“On the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year, Moshe spoke to the people of Isra’el, reviewing everything Adonai had ordered him to tell them. This was after he had defeated Sichon, king of the Emori, who lived in Heshbon, and ‘Og, king of Bashan, who lived in ‘Ashtarot, at Edre‘i. There, beyond the Yarden, in the land of Mo’av, Moshe took it upon himself to expound thisTorah and said:”-Deuteronomy 1:3-5
When one reads the Bible in its entirety, one cannot help but notice a distinct difference between how God presents His divine oracles in the Torah and how His chosen mediators Moses and Yeshua speak.
Whenever we encounter a divine oracle uttered by God, it usually starts off with the words “…then Hashem said” or “…Hashem told Moses” or something along those lines.
In other words, God’s personal name (the Tetragrammaton) is invoked as the one who has ordained and given authority to the words being spoken.
When God’s mediators speak however, there is a difference.
In the address Moses will give at Moab in Deuteronomy, he will speak of his own volition but as God’s chosen Mediator.
Recall this status was given to him at the Burning Bush when God told Moses that whatever he spoke it would be as if God Himself had spoken.
Let’s talk a little bit about what exactly an oracle is.
The general definition is that it is a direct and divine statement attributed to some deity.
And of course, the Biblical definition is that an oracle is an unequivocal divine statement attributed to HASHEM alone that…
…usually starts off with the words “and thus the Lord says…“.
Therefore, based on the biblical definition of what an “oracle” is, what Moses delivered here in Deuteronomy was NOT an oracle…
….and neither were Yeshua’s words in the New Testament…
…although trinitarian Christians will say they are because they hold to the idolatrous belief that Yeshua was literally God Himself in human flesh.
For some reason, this gets folks all hot and bothered.
Well, here’s another news flash for you.
The vast majority of the contents of the Bible are NOT direct oracles from HASHEM Himself.
Did you get that?
Let me say that again.
Most of the Bible are NOT oracles proceeding directly from the mouth of God Himself.
Instead, we get a lot history, parables, stories, poems, progressive revelation and a whole bunch of commentary ABOUT the Lord and how to apply His commandments.
Onward.
The main point I want to make is that here in the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses is speaking as God’s official Mediator.
Yes, his words are inspired but they are still his own words.
They are NOT new oracles coming from God.
We will see Moses recounting the wilderness journey and providing lengthy explanations of how the Torah for this new generation of Hebrews should be applied because he felt they needed it.
Most of the Israelites he is addressing here were either toddlers or hadn’t even been born yet when the Law was first given at Mount Sinai.
Now understand that when we come to Yeshua a couple of centuries forward, the exact same principle applies.
Yeshua is also speaking as God’s Mediator.
Yeshua never says he is adding new laws or changing old laws, quite the contrary actually.
Although, the gentile church incorrectly teaches that the J-man abolished the “Old” Law (that was given to Moses) and gave mankind a whole new set of teachings, Matthew 5:17-19 clearly states otherwise.
Instead, what Yeshua was really doing was wisely dividing God’s Laws that were given to Moses and holding them up to scrutiny against all of the traditions men had developed based on those laws…that were really against the spirit of the Torah.
Got it?
Yeshua was doing exactly what Moses is doing here in Deuteronomy.
He was expounding on the divinely intended meaning of the Torah.
And of course, he was showing how his coming was the fulfillment of the words of the prophets.
When you study Yeshua’s words in the NT carefully, it’s pretty clear that a good amount of what he says are simply repeats and reminders of what God spoke through the prophets or again are an exegesis on Moses’ Torah.
Where most Christians go wrong is jumping to the ridiculous conclusion that what Yeshua offered up and spoke was something brand new.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“For I did not speak on my own,
but the Father who sent me commanded
me to say all that I have spoken.”
-John 12:49
“Yeshua gave them this answer:
‘Very truly I tell you,
the son can do nothing by himself;
he can do only what he sees his Father doing,
because whatever the Father does
the son also does.'”
-John 5:19
“For there is only one God and one mediator
who can reconcile God and humanity-
the man Messiah Yeshua”
-1 Timothy 2:5
Leave a Reply