Old Testament Prophecies Regarding the Messiah - Part Four (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18)

"The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren,
like unto me [Moses]; unto him ye shall hearken;... I [God] will raise them up a Prophet
from among their brethren, like unto thee [Moses], and will put my words in his mouth;
and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him."

Aside from Abraham, there is no greater figure in the life of the Jewish people than Moses. For while Abraham was the father of the nation, Moses was the architect, the builder and the sustainer of the nation. It was Moses who brought to the Hebrew children, the personal name of God (????) in Exodus 3:14. Moses was the man used by God to deliver the Israelites from slavery and lead them across the Red Sea. And it was Moses, who while not touching "the face of God," did encounter Him in such a way that we cannot even imagine (Exodus 33:17-23).

However, God promises that there would one day arise another prophet who would be equal to Moses. A man who will have the Words of God placed into his mouth. Who in the history of the Jewish people fits this description? David was a man after God's own heart but he was not a prophet. Isaiah, Elijah, and Elisha were all prophets but they did not command and control the lives of the people. These prophets were responsible for promising condemnation but not leading the people through and beyond the bonds of slavery. Therefore, this prophet like unto Moses has to be a special man - perhaps even a man who is also God himself.

John 1:45 describes Philip's affirmation of Jesus when he tells Nathaniel, "We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write." The people understand they are in the presence of a prophet - Luke 7:16 - after Jesus raises the widow's son from the dead. Peter's sermon in the Temple after the healing of the disabled man quotes directly from Deuteronomy in drawing the analogy to Jesus (Acts 3:22). Stephen, in Acts 7:37, does the same in his trial before the Sanhedrin.

However, all of these examples, while Scriptural and placed in the Word of God for a purpose, take a second place in regards to the evidence that Jesus is the prophet of whom Moses spoke. The primary piece of evidence comes from Moses himself when he joins Elijah at the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36).

But what of those Jewish people who do not believe in the teachings of the New Testament? The Gospels do not mean anything to those who do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. So what can a Christian do to illustrate that Jesus is the prophet promised to the people? First, we must use the Old Testament as examined earlier in this piece to show that no one in the Tanakh (Old Testament) fit the requirements to follow in Moses' footsteps. Second, we must use the Old Testament to show that not only was Jesus the successor to Moses' mantle but that he also fulfilled the Messianic prophecies. That is why this series is so important for both witnessing to the Jewish people and for understanding the Jewish roots of our Christian faith. Next week is especially relevant to this discussion when we examine Deuteronomy 21:23.

Next Week ... Deuteronomy 21:23