How God Has Spoken

Hebrews 1:1, 2

Presented by Bob DeWaayDecember 30, 2012

Hebrews 1:1, 2God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

The Bible says “God has spoken”

Exodus 3:2, 6 The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. . . He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

God appears tangibly to Moses

Exodus 19:19, 20 When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

God appears to assembled Israel

Exodus 20:1 Then God spoke all these words,

Deuteronomy 5:4 The LORD spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire,

God Speaks to His Assembled People

Exodus 20:18, 19 And all the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.”

Israel sees the need for a mediator

Deuteronomy 5:27, 28 “Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says; then speak to us all that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.” The Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, “I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken.”

God approves of Moses as mediator

Deuteronomy 18:16, 17This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ And the Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well.’

God’s Ordained Mediator is Necessary or We will Die In God’s Presence

God writes words on stone Exodus 31:18

When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.

Deuteronomy 18:14, 15For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.

At Issue: To Whom We Listen

Deuteronomy 18:18, 19“I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And it shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.”

The Prophet Will Speak God’s Words

Deuteronomy 18:20“But the prophet who shall speak a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he shall speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.”

The True Prophet Must Be Identified

Deuteronomy 18:21, 22“And you may say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

How False Prophets are Identified

Exodus 34:5 (NRSV)The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, “The LORD.”

God proclaims His name to Moses

Exodus 34:6Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;”

God proclaims his nature to Moses

Exodus 34:7“who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

God’s hesed lasts for thousands of

generations

John 1:14And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

God Raised Up the Prophet Moses Predicted Who “Tabernacled” Here

Mark 9:2, 3And six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them.

Transfiguration

Mark 9:4, 5And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

Peter Wants Three Tents of Meeting

Mark 9:6 – 8For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!” And all at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.

“Listen to Him” (Deut. 18:15)

John 5:45 – 47“Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Jesus’ Words are Authoritative

Jude 1:3Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.

“Once for All”

Hebrews 1:1, 2God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

The Bible says “God has spoken”

Hebrews 1:3And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high;

The Glory of the Exalted Christ