This Weeks Passage: Deuteronomy 8:15-22

¹⁸ I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

¹⁹ And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

Deuteronomy 18:18-19

Explanation:

Their are two facts that the children of Isreal would have understood from this text.
Fact #1- The prophet would speak God’s Words.
The original readers of this text would have understood that God was raising up a prophet, beyond Moses to act as a revealer and a mediator between them and God. God was telling them through Moses that this coming prophet would say what God wanted Him to say (“…and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.”
Fact #2- The people would be responsible to obey God’s Words spoken by the prophet.
There will be times where the Old Testament prophet would speak on his own, and there would be times He would speak God’s Words. The authority wasn’t his own authority, but Gods. When “…he shall speak in my (God’s) name, I will require it of him”. Of course, when the prophet is Jesus Christ, the prophet that would come, He would speak on His own Authority. Why? Because He was God in the flesh. He was the Word. He came to reveal God to us. If people do not believe in Jesus God will hold them responsible for their sin!

Application:

We have the sufficient Word of God written down for us. We are so privileged in that we know what these people don’t know. The prophet that was to come for them was unfulfilled prophecy. For us it is written down and preserved revelation. It is substantiated by History. We have the Holy Spirit that wrote it down indwelling us helping to illuminate what He wrote. We are privileged.
We have a responsibility to obey. We will be held accountable for this revelation that we’ve been given. We must study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

Response:

1. How are you showing an understanding of the privilege you have in possessing the Word of God? What should a person with this privilege do?
2. How is it going in the area of obedience in your life?
3. What implications are there to knowing that God will hold those who do not “hearken unto His Words” responsible? What does that mean for you? For those around you?