“¹⁵ The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.… ¹⁸ I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. ¹⁹ And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him” (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19).

We are on a series of messages on the exceeding great and precious promises of God found throughout the Scriptures. The Lord helping us, we hope to find and examine one promise in each of the 66 books in the Bible. We have already considered one promise in each of the first four books in the Bible.

This evening, we are come to the fifth book, the book of Deuteronomy. This book comprises essentially three sermons that Moses preached to the new generation of Israelites who would enter into the Promised land, the previous generation having died out in the wilderness. The three sermons may be entitled, “What God has done” (chapters 1-4); “What God expects of Israel” (chapters 5-26); and “What God would do” (chapters 27-34).

In this book are numerous promises, some direct, some indirect. But while it may not be so easy to decide which of the number of promises in the book of Numbers to highlight, I think it is not so difficult for the book of Deuteronomy. There are indeed a number of important promises in this book, but I think the most prominent must be the prophecy concerning the coming of the Prophet Par Excellence.

This is given to us twice in Deuteronomy 18. The first time, Moses is speaking to the Israelites directly:

¹⁵ The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.

The second time, Moses is repeating what God said unto him in Mount Sinai:

¹⁸ I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. ¹⁹ And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

We may study this prophecy under three heads. First, The Prophet is none other than Christ; Secondly, we must listen to and obey the Prophet; Thirdly, God will judge those who would not obey the Prophet.

1. The Prophet is None Other
than Christ

Our text provides us with very little hint on the identity of who the prophet that Moses was referring to was.

What is interesting is the reason that Moses gave to explain why God would raise the Prophet. Look at verse 15 and 16:

“¹⁵ The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; ¹⁶ According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not” (Dt 18:15-16).

God had spoken the Ten Commandments,—in the midst of thunderings and lightning and earthquake,—in the hearing of His people who came out of Egypt. So important was the Ten Commandments that God wanted the people to hear Him pronounce it personally. But the people felt intimidated and frightened. They told Moses: “Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (Ex 20:19).

Now, if you read the account in Exodus, you will see Moses telling the people not to be afraid. However he did not agree to the people’s request that he speak to them. Perhaps it was because he was already God’s spokesman to them!

But here in our text, we see another reason why Moses did not say anything about him being the prophet who would speak unto them. Look at verse 17—

“¹⁷ And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. ¹⁸ I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him” (Dt 18:17-18).

Notice what the Lord is saying. He is certainly not referring to Moses, for he speaks of the Prophet as being like unto Moses. And we wonder if Moses actually thought that God was going to raise someone else in his time or after his departure.

But God had other plans. He would not send the Prophet for more than a millennium. But when he did send him, the people recognised him. In John 6, after the Lord fed the 5000 men, the people who heard Him preach and witnessed His miracles declared: “This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world” (Jn 6:14).

Then again in Acts 3, the apostle Peter in one of his first few sermons  after Pentecost declared that Moses was referring to the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 3:20-22). The Lord Jesus Christ is the Prophet Par Excellence.

When the people at Mt Sinai spoke about their fear of God, they implied that there is a great distance between God and man. As such, God graciously responded by saying that he would provide a mediator—even the man,—the God-Man,—Christ Jesus. He was not speaking to the generation of Jews in Moses’ days. He was speaking to the church through the ages as a whole. Christ Jesus took not the nature of an angel, but he took our nature in order that he could be our representative and mediator and Prophet—to teach us God’s will with love, compassion and understanding.

How shall we respond to this prophet?

2.  We Must Listen to
& Obey Him

Moses made this clear: “unto him ye shall hearken” he said (v. 15). Now, if God was speaking to the church through out the ages and not only to the Jews in Moses’ days when he referred to the coming Prophet, then Moses’ instruction to hearken unto the Prophet must be for all of us.

What is it to hearken? To hearken is to hear or to listen. But surely Moses does not intend only for us to listen in the way that we listen to music.

This was the way that the Jews during Ezekiel’s time were listening to his preaching:

“And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not” (Ezk 33:32).

But it was an indictment against the people. God intends for His word not only to be heard, but to be believed and acted on.

God would have us hear His Son, our Prophet obediently. “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” he says (Mt 17:5).

Christ our Prophet is the Word of God incarnate. Through him God would reveal His will to us. But how does Christ speak to us as our Prophet? Our Larger Catechism, question 43 asks, “How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?” Answer:

“Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in His revealing to the Church, in all ages, by His Spirit and Word, in divers ways of administration, the whole will of God, in all things concerning their edification and salvation.”

Christ, in other words, does not only speak to us directly. In fact, only a very very small number of God’s children will get to hear the Lord speaking to them directly during their sojourn on earth. Christ speaks to us, rather, through a multitude of ways.

In Old Testament days, He spoke to His people through His prophets and through dreams and visions that His Spirit enabled them to have. Today, he speaks to us through the Written word, through his ministers, and through the Sacraments, such as the Lord’s Supper.

Through the Lord’s Supper, for example, the Lord speaks to us of His death and the blessings He would bestow upon us. To hear Him would be not only to watch the supper being administered, but to participate in the Supper and to reflect on all that the Supper reminds us of and to respond to the Supper by loving and grateful obedience to Christ in all aspects of our lives.

But what if we don’t obey?

3. God Will Judge Those
Who Refuse

The Lord makes it clear. It is not an option for believers to choose to hear or not to hear our Prophet. God says through Moses:

¹⁹ And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

Christ is God’s prophet to us. What he says is the word of God. What he does is the Act of God. Those who refuse to obey Him are disobeying God. And God will judge them.

So we have here a double-edged promise. God has promised us a Prophet to teach us His will concerning our salvation and to build us up in His most holy will.

Today the Prophet has come in person. No, doubt He has returned to heaven so that in a certain sense, he is speaking to us in the same way that He used to speak to the saints of old—through His Spirit. Yet, He has come in person. He has taken our flesh. He was tempted at all points like as we are yet without sin as he lived for us. He has suffered and died for us that we might be reconciled to God. He rose again from the dead for our justification. He ascended up to heaven as the God-Man. He has poured out His Spirit in great measure upon the Church. He is upholding the world by the word of His power as the God-Man. And He will come again at the Last Day to vindicate His church and to judge the world.

Our Prophet, in other words, speaks to us so much clearer and more powerfully compared to how he used to speak to our fathers of old. For he spoke to them in types and shadows.

So we are a greatly privileged people.

But with privilege comes responsibility. Those who refuse to hearken unto Him today will be dealt with more severely than in Old Testament days. “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” says our Lord himself (Lk 12:48).

After all that the Lord has done to demonstrate God’s immense hatred for sin, and his justice which demands that sin be paid for,  anyone who refuses to believe Him and to submit to him will be heaping wrath upon wrath upon himself.

The attitude that the world and even many in the church have towards Christ today is totally wrong-headed. There is an idea abroad that when Christ is offered in the Gospel, man is given a choice whether to accept him or reject him. But this idea is foreign to the Scripture. Christ is the Prophet of God to declare His will. God does not present him to be accepted or rejected of man. He is presented as His Spokesman. Those who reject Him reject God and will incur the severe wrath of God.

Likewise, today there is an idea in the church that many things of Christ are optional. We think for example of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are sacraments instituted by our Prophet and King. Yet, there are many professing believers who would think that they are not important. How many, for example, would rather forgo participation at the Lord’s Table than to repent of sin.

The idea is: If I am sinning, and I partake of the Lord’s Supper, I will incur God’s judgement. Well, that is correct! But is it really the solution to refrain from the Lord’s Table? To refrain from the Lord’s Table is to refuse the Lord’s overtures. It is sin. And two sins do not make a righteous decision. The right thing to do is to repent of the sin that prevents us from coming to the Table; and to come to the Table in humble repentance.

Conclusion

Dearly beloved brethren and children, God promised through Moses to raise up another prophet like unto Him. He has kept His promise. The Prophet Par Excellence has come. We are beneficiaries of His love, and we have enjoyed His prophetic ministry.

But the question we must ask ourselves is: Have we honoured Him as our prophet? Have we shown Him the respect which is due unto Him? Or have we treated him the way that the first generation of the Jews who came out of Egypt treated Moses?

As we think about our Prophet, let us remind ourselves that he is also our Great High Priest who died for us, and the King of kings who has every right over us. Amen.

—JJ Lim