The Servant of the Lord

Carter Sanger

Clues to Christ • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Deuteronomy 18:15–19

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English Standard Version Chapter 18

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— 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.

Introduction

We’ve been following the clues to Christ as we work our way through the advent season, to see that the Bible, as a whole, is about God’s unfolding plan to move the enmity created between man and God in the garden of Eden to man and the serpent. It would be a cosmic battle waged against the serpent and his offspring that would end with his head crushed and the seed of the woman’s heel bruised. As we’ve followed that plan thus far, we’ve learned some important clues about the coming of Christ. In the curse that God leveled against the serpent after Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, we learned that redemption will come through the seed of the woman.

As Genesis progresses, we see enmity immediately arise between Cain and Abel, giving us a first glimpse of the cosmic battle and the two seed lines. Time and again, whether by direct assault or subtle corruption, we see the seed line of the woman under threat to the point that it would appear God’s work of redemption would fail. But in each case, God faithfully calls out a man to preserve that seed.

traces the seed line of the woman, we see corruption grow to the point that it seems God’s promised reverse of the curse would fail. But in each case, God faithfully calls out a man to preserve that seed. Abraham was one of those men in the line. God makes him some great promises, that he would bless him and make him into a great nation, a people in a special relationship with the Lord. Through them he would bring blessing to all of the families of the earth. As Abraham tried to bring about this promises, we learned that it would not be by man’s efforts but God’s alone. The promises of God would flow through the Son that God miraculously brought to Abraham and Sarah rather that the son Abraham with Hagar, the slave woman given to him by Sarah.

Abraham was one of those men in the line. God makes him great promises: that he would bless him and make him into a great nation, a people that enjoy a special relationship with the Lord. Through them he would bring blessing to all of the families of the earth. As Abraham tried to bring about these promises, we learned that it would not be by man’s efforts but God’s alone. The promises of God would flow through the Son that God miraculously brought to Abraham and Sarah rather that the son Abraham had with Hagar, the slave woman given to him by Sarah.

That promise to Abraham is repeated to his son Isaac and to Isaac’s son Jacob. Jacob has 12 sons, Joseph among them, who foreshadows Christ in his overcoming a death sentence to become the great prince who would govern the ancient world. He would save the children of promise from the years of famine that wreaked havoc throughout the Promised Land by bringing them into Egypt. As the family and the years grew in number, a king would rise who doesn’t remember Joseph, sees these Hebrews as a threat to Egypt, and enslaves them. Centuries later they cry out for a deliverer and we come to the story of Moses.

Moses is perhaps the most prominent character of the Old Testament. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit he wrote the first 5 books of the Bible, giving us the accounts that we’ve looked at thus far. It was Moses that brought the people out of Egypt and received the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai. He was the first great prophet. And yet, as great as Moses was, he wasn’t the Son of Promise that would inherit the fullness of Abraham’s blessing, though he led the children of promise to the edge of the Promised Land; and he wasn’t the Seed of the Woman who would crush the head of the serpent, though he defeated the King of Egypt with the plagues and the Red Sea. One after him would come. This brings us to our passage this morning.

English Standard Version Chapter 18

From this we learn that God saves through a mediator to whom we must listen and follow. To see this, I want to explore three phrases we find in this text: “Lest I die”, “a prophet like you”, and “listen to my words”.

Lest I Die

Where we find this phrase

English Standard Version Chapter 18

When Moses led the people out of Egypt, it gives us a clear picture of the gospel.

When Moses tells the people that God will raise up a prophet like him, he ties it back to an experience the people had when they met God on Mt. Sinai. They were afraid, as in terrified, of God. That may seem a little odd, given the faithfulness and graciousness of God we’ve seen thus far, particularly in light of the fact that this meeting with God on the mountain was the ultimate goal.

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— 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.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Dt 18:15–17). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.When Moses tells the people that God will raise up a prophet like him, he ties it back to an experience the people had when they met God on Mt. Sinai. They were afraid, as in terrified, of God. That may seem a little odd, given the faithfulness and graciousness of God we’ve seen thus far, particularly in light of the fact that this meeting with God on the mountain was the ultimate goal.

The goal of communion in the OT exodus

Adam and Eve had lost their intimacy with God when they were sent from the garden of Eden. It was a devastating blow, a true sentence of death. To be in communion with God is meant to be the foundation of man’s existence. That’s a big part of what it means to be created in the image of God. The unfolding story of redemption is the story of how God would bring man back into intimate fellowship. The great promise of Abraham was this: “I will be your god and you will be my people.” God would enter into a unique relationship with a people. As that story unfolds we find that this would finally happen when Moses is sent to Egypt to bring the people out of slavery and to the mountain of God. This great work of salvation is the a prototype of our own salvation and teaches us some important things.

In this we find a picture of our own salvation and its one we need to understand.

Our salvation too is not just from but to

When we think of salvation, we think of being rescued from the state of hopelessness, the state of despair, or desperate circumstances of life. Maybe its a sense of rescue from guilt or maybe from something else. We often forget that the point of rescue isn’t just to be set free from something, such as guilt, despair or hopelessness, but to something. Salvation means rescued from slavery into a relationship with the Lord.

In the Exodus, the people were not just coming out of their slavery in Egypt to go wherever it is they might want to go. It was very specifically to be brought to Mt Sinai, where God’s presence was manifest.

After the Lord brought destruction on Egypt and the people were en route to Sinai, Moses sings a song which climaxes with these words:

English Standard Version Chapter 15

17 You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain,

the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode,

the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.

18 The LORD will reign forever and ever.”

The ultimate goal of their rescue was to dwell with the Lord. It sounded good!

The heart of God in preparation to come down

But in that great day when the get to Sinai, suddenly the experience becomes real.

English Standard Version Chapter 19

19 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3 while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.”

So far, so good. God’s heart is on display in his pictures: “I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself… you shall be my treasured possession.” It’s like the words of endearment that come between a couple in the days preceding the wedding. Things are getting exciting, they’re about to happen! To prepare for this great meeting with God the people are to consecrate themselves and wash their garments and then God will come down from the mountain. When that day comes, however, it’s overwhelming.

English Standard Version Chapter 19

16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.

English Standard Version Chapter 19

English Standard Version Chapter 20

18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

The terror of God’s presence and why

They found that the glory of God was too much for them. His radiance would burn them up, would consume them as they were. And they were right. In the midst of that fire God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. In those commandments he showed them what their relationship with him and others was meant to look like. Living according to these commandments would reflect God’s image to the world and so bring blessing. But in so hearing these commandments they understood their own guilt, saw their own darkness, and felt the heat of God’s glory threatening to burn them up. They could not stand before God directly. They needed a mediator, someone who would speak for God.

What this teaches us is that God did not rescue Israel from Egypt because they were better than other nations. They weren’t better than the Egyptians themselves. They were worshipers of the same Egyptian gods. That’s clear when Moses finally comes down from the mountain after going up instead of them, he finds them worshiping a golden calf. Israel was far from worthy. AND YET, God rescues them from their slavery. They had no ability to save themselves. It would need to be a monumental, God-only work. Our salvation comes about the same way. This what Paul writes to the church in Rome,

English Standard Version Chapter 5

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Too often we drift into thinking that God saves the good people and condemns the bad people. We tend to think that God won’t hear me or accept me until I straighten myself up and make myself presentable. But that isn’t the case at all. There is no amount of straightening up that you can do to earn God’s love. That’s what the law exposed. It exposed the failures of the people; the darkness of their own hearts, the guilt that they bore. God doesn’t save the good person because there is no one who is good. God doesn’t grade on a scale. The law is the measure and there is no curve. This is what ancient Israel discovered on the mountain. They wanted a mediator.

Prophet like you

And that is what they got.

English Standard Version Chapter 18

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.

Moses would meet with God in the tent of meeting. He would stand between God and the people, protecting them from the consuming fire that God is, and passing to them God’s words. The trouble was, when Moses wrote the words of , he was coming to his own end. The people were about to cross into the Promised Land but Moses would not be with them when they did. Why? Because Moses, as good as he was in comparison to everyone else, wasn’t good enough. He too was guilty before God. What now? God would raise up another prophet like him, one that would protect the people from the consuming presence of God’s glory and deliver them His words. The prophetic office was born out of this. Even so, the office was merely a placeholder. This close but not too close relationship that Israel enjoyed with God was not the ultimate goal. It certainly had its perks as the people received protection and blessing, but they missed out on the real joy of knowing intimately their creator. They missed what the prophets at times nibbled on, such as when David writes,

God would raise up another prophet like him, one that would protect the people from the consuming presence of God’s glory and deliver them His words. The prophetic office was born out of this. Even so, the office was merely a placeholder. This close but not too close relationship that Israel enjoyed with God was not the ultimate goal. It certainly had its perks as the people received protection and blessing, but they missed out on the real joy of knowing intimately their creator. They missed what the prophets at times nibbled on, such as when David writes,

English Standard Version Psalm 16

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Isaiah summed it up also:

English Standard Version Chapter 25

25 O LORD, you are my God;

I will exalt you; I will praise your name,

for you have done wonderful things,

plans formed of old, faithful and sure.

English Standard Version Chapter 25

6 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples

a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,

of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

7 And he will swallow up on this mountain

the covering that is cast over all peoples,

the veil that is spread over all nations.

8 He will swallow up death forever;

and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,

and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,

for the LORD has spoken.

9 It will be said on that day,

“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.

This is the LORD; we have waited for him;

let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

This was the ultimate goal of salvation. But it hadn’t happened yet. The prophets explained it, they caught glimpses of it, but the experience of it was not yet. Ultimately, a mediator like Moses would need to come, but he would need to be more than Moses.

Moses delivered God’s word to the people. Jesus is God’s word to the people. Moses sprinkled the blood of animals on the people to consecrate them on the outside so they could meet with a veiled God. Jesus sprinkled his own blood on his people to consecrate them on the inside so they could meet with an unveiled God. This is why we drink the wine, the blood of the Lord. It cleanses the inside, the heart. This is why the veil of the temple was torn into from top to bottom when Jesus died on the cross. He bore our sin, our uncleanness, our guilt upon the altar that was the cross so that we might have direct access to God himself. We get to experience the reality of God’s presence, something only foreshadowed with feasts and ceremony in the Old Testament.

Whoever will listen

But here’s the thing. The experience of the presence of God isn’t had by all. That’s evident. That’s obvious. There is too much heartache and despair in the world. It isn’t even experienced by all who would call themselves Christians. Why not?

English Standard Version Chapter 18

19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

English Standard Version Chapter 18

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.

The experience of God’s presence, the joy of salvation, comes through listening to the words of Jesus. That doesn’t mean passively listening, as we tend to do.

“Son, did you hear me?” mom asks after she tells him to clean up his room. He says, “Yea mom. I heard you.” But then she says, “I don’t think so because your room is still dirty.” They’re talking about two different kinds of listening.

To listen to Jesus is to believe that Jesus is this prophet like Moses, who came to bring the fullness of salvation to you. It is to live by faith in this Jesus and not in your own goodness as the way you approach God. It is to live by faith in Jesus and not your job or spouse, our children, or money to satisfy the longing of your soul. This sets you free to let go of those other things, to give them to God.

Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me.”

He is the way to the Father. There is no other. He is the truth, that is, his words and his life reveal the true North, the way to live, the way to treat others and seek their blessing. He is the life, the one who fills your life with meaning, purpose, joy, satisfaction, worth so that its bursting.

The Servant of the Lord

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Introduction

Lest I Die

Where we find this phrase

The goal of communion in the OT exodus

Our salvation too is not just from but to

The heart of God in preparation to come down

The terror of God’s presence and why

Prophet like you

Whoever will listen