Deuteronomy 18:15-20
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken.I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’
Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week, I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, song, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Old Testament reading for Sunday, January 28, comes from Deuteronomy chapter 18, verses 15 through 20. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers, it is to him, You shall listen just as you desire to the Lord your God at Horeb, on the day of the assembly, when you said, let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire anymore, lest I die. And the Lord said to me, they are right in what they have spoken, I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I commend him, and whoever will not listen to my words, that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my Name, that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. Here ends the reading. Deuteronomy is a long sermon that Moses gives to the people right before he goes up to the top of the mountain overlooking the Jordan River and dies. It's like a farewell address. And he tells them all sorts of things that they need to know gives them guidelines about what they're supposed to do in the Promised Land, sets up the blessings and the curses that God will give them if they follow the covenant, or break the covenant. And in this section, he is telling them about the Office of Prophet, the the idea of a prophet, we often think about a prophet like someone who predicts the future. And prophecy is all about knowing something that you shouldn't, or knowing the future or getting a word that comes from God. That is, it's about things that are mysterious. But the offensive Prophet throughout the Old Testament was just someone who proclaimed God's word to the kings, mostly, and to the people. And Moses, what he did is he simply spoke for God. And so that is the office of Prophet, and he says, The Lord God will raise up for you, a prophet, like me, from among you, from your brothers, it is to Him you shall listen. The Office of Prophet is for you. It is a voice of God, revealing God's will for the good of the people. Now, Moses goes on to say, just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb, on the day of the assembly, when you said, let me not hear again, the voice of the LORD my God, or see this great fire anymore, lest I die. Moses is referring to what happened at Mount Sinai, or otherwise known as Mount Horeb. God spoke directly to the people when he gave them the covenant right before Moses went up to the top. And the people were terrified, they were like, I don't want to hear the voice of the Lord. And so from that moment on, God speaks to Moses, and Moses speaks to the people. And so the people cried out, they didn't want to hear directly from God. So God shows prophets, from Moses on to speak to the people. And so God sets this situation up. And he says, I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all than I commend him. So this office of Prophet is the person who speaks God's word to the people. And we see this over and over and over again, throughout the Old Testament. People like Samuel who spoke God's word to the people, and then the prophet like Nathan, who spoke to David, and Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and Elijah and Jonah, and all sorts of prophets, who weren't just predicting the future, but who were proclaiming what God said to them, to the people, as he says, Thus says the Lord was their message. And so God gave this amazing office of profit for the good of his people so that they could hear God's word and listen. And he says, Whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will rock wire it of him. When we hear God's word, there's only one response, right? We're supposed to listen and obey. So when a prophet comes speaking in God's name, what are we to do? All we can do is listen and obey. And that's it. The problem in Israel was over and over and over again the story goes, a prophet would come, and people would not listen, they would not obey, and they would turn back to the false gods, and God would have to send some form of judgment. And it happened over and over and over again, until finally he sent in Babylon, to conquer them and carry them off into captivity. And it wasn't until he sent Babylon, that the people finally started to hear. And they returned to they returned from the from exile, and began to really dedicate themselves as a nation to God. So then he says up, whoever will not listen to my words, that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. And so God knows that he puts his own power, and his own his own requirements, behind speaking the Word. But there's a duty on the prophet as well. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my Name, that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. So there were was pretty aggressively punished. Those who would presume to speak for God, when He did not speak, or to speak for other gods, they were supposed to die. false prophecy was a really major crime in the life of Israel. And that ties into the command previously, right. If you do not listen to God's words, he will require accountability. Now, when you pair those things, it means that anyone who presumes to speak for God has an amazing requirement. They must speak only the words that God has spoken, only what God says. So there's no no wonder that God puts up this penalty for speaking. Now we in the Christian church, we look back at what Moses said, and we we know that we have the great Prophet, God raised up a prophet like Moses, in fact, greater than Moses in Jesus Christ, who is God's Word made flesh and revealed everything about, about the Father that we can know. And so the Hebrews tells us that God spoke in many in various ways through the prophets, but now in the last days, he has spoken to us through His Son. And so this great prophet is giving us all of God's Word. And so the church since then has been pointing back to Jesus and and listening to him as the basis for our proclamation as well. That's all we have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai