“You Must Listen”
Deuteronomy 18:15-22
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Introduction: One of our deepest desires, whether we know it or not, innately set in us, is the desire to know the will of God. People struggle with how to do this every day of their lives. I remember when I was growing up, the Ouija board was one way that kids thought they could get answers to their questions. Or maybe the 8 ball that you ask questions to, and it gives you answers like: Signs point to yes; Reply hazy, try again; without a doubt; concentrate and ask again. People also search their horoscope, or go to a fortune teller.
It may seem pretty foolish to get answers to life in this way, but people so much want to know the will for their life, that they will seek it out most anywhere. The good news is that God wants us to know His will for our lives. So this morning I want to take some time to learn how to listen to God and understand why we need to listen to God, so that we can know God’s perfect and pleasing will.
I. Prophets- (Deuteronomy 18:15-22; Jeremiah 2:4-9; 2 Samuel 12:5-9)
a. A prophets call- Our passage for this morning starts off by
saying: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” It has been a regular practice for God to put people on this earth that are prophets, whose job it is, is to speak God’s truth to God’s people. The Israelites were not to listen to those who worshipped false gods, or who practiced sorcery. They were given the prophet so that through the prophet’s voice they would be guided to where God desired for them to be.
That is why God told the people in verse 18: “… I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command.” It is clear that the prophet was to listen to God, then speak these words to the people, and the people were to listen to the words of the prophet. In essence, the words of the prophet were the words of God, as if God was speaking them directly to the people.
But the people had to be careful, because even though it was the prophet’s job to speak words from God, it didn’t always happen that way. That is why Deuteronomy 18:20 says, “But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.” The requirement of being a prophet was 100% faithfulness, and 100% accuracy. That wouldn’t be a problem if you were hearing the voice of God, and repeating God’s words. But if you were making it up, or had gone astray, then you would pay a heavy price.
Why was the price so heavy? Because by speaking false words, you would be leading the people astray. Finding our way in this world is hard enough without having someone, who is supposed to be speaking from God, leading you astray.
So a prophet’s job wasn’t easy. First, you had to make sure you heard the words of God correctly. Then you had to speak those words to God’s people. More often than not, those words were not encouraging words, but rather words that challenged or rebuked the people for their misbehavior.
b. A prophet’s faithfulness- The prophet had to be faithful in the
midst of the people’s rebellion; in the midst of the people’s anger from being rebuked; in the midst of the calamity that God’s people often faced. A prophet had to be the voice of truth, the voice of reason, and the voice of correction.
Example- In Jeremiah 2:4-8 we hear the prophet Jeremiah say to the people: “Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, all you clans of the house of Israel. 5 This is what the LORD says: ‘What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. 6 They did not ask, 'Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and rifts, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?' 7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. 8 The priests did not ask, 'Where is the LORD?' Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols. 9 Therefore I bring charges against you again,’ declares the LORD…” Jeremiah is rebuking the people on behalf of the Lord for following in their ancestors footsteps of not trusting God, and going astray from His will.
Second example- God also used prophets to speak to individuals, like when Nathan had to speak to King David concerning David’s sin. If you remember, King David was taken by the beauty of Bathsheeba. Even though she was married, King David wanted to sleep with her. So when her husband went off to fight the battle, King David had Bathsheeba brought to his palace, where he did sleep with her and where she became pregnant by him. King David brought her husband Uzziah home and hoped he would sleep with his wife, thus trying to cover up his sin. But Uzziah was concerned with the battle and his fellow soldiers, and would not dishonor them by sleeping with his wife. So King David had Uzziah sent to the front lines of the battle where he was killed, then King David took Bathsheeba as his wife.
God was not pleased with King David’s actions, and so God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke King David. Of course, Nathan had to be careful how he did this, or he could lose his life. So Nathan constructs a story of a rich man who had many flocks, and a poor man who had but one little ewe lamb. One day a traveler comes along, and the rich man doesn’t want to kill one of his own flock for the meal, so he takes the ewe lamb from the poor man and cooks it for the meal. We pick it up in
2 Samuel 12:5-9, “Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. David said to Nathan, ‘As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die. He shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.’ Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own..”
In the end King David was convicted by Nathan and repented. The prophet’s job was not an easy one.
II. Jesus- (Deuteronomy 18:15; John 6:14, 14:24; Acts 3:22; 1 Cor. 2:16)
a. Having the mind of God- If you look closely at Deuteronomy
18:15 you will see that the verse references something else as well. Let’s read it again: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” The verse is speaking of the succession of prophets that God will use throughout the years. But there was a time when the voice of prophecy fell silent, in between the Old Testament times and the New Testament. This term “a prophet” was recognized as a messianic title; a title for the coming of Jesus.
When Jesus came upon the scene, the crowds said in John 6:14, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” And after Jesus had left this earth, in one of Peter’s early sermons we read in Acts 3:22 Peter quoting from Deuteronomy 18:15 referring to Jesus as “the Prophet” who was to come. Although Jesus was more than just a prophet, so not just one more prophet in the succession of prophets, He was the fulfillment of this prophecy given to us by Moses in Deuteronomy.
How was Jesus a prophet? Let me give you a couple of ways: first, Jesus listened to God, and brought to us all that was from God. That is why Jesus said in John 14:24, “…These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” Jesus went around speaking the truth of the Father and rebuking people of their sin in the name of Father. In this way, Jesus was a prophet.
Second, Jesus had the mind of God, and wanted to pass that on to us. Since Jesus was God in the flesh, He had the Spirit of God residing in Him. So even more than the prophets of old, Jesus knew the mind of God, and was able to speak God’s words to us with complete accuracy and authority.
Jesus wanted us to know that in and through Him, we could discern what was from God, and what was not. Paul, speaking on behalf of God, tells us this in
1 Corinthians 2:16, “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” By having the mind of Christ we can hear what Christ speaks to us, and know what is and isn’t God’s truth to us!
b. Why we need to listen- So we know that we can listen to God,
and discern God’s ways. The question is, will we? Why do we need to listen to God? We need to listen because there are many voices out there telling us what we should do, what we could do, what they want us to do. But not everything we are told to do is good for us to do, or will benefit us, and others. Let me play a VIDEO CLIP for you about a dog named “Ricochet.” This clip illustrates this point powerfully….
(http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=BGODurRfVv4)
We need to listen to God so that we can choose to do what God calls us to do; choose what God has created us to do. Sometimes to know what God is calling us to do, we have to be convicted of the sin that is in our lives, which is keeping us from stepping out for God. God provides people in our lives (ministers, prophets, friends, teachers) who help us to get right with God so that we can listen to God; who speak the words of God so that we won’t miss what God has to say to us.
Conclusion: This text in Deuteronomy reminds us that God has chosen to speak to us and wants us to listen. If we will choose to listen, then we will be much better off because we did. Just like God spoke to the Israelites so that they might know what they were to do, and keep them from going astray, so God speaks to us. We must listen. Amen.
Deuteronomy 18:15-22
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Introduction: One of our deepest desires, whether we know it or not, innately set in us, is the desire to know the will of God. People struggle with how to do this every day of their lives. I remember when I was growing up, the Ouija board was one way that kids thought they could get answers to their questions. Or maybe the 8 ball that you ask questions to, and it gives you answers like: Signs point to yes; Reply hazy, try again; without a doubt; concentrate and ask again. People also search their horoscope, or go to a fortune teller.
It may seem pretty foolish to get answers to life in this way, but people so much want to know the will for their life, that they will seek it out most anywhere. The good news is that God wants us to know His will for our lives. So this morning I want to take some time to learn how to listen to God and understand why we need to listen to God, so that we can know God’s perfect and pleasing will.
I. Prophets- (Deuteronomy 18:15-22; Jeremiah 2:4-9; 2 Samuel 12:5-9)
a. A prophets call- Our passage for this morning starts off by
saying: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” It has been a regular practice for God to put people on this earth that are prophets, whose job it is, is to speak God’s truth to God’s people. The Israelites were not to listen to those who worshipped false gods, or who practiced sorcery. They were given the prophet so that through the prophet’s voice they would be guided to where God desired for them to be.
That is why God told the people in verse 18: “… I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command.” It is clear that the prophet was to listen to God, then speak these words to the people, and the people were to listen to the words of the prophet. In essence, the words of the prophet were the words of God, as if God was speaking them directly to the people.
But the people had to be careful, because even though it was the prophet’s job to speak words from God, it didn’t always happen that way. That is why Deuteronomy 18:20 says, “But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.” The requirement of being a prophet was 100% faithfulness, and 100% accuracy. That wouldn’t be a problem if you were hearing the voice of God, and repeating God’s words. But if you were making it up, or had gone astray, then you would pay a heavy price.
Why was the price so heavy? Because by speaking false words, you would be leading the people astray. Finding our way in this world is hard enough without having someone, who is supposed to be speaking from God, leading you astray.
So a prophet’s job wasn’t easy. First, you had to make sure you heard the words of God correctly. Then you had to speak those words to God’s people. More often than not, those words were not encouraging words, but rather words that challenged or rebuked the people for their misbehavior.
b. A prophet’s faithfulness- The prophet had to be faithful in the
midst of the people’s rebellion; in the midst of the people’s anger from being rebuked; in the midst of the calamity that God’s people often faced. A prophet had to be the voice of truth, the voice of reason, and the voice of correction.
Example- In Jeremiah 2:4-8 we hear the prophet Jeremiah say to the people: “Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, all you clans of the house of Israel. 5 This is what the LORD says: ‘What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. 6 They did not ask, 'Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and rifts, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?' 7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. 8 The priests did not ask, 'Where is the LORD?' Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols. 9 Therefore I bring charges against you again,’ declares the LORD…” Jeremiah is rebuking the people on behalf of the Lord for following in their ancestors footsteps of not trusting God, and going astray from His will.
Second example- God also used prophets to speak to individuals, like when Nathan had to speak to King David concerning David’s sin. If you remember, King David was taken by the beauty of Bathsheeba. Even though she was married, King David wanted to sleep with her. So when her husband went off to fight the battle, King David had Bathsheeba brought to his palace, where he did sleep with her and where she became pregnant by him. King David brought her husband Uzziah home and hoped he would sleep with his wife, thus trying to cover up his sin. But Uzziah was concerned with the battle and his fellow soldiers, and would not dishonor them by sleeping with his wife. So King David had Uzziah sent to the front lines of the battle where he was killed, then King David took Bathsheeba as his wife.
God was not pleased with King David’s actions, and so God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke King David. Of course, Nathan had to be careful how he did this, or he could lose his life. So Nathan constructs a story of a rich man who had many flocks, and a poor man who had but one little ewe lamb. One day a traveler comes along, and the rich man doesn’t want to kill one of his own flock for the meal, so he takes the ewe lamb from the poor man and cooks it for the meal. We pick it up in
2 Samuel 12:5-9, “Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. David said to Nathan, ‘As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die. He shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.’ Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own..”
In the end King David was convicted by Nathan and repented. The prophet’s job was not an easy one.
II. Jesus- (Deuteronomy 18:15; John 6:14, 14:24; Acts 3:22; 1 Cor. 2:16)
a. Having the mind of God- If you look closely at Deuteronomy
18:15 you will see that the verse references something else as well. Let’s read it again: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” The verse is speaking of the succession of prophets that God will use throughout the years. But there was a time when the voice of prophecy fell silent, in between the Old Testament times and the New Testament. This term “a prophet” was recognized as a messianic title; a title for the coming of Jesus.
When Jesus came upon the scene, the crowds said in John 6:14, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” And after Jesus had left this earth, in one of Peter’s early sermons we read in Acts 3:22 Peter quoting from Deuteronomy 18:15 referring to Jesus as “the Prophet” who was to come. Although Jesus was more than just a prophet, so not just one more prophet in the succession of prophets, He was the fulfillment of this prophecy given to us by Moses in Deuteronomy.
How was Jesus a prophet? Let me give you a couple of ways: first, Jesus listened to God, and brought to us all that was from God. That is why Jesus said in John 14:24, “…These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” Jesus went around speaking the truth of the Father and rebuking people of their sin in the name of Father. In this way, Jesus was a prophet.
Second, Jesus had the mind of God, and wanted to pass that on to us. Since Jesus was God in the flesh, He had the Spirit of God residing in Him. So even more than the prophets of old, Jesus knew the mind of God, and was able to speak God’s words to us with complete accuracy and authority.
Jesus wanted us to know that in and through Him, we could discern what was from God, and what was not. Paul, speaking on behalf of God, tells us this in
1 Corinthians 2:16, “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” By having the mind of Christ we can hear what Christ speaks to us, and know what is and isn’t God’s truth to us!
b. Why we need to listen- So we know that we can listen to God,
and discern God’s ways. The question is, will we? Why do we need to listen to God? We need to listen because there are many voices out there telling us what we should do, what we could do, what they want us to do. But not everything we are told to do is good for us to do, or will benefit us, and others. Let me play a VIDEO CLIP for you about a dog named “Ricochet.” This clip illustrates this point powerfully….
(http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=BGODurRfVv4)
We need to listen to God so that we can choose to do what God calls us to do; choose what God has created us to do. Sometimes to know what God is calling us to do, we have to be convicted of the sin that is in our lives, which is keeping us from stepping out for God. God provides people in our lives (ministers, prophets, friends, teachers) who help us to get right with God so that we can listen to God; who speak the words of God so that we won’t miss what God has to say to us.
Conclusion: This text in Deuteronomy reminds us that God has chosen to speak to us and wants us to listen. If we will choose to listen, then we will be much better off because we did. Just like God spoke to the Israelites so that they might know what they were to do, and keep them from going astray, so God speaks to us. We must listen. Amen.
posted by Logan's Blog at 6:04 PM
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