JANUARY 29, 2024
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Moses was talking to the people of Israel on the day before he died, and he reminded them of a moment from their past. God had brought them to the mountain of Horeb (Sinai), and they heard God's voice speaking directly to them—and it was too much for them. They freaked out. And they begged Moses to ask God to stop it, and to talk only to Moses from then on, so they wouldn't have to be exposed to God in all His power and possibly die.
So now, Moses, says, remember what you asked for, because God has promised to do it. God will send someone else like Moses to speak the words of God to all the people, so make sure you pay attention.
So when did God keep this promise?
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
2 Corinthians 9:15
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
[Moses said,] "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.' And the LORD said to me, 'They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to My words that he shall speak in My Name, I Myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My Name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.'"
Moses was talking to the people of Israel on the day before he died, and he reminded them of a moment from their past. God had brought them to the mountain of Horeb (Sinai), and they heard God's voice speaking directly to them—and it was too much for them. They freaked out. And they begged Moses to ask God to stop it, and to talk only to Moses from then on, so they wouldn't have to be exposed to God in all His power and possibly die.
So now, Moses, says, remember what you asked for, because God has promised to do it. God will send someone else like Moses to speak the words of God to all the people, so make sure you pay attention.
So when did God keep this promise?
He kept it when He sent Jesus. Matthew’s gospel points to Jesus as the promise fulfilled, as one like Moses, but greater than Moses.
In Hebrews 3 we encounter this testimony,
3 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
Jesus is a prophet like Moses—and yet, so much more than just a prophet. The New Testament teaches us that Jesus is God Himself, come down from heaven to be involved in the human experience just like us. He was born, grew up in a village, and grew to adulthood doing much the same work we do. And then He went out into the world to do the work that only God could do, to speak God's Word to the people, to teach, preach, heal, forgive, and welcome.
But it didn’t end there. At the completion of His earthly ministry, Jesus willingly surrendered His own life for the sake of each person. Here Jesus speak about this himself in John 10:
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
It is overwhelming to me, that Jesus allowed Himself to be betrayed by a friend, and was arrested, mocked, whipped, and crucified. How could God let things like that happen to Him? Only for love, Only for love — love of all.
3 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
Jesus is a prophet like Moses—and yet, so much more than just a prophet. The New Testament teaches us that Jesus is God Himself, come down from heaven to be involved in the human experience just like us. He was born, grew up in a village, and grew to adulthood doing much the same work we do. And then He went out into the world to do the work that only God could do, to speak God's Word to the people, to teach, preach, heal, forgive, and welcome.
But it didn’t end there. At the completion of His earthly ministry, Jesus willingly surrendered His own life for the sake of each person. Here Jesus speak about this himself in John 10:
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
It is overwhelming to me, that Jesus allowed Himself to be betrayed by a friend, and was arrested, mocked, whipped, and crucified. How could God let things like that happen to Him? Only for love, Only for love — love of all.
Did you notice Jesus' words in John 10? "I am the good shepherd; .... and I lay down my life for the sheep.... I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
2 Corinthians 9:15
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