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Moses the Middleman
There are many who reject Jesus as the Messiah, claiming that they don’t need a middleman. Yet, if it wasn’t for Moses acting as an intermediary between the people and God, then the Hebrews would have remained as slaves in Egypt and never inherited the Promised Land.
Moses told them that there would arise a Prophet like him. -
The LORD your God will raise up to you a Prophet from the midst of you, of your brethren, like me; to Him you shall listen; (Deuteronomy 18:15).
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like you, and will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak to them all that I shall command Him (Deuteronomy 18:18).
Moses is referring to the Messiah, who according to Moses, would also operate like him; a worker of miracles and an intermediary. Jesus fulfilled both those roles. He also only spoke the words that God had given Him. -
Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? the words that I speak to you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwells in Me, He does the works (John 14:10).
Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me (John 7:16).
Then said Jesus to them, When you have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father has taught Me, I speak these things (John 8:28).
Jesus also affirmed that He was “The way, the Truth and the Life” and that no would come to the Father except by Him (John 14:6).
Moses also said that anyone who did not listen to the Prophet, it “would be required of him” -
And it shall come to pass, that whoever will not listen to My words which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him (Deuteronomy 18:19).
In other words, anyone who rejects the Messiah will suffer the consequences of that rejection, negating the benefits that come with accepting God’s plan of redemption through Jesus, which includes intimacy with God and eternal life.
Jesus operated as an intermediary between God and the people, speaking the words God gave Him and directing people toward the Promised Land of God’s Kingdom. And when Jesus fulfilled the Messiah’s role as Redeemer, laying down His life for the sins of the people (Isaiah 53), the reverberation of the enormity of that sacrifice caused the sun to go black and the earth to tremble in response (Mark 15:33,Matthew 27:51).
The mighty earthquake that was instigated at the moment of Jesus’ death, broke the beam that hung the thick curtain that separated the temple sanctuary from the Holy of Holies; the place where the high priest would enter once a year to make atonement for his sins and the sins of the people. As the great beam spit in two, it severed the thick curtain, tearing it apart, removing the barrier to that holy of places that represented heaven and the presence of God.
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, the Holy Spirit of God was released upon all who believe, enabling them to have the communion with God that the Holy of Holies represented.
The great miracle of the union between God and His people was accomplished through the intermediary that God had chosen, like Moses.
Jesus now sits at the right hand of God making intercession for His people; operating as our high priest, in the presence of Almighty God. -
Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yes rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us (Romans 8:34).
Those who still insist that they have no need of an intermediary remain trapped and enslaved by sins, unable to receive the inheritance of eternal life, the Promised Land that God has ordained to give to all who come to Him though the Messiah Jesus, a prophet like Moses, the Middleman.
Copyright 2023 by H.D. Shively