On the Road to Bethlehem #6: The Prophet Like Moses

"The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.' And the LORD said to me, 'They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.”—Deuteronomy 18:15-19

Along the road to Bethlehem are signposts for God’s coming Messiah—He would be a descendant of Eve who would crush Satan underfoot, the God who would dwell among men, and a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah who would rule the world. He would also be a prophet, and not just any prophet, but a prophet like Moses (v. 15, 18). Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. comments,

“The coming prophet would be (1) an Israelite (‘of your brothers’; Dt. 18:15, 18); (2) ‘like’ Moses (vv. 15,18); and (3) authorized to declare God’s word with authority (vv. 18-19). He would enjoy unusually intimate fellowship with the Father, just as Moses talked with God on the mountain ‘face to face’ (34:10). He would perform miracles in public before the nations, as Moses had done (34:11-12), not in private, as Elijah and Elisha for the most part did. He would be a lawgiver exactly as Moses had given the Ten Commandments, and a mediator who would pray as earnestly for his people as Moses did for Israel’s preservation (Ex 32:11ff., 31-35). He would also be a deliverer, just as Moses had been used by God to deliver his people from slavery in Egypt.”—Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., The Messiah In The Old Testament, p. 60.

Who was this prophet? It was none other than Jesus! The New Testament confirms it. After meeting Jesus, Philip went and told Nathanael, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph"—John 1:45. And after witnessing Jesus feed the five thousand, John records the people exclaiming, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!"—John 6:14. And again, just one chapter later, John describes the people again identifying Jesus as the Prophet (John 7:40).

But, the identification of Jesus as the prophet whom Moses spoke about is not limited to the Gospels. In the book of Acts, Luke records Peter’s second sermon with him quoting Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19 and attributing it to Jesus (Acts 3:11-26). Stephen, in his wonderful overview of the Old Testament and God’s promise plan, made the same connection (Acts 7:37).

Jesus is the prophet of whom Moses prophesied. He was the one who would declare God’s Word with authority and deliver God’s people from the bondage of sin! May God open our eyes to the wonders contained within His Word! And may we live our lives in the knowledge that if God can set the pieces into place concerning His Son, thousands of years before His arrival, how much more can He handle the details of our lives! Amen.