DEUTERONOMY 34

After the death of Moses, the record in Deuteronomy 34 says this: "Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face." (vs 11) As I read this, it dawned on me that many of God’s good friends are found in the Old Testament, before the testimony of Jesus.

I had never thought about that before, but it’s true, isn’t it? I mean, in the Old Testament, you have Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Job, Elijah, and David—all of whom, while not perfect, were noted as special friends of God. Moses, particularly, had the privilege of speaking face-to-face with Him.

How amazing that all of these people (who lived before Christ’s first advent) could have known God well enough to be His good friends—especially when we look at the Old Testament and sometimes claim that the revelation of God there is skewed. We say that Jesus had to come to clear up the record—and that’s true. Jesus came to clear up misunderstandings about God as well as to explain His law in fuller detail.

But Hebrews says this about Jesus’s testimony: "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son." (Heb 1:1-2) To me, this indicates that God has always been speaking; the communication from Jesus was simply one of the ways He has brought the message He’s been trying to give us all along. And it’s wonderful to discover that there were many who lived in Old Testament times who were able to get the message! They knew what God was like, even if those living around them were fuzzy on the details of His character.

God is consistent. His character is consistent. His love is consistent. How wonderful it is to know that we can always trust Him because He never changes.