Knox, Port Carling & Zion, Torrance Presbyterian Charge

Sunday May 17, 2020

Message: Jesus, the Prophet like Moses

Reverend Glynis Faith

Deuteronomy 18:15-19  (NIV)

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.”

¹⁷ The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. ¹⁹ I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.

Acts 3:17-26 (NIV)

¹⁷ “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. ¹⁸ But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. ¹⁹ Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, ²⁰ and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. ²¹ Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. ²² For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. ²³ Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’

²⁴ “Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. ²⁵ And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ ²⁶ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

 Good leadership is important. If we have not realized in the past how important it was, I am certain we are realizing it more today as all the world leaders take center stage at the same time. Some have shocked us, others have saddened us, and there are some who have impressed us.

Of course, the measure of a good leader has little to do with how pleased we are with them, and more to do with how well they lead us. Opinions about the leader’s recent decisions vary:

• They should have opened things (to) they are opening up too soon
• Yay, to them for the massive financial assistance being offered (to) who and how will the debt be covered
• We have a right to safety (to) we have the right to live our lives without government interference
• We want the government to bail us out (to) we don’t want the government telling us when and how to operate our businesses

Consider both Moses and Jesus, each of them having to deal with people’s opinions and complaints. Moses had to listen to ‘did you bring us out here to starve’ – ‘there is no water’ – ‘we are stuck eating the same food everyday’ – and the one statement every long distance traveller has heard from the back seat drivers, “are we there yet?” Jesus had to listen to complaints about how He had the nerve to heal people on the Sabbath – or that His disciples had not washed their hands (and that one would not go over well today either) – or that He had the nerve to offer people forgiveness from their sins.

Good leadership can mean the difference between life and death, and good leadership looks both at the current situation and beyond the current situation. Good leadership walks with you through whatever you face today, and good leadership has its compass set on where we are going. Moses’ leadership was focused on bringing the people out of slavery and into the Promised Land. Jesus’ leadership was focussed on bringing people out from the bondage of their sins and into a relationship with God – a relationship that leads us out of death’s grip and the resurrection into an eternal life in the presence of God.

The book of Deuteronomy is often referred to as Moses’ farewell speech to the people. They have reached the border of the Promised Land and the time has arrived to prepare the people to enter in to land God had promised. Moses himself would not be permitted to enter, and like any truly good leader, Moses wanted to put every effort into helping the people remember how God had freed their parents from slavery, how God had provided for all their needs (40 years walking in the desert, and the one pair of sandals they left Egypt in were still as good as the day they left). Moses also goes into great detail about the Commandments God had given them and of their covenant with God.

If you ever think your minister is long winded, sit and read through Deuteronomy, because Moses certainly wins the long-winded award. However, to his credit, and to the credit of any minister who goes over their allotted sermon time to try and help people realize the depths of God’s great love for them, Moses was the kind of leader who cared for the long-term health of God’s people. Moses was not only concerned that the people would enter the Promised Land, he was concerned that they would live out the covenant they made with God, so that all would go well for them and the generations that would follow. The book of Deuteronomy is a record of a leader who loved God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, and who cared deeply for the long-term well-being of God’s children.

Like any good leader, Moses consults with God about the people. I would imagine Moses’ conversation with God would resemble the prayers of church leaders today, holding the needs of the people before God. Prayers for guidance, provision, good health, an a few prayers for patience added in!

God responds to Moses by promising that one will be brought out from among the nation who will be a prophet like Moses. There is much scholarly debate as to whether God was referring to the prophetic line that would follow Moses, or whether God was pointing to the Great Prophet, Jesus Christ.

In John’s gospel, chapter 5, we have accounts of the church leadership opposing Jesus for healing on the Sabbath and for claiming God as His father. Jesus’ argument is that He is speaking what God has told Him. Speaking for God is the prophetic office – to encourage, warn and advise on what God has said. The prophet was a mediator between God and people. Jesus finally says to them in John 5:45-47

“But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. ⁴⁶ If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. ⁴⁷ But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

Does this mean that Jesus is pointing to himself as the ‘Prophet like Moses’?

I believe one key thing ties Jesus to this prophecy, and it is this one thing Jesus had in common with Moses that the prophets in between did not. It is hinted at in verse 16 of our Deuteronomy reading, where the people say, , “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”

The people trembled at hearing God’s voice through the great fire, so they requested that Moses go before God and represent them (we are scared, so you go and face God for us). God approved of this and Moses entered into God’s presence and spoke directly with God. I wonder if the people ever realized the glorious gift they gave Moses in sending him to speak face to face with God? All the prophets after Moses heard from God through messengers and dreams, all but the One who would be ‘like Moses.’

Another clue pointing to Jesus as the ‘one like Moses’  comes in the closing chapter of Deuteronomy – a chapter likely written by someone else long after the death of Moses, since it is the chapter on his death and buriel. In Deuteronomy Chapter 34:10, we read, “And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.”  Not, that is, until Jesus.

Jesus, like Moses, knew the Lord God face to face. Each had a relationship with God, conversing freely – receiving God’s holy word and conveying God’s messages directly to the people.

Moses had the awesome privilege of a personal relationship with God. He would serve as a prophet of God, mediating between God and His children. No leader in the Old Testament compared to Moses, but he was merely a foreshadowing of Christ.

Jesus came from the Father, therefore, also having a personal relationship with God. He came as God’s Prophet, bringing the Good News and calling God’s chosen nation to return to their covenant with their Creator. Through Christ and His sacrifice on the Cross, salvation comes, not only to the descendants of Abraham, but to all the nations on the earth.

Good leadership is important – it is vital, and God has given us a prophet like Moses – the Great Prophet who teaches us about God and teaches us how to serve and worship Him. Jesus came from the Father and now sits at His right hand. He brings us Good News and he brings us warnings. Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us.

We have always needed good leaders, but today, more than three months ago, we may be more aware of how much we need good leadership. Friends, in Deuteronomy Moses points us to the leader we need, the leader we can trust, to One who knows the will of God, for he Himself is God – Jesus, the Prophet like Moses.

Whatever your fears, whatever your needs, no matter how many questions you have, I encourage you to bring them all to Jesus, for he is the Prophet of God, mediating for us, and He will guide you through whatever lies ahead. All praise be to God’s Prophet – Jesus our Lord. AMEN