The Old Testament books provide every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ wonderful information on promises and prophecies. They were given to God’s people with the purpose that they might be able to search the truth from the plain writings given in the Scriptures. Various names, titles and identities of the coming Saviour had been provided in order that they might know who the Messiah would be.
The prophet Moses prophesied the coming Prophet before the Israelites were to enter the Promised Land. He said to them, “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” (Deut. 18:15). When Moses gave this prophecy the Israelites might not have been aware of the Prophet Messiah. They might be thinking that it would be one of the prophets that would come immediately after the death of Moses. But a study of the lives of those prophets after Moses will convince us that none was like Moses.
The prophet Moses was a unique prophet. He was so different from other prophets. The Lord Himself said in Num. 12:6-8 “If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches: and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold.” In addition, the ministry of Moses was specially characterized by the miracles he performed before the Egyptians and the children of Israel (Ex. 7-12). Above all, Moses was given the special privilege to receive the Law from the Lord for the people of Israel. As Kaiser rightly remarks, “Yet Moses, the prophet, was unique in his miracles, his direct access to God’s revelation, his giving of the Law, his actions as deliverer, and his office as judge over the people.”
Then, who was the Prophet mentioned by Moses in Deut. 18:15? A study of the books of the New Testament would show that the prophet here was the Messiah. The office of prophet was one of the three functions that the Messiah would fulfill in His first coming. Others were as priest and king. The prophetship of Jesus Christ was unique, just as Moses’ was. The life and ministry of Jesus Christ shows similarity to Moses’. However, Jesus’ ministry was far excellent, for He is the Deliverer of our salvation.
It is important to take note that the preaching of Peter in Acts 3:20,22 confirms what Moses said in Deut. 18:15. Peter said, “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you at your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.” Peter knew that the prophet whom Moses meant here was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He is the Messiah. Thus, it was for this reason Peter quoted Deut. 18:15 in his preaching recorded in Acts 3:22. Nevertheless when the priest, the captain of the temple and the Sadducees heard Peter’s preaching, they were grieved (Acts 4:1-3).
In addition, the apostle John recorded that when the people saw the Lord Jesus Christ perform the miracle of feeding five thousand people, they exclaimed, “This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world” (John 6:14). On another occasion, when Philip believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, he proclaimed to Nathanael saying, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the Law, and the prophets, did write” (John 1:45). The same thing happened when the Samaritan woman met Jesus, she concluded that Jesus was that prophet (John 4:19,29). Nothing can be said against this truth. We have to admit that the Old Testament books had described the coming Messiah to be a Prophet like Moses. It is a fact that this can only be applied to the Lord Jesus Christ, for Moses was a type of Christ.
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