How is Christ better than Moses?

One of my great joys in teaching Old Testament History was my trip through the book of Exodus. It has now become one of those books I would love to teach someday. One of its treasures is its emphasis on the mediatorial role of Moses in leading Israel out of bondage into worship. The end for which Israel was delivered was the worship of the one true God (“Let my people go that they might serve me”, Exo. 5:1; 7:16; 8:1, 21; 9:1).

Moses mediatorial role in this endeavor is made very c lear in the last chapter of Exodus. Exodus 40 begins with God commanding Moses to erect the tabernacle and instructing him how to go about it (vv. 1-15). Over and over again God says to Moses, “You shall” (vv. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15). So the key phrase in the first fifteen verses is “you shall.” That is a very significant observation when you also observe that the key phrase in verses 16-33 is “as the LORD had commanded [so] Moses [did]” (vv. 16, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 32). The section ends by stating, “So Moses finished the work” (v. 33).

The significance of these two key phrases becomes apparent in verse 34. “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” All of Moses’ work and obedience to the LORD was with a view to seeing the presence of the LORD descend upon the tabernacle. His obedience was with a view to seeing the presence of the LORD dwell amidst the camp of Israel (its interesting that the tabernacle was situated at the very center of the camp of Israel). So it was through Moses’ obedience as Israel’s mediator that the presence of God entered the camp of His people.

But what of Jesus? The writer of Hebrews records that when Christ came into the world he said, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God.” In other words, Jesus said, “I have come to accomplish all that you have given me to do, O God.” It could be said of every action of Christ that he always did “as the LORD had commanded” him.

The c limax of Christ’s obedience as our Mediator is recorded for us in Matthew 27. In verse 50, Matthew states that Jesus “cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.” John tells us what it is that Jesus cried out, namely, “It is finished” (John 19:30). It is important that we connect these final words of Christ on the cross with what Exodus 40:33 says of Moses. “So Moses finished the work.”

It is important to make that connection because of what follows in both accounts. In Exodus 40:34, what follows is the presence of the LORD coming into the midst of the people. What follows in Matthew 27? “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” When Jesus cried “it is finished”, the curtain separating man from the presence of God was torn in two! Jesus is the better Moses in that he did not merely bring the presence of God into the “presence” (i.e. midst) of man. Rather, he brought man into the very presence of God! In Exodus 40:33-34, God comes into man’s midst. In Matthew 27:50-51, God brings man into His midst!

Think about how Israel must have felt as they saw the glory-presence of God descend upon and fill the tabernacle. They must have felt very strong, intense emotions of joy and awe. This was their experience as a result of the mediatorial work of Moses. What should our experience be as the result of the better mediatorial work of Christ?