THIS caught my eye: And the LORD said unto me (Moses), They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee (Moses), and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. (Deut. 18:17-17)
God said He would raise up another capital-P Prophet like Moses, and put His (God’s) words in his mouth, and he would speak all that God would tell him to speak. The capital-P Prophet is obviously a reference to Jesus. And if you read the verse carefully, it says He (Jesus) would be raised up like Moses. That’s enough to make me want to re-read Exodus, which heavily features Moses, and see in what ways he pictures Jesus.
But for today, I’ll just take these Deuteronomy verses to look for clues of how Moses and Jesus are alike. Let’s look at part two of the verse again. “and will put my words in his (the coming Prophet, Jesus) mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” Moses was like that. He only spoke to the people what God told him to speak. That’s what prophets did. Was Jesus like that? Did He only speak what God commanded Him to speak?
Absolutely. It’s one thing I’ve noticed that sets the gospel of John apart from the other three gospels. I’ll show you:
- For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. (John 12:49)
- I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. (John 8:26)
- Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. (John 14:10)
- Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. (John 15:15)
- For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. (John 17:8)
John was so careful to highlight that Jesus’s words weren’t His, but His Father’s. He was also just as quick to point out that Jesus only did the things God told him to do. With all this understanding, let’s re-read our Deuteronomy verses again: And the LORD said unto me (Moses), They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee (Moses), and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. (Deut. 18:17-17)
I’m about to take a journey through Moses's life in Exodus to see pictures of Christ I might not have seen before, because God clearly alerts us that there’s something to see there.
You know, after awhile, you’ve read through any number of books of the Bible multiple times, and the thought of reading some of them again can seem … dull. I’ll confess, years ago when I’d feel like I’d already covered the Bible well enough, I’d go out and buy a new Bible version to liven things up. That “livening method” is over. I eventually settled on the King James Bible, simply because it’s been proven to me that it’s the most accurate*, and that matters more than any other factor. But what makes the Bible come alive to me these days is the different lenses I “choose to wear” when I read through a book that I’ve already read plenty of times. For instance, the reason I know that Jesus was keen on only saying and doing what God told Him to say and do is because I noticed it once and decided that the next time I read through John, I’d focus on how Jesus only said or did what God instructed Him to. That understanding came back to me when reading these Deuteronomy verses.
Now I’m going to read through Exodus focusing on ways I see Jesus in Moses and vice versa. I’ll take you on the journey with me. I hope you’re as excited as I am!
Jody
*Just one point regarding accuracy in our Deuteronomy verses for the day. Newer translations don't capitalize the "p" in Prophet, which will make you lose A) the understanding that it's referring to Jesus B) confidence that you can have any idea what the Bible really says in English.
Comments