Crystallization-Study of Deuteronomy
Message Seven
Christ—the True Prophet Typified by Moses
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Deut. 18:15 A Prophet will Jehovah your God raise up for you from your midst, from among your brothers, like me; you shall listen to Him.
2 Pet. 1:20-21 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of one’s own interpretation; for no prophecy was ever borne by the will of man, but men spoke from God while being borne by the Holy Spirit.
Word of Appetizer
What is the proper meaning of prophesying?
Prophets are God’s spokesmen; the function of the prophets is to speak for God; according to the Bible, the main function of a prophet is not to predict things that are coming but to speak for God and to speak forth God by God’s revelation.
No prophecy of Scripture is of the prophet’s or the writer’s exposition, for no prophecy was ever borne, or carried along, by the will of man; rather, men spoke from God while being borne by the Spirit.
Spiritual Burden
Today Christ as the Prophet is in us still speaking for God to reveal God and speaking God into people; if we are saturated with the Spirit, what we express will be our thought, but it will also be something of the Lord because we are one with Him; this is the experience of Christ as the Prophet living in us to speak for God and to speak forth God.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Prophets are God’s spokesmen.
Moses was a prophet, and as a prophet, he typifies Christ. The Old Testament prophet Moses prophesied, saying, “A Prophet will Jehovah your God raise up for you from your midst, from among your brothers, like me; you shall listen to Him”.
In His first coming, Christ ministered as the Prophet raised up by God.
As a prophet typifying Christ as the true Prophet, Moses might have spoken something of his own feeling, but even this became the word of God; his speaking in Deuteronomy was like Paul’s speaking in 1 Corinthians 7.
The Experience of Life
1 Cor. 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit; the New Testament principle of incarnation is, God and man, man and God, becoming one. If we are saturated with the Spirit, what we express will be our thought, but it will also be something of the Lord because we are one with Him; this is the experience of Christ as the Prophet living in us to speak for God and to speak forth God.
Practice and Application
First Corinthians 7 conveys the spirit of a person who loves the Lord, who cares for the Lord’s interests on earth, who is absolutely for the Lord and one with the Lord, and who in every respect is obedient, submissive, and satisfied with God and the circumstances arranged by Him. Paul certainly was absolutely for the Lord and one with Him. Even in expressing his opinion, he had the feeling that he also had the Spirit of God. This is the New Testament teaching, and the way we should follow today. Do not follow the superficial Pentecostal way to copy the Old Testament manner of prophesying. Instead, follow Paul’s way to touch the depths of the New Testament mystery. This mystery is that the Lord and we, we and the Lord, have become one spirit.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Deut. 18:15 A Prophet will Jehovah your God raise up for you from your midst, from among your brothers, like me; you shall listen to Him.
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord Jehovah will not do anything unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
2 Pet. 1:20-21 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of one’s own interpretation; for no prophecy was ever borne by the will of man, but men spoke from God while being borne by the Holy Spirit.
I. Prophets are God’s spokesmen
II. Moses was a prophet, and as a prophet, he typifies Christ
- The function of the prophets is to speak for God. According to the Bible, the main function of a prophet is not to predict things that are coming but to speak for God and to speak forth God by God’s revelation. God, who is a speaking God, spoke in the Old Testament to people in many portions and in many ways in the prophets.
- In his forty years of leading the children of Israel, Moses continually spoke to them for God; especially in Deuteronomy, Moses repeatedly spoke God’s words to the children of Israel.
- Moses, as the spokesman of God, was like an aged, loving father speaking to his children with much love and concern.
- Moses was a person not only soaked and saturated with the thought of God but also constituted with the speaking God Himself; therefore, the word that proceeded out of his mouth was the word of God spoken through this one spokesman.
Key Verses (2)
Deut. 18:18 A Prophet will I raise up for them from the midst of their brothers like you; and I will put My words in His mouth, and He will speak to them all that I command Him.
Acts 3:22-23 Moses said, “A Prophet will the Lord your God raise up unto you from your brothers, like me; Him shall you hear in whatever things He speaks to you. And it shall be that every soul who does not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.”
John 8:28 …I do nothing from Myself, but as My Father has taught Me, I speak these things.
Rev. 19:13 …His name is called the Word of God.
III. Moses prophesied that Jehovah would raise up a Prophet from their midst, from among their brothers
IV. In His first coming, Christ ministered as the Prophet raised up by God
- Jehovah would put His words in the mouth of the Prophet, who would speak all that God commanded Him. The Prophet raised up by God would be according to all that the children of Israel asked of Jehovah their God at Horeb.
- This indicates that God would raise up this Prophet through the incarnation of Christ to speak the word of God. From the midst of their brothers indicates that Christ as the coming Prophet would be human as well as divine.
- Acts 3:22-23 applies Deuteronomy 18:15-19 to Christ, who is God incarnated to be a man, indicating that Christ is the Prophet promised by God to His people, the children of Israel.
- Through incarnation Christ became the Prophet to speak the word of God. Christ is the Word of God and the speaking of God.
- During His earthly ministry, Christ also prophesied, predicted, by declaring the things that are coming. Today Christ as the Prophet is in us still speaking for God to reveal God and speaking God into people.
Key Verses (3)
1 Cor. 7:10 But to the married I charge, not I but the Lord, A wife must not be separated from her husband.
25 Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who has been shown mercy by the Lord to be faithful.
40 But she is more blessed if she so remains, according to my opinion; but I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
V. As a prophet typifying Christ as the true Prophet, Moses might have spoken something of his own feeling, but even this became the word of God; his speaking in Deuteronomy was like Paul’s speaking in 1 Corinthians 7
- Because Paul was a man constituted with God, his opinion became a part of God’s word as the divine revelation in the New Testament.
- First Corinthians 7 conveys the spirit of a person who loves the Lord, who cares for the Lord’s interests on earth, who is absolutely for the Lord and one with the Lord, and who in every respect is obedient, submissive, and satisfied with God and the circumstances arranged by Him.
- Because Paul was one with the Lord, when he spoke, the Lord spoke with him; thus, in 1 Corinthians 7 we have an example of the New Testament principle of incarnation.
- In 1 Corinthians 7:25 and 40 we see the highest spirituality—the spirituality of a person who is so one with the Lord and permeated with Him that even his opinion expresses the Lord’s mind.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 The function of the prophets is to speak for God (1 Cor. 14:31; 2 Tim. 4:2)
(Please illustrate that to prophesy is mainly to speak for God and to speak forth God; to predict, however, is secondary.)
T2 God is hidden, but through the speaking of the prophets, God Himself and His intention are made known (Isa. 45:15, 19; Heb. 1:1)
(Please illustrate that God, who is a speaking God, spoke in the Old Testament to people in many portions and in many ways in the prophets.)
D2
T1 Moses, as the spokesman of God (Deut. 18:15-19)
(Please illustrate how Moses functions as the spokesman of God.)
T2 Christ is in us speaking for God, speaking forth God, and speaking God into us (John 7:16; 8:28)
( Please illustrate that as God’s Prophet, He spoke for God, spoke forth God, and revealed God to the disciples. )
D3
T1 Moses prophesied that Jehovah would raise up a Prophet from their midst, from among their brothers (Deut. 18:15, 18a)
(Please illustrate that Christ is the Prophet promised by God to His people, the children of Israel.)
T2 In His first coming, Christ ministered as the Prophet raised up by God (Acts 3:22-23; 7:37)
(Please illustrate that during His earthly ministry, how Christ ministered as the Prophet.)
D4
T1 Moses’s speaking in Deuteronomy was like Paul’s speaking in 1 Corinthians 7 (1 Cor. 7:12, 25)
(Please illustrate that every word spoken by Moses in Deuteronomy was God’s word.)
T2 In his speaking, Paul was one with God (1 Cor. 6:17; 7:25)
(Please illustrate how is Paul’s speaking became a part of God’s word.)
D5
T1 The principle of incarnation is that God enters into man and mingles Himself with man to make man one with Himself (John 15:4-5)
(Please illustrate that in the Lord Jesus God and man spoke together as one.)
T2 The principle of incarnation—God speaks in man’s speaking (1 Cor. 7:10, 12, 25, 40)
(Please illustrate that in 1 Corinthians 7 how can we have an example of the New Testament principle of incarnation.)
D6
T1 The principle of incarnation—two persons living as one person (1 Cor. 7:25, 40, Gal. 2:20)
(How shall we see we see the highest spirituality in 1 Corinthians ?)
T2 Being saturated with the Spirit and one with Christ (1 Cor. 2:13; 6:17)
(Please illustrate the difference between the prophet in the Old Testament and New Testament.)
