Happy 1st Friday of Advent!

December 5, 2014

Deuteronomy 18:15-19

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”

17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.

This promise, given to the people of God many hundreds of years before Christ’s birth, points directly to Jesus. In fact, one picture of Jesus is as the “ultimate” Moses — the True Prophet. Jesus gives us God’s clearest message ever, for He is Emmanuel — God with us!   But Jesus also makes God accessible to us. He fully “contains” the fire from the mountain, God’s holy splendor, but still comes near to sinful and broken people. The One who comes down from the mountain and draws close to His people desires to come close to you today.

In what ways does God feel distant or unapproachable to you? Think about Jesus as the messenger of God, the perfect One, who brings God near to you. What stirs in your heart around that idea?

For Families:

Does God seem close to you or far away? Think about Jesus being very close to people. What would be good about that?