Deuteronomy: A Prophet Like Unto Moses
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Deuteronomy: A Prophet Like Unto Moses
Deuteronomy 18:15-19
“15The 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— 16 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.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 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. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
Who would you consider as your hero? I know there is a lot of superheroes in our pop culture today. From Marvel to DC to Animes, there are so many heroes who we fascinate and even obsess over. My favorite is Goku from Dragon Ball Z. I just like how he pushes himself to the limits against his enemies. But what’s incredible is that we have real heroes in real life. We don’t need to look at fictional heroes because we have real-life heroes throughout history.
I remember reading as a kid, people like Jose Rizal, who condemned the Spanish colonizers through his writings. He was martyred, but his legacy was instrumental to the Philippines' liberation as he became the national hero. Mahatma Gandhi, a freedom fighter, resisted tyranny through nonviolent civil disobedience and is considered in India as the “Father of the Nation.” When I was studying American history in high school, I read about George Washington and his exploits to liberate the United States from Great Britain and how he became the first president of this great nation. Sojourner Truth led and advocated for women and African Americans' rights as her speeches became an integral part of the abolition of slavery and universal suffrage. Another one was Martin Luther King Jr. Through his passion and zeal, MLK Jr. led the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans to have a better standing in the American Society. They were all larger-than-life figures who have done significant work for their people.
For the Jewish community, Moses was all of these great individuals rolled into one. He liberated his nation from the grips and oppression of Egypt. He showed God’s power through miracles, led the Israelites through the wilderness, and formed Israel's structure as a nation in religious and communal ways. He pronounced the foundations on how Israel should relate to God and each other. He gave them the Law, which became Israel’s guide for a constitution and government. Moses was like no other in the Jewish community's eyes, and even today, he is still highly revered. What’s even more impressive is that in death, we see the grandeur of Moses still as God personally buried and hid Moses’s remains (Deut 34:6). Also, in Jude 1:9, we see that angels were even disputing over his body. However, as great as Moses was, he was still broken in many ways. When he died, God’s people needed someone like Him, even someone more excellent than Moses.
And so today, we will see why the promise of a prophet like Moses for God’s people was so significant. We will know that we need someone like Moses, someone to be greater than this man of God even in present times. So why do we need a prophet like unto Moses?
I. Someone to Listen to
v. 15 “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”
Before we continue, we need to quickly catch up on what is happening in the Book of Deuteronomy. Through Moses's leadership, the Israelites have escaped Egypt and have been given a new covenant by God in Mount Sinai. After 40 days, they traveled till they got close to the Promised Land. They then sent ten spies to check the conditions there. After the dire report of the eight out of the ten spies, the Israelites got disheartened. They eventually refused to enter the land of Canaan. God punished this first generation of Israelites for their unbelief, and was led to the wilderness for forty years. Most of this first generation of Israelites died off in the wilderness as they grumbled, murmured, and rebelled those forty years. The new generation of Israelites then reached the nearest point again, stopping on Moab's plains overlooking the Promised Land. Moses stops to preach and teach the second generation of Israelites many things about who they are and God's laws. This is essentially where all of Deuteronomy took place.
The Book of Deuteronomy can be divided into three parts.
The first is Moses reminding the new generation not to emulate the first generation's mistakes (Ch. 1-11).
The second part of the book is Moses retelling the Covenant or the Law to the Israelites and how it should be the basis of their relationship with God (Ch. 12-26). This is basically how Deuteronomy got its name from its original Greek word “δευτερονόμιον”, which means “repetition” or “copy” of the Law as it repeats a lot of the laws from the books of Exodus and Leviticus.
In the last part of the book, we see Moses’ final speech for the people to obey the Lord and take possession of the land. This last part also talks about Moses’ death (Ch. 27-34).
For the context of our passage, we see in the earlier verses how Moses was warning this generation about avoiding the occult practices of those in Canaan or the Promised Land. Locals were burning children as offerings, practicing divination, telling fortunes, and merely practicing sorcery and witchcraft. A lot of them were claiming to talk to the dead for wisdom (18:10-12). God’s instructions for the Israelites were different, and occult practices shouldn’t even be near them. Moses tells them that God will send prophets instead so they could listen to them, but the ultimate fulfillment of this promise will be in a singular prophet promised here in our passage.
So why did the Israelites need this kind of prophet? Because they needed to listen. Moses did not just liberate the Israelites from Egypt. In a lot of ways, he became the spokesperson of God to His people. The people couldn’t possibly hear from God directly. They had to come to listen to Moses to hear from God. To listen from God is a fundamental theme here in the book of Deuteronomy. You see, the key verse in this whole book is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, which states, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” This is what Jews call the “Shema” (שְׁמַע) The reason why it’s called “Shema” is because of the first word in Hebrew, which means to hear or listen. This is a crucial passage for the Jews as they made this passage as a prayer wherein, they would utter this twice a day.
You see, the word “Listen” in the Hebrew language is not just to let sounds waves pass over our ears. To listen is to respond to what is spoken. To listen then simply means to obey. Do you see why Moses gave such a big emphasis on this word? It’s because the older generation failed in their duty to listen. They did not respond to God’s deliverance and grace to them in the right way. Instead of obeying, they grumbled, complained, and rebelled against God. Moses was there imploring them to listen. The second generation of Israelites needed to grasp this truth, or else; they’ll follow the failures and mistakes of the older Israelites. What’s astonishing was that it didn’t matter how great of a leader Moses was. The people still refused to listen.
This prophet, however, will come, and God says to listen to Him. I think we all know who this prophet is, right? It’s none other than Jesus.
In John 5:46-47, Jesus clearly states, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” You see, He was the One of whom God said to listen. Just like Moses, Jesus has heard from the Father, and whatever the Father says is what Jesus speaks. Matthew 17:5 states, “He was still speaking when behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
Today, the question is, who are we going to listen to? Our world has so many voices, which begs us to listen. There are voices inside us that only speak of self-condemnation. It only says of how our mistakes, failures, and insecurities. There’s also a voice that seeks only or self-promotion. It only speaks of seeking pride, power, and comfortability. There are also voices outside of us begging for our ears. The culture around us will tell us what to be like, think like, look like, and act like. In the morning, when we wake up, what are the first words we hear? Before we sleep, whose opinions are we giving our attention? Whose voice are we listening to for most of our days? Is it influencers from social media, news outlets, celebrities, public figures, or any other source?
God tells us to be humble and submit to His prophet’s words. Are we listening? You see, Jesus encapsulated all of the commandments into two. He said in Matthew 22:37-40, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Are we listening?
Again, listening isn’t the same as just hearing sounds. Listening to the prophet means to hear His word and obey them. Why? Because in His words, there is real life. In following Him, we become the people God meant us to be. In a world of confusion, anger, and depression, only listening to Him can give us real joy, life, and peace. In listening to Him, we can bring about change in people’s lives. So, are we going to listen?
II. Someone to Mediate Between
vv. 16-17 “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.”
To understand what is happening in this passage, we need to go back to the scene in Mount Sinai or Horeb in Exodus 19. In that chapter, we see God showing Himself to the Israelites in a terrifying way. There were thunders, lightning, heavy clouds, loud trumpet blasts, fires, smoke, and even earthquakes as God Himself appears to His people. This shows the magnanimity and transcendence of Yahweh. It revealed to the Israelites that God was someone too astonishing and astounding for them. This is why the Israelites asked Moses to go to the presence of God for them. The presence of God was too much to bear, and they feared for their lives. Only Moses was able to come close to God and communicate to Him on behalf of the Israelite people. And through Moses, God’s people were able to know God so much more by presenting them God’s covenant.
How great God is was what Moses was trying to remind the second generation after 40 years. I remember someone telling me that if only we could see God, it’d be easier to believe in Him. But we need to realize the God portrayed in the Scriptures is so tremendous that we will not be able to handle His greatness if He were to appear right before us.
Here’s an illustration. Why is it a bad idea to stare at the sun? Did you know the sun is about 92 million miles away from us? And yet, staring straight at the sun could burn the exposed tissue in our eyes and could blind us. You see, if that’s what the sun can do, how much more the sun’s Creator? How much more remarkable, superior, and loftier is He? That’s why we cannot come to Him directly. That’s why we cannot see God face to face.
This is why the Israelites needed this new Prophet because He would be like Moses to mediate or go-between God and His people. We need someone like Moses to plead our case before God and represent us to Him. And this is what Jesus does for us. He stood for us, and He represents us before God. Paul explains this in 1 Timothy 2:5. He writes, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
It means we now understand that God is not just this angry and mean deity of the Old Testament. Because of Jesus, we no longer have to be scared or terrified before the presence of God. Jesus went before us to have direct access before God. Through Jesus, we had a better view of who God is. He is not just a cloud of fire or thunder and earthquakes to us. Jesus declared to us a better covenant promise that we can have a loving relationship with this God. Through Jesus, we know God intently hears our prayers, listens to our cries, cares for our wounds, and heals our broken hearts. We know that He wants all to be saved, and He is waiting to show His love to those who will come to Him. Jesus, in a way, introduced God to us the way Moses never could. We now realize God is our Almighty Father. We are His, and He is ours. So, let’s pray with confidence, worship with delight, give with gladness and serve with love in our hearts. Because of Jesus, we know who God is, and He knows us fully and completely. Because of our prophet, we can have a much more intimate relationship with God.
III. Someone to Reveal
vv. 18-19 “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.”
Did you know the Islamic religion claim Mohammed is this prophet like unto Moses? However, Mohammed was not a Jew. We can see that this promised prophet will be among the Jewish brethren. Only Jesus fulfills this description of the prophet like unto Moses. How?
According to J.D. Greear:
Jesus was born a Jew like Moses.
They were both born during oppression.
A local leader tried to kill the Hebrew firstborn sons in both cases. Pharaoh did in Moses’ time, while Herod tried it in Jesus’. Like Moses, Jesus chose to leave His royal family.
They both spent time in the wilderness. For Moses, it was 40 years; for Jesus, it was 40 days.
Moses gave lambs for the Israelites; Jesus became the Lamb.
Moses led the Israelites through the Red Sea, saving them from the wrath of the Egyptians, Jesus saved us from drowning from our sins and spared us from the wrath of God.
Moses gave the Law on Mount Sinai. Jesus gave His Law, the Beatitudes, during the Sermon on the Mount.
Moses raised a serpent so Israel could be physically healed. Jesus was raised so we could be spiritually healed.
Moses gave manna to the hungry Israelites while Jesus became the bread; we should partake to have eternal life.
Moses put up the curtain in the Tabernacle to put a separation between God and the Israelites, while Jesus tore the curtain dividing God and His people.
That’s why when Jesus was doing all these miracles when He was on earth, some of the Jews realized who this man was. In John 6:14, we see the reaction of the people to Jesus, “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” This is what Peter confirms in also was confirmed in Acts 3:20-22 when he said, “that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.” Scripture confirms this prophet was Jesus all along.
Now how does this apply to us? Our passage is a warning that if one will not listen to this prophet's words, their life will be required of God. It means that if we reject this prophet, we are rejecting God, and death will come to those who have rejected Him. You see, this prophet came to reveal not just the commandments of God but God Himself. Jesus reveals to us this loving and just God. If we reject Jesus, we are ultimately rejecting God. If we don’t obey Him, then we’re not obeying God Himself. This is why this warning is real for us today.
Suppose we have accepted Jesus today in our lives; that is excellent news! However, many people still do not know Him. We now have this privilege to let people know of Jesus, who revealed God to us. We can let people know of Jesus that changed our lives and gave meaning to our existence. We show people the change Jesus brought us and how God can transform their own lives through our words and actions. In a way, you see, we are also doing the work of all the other prophets before. We may not be foretelling what the future is, but we are pointing to the ultimate prophet in Jesus alone. You see, we need to let people listen. We need to mediate for people as we pray for them. We need to continue to reveal who the true God is to others.
Together, let’s continue to trust that Jesus is before us as we help others know of the beauty and majesty of our God. Through this way, we can let others know of Jesus, not just a prophet like Moses but Someone who is so much more.
-Rev. Jerusalem Ona