In times past God communicated with the people, He did so through the mediation of angels. When God spoke to Hagar, the Angel of the LORD appeared to her in the wilderness (Genesis 16). When the LORD appeared to Abraham, when they were heading to Sodom, it was through three angels (Genesis 19) — one, the angel of the LORD. And to Moses in the desert of Sinai, “The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush.” (Exodus 3:2) Moses was then send to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to redeem His people from his hand; and He made Moses “as God to Pharaoh,” (Exodus 7:1) as he stretched forth His arm to save the people. And the law was given to Moses “having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator.” (Galatians 3:19) And it was the Angel that God sent before them into the land of Canaan to drive out their enemies before them; as it is written of Him: "Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him. But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.” (Exodus 23:20-22) This is the Angel who is greater than all angels, as it says, “My name is in Him”. An angel through which mediation is made; as it says, "If there is an angel as mediator for him, One out of a thousand, To remind a man what is right for him, Then let him be gracious to him, and say, 'Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom'; Let his flesh become fresher than in youth, Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor; Then he will pray to God, and He will accept him, That he may see His face with joy, And He may restore His righteousness to man.” (Job 33:23-26)
For why do men need a mediator? Why do we need someone to stand in the middle, between us and God? Is it not because God is holy? Is it not because He is Consuming Fire? When a man stands before a judge, he needs a lawyer to speak to the judge for him. Why? Because the judge sits with glory and his words are judgement. Who can change what he says? Would we not get ourselves into further trouble if we represented ourselves? As it says, “If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the strong one! And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him? Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty.” (Job 9:19-20) For God is Holy and He has created the heavens and the earth and filled them with all things. "He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him, That we may go to court together. There is no umpire between us, Who may lay his hand upon us both. Let Him remove His rod from me, And let not dread of Him terrify me. Then I would speak and not fear Him; But I am not like that in myself.” (Job 9:32-35)
And at one time God spoke to the people directly, and what was the result? Did they not fear death? As it is written, “Why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer, then we will die.” (Deuteronomy 5:25) And because of this, they sought for a mediator: someone to go in and come out of God’s Presence and speak what He tells him. For they said to Moses, You “Go near and hear all that the LORD our God says; then speak to us all that the LORD our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.” (Deuteronomy 5:27) And this thing pleased the LORD God when He heard it, and He said, “I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:28-29) (So we do well if we fear Him; and so it is because of the fear of God, we need a mediator.)
Then it was said to Moses that, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15) For Moses was a mediator between Israel and God; and he spoke to them the Words of God as a prophet; and the people asked for Moses to stand between them. As it is written, “This is according to all that you asked of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’” (Deuteronomy 18:16) And it pleased the LORD that they would ask for a mediator, and God gave the promise that someone like Moses would arise; as He says, "They have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15-19)
And furthermore, from the house of Amram, came Aaron, the brother of Moses; he was also to intercede on behalf of the people, to stand and minister between Israel and God. So God inaugurated a holy priesthood from the descendants of Aaron for this service. The priests were sprinkled with blood, their holy garments with the altar and the utensils; under the law, nearly everything was sprinkled with blood. And Moses, acted as God, to consecrate Aaron and his sons with blood and the holy anointing oil that they may draw near unto God for the people. It is evident that they acted on behalf of the people, for Aaron wore the names of the tribes of Israel over his heart, and upon his shoulders he bore the names of the children of Israel. For the common people could not draw near the tabernacle, For “Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, must die." (Numbers 17:13) For even two of Aaron’s sons, the priests, offered strange fire before the LORD and perished by fire and died. So only the priests were set apart for this service, and the people could not draw near themselves. And even when the priests of the LORD drew near to God, they risked their lives.
The work of the high priest was to make atonement for the people, through gifts and sacrifices and offerings to God, prescribed through the law. These were permitted to atone for the people’s sins, covering over them for a time; for that is what the word “atone” means, that is, “to cover”. For while God was covered from their eyes, they were covered of their sins; and their sins were not taken away, because the LORD was not yet revealed to them. So God made Aaron and Moses to be mediators between them until the fulness of time. And when a plague broke out against the people, Aaron “put on the incense and made atonement for the people. He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked.” (Numbers 16:47-48) So he mediated for them and provided atonement for the people when they sinned. For the people sinned, what could they do for themselves as they are polluted? "Who can make the clean out of the unclean?” (Job 14:4) It is the nature of the most holy to make holy what it touches; but it is the nature of the unclean to make everything it touches unclean.
But the LORD God was not pleased with the priesthood, for they kicked at the holy sacrifices; and the sons of Eli profaned His holy name through their wicked works; for they were children of Belial, worthless fellows, good for nothing. And the LORD God promised, “I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always.” (1 Samuel 2:35) And the sons of Eli with their father died the same day as a sign. For, “By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.” (Leviticus 10:3) So the LORD God was not pleased with the priesthood because they were unfaithful; and He sought for Himself a new one.
And yet further, the design of the tabernacle of the LORD was given to Moses on the mount. For he observed the substance of heavenly things with his eyes, yet when he created the tabernacle and everything in it, they were mere copies of heavenly things. And if only the priests could draw near to copies of heavenly things, how much less can any draw near to the reality of spiritual things? If Uzzah was put to death before the LORD when he put out his hand to steady the Ark of the Testimony (2 Samuel 6:6-7), and those who peered into it perished (1 Samuel 6:19), how much less can any human draw near to these copies which God’s Presence rests above? The high priest was only allowed once every year to enter the Most Holy Place, and never without blood (Hebrews 9:7), and never without incense to cover the Ark of the Covenant from his eyes. And when the priests ministered in the Tabernacle, the inner veil hid the Ark from their eyes. And furthermore, when the Ark was moved, the descendants of Kohath, the descendants of Levi, were required to cover the Ark with the inner veil (Numbers 4:5), lest they see the Ark and die. And they were not allowed to touch it, so they carried it with poles, “so that they will not touch the holy objects and die.” (Numbers 4:15)
For the inner veil and the incense were partitions between the priests and the Ark of the Covenant, so they would not see the Ark and die. “The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the present time.” (Hebrews 9:8-9) And a similar veil Moses wore over his face, because his face became bright from speaking with God face to face; so he wore a veil because the people “were afraid to come near him.” (Exodus 34:30) And “until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted.” (2 Corinthians 3:14) “To this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart.” (2 Corinthians 3:15) So if Moses was mediator between God and the people, and even he needed a veil over his face because of fear, then this signifies that more mediation is needed; “for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29)
Then a little bit later, in the time of the judges, Samuel was raised up to judge Israel. And in his days, the people asked for a king, as they asked previously for a mediator, Moses, but the LORD was not pleased with this. For they asked this thing, “Although the LORD your God was your king.” (1 Samuel 12:12) So they rejected Him and sought a king for themselves like the nations surrounding them. So Samuel gave them a king, Saul, and the king was to preform the duties of a mediator, to “judge us and go out before us and fight our battles." (1 Samuel 8:20) But after some time, Saul was rejected as king over Israel because he did not continue in the ways of the LORD, but rejected Him; and God sought for another king in his stead, as it is written: “The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you." (1 Samuel 13:14) As it was prophesied through Micah, "As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” (Micah 5:2) And as it is prophesied through the prophet Jeremiah about this Ruler who was to come; as he says, “‘Their leader shall be one of them, And their ruler shall come forth from their midst; And I will bring him near and he shall approach Me; For who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?' declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 30:21)
For if Esther, even the queen to the king, risked her life to approach the king in all his glory (Ester 4:11), how much do we risk our lives if we dare approach the Living God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords? "Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?" (1 Samuel 6:20) "Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?" (Isaiah 33:14) “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place?” (Psalms 24:3) If we tremble when we stand before a king, a ruler, or a judge, how will we be able to even stand before the Living and the Righteous Judge? If the heavens bow before Him, and the mountains melt like wax when they see Him, how will we not be consumed even by the appearing of His coming?
And finally: in a monarchy, the one who is second in command to the king is the king’s son. And he acts as mediator between the people and the king; no-one speaks to the king unless the son has heard it beforehand. In the days of the patriarch Jacob, Joseph was sold into Egypt by his brethren; but he was exalted as second in command — only Pharaoh was above him in all the land of Egypt. As Pharaoh says to Jospeh, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." (Genesis 41:44) So Joseph was given the position of Pharaoh’s son and mediator between Pharaoh and all the people. And Mordecai, the Jew, was exalted as second to King Ahasuerus (Ester 10:3), taking the form of the king’s son. And concerning the Seed, or the Son, Abraham was given a promise, “All the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your seed forever.” (Genesis 13:15) And again, "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." (Genesis 22:18)
Concerning the Seed, the Descendant, David was also given an everlasting promise: "I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.” (2 Samuel 7:12-15) And concerning the Son, it was foretold by Isaiah, “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) And again, through Isaiah the prophet, he says: “A child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)