“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.” -Deuteronomy 18:15
Many are familiar with the Messianic prophecies that came from prophets like Isaiah and Daniel. But some may not realize that Moses also prophesied about the coming Messiah. He told the Israelites that God was going to raise up a prophet like him. Most Jewish scholars and rabbis point to God’s various prophets as the ones who fulfill this prophecy. But those who lived in the first century recognized that this prophet was actually Jesus.
“Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’” -John 1:45
“‘If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.’” -John 5:46
“‘For Moses said, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you.”’” -Acts 3:22
Philip, Peter, Jesus Himself, and others knew the prophet like Moses was no ordinary prophet —He was the Christ. How is Jesus like Moses? First, Moses was a mediator between man and God. Specifically, to the nation of Israel, Moses would talk to the Lord on behalf of the people, often asking for God’s mercy. Moses also received instructions from God, which he relayed to the people. Today, Jesus is our only and perfect mediator. We do not need human intermediaries because we have direct access to the Son of God.
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus … .” -1 Timothy 2:5
Moses was also a rescuer. God called on Moses to deliver the Israelites from the oppression of Egypt. After a deluge of plagues and miracles, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. But it wasn’t long before the people began complaining about their time in the wilderness. On one occasion, God sent fiery serpents that bit and killed many of the Israelites. When Moses prayed to God, the Lord instructed him to raise up a bronze serpent on a pole so that anyone who looked at it after being bit would live. Moses saved earthly lives, but Jesus saves lives for eternity. His sacrifice on the cross allows all who look to Him for salvation to be redeemed.
“‘Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.’” -John 3:14-15
Now, while most Jewish scholars and rabbis believe various prophets fulfilled Moses’ prophecy, some believe the prophecy is referring to the Messiah. One such person was Rabbi Levi Ben Gershon, who drew this parallel between the Messiah and Moses:
“Moses, by the miracles which he wrought, brought a single nation to the worship of God, but the Messiah will draw all peoples to the worship of God.”
Rabbi Levi Ben Gershon did not know the Messiah is Jesus, but he was right. Moses drew the Israelites to God; Jesus is drawing all nations to Himself.
From the time of Moses’s death, it would be another 1,400 years before the Israelites met the prophet like him. Jesus may be like Moses in many ways, but He is the greater and perfect prophet, the one the nations have waited for.
“Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.” -Hebrews 3:3
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