ESOCS Devotional 23 July 2024 – Christ: The Second Moses
MEMORY VERSE: “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.” Deuteronomy 18:15 KJV
TEXT: DEUTERONOMY 18:15-22
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, 16 according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’
17 “And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. 18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
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Here, we hear the prophet Moses addressing the people of Israel and giving them the promise that the LORD will raise up a prophet LIKE HIM from the people.
In biblical times, prophets were not rare. Indeed, 2 Kings tells us that the king of Israel had 400 prophets at his disposal! (1 Kings 22:6). The problem was not finding a prophet; it was finding a prophet that was truly speaking for God.
Prophets performed a wide range of functions, including some that are condemned in Deuteronomy 18:10-11. Prophets of the Lord are the mouthpieces for God, and their proclamations are made without the common acts of divination or speaking to dead spirits. Prophets of ancient times should probably be thought of as preachers, for they interpreted the word of God to the people. Ancient Prophets, however, were distinct from priests who were responsible for leading the people in worship. The only function of an ancient prophet was to declare the word of God to the people. They did not run meetings or organize the congregation.
Therefore, God not only provided the Israelites with Moses as the mediator but promised to raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like Moses (v 18). The ultimate fulfillment of this came in the form of Jesus Christ. He was from Israel, of the tribe of Judah; so, from among their countrymen. Jesus not only had God’s words in His mouth, He was a physical manifestation of God in flesh, the very Word of God. God said Israel had spoken well to ask for a better way to see and hear God, rather than the scary and intimidating presence on Sinai. And God promised to send a human to speak as God spoke on Sinai. When Jesus came in the flesh, He fulfilled this promise. This is likely why the word prophet in verse 17 is singular, to signal that this is a Messianic prophecy.
As such, it refers to a special prophet who was to come, Jesus Christ, who was the second Moses, just as He was the second Adam (Romans 12-14). This is made apparent in Acts 3:22 and 7:37, where this verse is quoted by those proving that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah (anointed one) promised by God to deliver Israel.
This text also speaks of Jesus’ life and ministry. His truths were not easy to hear, and eventually it was His truth telling that would result in death on the Cross. Some would not believe Him because He did not have the right pedigree, and did not hang out with the right people. Others did not believe Him because they had already formed their own ideas of what the Messiah was to be, and Jesus’ message of grace and forgiveness was nothing like they envisioned.
Prophets talk of eternal things and life after death. Some of what they say is simply unknowable in this life. So was our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
- Have you accepted the words of eternal life as taught by Christ?
- Jesus my Sovereign Prophet-Priest, help me to appreciate the finished work of salvation on the Cross. Amen.
Further Reading: Zephaniah 3:14-end; John 20:1-10; Acts 12:1-11
ESOCS Devotional 23 July 2024
