Prophets

The Prophet Moses

In this reading from Deuteronomy, Moses promises the Israelites that God will raise up a prophet like him from among them. He prophecies about a future prophet like himself. And this begs the question, what kind of prophet was Moses? What did he do?

Well, Moses began his time as a prophet of God in the wilderness. He was taking care of the animals that belonged to his father-in-law. While he was out he came to a mountain and saw something incredible. He saw a bush that was engulfed in flames but was not burning. The leaves hadn’t curled up, the branches hadn’t blackened, the trunk hadn’t turned to ash. He went closer to this mind bending phenomenon and God spoke to him. He said “my people are suffering in Egypt and I am sending you to speak my words to Pharaoh and to the people of Israel. You will lead my people out of slavery.”

So Moses went into Egypt and speaks God’s word there. He asks Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. Pharaoh says no and Moses warns him that God will punish Egypt with a plague. And God does, each time Pharaoh refuses to let the people out of slavery in Egypt, something terrible happens. The Nile turns to blood; frogs, gnats, and flies invade; animals, people, and crops are punished; the world goes dark. Still, Pharaoh continues to refuse, continues to ignore God’s prophet. Finally, Moses tells Israel how God will deliver them. He says, “sacrifice a lamb and paint its blood on the doorway of your home. When the angel of God strikes Egypt tonight, that blood will make your home safe.” So they do, and God passes through the land of Egypt and kills every firstborn. The sun rises and the whole land is in mourning and sadness, and Pharaoh calls Moses and tells him to take the Israelites and go out.

After Israel escapes Egypt, God continues to speak through Moses. They approach the mountain of God and anyone except for Moses who touches the mountain dies. As Moses ascends the mountain it becomes wrapped in a thick smoke, the earth shakes, and God’s voice splits the air like thunder. God speaks to Moses face to face and Moses brings God’s law down to the people. He tells them “here’s how God designed us to interact with each other, here’s how God created us to interact with Him, here’s how God intends for His creation to work.” But when he comes down the mountain to share these things with the people, his face was glowing because he had spoken with God face to face.

So what kind of prophet was Moses? He was a prophet who spoke with power, who God did incredible things though. He was a prophet who brought deliverance to God’s people, who God used to free Israel from slavery. He was a prophet who brought God’s Law to people, who spoke face to face with God almighty and lived.

A Prophet Like Moses

And in the rest of the Old Testament we witness prophets and kings and judges, none of which were quite like Moses. None of them spoke with the power that resulted in terrible, incredible things that happened in Egypt. None of them brought a new law to God’s people. None of them spoke face to face with God. So who is, or who was, that future prophet Moses was talking about?

Well, if we understand a prophet as someone who speaks God’s Word to His people, a good place to start is the Word made flesh - Jesus Christ. Let’s consider Jesus’ experience as a prophet of God the Father. Jesus admittedly didn’t have a burning bush experience, He came to earth as a man with the plan already in mind. So He comes to earth and speaks God’s Word here. He doesn’t speak to the earthly authorities, to Pilate or to Caesar, to let His people go. Instead, he battles with sin and death and the devil. And each time He is confronted with their resistance, each time the brokenness of this world clings to His people, He does something terrible - from the perspective of sin, death, and the devil. When sin threatens to drag people down, He forgives. When brokenness threatens to overwhelm people, He heals. When death looms over people, He promises eternal life. Finally, Jesus tells us how God will deliver us. He offers Himself as a sacrifice and marks us safe from death and hell. The sun rises on Easter morning and the only ones mourning are sin, death, and the power of the devil.

And throughout His ministry, Christ did more than speak powerful words of healing. He brings a new law to God’s people, to us. He sits on a hillside, surrounded by people He loves dearly. He speaks, saying “a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you.” He speaks, saying “you have heard it said you shouldn’t murder, you shouldn’t commit adultery, you shouldn’t swear falsely, an eye for an eye, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy - but I say to you do not be unreconciled with each other, be completely faithful, live honestly, forgive, and love your enemies.” Christ instructs and encourages and guides His people with a new law - a law not for salvation, but to explain God’s design for His people in His creation.

And after He rose again, Jesus ascended into heaven and sits in the presence of God the Father almighty. He speaks to God face to face on our behalf. When we pray, when we ask for blessing, when we need forgiveness - we have the freedom to go to God because Jesus sits there on our behalf.

So what kind of prophet was Jesus? He was a prophet who spoke with power, who did incredible things. He was a prophet who brought deliverance to God’s people, who freed us from slavery to sin and death. He was a prophet who brought God’s Law to people, who spoke face to face with God almighty and lived.

Modern Day “Prophets”

So Moses was a unique prophet in many ways, yet he promised a prophet like him would come. That prophet was Jesus. So are we done? Is that it? You may have guessed by the fact I’m asking that, we are not quite done. We are no longer looking for another prophet like Moses, in fact, Revelation warns that anyone who adds or takes away from God’s work of prophecy in Scripture will be severely punished. Even though we aren’t looking for another prophet like Moses, his words here still have more for us as he tells us how to guard against false prophets.

Imagine if you will, a man who sincerely and seriously wants to pursue God’s will for his life. He really wants to know what God has to say to him and what direction God would have him go in - so he seeks out people to speak God’s Word to him - modern day prophets. The man goes to one of his mentors who are very spiritual, always praying and quoting the Bible and wearing crosses, and asks “what does God want for my life.” And the man says, “God wants you to know that you are forgiven and loved.” That’s it, that’s all he has for him. And the man thinks, that’s not enough, I know God loves and forgives me - but surely he has things to say about my life and my relationships and everything else. So he goes to a church, he goes to the biggest church he can find with the most famous, influential preacher. And the preacher says “God wants you to be successful, God wants you to fund my salary more generously, God wants you to vote for a certain candidate, and God hates you if you disagree with me.” And the man thinks, that’s too much, I know that God hasn’t said that, I know that Revelation says we shouldn’t add to the word of God. I’m pretty sure this preacher is overstepping his authority. So finally the man goes to his friend, and he says “I just want to know what God has to say to me, I went one place and there wasn’t enough, he didn’t have anything beyond “Jesus loves you” to say. I went another place and it was too much, he added a ton of things onto the Bible that don’t necessarily agree with it.”

His friend paused, and said “you’re right, God does have more to say to us than that.” And they sat together in a coffee shop, and they dove into God’s Word together. And that friend did know a little more, he gave him some background and made some connections that helped him understand what God had already said and how it applied to his life.

And that’s what we’re looking for. We’re not looking for a prophet that adds to what God has said, who can tell us when the world will end or how cell phones are the mark of the beast. We’re also not looking for people who don’t speak the fullness of God’s word to us, who don’t go beyond the shallow surface. We seek prophets in the sense that we all need men and women in our lives, friends and mentors and pastors, who lead us back into God’s Word. People who help us understand the Scripture and apply it to our lives. It is my prayer that you all have that in your life, whether that is someone else sitting here, a friend across the country, or maybe you and I need to meet for coffee this week. We all need someone to speak God’s Word to us, amen.