Deuteronomy 18:15-22 - "God's Prophet"

Deuteronomy 18:15-22

"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; 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. And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. 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. 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. But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."

God has never left Himself without a witness. From the beginning, He has spoken to men, revealing His holiness, His justice, and His purpose of redemption. Yet the question that presses upon us is not whether God speaks, but how He speaks and through Whom. Scripture answers this plainly: God has spoken finally and savingly in His Son.

Moses declared long before Christ’s incarnation, “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” (v.15). This was not a vague promise, nor a license for endless claimants to divine authority. It was the precise prophecy of the LORD Jesus Christ. Moses himself was a mediator, standing between a holy God and a trembling people, and in that office he served as a type of Christ. Yet Moses could only point forward. Christ alone would fulfill the office perfectly.

The people at Horeb feared the direct Voice of God, 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” (v.16). Their fear was well-founded. God is “a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29), and no sinner can stand before Him apart from a Mediator. In mercy, the LORD answered, “They have well spoken that which they have spoken” (v.17). God’s response to fear was not distance, but provision. He promised a Prophet Who would speak God’s very words to men.

That Prophet is Christ. “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth” (Deuteronomy 18:18). The LORD Jesus Christ did not speculate about God; He declared Him. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18). To hear Christ is to hear God. To reject Christ is to reject God Himself.

This is why Scripture speaks with such solemnity: “Whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him” (v.19). Many speak in religious language, yet present a savior who depends on man’s will, man’s decision, or man’s effort. Such a 'jesus' is not the Prophet of God, but an idol fashioned by human imagination.

The true Prophet speaks with Sovereign Authority. Jesus declared, “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him” (Matthew 11:27). Revelation does not begin with man’s seeking, but with Christ’s revealing. Only then comes the gracious command, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). This call is not a mere outward invitation, but the powerful Voice of the Prophet awakening those burdened by sin, (John 10:27).

The writer to the Hebrews confirms this finality: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1–2). The prophets before Christ spoke truly, but partially. Christ speaks fully and finally. There is no new word beyond Him, no higher revelation after Him.

Because Christ is God’s Prophet, He is also the only Mediator. We have not come to Sinai, “that burned with fire...but to mount Sion, (Hebrews 12:18, 22) through Christ alone. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Outside of Him there is only judgment; in Him there is Rest.

To know Christ as God’s Prophet is to bow to His Word, to trust His work, and to rest in His Authority. He does not ask for help. He does not attempt redemption. He has accomplished Salvation and obtained Redemption through the Sacrifice of the LORD Jesus at the cross, His Blood shed unto death. Blessed are those to whom the Son has revealed the Father, for they know that God has spoken—and He has spoken in, by and through the LORD Jesus Christ.