Deuteronomy 18:15-22 -

God speaking to man through man.

The Exposition, as well as the Commentaries of Jameson and Keil, may, with great advantage, be consulted on this passage, and also Hengstenberg's 'Christology,' vol. 1. pp. 96-107. Our brief homiletic sketches assume that the student has already mastered the exegesis, and comprehended the intent of the passage. Its connection with the preceding paragraph is obvious. The people had been warned against having recourse to familiar spirits, etc; on the ground that such practices were an abomination unto the Lord their God. But Moses would not only warn the people off the wrong ground, he would direct them to the right, by showing them the completeness of the Divine arrangements for supplying them from time to time with all the religious teaching they would require, in a way far more adapted to their condition and circumstances than by any unveiling of the secrets of the invisible world. They are reminded that when God came in grandeur to speak to them at Mount Sinai, they could not bear the sight nor the sound. They begged that Moses would speak to them, and not Jehovah; "lest we die," were their own words. So that it was clear they would be entirely unable to bear anything approximating to a full disclosure of the Divine. It must be toned and tempered within the limits of their capacities of reception and of their powers of endurance. Otherwise, it would fail of its end, by crushing those whom it was meant to train. Hence he who " knoweth our frame" graciously promises to speak hereafter to the people in their own dialect, as it were, and on their own level, by "raising them up a Prophet, from the midst of them, of their brethren, like unto Moses;" and thus would the needful messages from God be kept up, making it quite unnecessary for them to make use of unauthorized means of getting supernatural light. There would be, from time to time, one prophet raised up after another, culminating in him to whom they all gave witness. Thus our theme is," God speaking to man through man ."

I. UNLESS A DIVINE REVELATION WERE ATTEMPERED TO OUR WEAKNESS , WE COULD NOT BEAR IT . The cry of Israel at Sinai, "Let not God speak with us, lest we die," is a "touch of nature." No man could bear the full blaze of God's glory. Unless there were a "hiding of God's power," we should be crushed by the revelation of it. We could no more endure the full disclosure of the Divine than our eyes could bear to gaze on the splendors of a noonday sun. Hence God, "who knows our frame," and who, therefore, knows what we can bear, meets our weakness by his tender mercy.

II. IN ORDER THAT THE REVELATION MAY BE SUCH AS WE CAN RECEIVE , GOD HAS SPOKEN TO MEN THROUGH MAN . AS Sinai's terror, with the voice of Jehovah, was too much for Israel, Moses says, "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me." Each of these phrases is emphatic, and is intended as the antithesis to the notion of overwhelming force. The meaning of Moses is twofold.

1. There shall be from time to time a prophet sent to you, through whom you may hear the voice of God.

2. There shall be hereafter a great Prophet, who shall be to you as the living Voice of God; but he shall be also "of your brethren, like unto me." We know how true both are. There was from time to time a line of prophets who spake for God. There has come to earth a Prophet greater than all beside. They always pointed onward to another; he, never, save as a heavenly gift from him was by him held in reserve, even the gift of the Holy Ghost. Thus God has come into communion with our race, to reveal his mind and will.

III. NEW MESSAGES , COMING IN A WAY SO SUITED TO US , FROM SO CONDESCENDING A GOD , BRING THEIR OWN AUTHORITY WITH THEM . ( Deuteronomy 18:19 .) The message is not to be set at naught because the voice which speaks it is but human. If a prophet speaks only what the Lord hath spoken, though he may be a weak and frail instrument, though the burden of his message may be almost more than he can bear, yet, being borne along by the Holy Ghost to utter such words, they come with Divine authority. "The treasure is put into earthen vessels;" but though the vessel is earthy, the treasure is Divine.

IV. THIS AUTHORITY REACHES ITS CLIMAX IN THE MINISTRY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST . Such, surely, is the import of the scene known as "the Transfiguration" ( Matthew 17:1-27 .). Moses and Elias are there—the representatives of the Law and the prophets. They speak of the decease which Christ should accomplish at Jerusalem. Presently they vanish from the spot, and no one is left with the disciples save "Jesus only." Then a voice out of the cloud said, "Hear him ." In Acts 3:20-26 , we have the Apostle Peter's application of the very passage before us to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Prophet to whom all the rest did point. (See also Heb Acts 1:1 -31; and for New Testament teaching as to the authority of Christ, and the importance of hearing and obeying him, see Hebrews 2:1-18 ; Hebrews 9:1-28 ; Hebrews 10:1-39 .) So full is the revelation of God by Christ, that it is not only, revelation through him, but in him ( John 1:1-18 ).

From these four principles involved in the paragraph, there are four inferences which may be safely and profitably drawn.

1. If the voice of God speaks to us suitably and. adequately through the medium of human voices, then it is utterly needless for us to seek information and light by any forced attempts at gaining messages from the invisible world (see preceding Homily).

2. We are here furnished with a test as to what is truly a Divine message or no. There is, in fact, a twofold test. It is partly moral and partly physical.

3. Here is an antidote to fear. "Thou shalt not be afraid of him." What is the connection between this and the preceding? Is it not this? Suppose that the "prophet" declares that this or that is about to happen, do not give way to excitement and alarm. Follow the voice of God, of which you are sure, and obey that, and come what will, all is well with you. You can afford to do this; "Study to be quiet, and to do your own business," and whether what the prophet declares come to pass or no, you are sure to be safe, if you have maintained unswerving loyalty to God. Nothing can harm you. So with us under the New Testament dispensation. Many affix dates to this or that. We heed them not. We have but to "wait for the Son of God from heaven."

4. The reception of the Divine message is a part of that obedience which every man owes to high Heaven. Its acceptance is not merely the adoption of a number of opinions. Oh no! Opinions are one thing, convictions are another. A man "holds" opinions, but convictions "hold" a man. His conscience is held fast in their grip. Even so it is with those who receive the words of the living God as their guide through life to immortality. Their whole being is held firmly in their strong yet loving and tender hold. A skeptic once said to the writer, "I tell you candidly, that if I wanted to point out the best specimens of humanity, I should point to some of your way of thinking ." So he put it, "of your way of thinking." How little does the outsider or unbeliever dream of the hold the Father's words have on-us! Our whole being takes shape and outlook from them. Our fealty to him whom we know and love supremely, makes "the law of his mouth to be better to us than thousands of gold and silver."

HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR