Deuteronomy 18:15 The LORD your God will raise up to you a Prophet from the middle of you, of your brothers, like to me; to him you shall listen;… I. THE OFFICE OF A PROPHET IN ANCIENT ISRAEL. He was the voice of God to the nation. 1. Prophets are found from the earliest times in Israel (Genesis 20:7; Psalm 105:15). In the times of the Judges (Judges 4:4, 6, 14; Judges 6:7). Samuel the founder of a settled order of prophets (Acts 3:24). Continued now in Christian ministry. 2. Note that God appoints prophets (or speakers), not the priests, as His representatives and specially commissioned messengers. 3. The awful responsibility of the speaker for God to say only what God has commanded. 4. The word of the prophet was to be tested by its fulfilment (ver. 22). II. THE PROMISE OF THE TEXT PERMANENTLY FULFILLED IN CHRIST. Applied by Christ and His apostles (Acts 3:22; Acts 5:37; John 5:46). 1. Christ and Moses alike in some points. (1) Both founders of God's kingdom. (2) Both received God's will from immediate and direct communion with God; not in visions, dreams, etc., like the other prophets. 2. Christ and Moses contrasted in other respects. (1) Moses a sinful man; Christ absolutely holy. (2) Moses gave the law which kills; Christ brought grace and truth, which take away sin. (3) Moses founded an outward worldly theocracy, which could only be imperfect and temporary; Christ a spiritual kingdom of God, which overcomes sin and death, and is eternal. (4) The relations of God to Moses were given among the terrors of Sinai, which men could not bear. Christ came veiling the splendours of God in His lowly humanity, and drawing men to Him. III. IMPERATIVE DUTY TO HEARKEN TO CHRIST (Matthew 17:5). (Cunningham Geikie, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; |
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