Deuteronomy 18:17-22: a reflection

17The LORD said to me, “They have well said that which they have spoken. 18I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. 19It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. 20But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.” 21You may say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?” 22When a prophet speaks in the LORD’s name, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him.

God promises Moses that he will raise up, in time, a prophet like Moses from among the people, in whose mouth God will put his words; and he warns that whoever will not listen to that prophet will be held accountable. This promise, of a prophet like Moses to whom the people must listen, points ultimately to Christ, God's final and greatest Prophet, in whom God has spoken his fullest and final word. To him, above all, we are to listen.

Notice the promise, and its call: God would raise up a prophet like Moses, and the people must listen to him. This was fulfilled, in part, in the prophets who followed; but it points beyond them to Christ, the Prophet in whom God has spoken his final word, to whom we are, above all, to listen. God has not left us without his word; he has spoken, ultimately, in Christ, and calls us to heed him. The prophet like Moses has come, in Christ; and the call is to listen to him.

That call, to listen to the Prophet God has raised up, comes to us in Christ. God has spoken his final word in his Son; and the great question is whether we will listen to him. We can hear many voices, and heed many words; but God's call is to listen, above all, to Christ, in whom he has spoken his fullest word. Do not treat the words of Christ as one voice among many, to be heeded or not as we please; he is the Prophet God promised, in whom God has spoken, and to him we are to listen. Give Christ's words the heed they deserve as God's own final word to us. God said he would raise up a Prophet to whom the people must listen; that Prophet has come, in Christ. Listen to him, above every other voice, as the One in whom God has spoken his final word.

Lord, you promised Moses that you would raise up a prophet like him, in whose mouth you would put your words, and that whoever would not listen to him would be held accountable; and this points ultimately to Christ, your final and greatest Prophet, to whom above all I am to listen. Show me that call, which comes to me in Christ. You have spoken your final word in your Son; and the great question is whether I will listen to him. I can hear many voices, and heed many words; but your call is to listen, above all, to Christ, in whom you have spoken your fullest word. Keep me from treating the words of Christ as one voice among many, to be heeded or not as I please; he is the Prophet you promised, in whom you have spoken, and to him I am to listen. Help me give Christ's words the heed they deserve as your own final word to me. You said you would raise up a Prophet to whom the people must listen; that Prophet has come, in Christ. Help me listen to him, Lord, above every other voice, as the One in whom you have spoken your final word.