The Promised One: Advent Day 7

Read & Journal

Today, we fast forward a bit through the timeline of Scripture to Moses. Read Deut. 18:15-22. The questions that follow will help guide you:

• Pause for a moment to mull over what you’ve read. How would you explain it in your own words to a friend?

• What does this passage teach you about God and his character?

• How does God’s work to rescue the Israelites through Moses point to Jesus?

• In Acts 3:22, Scripture reveals that the prophet Moses spoke of in these verses is the Messiah, Jesus. Why is that important to understand?

• Moses’ words point to Jesus’ incarnation; you know that Jesus has come and fulfilled the prophecy. How will you worship Jesus and thank God for this reality today?

Ponder

Renamed Israel, Jacob indeed became the father of many nations God had promised Abraham so many years before. Through his brothers’ betrayal, Jacob’s son Joseph found himself in Israel, first as a slave, then as a prisoner. But again and again, God’s favor shone of Joseph. The promise God had made was being fulfilled, even if it seemed unlikely or impossible at points. Joseph eventually rose to great power in Egypt and brought his family to the country to rescue them from a deathly famine.

But eventually, as the Israelites flourished in Egypt and their number increased, a pharaoh rose to power who did not know—or particularly care—about Joseph. The Israelites became a threat to be dealt with, and out of the chaos and confusion, God brought forth a leader: Moses. He wasn’t the leader anyone expected, maybe most of all Moses. Moses knew he wasn’t a good speaker and doubted his ability to lead the Israelites—after all, he’d grown up as an Egyptian prince and it wasn’t like he had the political cache with the Israelites to make them listen. But Moses was the leader God had chosen to lead his people out of slavery and back into the Promised Land, and God always keeps his promises.

Moses, adopted into the Egyptian royal family, gave up his privileges to rescue his people. Moses, who wasn’t particularly eloquent, powerful or charismatic—most people would have overlooked him in a list of potential rescuers—was the leader God had chosen to shepherd his people. And through Moses, God began to whisper the good news of the gospel: a Messiah will come and I will put my words in his mouth. A Rescuer is on the way, who will lead you out of sin and death forever.

In Bethlehem, God fulfilled that promise. The Messiah had come. Jesus, who set aside his “divine privileges” took the “humble position of a slave” (Phil. 2:7). Jesus became like us to lead us out of the slavery to sin and make a way for us to have a relationship with God. He is our Rescuer and Savior, but also the Way back to the Promised Land of a restored relationship with God. What we could never have done on our own, God has done completely in Jesus—just as he had promised through Moses so many years ago.