Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Hearing Voices
By the time the congregation assembles for corporate worship each week they will have heard a thousand voices speaking in their ear about what to do with their lives, their money, their children, their careers, their destinies. Those voices will tell them to live for the moment, or “have a great time.” Some of those voices will suggest that what really matters in life is to be happy. They will urge us to find new things that make us happy, even if it means blowing up our families. It seems impossible to imagine that anything a pastor says on a Sunday morning for twenty to thirty minutes would have the ability to make a meaningful difference for their lives in God.
As Moses was approaching the end of his life, he was urgent to secure the future of God’s people with a new leader. Who will stand between God and the people of Israel? Who will speak for God, so that the people find their way through the world in faithfulness and obedience? This is the dilemma of Moses, the people, and God. This is the call of God’s prophet.
By the end of Deuteronomy it will be said of Moses, “Never since has their arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.” (Deuteronomy 34:10, NRSV) But for the moment anxiety fills the air about the future. How can the people hear God’s word? Will the people heed God’s word? The Israelites are terrified of the intensity of seeing the Lord directly, or hearing his voice audibly. They desire a prophet. They want a voice who will mediate the voice of God.
This is God’s desire as well. The issue will be: just what is a prophet going forward, and how will the people discern the voice of God in the voice of the prophets? The prophet is not simply a fortune teller, or someone who predicts the future. The prophet is one who is called (by God), and the one who calls (the Israelites).
First, the prophet will need to summon the people to repentance. The prophet will call the people to come to terms with God’s law, with God’s commands, with God’s expectations for the covenant. Second, the prophet will be the only mediator of the covenant for God. They must listen to the prophet. To avoid what the prophet delivers is to ignore and reject the word of the Lord. Who can bear this? No one! Israel needs a prophet!
Why then must Israel and all God’s people have a prophet? Well, initially we must be clear that the divine-human relationship will never be finished with a single revelation of God (Deuteronomy 4:12). Yes, the voice of God at Mt. Horeb gave the people the Ten Commandments, but they cannot simply rest in that unfinished experience. It is not the last word for God’s people. The last word will be given in Jesus Christ. It will be Jesus who will fulfill these commandments fully and perfectly. It will be Jesus who will stand in the place of Israel, and deliver the faithfulness which God requires. The faithfulness of Jesus Christ will be the final word of revelation.
The prophet will also point us to God out of our weakness. The Lord understands human frailty, human sinfulness, human tragedy. The people of God need their prophet to have a fervent and vibrant relationship with God which is deeply personal. In this personal encounter the prophet can return to God’s people with a word of hope for the people’s brokenness. Nothing can replace this mediated word from God. Ultimately, the prophets who come after Moses will fail to capture the imagination and hearts of God’s people. God in human flesh must become the Great Prophet who calls the people to change their hearts and minds about the Father. The arrival of Jesus will surprise the religious leaders and the everyday worshipers of the synagogue. They will be amazed at the teaching of Jesus, for he was teaching them with authority, not like the legal experts.” (Mark 1:22, CEB)
Third, the prophet must be a member of the community. He must be one of them, even if they do not at first recognize his word. Prophets, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or Malachi will all be a voices that beg their own folks to turn from wickedness to righteous. They will not be in the pockets of the religious leaders whose hypocrisy continues to degrade the integrity of the witness of faithfulness. Prophets stand apart from the religious establishment, as if to say God is not pleased with any of you. All have sinned and fallen way short of God’s desires for humanity. Israel (and us) will know what the Lord requires: “to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8, CEB) So, it will finally be in the ministry of Jesus that justice happens for the people on the margins, for the oppressed, Jesus will have the heart of genuine faithful love among the people. Only the Lord will show all what it means to walk humbly with God, rather than to run away from God’s calling. (See Jonah)
Lastly, Yahweh will hold us accountable to the prophets words. In fact the Lord must hold his people accountable for the prophet’s words, because they are the Lord’s words. To ignore them; to dismiss them; to pass over them would be a mockery of the covenant, and a failure of God’s integrity. He promises, “I’ll raise up a prophet for them from among their fellow Israelites—one just like you (Moses). I’ll put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.” (Deuteronomy 18:18, CEB)
While the voices that seek to influence the people of God are numerous, it will be the voice of the prophet of God, which carries all the weight of significance. We cannot hide from the truth of God’s Word. Even the demons recognize the power of Jesus of Nazareth—God’s final word and revelation. The question will always be how do we discern the voice of the Prophet? How will we know it is the Lord’s Messiah who is speaking? Simply put Jesus will cast out evil spirits. He will heal the wounds and broken and defeated people. He will not work toward the power brokers of the day, or the ones who hoard their wealth. Jesus, the Great Prophet will be among outsiders, the hopeless, the impoverished. His teaching will confound the religious elites, but his words and actions will ring true to the empty hearts of desperate people. He will speak with the authority of God without fail, and Jesus alone will be the symbol of the simple truth: God keeps God’s promises.