had returned from death, Peter knew that death was not to be feared any longer. With the help of God's Spirit, Peter stood before the same enemies and boldly declared,

"Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance,
as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled
what He had foretold through all the prophets, saying
that this Christ should suffer....For Moses said,
'The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet
like me from among your people; you must listen to
everything He tells you. Anyone who does not listen
to Him will be completely cut off from among His people.'
Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as
have spoken, have foretold these days" (Acts 3:17-24).

Peter quoted from the very passage we have studied – Deuteronomy 18. That passage, he said, looked ahead to JESUS CHRIST. "Indeed, all the prophets" had pointed forward to this one great Prophet like Moses! He is now MEDIATOR between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5). That is why we are told, "listen to everything He tells you" (Acts 3:22).

What if we fail to listen to Jesus? We miss God's most important message for life, and that has this terrible result:

"Anyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut
off from among His people" (Acts 3:23).

Such a person can no longer belong with God and His people! This is a serious matter. Our lives depend on listening carefully to the Prophet like Moses.