Deuteronomy 18:15 (NKJV)
" The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear
1) According to this passage, in what ways was the Prophet supposed to "be like" or be "similar" to Moses in order to help the Jews to accurately identify him? What similarities did Moses have in mind?
2) What are the key events, qualities and aspects of Moses as a man and as a prophet that must exist in the life of the Prophet that was to come.
I recently did a paper on this subject.
There are a few points to discern first: The biggest of which is the decision regarding single or multiple referents. Was their only one person who was the fulfillment of the prophecy or multiple people who fulfilled the prophecy with one ultimate fulfillment. I come down on the side of only one referent--that the Messiah and only the Messiah would be the fulfillment.
Since this is a hermeneutics site the other issue is how does one find the links. Many writers have suggested numerous similarities between the two in sometimes long lists of similarities. That is the method the medieval Jewish commentators used to show Jesus was not the fulfillment of the Deuteronomy prophecy.
What is helpful is the four explicit statements found in the Deuteronomy passage (with verse 18-19 being a summary restatement):
He was to be a prophet (V.15)
He was to be an Israelite -- a son of Isaac and Jacob (V. 15)
He will be a lawgiver that is like Moses. The "unto him shall ye hearken" of the KJV. The Hebrew verb word certainly carries the primary idea of listening. It also carries the idea of obeying in some of its other uses within the book of Deuteronomy. Yoo-Hee Kim wrote an excellent dissertation called "Deut 18:15-22 reexamined within the context of the Pentateuch and in light of the final shape of the TaNaK," in which she argues that this verb, as it is used in Deuteronomy, suggests that the prophet will be speaking with an authority equal with YHWH. The Later prophets spoke on behalf of God so they would not have fulfilled this aspect. Whereas Jesus spoke as equal with God thereby fulfilling this aspect.
In Deut. 33-34 there is one additional idea that is explicitly stated. The prophet would speak face to face with God, which implies He would do so and live. Also depending on the date of authorship one holds, this might suggest that it was written much later in Israel's history thereby also excluding the other prophets (Deut. 34:10).
| Similarity | Moses | Jesus |
|---|---|---|
| Descendant of Jacob | Exodus 2:1-2 | Matthew 1:1-16; Luke 3:23-38 |
| Hunted by a king at birth | Exodus 1:15-2:10 | Matthew 2:13-23 |
| Son of a king (adopted) | Exodus 2:10 | Matthew 1:18-25, 16:16 |
| Sojourned in Egypt | Exodus 1:1-14, 2:11-15 | Matthew 2:13-15 |
| Shepherd | Exodus 3:1-10 | John 10:1-18 |
| Orchestrated the Passover | Exodus 12:1-14 | Matthew 26:17-30 |
| Led Israel out of slavery | Exodus 12:29-42 | Luke 4:18-19, John 8:34-36 |
| Baptized | Exodus 14:16-22 | Matthew 3:13-17 |
| Spent 40 years in the wilderness | Exodus 14:33-34 | Matthew 4:1-2 |
| Authority was challenged by jealous priests | Numbers 12:1-2 | Matthew 21:23-27, John 5:16-18, 8:53-58 |
| Mediated a covenant between God and man | Exodus 24:1-18 | Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:14-20 |
| Law keeper/giver/teacher | Exodus 20:1-17 | Matthew 5:17-20 |
| Performed miracles | Exodus 14:21-31, 15:25 | John 2:1-11, 4:46-54 |
| Intimate relationship with God | Exodus 33:11 | John 1:1-18, 10:30 |
| Interceded between God and Israel, to the point of sacrificing his life | Exodus 32:30-32 | Romans 5:6-11, Hebrews 9:11-28 |
| Body's location is unknown | Deuteronomy 34:6 | Acts 1:9-11 |
| Rejected by Israel | Exodus 2:14-15, 32:1-10 | Matthew 23:37-39, John 1:11, 7:3-5, 12:39-40 |
I'll end with John 5:45-47:
“But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”
EDIT - To remove Strong's numbers as they were unhelpful.
Deut. 18:18 - 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.
The coming prophet was first a minister (disciple?) of Moses:
Exo. 24:13 - And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
Josh. 3:7 - And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, I will be with thee.
Similarities of Moses and Joshua:
Exo. 2:1 - And there went a man of the house, of Levi, and took a daughter of Levi.
Exo. 2:2 - And the woman conceived, and bore a son [Moses]: and when she saw him that he goodly , she hid him three months.
Num. 13:8 - Of the tribe) of Ephraim, Oshea [eusho-Hosea] the son of Nun.
Num. 27:18 - And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;
Num. 27:20 - And thou [Moses] shalt put of thine honor, upon him [Joshua], that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.
Deut. 3:21 - And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms whither, thou passest.
Deut. 3:22 - Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you.
Deut. 3:28 - But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.
Deut. 31:7 - And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.
Deut. 31:8 - And the LORD, he that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Josh. 3:7 - And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel,) that they may know that, as I was with Moses, I will be with thee.
Deut. 34:10 - And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
-- Other verses make it sound like Joshua was with Moses when Moses was speaking f2f with Yahweh; however, perhaps Joshua was only a witness.
Exo. 24:13 - And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
Exo. 24:14 - And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until, we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them.
Exo. 33:8 - And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, all the people rose up, and stood every man his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.
Exo. 33:9 - And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood the door of the tabernacle, and talked with Moses.
Exo. 33:10 - And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshiped, every man his tent door.
Exo. 33:11 - And the LORD spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant **Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.
There seems to be no clear answer from the verse itself, or even the surrounding context.
Rashi skirts the problem by saying that "like me" modifies "from your midst" and "from your brethren". That is, God will raise you up a prophet from your brethren in your midst in the same way that I, Moses, am one of your brethren in your midst.
The Ramban continues that "from your brethren" and "from your midst" means not a foreigner and not even a son of Jacob resident of the diaspora.
Rabenu B'Chayeh continues this logic and says that "like me", "from your brethren" means a son of Jacob rather than a son of Esau or Ishamel, who are also called "brethren" (e.g. Numbers 20:14).
The Ibn Ezra and the Rashbam says that "like me" means that the prophet is a prophet of God, YHVH, and follows in the way of Moses regarding adherence to the commandments, and not a prophet of some other god or religion.
The Ramban says, based on Exodus 15:30-31, that the prophet must work some signs (although not necessarily miracles in the modern understanding of the term), as did Moses and Aaron.
We have a working example, as to what Moses intended, appointed by Moses himself, in the person of Joshua.
The distinguishing features of Moses, Joshua, the Judges and Samuel, is that they were all recognized and accepted national leaders in their lifetimes and not voices crying in the wilderness, or leaders of some fringe movement.1 None of them were anointed, and none of them were priests.
1. Not that their leadership of any of these prophet leaders was unchallenged, but it was never outright rejected by the nation. They were never deposed, sent into exile, or even killed in battle or murdered.
I believe Acts 3:21,22 emphatically rules out Jesus as being the prophet. Peter tells us Jesus must remain seated in heaven until the time of the restoration of all things, which is when the prophet will first appear. No doubt just a believer “raised up” and anointed at that time to impart some critical end time instructions. To say Jesus was the prophet is to diminish him. He is greater than Moses, not “like” him. John reports in his gospel that some Jews thought Jesus was the Messiah, others the prophet. It shows they saw them as two separate persons. As they did when questioning the Baptist.
