A Prophet Like Moses
(Sermon for the Dominican Republic)
By Rev. Christopher B. Cain
“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.” (Deuteronomy 18:15-18 ESV)
Before I left the U.S. to come here and be with you, beloved, I asked my youngest son Jonathon what he would share with the people of the Dominican Republic if he were going to speak to you. He told me that he would start with Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the promised land, and that he would share that if you follow God you will be delivered into the promised land that is prepared for you by God. I suppose that his suggestion sums up the entire Bible in a sentence. After listening to him share this with me, I thought I would speak on this rather than what I had thought I would speak on. You see, Moses had the job of leading the Hebrew people out of the land of Egypt, and in a way this paints a picture of Christ delivering us out of the bondage of sin. Just as the Israelites had been enslaved and forced to serve Pharoah, the fallen nature of man has enslaved us to sin and bondage and as a result, death. However, just as the Israelites cried out to God and were delivered, we too can be delivered if we cry out to God. Moses foretold that one day a prophet who would be like him, a man who was both of the people but also who came from afar to free them, would arise and deliver them. Jesus Christ is the prophet who arose from the people; He was one of them. Jesus did not come from the wilderness as Moses did, but He did come from a distant place that you and I call Heaven. He came that we might experience the FREEDOM that we long for. He came to deliver us from the bondage of sin and of death. So what parallels can we draw from this passage between Moses and the prophet whom God shall raise up, who we know is Jesus Christ?
First, beginning in verse 15 we see immediately that it is the Lord who raises this prophet like Moses up. The deliverance of the people of Israel was a work of God, not of Moses; Moses was merely the instrument which God used to accomplish this. Just like with Christ, our salvation is a work of God in us through Christ — salvation is not of ourselves. The book of Ephesians tells us that salvation is not a work of ourselves, but rather it is a gift of God.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
(Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV)
Our salvation rests in the hands of God through the completed work of the cross, where Christ shed His blood that we might be delivered from the slavery and bondage of sin and death.
Second, we see also in verse 15 that the way that we partake of the benefits and the freedom that this prophet brings is through the Word of God. The Bible says that “it is to Him you shall listen”. We do not approach God and take hold of salvation through our works, our wealth, or our social status, but rather through His Word. In the book of Luke, Jesus shares the following parable, telling us to build upon the Rock. Jesus is the Rock we are to build our life and our faith in God upon.
“Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.” (Luke 6:47-48 ESV)
I am told that the people here take great pride in their building, especially in the work that you do with concrete. I am certain that we can all understand the need for a building to have a solid and stable foundation in order for it to last. The Bible never says that you cannot build on a weak foundation, it says that if you do the building will not last. The parable continues in verse 49: “But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:49 ESV)
You and I, whether we are builders or lay people unfamiliar with building, all must recognize that in order to build something lasting that will stand when the storms of life come, that it must be built on a solid foundation. Jesus uses the parable of the builders that we might get the message that transcends time and culture, the message that transcends skill level and language barriers, and that is that we must build on the stability of the Rock that is immovable. That Rock is Jesus Christ.
Third, we see that where man causes a separation between himself and God through sin, God creates a pathway for reconciliation through His human representative. Man was separated from God in the Garden of Eden due to sin which severed the face to face communion man had with God Himself. Just as the Israelites refused to hear from God directly but begged Moses to speak to God on their behalf, so we also have a need for an intermediary, and we have that intermediary in the God-Man Christ Jesus.
“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.” (Deuteronomy 18:16 ESV)
This verse shows us that the Israelites could not stand before God without an intermediary. We also know that we, like them, cannot approach God because of our sin. The book of Romans tells us: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 ESV) Not only does God make a way to reconcile us to Him by raising up a prophet like Moses and do the work for us in Christ Jesus, but He records the way in His Word for us that we might see and believe by faith through the reading of His Word.
Fourth, in Deuteronomy 18:18, the Bible tells us that the authority as well as the message comes from the Father and is given to the Son. “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.” (Deuteronomy 18:18 ESV)
There is a wonderful passage in the Gospel of John, chapter 5 verses 19-29, that demonstrates this.
“So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:19-29 ESV)
Like Moses, Jesus communicates to us what God has given Him to say. The Words which Christ tells us in His Word are from the Father, and are the complete message that the Father wished us to have. Some go in error when they try to take away or add to what the Bible has to say. We have no authority to do so, and are even commanded in the closing verses of the book of Revelation not to do so. “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19 KJV)
Erroneous doctrine results when man tries to add to Scripture, and when man tries to turn what is in Scripture into a private interpretation. The Bible says in 2 Peter 1:20: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” (2 Peter 1:20 KJV)
God instructed Moses to say in Deuteronomy 18:18: “And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” This shows us that the authority to speak and the content of the message comes from the Father and is given to the Son. God has revealed His message through His Son and all that He wanted us to hear has been given to us in the Word. Jesus Himself said of His authority and witness in John 5:
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 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?” (John 5:30-47 ESV)
Jesus testifies here that Moses wrote of Him, and that what He says and does He does because it is the Will of the Father. He also shares with us that searching the scriptures is not the source of eternal life, but that receiving Him who the scriptures speak of is how we gain eternal life.
In conclusion, we see that there are many parallels between Moses and the prophet he foreshadowed, that you and I know as Jesus. Some of those parallels and lessons are:
- The Lord raises up the Prophet, it is a work of God through Christ Jesus. (Verse 15)
- The way is through hearing and receiving His Word. Jesus is our intermediary and the way to God. (Verse 15)
- Where man has caused separation between himself and God because of sin, God delights in reconciliation. (Verse 15)
- God honors our desire, even if it is not to hear him. (Verse 16)
- Sinful man cannot approach God and live, the penalty for sin is death. (Verse 16)
- The words which Christ spoke came from God; His authority was from the Father and He spoke to us all that God commanded. There is no secret revelation or private interpretation of Scripture. Jesus spoke all that the Father commanded. It is not enough to know the Scriptures, nor is it enough to search the Scriptures, but we must receive Him that the Scriptures write about. We must believe and receive the Prophet whom Moses said would come. We must believe and receive Jesus.