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Deuteronomy 18:15-22
15 The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
16 According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
17 And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
This is the first of two sections in which we will study Christ as a prophet. Today, I would like to focus on, ironically, the prophecies about Christ being a prophet. In the second section (I & II Samuel), we will discuss Christ’s role as a prophet and even study some of His prophecies.
In the above passage, Moses is saying farewell to the children of Israel. He prepares the people for the coming of future prophets of God, the coming of future false prophets, and the coming of the greatest prophet the world has ever seen, the Messiah. We will just be looking at the coming of the greatest prophet in verse 15-18.
In the first verse of the passage, Moses foretells the coming of a Prophet like unto himself. This was brought about by the people saying that they did not want to hear the voice of God directly (v. 16). We now know this prophet to be Jesus.
Acts 3:20-24
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
But what makes Jesus like Moses as a prophet? And what makes Moses distinct from all of the rest of Israel’s prophets?
First and foremost, it is the intimate relationship that both Moses and Christ shared with God the Father. While many prophets had a relationship with God where God spoke to them, Moses had a relationship with God that was “face to face” (Deuteronomy 34:10) and “mouth to mouth” (Numbers 12:8). Jesus had this same intimate relationship with God (John 1:1-2).
Secondly, we see that each of them had the unique role of deliverer. Moses was tasked with delivering the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt (Exodus 3:10). Jesus is our deliverer out of the bondage of sin (Matthew 9:12-13).
A third and final role of both Moses and Christ is the role of intercessor for the people of God. Moses interceded on behalf of the people of Israel all throughout his time in leadership, including receiving the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:19). Jesus had this role of intercessor both when He was here on earth (John 17:6-26) and in heaven after His ascension (Romans 8:34).
God issues Moses a warning to give to the people of Israel in verses 18 and 19. First, God confirms that a Prophet like Moses would be raised up. But here comes the warning: whoever would not listen to the words of this Prophet, God would require it of him. This is a warning for all people to believe in Christ and to not disregard Him.
Next time, we will look at Christ in the book of Joshua as the Captain of our Salvation. Until then, God bless!!
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