Deuteronomy 18.15-18 15 “The Lord your God will raise up
for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall
listen to him. 16 This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God
in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice
of the Lord my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ 17
The Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18 I will raise up a prophet from
among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he
shall speak to them all that I command him. (NASB)
It had to happen because the Lord said it would: I will raise up a prophet from among their
countrymen like you, and I will put My words in His mouth, and he shall speak
to them all that I command Him. (Deuteronomy 18.18) Moses was God’s
messenger boy, His intermediary. Several years earlier when they were encamped
at Horeb, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, Moses had the people gather at the foot of
Sinai to hear the proclamation of the Lord and His Ten Laws.
The Israelites had never had an up close and personal with God, and it terrified them; so much so that
they begged Moses, “Speak to us yourself
and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” (Exodus
20.19) So Moses said to them, in Deuteronomy 18: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among
you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.” Jesus was the
Prophet…Jesus served as God’s Intermediary. Immanuel: God with us.
The difference with Jesus was that He was God. And He is
to this day (and will forever be) God. God dispensed with intermediaries
because His purpose and plan all along was to live in us, with us, and among
us. To be sure there are leaders in the Church and in the Body of Christ, but
intermediaries aren’t necessary anymore because God Himself has taken on the
role.
Advent is the reminder of a New Order: the Order of Up
Close and Personal. God doesn’t show up as a terrifying voice from atop a mountain
He arrives on the scene like we do: as a tiny, helpless infant. And instead of
living in a majestic temple or palace, He resides in a pitiful cesspool called our hearts. And the Little Infant grows
into a Man who takes His orders from His Father – and only says what He
commands Him to say. And His Father commands us: listen to Him!
Our mistake at Christmas is that we try to keep Christ in
Christmas. My pastor wisely said, let’s
not do that; let’s keep Christ in our hearts! Good advice. Christ, the Prophet
doesn’t deserve to be imprisoned in a holiday – or as a baby in a manger – or
even as a Savior nailed to a cross: He deserves our attention: listen to Him! He
came to free us from so much!
This Christmas, remember Christ the Prophet, who says
what God tells Him to say, and still speaks to our hearts to this very day: “Come
to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My
yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
(Matthew 11.28-30 NASB) Advent is a time to pay attention – are we?
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