Was Mom Right Afterall? - Part 1 of 2

 

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 69 We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69)

 

Do the words of Jesus come with greater, equal, or less authority than the words of the apostles? Said another way, if a person would find a conflict between the words of Jesus and the words of Paul, which would have the controlling precedent?  

 

I seem to recall my mother telling me early in my life that she held the words of Jesus as greater authority in scripture because He was the Son of God. But was my mother right?  As I grew up, I learned that,

 

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work,” (2 Tim 3:16-17)

 

For the majority of my life I understood the phrase “All Scripture is inspired” to mean that all scripture had the same level of authority. However, I have come to understand that two passages in scripture can be both inspired, while at the same time, one can have precedence over another. Take the commandments as an example. All the commandments given through Moses came under the same inspiration of God. Yet some commandments are considered greater, while other commandments are considered lessor, subordinate to the greater commandments. If the Bible establishes a priority among the commandments, does the Bible also recognize a priority among the biblical authors? Do some authors speak with greater authority? If so, why?

MOSES AND THE PROPHETS

"Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend." (Ex 33:11)

 

It is clear from scripture that Moses had a unique relationship with the LORD. Scripture tell us that Moses spoke “face to face” with the LORD “just as a man speaks to his friend.” Of the Hebrew prophets, Moses is seen as pre-eminent, standing in a class by himself. Leviticus Rabbah states it this way,

 

“What was the distinction between Moses and the other prophets? The latter looked through nine specularia (windowpanes), whereas Moses looked only through one. They looked through a cloudy sepcularia, but Moses through one that was clear.” (Lev.R. I.14)

 

The relationship Moses had with the LORD was more intimate than any other prophet.  Ther LORD said in relationship to Moses, 

 

“If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the LORD,”

(Num 12:6-7)

The level of intimacy between the LORD and Moses elevates the writings of Moses to a position that is superior to the words of the prophets who followed because they only received the word of the LORD in visions and dreams. Even the great prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel received the word through visions, “I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts were coming up from the sea,” (Dan 7:2).

 

Since the prophets who followed Moses did not relate to the LORD in the same manner as Moses, “face to face” (Ex 33:11) and "mouth to mouth" (Num 12:7), the responsibility granted these prophets was to reiterate, magnify, and clarify the words given by Moses. The prophets were never given the authority to add or subtract from the original words. Moses cautioned those who followed by saying, “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you,” (Deut 4:2, 12:32).

 

The role of the prophets was reinforced by the beginning of the first book of prophecy where Joshua told the people, “ Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful where ever you go,” (Josh 1:7). The last book of prophecy concludes with a similar statement from Malichi, “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel,” (Mal 4:4). The beginning and ending of the prophetic books are seen to frame the purpose of the prophets, to reinforce the teachings of Moses. The rabbis said it this way,

“You shall not say another Moses will arise and bring us another Torah from heaven, I have already made it know to you that “it is not in heaven” (Deut 30:12), i.e., there is nothing left of it in heaven.” (Deut R. 8:6)

 

Consequently, “What the prophets were destined to prophesy in subsequent generations they received from Mount Sinai (i.e. Moses), (Exod. R. XXVIII.6).”

(to be continued - Scott)