(REFLECTIONS ON Deuteronomy 18:14-22)

In today’s Scripture, Moses says to Israel,

15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”

Moses did more than just lead the Israelites out of Egypt, but he served as a mediator between them and God. In many ways that is the role of a prophet, not to be a fortune-teller, but to stand between man and God, and to be their advocate.

While the Lord’s presence covered Mount Sinai, fear entered into the hearts of the Israelites. The unfiltered presence and glory of God was too great for them, and so Israel wanted Moses to serve as God’s voice.

And so Moses served as a prophet of the Lord Most High, speaking the words of God to the people, and also interceding on their behalf. However, Moses was just a man that had his own faults, challenges, and struggles.

Moses never made it to the Promised Land, needing Joshua to take the Israelites the final last step into the land flowing with milk and honey. When the Lord said He would raise up a prophet for Israel like Moses, He didn’t just raise up another person from amongst the people.

Yes, this prophet wasn’t the other prophets that God used in the Old Testament to speak His words to His people, and it wasn’t John the Baptist who would appear in the New Testament to prepare the way of the Lord. That is because all these people although used by God, were also limited by their humanity.

The prophet that God raised up like Moses, was greater than Moses. The one that is greater than Moses is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ serves as a mediator between those that believe in His Name and God. It is through Jesus Christ that we have been grafted into the family of God and have a relationship as sons and daughters of the Lord Most High.

In Hebrews 6:3-6, Scripture states,

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.

Yes, Moses served as a mediator between Israel and God, and now Jesus Christ has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses as the Son over God’s house. It is through Jesus Christ, that we who were once not the people of God, can enter through Him to be called at His people.

May we once again come before Jesus Christ, and through Him enter into the loving and eternal relationship with God. Through Jesus Christ there is nothing to fear, and no one to fear. Even when we fall short of God’s glory, we have an advocate in Jesus Christ, and if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy 18