A New Prophet- Deuteronomy 18:15-22
We are the New Testament Church. As such, we like to study the New Testament. After all, that’s where we learn about Jesus. That’s where we see how the church was formed. That’s the part that prepares us for what’s to come.
Sometimes, we get so caught up in this that we neglect the Old Testament. I’ve known some people who maintain that the Old Testament God is a God of wrath while the New Testament God is a God of grace, so they’d rather spend their time in the New. Never mind that it’s the same God in both testaments.
At my previous church, I recommended to the elders that we implement using a Sunday school curriculum that had age-appropriate lessons where everyone learned from the same text and then I would preach from that text that morning. I did this for two reasons- one, it gave families a common theme for discussion through the week. Two, I had been warned multiple times as I was starting at that church to make sure I wasn’t targeting people with my message. Choosing the text by the curriculum allowed me to point out that I wasn’t picking passages to get after people.
Even then, it never failed. The curriculum alternated between the Old and New Testaments each quarter. I’d get a couple weeks into the Old Testament texts and one of our leaders would approach me to ask when we’re getting back to the New Testament. He wanted me to focus more on the love of God and not the wrath of the Old Testament God. Mind you, the last time this happened I had just finished preaching about the 10 Commandments by flipping the Thou shall nots into here’s what to do- there was no wrath in the messages I was preaching.
So why are we spending time in the Old Testament now? Paul wrote this to the Corinthian church (read 1 Corinthians 10:1-6). We need to spend time in the Old Testament to learn from the history of Israel and, hopefully, avoid their mistakes.
In our passage today, Moses is addressing the people. God has already told him he won’t be going into the promised land. He knows his days are coming to an end. The book of Deuteronomy records Moses’ speeches preparing the people for the time when he will no longer be there to lead. He goes over the laws and statutes for following God, encouraging the people to remain loyal to God. Here, Moses informs Israel that God has promised a new prophet who will be like Moses.
Why is this new prophet needed? Obviously, Moses’ days of leadership are about to come to an end. Israel will need someone to fill his sandals. Moses relays a conversation he had with God where God had commended the people of Israel for displaying a proper fear towards Him.
In Exodus 19 and 20, about three months into the exodus, God calls Moses to consecrate the people for three days. On the third day, God is going to come down to the mountain to establish that Israel will be His people and He will be their God. On the third day, God shows up big time! Thunder and lightning came crashing down. The mountain begins to shake, a trumpet blasts louder and louder and louder, and the mountain is covered in smoke as God comes down in fire. God calls Moses up the mountain, then sends him back to the people to remind them to maintain their boundaries from the mountain.
And then God speaks so ALL the people hear. With what a imagine to be a large, booming voice, God presents the 10 Commandments for all of Israel to hear. The people are overwhelmed with fear, so they beg Moses to go talk with God on their behalf. Deuteronomy 5 reveals that they feared that by having seen God, they will now be doomed to die.
God appreciated this attitude, this recognition that we’re not worthy to stand face-to-face with God. He acknowledges here that the people need a go-between, a spokesperson on their behalf to communicate with God. That is the role Moses had played for several years. He does so now as he climbs the mountain to receive the tablets with the 10 Commandments, he continues to do so as he enters the tabernacle for a regular visit with God (read Exodus 33:9-11). God would talk directly with Moses and Moses would pass along the message.
By promising a new prophet, God is reassuring His people that there will be another spokesperson acting on their behalf. But how will they recognize this new prophet?
First, for the new prophet to be like Moses, he would have to be raised from among their brothers (v 15). Now, Exodus 6:16-25 provides the genealogy of Levi, one of the sons of Jacob (Israel), to establish that Moses is a Hebrew. In case there was any doubt of his identity, we’re told in Exodus 6:26 (read). This new prophet will also need to come from Israel if he’s going to be like Moses.
Second, for the new prophet to be like Moses, he must be recognized as authoritative and therefore, listened to. Moses proves his authority came from God in Numbers 16. Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On gather 250 chiefs in rebellion against Moses. They confront Moses and Aaron, pointing out that the entire assembly before God is holy, God is with us too, who are you to exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord? Moses tells them they’ve gone too far, that God appointed him. To prove it, he tells all 250+ people to take censers, put fire in them, place incense on the fires, and then we’ll let God show which of us He has chosen to lead. When the time comes, Korah gathers all of Israel to witness the downfall of Moses. God tells Moses and Aaron to step back from the assembly so He can take them all out, but Moses pleads for the lives of the innocent. God has Moses tell the people to step back from Korah and his cronies (read Numbers 16:28-30).
No sooner had the words come out of Moses’ mouth, than the earth opens up and swallows Korah, Dathan, Abiram and all their household. Then fire came out from God and consumed the 250 chiefs. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I had witnessed these events, I’d be listening to Moses from then on. But the people of Israel actually had the nerve to complain that Moses had killed some of the people of the Lord. Aaron had to intervene with incense to stop the plague that God sent as a consequence, but nearly 15,000 people died because of their rebellion. God’s prophet must be listened to.
Third, for the new prophet to be like Moses, he must have a face-to-face relationship with God. Exodus 33 describes how Moses would consult God. He kept the tabernacle outside the camp. People would watch as Moses would enter the tent and see God descend on the tent in a cloud. As the people would worship, God would talk with Moses (read Exodus 33:11a). God spoke with Moses as one would talk with a good friend.
Who will this new prophet be? Some Jews claim that Joshua filled this role as he was Moses’ successor. However, Deuteronomy 34:10 says (read). Joshua would have been present when those words were written. If he was the promised new prophet, he should have stopped them from being written. More importantly, considering that all scripture is inspired by God, God would have stopped those words from being written if he had Joshua in mind as the fulfillment.
Some evangelical scholars claim there was a succession of several prophets who filled this role- men like Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, etc. However, God didn’t promise multiple new prophets like Moses. The word is singular. Besides, no other Old Testament prophet exercised the legislative, executive, and priestly authority exercised by Moses.
The Muslims try to use this passage from the Torah to point to Muhammed as the promised new prophet. But Muhammed was not from Israel and we’re never told of a time he came face-to-face with God. Therefore, he cannot be considered to have been like Moses.
Peter tells us that it’s Jesus (read Acts 3:22-26). He quotes Moses’ statement about raising up a prophet like him and then Peter points to Jesus. He adds that the succession of prophets speaking for God pointed to Jesus. God raised Jesus up from the grave and sent Him first to the Jews to give them the opportunity to turn away from their wickedness.
How does Jesus line up with the traits Moses prophesied? Like Moses, Jesus is a descendant of Israel, from among their brothers. Matthew and Luke both trace the genealogy of Jesus, Matthew goes back to Abraham and Luke goes all the way back to Adam. Check out the bookend verses Matthew writes regarding the genealogy of Jesus (read Matthew 1:1,17). Philip finds Nathanael and informs him (read John 1:45). We have found the one Moses prophesied.
Like Moses, Jesus must be listened to. In Matthew 17, we’re told about how when Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the mountaintop, God put on a show again. He was transfigured into His heavenly state then Elijah and Moses appeared and spoke with Jesus. When Peter offers to make tents for the three to remain, God speaks up (read Matthew 17:5b). I think it’s also interesting to note what it says in John 1:17-18 (read). The law came from Moses, but grace and truth come from Jesus. It is through Jesus that we are able to come to know God, which leads me to the third trait.
Like Moses, Jesus has a face-to-face relationship with God. In fact, Jesus’ relationship with God exceeds Moses’ relationship. Remember that when we read about God visiting Moses at the tabernacle, He came down in a cloud. There was always something veiling Moses from fully seeing God (read John 1:1). But Jesus has always known God from the beginning, being God Himself. In fact, in Hebrews 3:3 (read), we are told that Jesus was counted as more worthy of glory than Moses.
So what will this new prophet, Jesus, do? He will speak God’s truth, providing a way for people to be restored to God (read John 12:48-49). Jesus proclaims that He is only speaking as God has commanded Him and His words lead to eternal life.
Now, God provided a way for Israel to be able to discern if a prophet truly came from Him or if it’s a false prophet (read Deuteronomy 18:21-22). A true prophet of God will always speak the truth and everything He predicts will come true. If anything he predicts doesn’t come to pass, you know this is a false prophet who did not come from God.
So how did Jesus do? Here are some of His prophecies. Jesus predicted that Judas would betray Him and that Peter would deny Him three times. When asked for a sign, Jesus told the people they would receive the sign of Jonah, that just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, so Jesus would be buried three days. Along the same line, Jesus told the people that if they destroyed the temple, He would rebuild it in three days. Of course, the Jews thought Jesus meant the physical temple and used it as an accusation leading to the fulfillment of His prophecy- that they would take His life and He would rise three days later.
As you can see, Jesus fits the criteria for the new prophet like Moses, so now we must decide what we’re going to do with that information (read Deuteronomy 18:19). We must either heed the words of Jesus or face the consequences of rejecting Him. For many of us, we receive this news with rejoicing because we’ve made our decision and belong to Christ.
For some here today, maybe it’s time for you to make your decision. Are you going to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God? Are you going to turn away from sin? Are you going to put God in charge of every aspect of your life? Will you be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit? Now, is your opportunity, come forward as we stand and sing.
(I found these two links to be very helpful in looking at the evidence of Jesus being the prophet like Moses:
https://www.redemptionofhumanity.org/is-jesus-the-prophet-like-moses-deuteronomy-1815-19/
https://answersingenesis.org/jesus/who-is-prophet-like-moses/)
