The Prophet to Come – The Fifth Commandment

The Prophet to Come

The Fifth Commandment

Handling the revelation of God.

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.’”

Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 4:6; 2 Corinthians 3:12-18; 1 John 2:1-6

Given our sinfulness, we cannot approach God directly to gain the instruction and blessing we need each day. The people of God understood this at Mt. Horeb, and thus requested of Moses that he receive God’s instructions and deliver His Word to them. Here a pattern was established that continues until the new heavens and new earth. God promised that His ability to communicate with His people would not cease with the death of Moses. Instead, He would raise up a prophet after Moses but like him, one to whom God would speak directly, and through whom the revelation of God’s will would be made known to His people.

Ultimately, of course, the Lord Jesus is the one Mediator Who can bring us into the presence of God without fear, and make Him known to us, so that we are able to love and serve Him. But in these words of Moses a tradition of God speaking through prophets is established, a tradition which continues through to this day. While divine special revelation has ceased, in the form of Holy Scripture, still, those who handle that Word on behalf of the people of God—preachers, teachers, evangelists, and the like—bear a special responsibility to do their best to hear the Lord and to impart His Word faithfully (1 Tim. 2:15).

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.