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Sorrow and pain were not part of God's original plan for man; these two negative realities came about as a result of sin. To the guilty woman He said, “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” (Genesis 3.16). To the guilty man He said, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3.17-19).

The need for comfort also swiftly became a timeless need of mankind. From the moment in time that humanity fell through sin, God set into motion an even older plan by which man's need for comfort could be satisfied. That first promise of comfort came just before He announced that sorrow would be a way of life for the human race; that promise went like this: “I will put enmity Between you [the serpent] and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3.15). This promise of comfort would find its eventual fulfilment through the Seed of woman, Jesus Christ.

Noah provided temporary refuge, but could not provide permanent relief from the sorrow that sin ushered into this world. Abraham was later to be known as the father of the faithful, but even he was not not capable of removing the sin debt of which we are all guilty. It is true, however, that God made great promises to Abraham concerning the permanent cancellation of that sin debt and it was through Abraham's seed that these promises would be fulfilled. Isaac, Abraham's son of promise, became a type of Christ when he was placed on the altar but that figurative act came up short when it came to giving relief to the burdened consciences of man. Joseph, Abraham's great grandson, also became the source of great comfort to the hungry masses of Egypt as well as to his own at kindred. But Joseph was not the means by which all nations of the earth would be blessed and through whom the effects of sin would be finally rolled away.

Moses! Here was a true leader and a man who listened intently to all that God said. He also faithfully delivered God's messages to the nation of Israel. However, great as Moses was and as great an impact as he had on his people, he was not the One! Hear what the great prophet Moses had to say: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.'” (Deuteronomy 18.15-18). Abiding comfort would come through that Prophet, not through Moses.

Israel looked expectantly for that Prophet for 15 centuries. When John the baptizer came on the scene, he was confronted with a series of questions, one being, “Are you the Prophet?” (see John 1.19-21). John answered properly in saying he was not the Prophet. However, some three year later, Peter looked back on the words of Moses and saw that they had been fulfilled in Jesus. (see Acts 3.22-23). Permanent and eternal comfort had come! God's great promises had been fulfilled!

Questions:

1. When Moses spoke of the Prophet that God would raise up, from whence was He to come?

2. According to Moses' words, how much of the will of God was that Prophet to deliver to the people?

3. John the baptizer was not the Prophet. What was John's relationship or function regarding the Prophet?

4. How does Jesus Christ provide comfort to humanity?

"The Way" from Kevin Pauley

The Second Sin