Do Not Be Afraid of Him - By Anthony Rogers

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credit, though they may fall short of such prophetic attributions as were possessed by Moses,he did mimic Moses in all kinds of natural, even if not supernatural, ways.

Evaluating The Case For Muhammad

These three points mentioned above are the contours of the argument made for aMuhammadan fulfillment, with each point being filled out in more or less colorful ways, all

depending on the dexterity of the person making the case. Nonetheless, and not surprisingly,

for all the sleight of hand and mouth displayed by Muslim apologists, these three claims have

insuperable problems.

Among Thy Brethren

First, as for the claim that the word ³brethren´ could refer to a descendant of Ishmael, this is

hardly the most natural reading, and in fact this is not the way any Jew, Christian, or even any pre-Islamic pagan, Arab or otherwise, ever interpreted or would have interpreted the word in

this context. The reason for this is negatively because the word ³brethren´ is never used to

speak of the relationship between the descendants of Jacob and the descendants of Ishmael,and positively because the context demands that the prophet be a fellow countryman, and not

someone from the nations that surrounded Israel, for the nations that surrounded Israel

followed false gods and used unsanctioned methods for doing so, such as divination and

necromancy. But Israel was uniquely and specially called out from all of this, as can be seen

from the verses immediately preceding the words of the prophecy:

³When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee , thou shalt not learn

to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one

that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an

observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar

spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the

LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from

before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. For these nations, which thoushalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the

LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do´. (Deut. 18:9-14)

It was precisely against this backdrop that Moses went on to speak the words of the prophecy

in question, promising that God would raise up for the people a prophet from among their

brethren, i.e. from among the children of Israel, rather than from among the nations outside of

Israel that were given over to abominations in the sight of God.

Moreover, this section of Scripture is dealing with the three anointed offices of the Israelite

economy: the offices of king (Dt. 17:14-20), priest (Dt. 18:1-14), and prophet (Dt. 18:15-22).According to the requirements of the former two offices, any person anointed to serve inthose capacities had to be an Israelite, and so, not only would one expect, by way of

symmetry, that the same would go for the prophetic office, but the fact that the very samelanguage is used in all three cases puts the proverbial nail in the coffin. The relevant portion

regarding each office follows:

³When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess

it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that



are about me; thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shallchoose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a

stranger over thee, which is not thy brother ´. (Deut. 17:14-15)

³The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with

Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance. Therefore

shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as hehath said unto them.´ (Deut. 18:1-2)

³The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet f rom the midst o f thee, o f thy brethren,

like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; 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. And the LORD said

unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet

f rom 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.´ (Deut. 18:15-19)

Indeed, and not only so, but the Qur¶an acknowledges this as well, that God specially chose

the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (i.e., Israel) on which to confer revelation and bestow prophethood.

³And We gave (Abraham) Isaac and Jacob, and ordained among his progeny Prophethood

and Revelation, and We granted him his reward in this life; and he was in the Hereafter (of

the company) of the Righteous´. (S. 29:27)

³We did aforetime grant to the Children of Israel the Book, the Power of Command, and

Prophethood; We gave them, for Sustenance, things good and pure; and We favoured them

above the nations´. (S. 45:16)1

I Will Put My Words I nto His Mouth

This brings us next to the idea that the way Muhammad is claimed to have received the

revelation of the Qur¶an ± namely, by dictation from the angel Gabriel, who virtually had to

force-feed the words to him (at least on their first encounter) ± answers to the statement in

Deuteronomy 18 that God would ³put my words into his mouth; and he shall speak unto them

all that I shall command him.´ Now of course this language in itself does not rule out such a

mode of revelation (minus, of course, the purported physical assault), for similar language is

used of prophets after Moses to whom God sent angelic messengers or communicated with

by way of dreams or visions or through inspiration of the Spirit (e.g., Jer. 1:9; Isa. 51:16;

etc.). However, that is not the trajectory of the words as they are used in the full context of

Deuteronomy 18. The idea in this passage is that even as Moses interposed himself between

God and Israel at Horeb ± which is what the people themselves cried out for and God Himself said was ³well spoken´, for they could not bear to hear the voice of God directly anymore,fearing that they would die ± so the coming prophet would hear from God in like fashion,

even speaking with him face to face like Moses did.

³The 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; According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy

God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear a g ain the voice o f the

LORD my God, neither let me see this great f ire any more, that I die not . And the LORD said



unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophetfrom 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.´ (Deut. 18:15-19)

In fact, not only is this great contrast between Moses receiving revelation directly from God

made here and elsewhere in the Bible (e.g., Num. 12:8; Exod. 33:11), it is recognized in the

Qur¶an as well. In Surah 4:164 we are told: ³to Moses God spoke direct´.2 Similarly in Surah19:52 we read: ³And We called him from the right side of Mount (Sinai), and made him draw

near to Us for mystic (converse).´ And if we can assume the consistency of the Qur¶an, by no

means an easy task for anyone who has read it, Surah 2:253 would have to be speaking of

Moses as well: ³Those Messengers We endowed with gifts, some above others: To one o f

them All ah spoke; others He raised to degrees (of honour); to Jesus, the son of Mary, We

gave clear (Signs), and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit.´3

Like Unto Me

And this brings us, finally, to the claim that Muhammad was the prophet like unto Moses

because Muhammad was like Moses in some very striking ways. For example, it is thought to

be significant that both Moses and Muhammad experienced a natural birth and a naturaldeath, both had a mother and a father, both started their mission at the age of 40, both were

initially rejected, and both later went on not only to become the spiritual but also the political

and military leaders of their people. But such parallels, aside from the fact that some of them

are not even true (e.g., Moses mission formally began when he was 80), aside from many of

them being found in other figures in history (e.g., rising from obscurity and rejection to great

prominence is not altoghether unheard of in world history), and aside from the fact that such

parallels rarely get below the surface where the similarities just as strikingly become

disparities (e.g., Moses was married, but not to a dozen or more women contrary to God¶s

standards for everyone else), have nothing to do with the one outstanding reality that marked

the life and ministry of Moses: unlike Muhammad who eschewed any ability to declare a sign

or perform a miracle, the ministry of Moses was suffused throughout with supernatural signsand wonders providing abundant divine attestation or confirmation of his prophetic calling

and mission. This was so much an outstanding feature or distinguishing mark of the ministryof Moses, that whatever could be expected of prophets generally, the specific prophet ³like

unto Moses´ that this prophecy would culminate in, would naturally and necessarily beexpected to be like Moses in this regard.

In fact, not only is it certain from the Qur¶an that Muhammad performed no miraculous sign

or wonder to confirm that he was a prophet from God,4

it is just as certain that he performed

no sign or wonder such as would identify him as the prophet like unto Moses, a point on

which, once again, the Qur¶an agrees: ³But (now), when the Truth has come to them from

Ourselves, they say, µWhy are not (Signs) sent to him, l ike those which were sent to

Moses?¶´

An Additional Set of Problems

To further complicate matters, the argument that Deuteronomy 18 prophecies the coming of Muhammad rests on several hotly disputed assumptions, such as that the Arabs are descended

from Ishmael, and that Muhammad was illiterate, not just unlettered, the latter being atechnical term for Gentiles or people generally unlearned when it came to the Jewish and



Christian scriptures. It also ignores that the prophecy excludes from its purview anyone whospeaks in the name of any other God than Yahweh, which Muhammad did by speaking in the

name of a god whose descriptive nature and character are decidedly contrary to the Bible, aswell as anyone who makes a prediction that does not come to pass, which Muhammad did

many times over.

In other words, even if all the other qualifications were met by Muhammad, that is, even if itcould be shown that the passage is really talking about a future descendant of Ishmael who

would be so unlike Moses in the key features of his prophetic office as any one person could

be, and as Muhammad certainly was, then Muhammad would still be disqualified.

Conclusion

The Muslim idea that the passage refers to an Arab who didn¶t speak with God and didn¶t

perform any miracle flounders over and over again on all the salient points of the prophecy.In light of this fact, Muslims would do well to disabuse themselves of the absurd notion that

Muhammad is prophesied here in Deuteronomy 18.

For all the verbal legerdemain employed by Muslims in an attempt to conjure Muhammad up

out of Deuteronomy 18, the fact is that any prophet who would lay claim to fulfilling

Deuteronomy 18, must be an Israelite, must speak face to face with God, and must have a

ministry marked by divine approval. And Muhammad just didn¶t cut the muster, for he failed

not on one, or two, but on all three points.

In conclusion, not only was Muhammad not the prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18, but

according to that very passage he was not a true prophet at all. Accordingly, although

Muhammad uttered many curses and imprecations on anyone who would deny him the all

important title of prophet, and even though he would often buttress this demand by saying

that Allah would punish those who do not submit to him as the messenger of Allah, according

to Deuteronomy 18 there isn¶t the slightest reason for anyone to fear, for these are the words

of a presumptuous man. Indeed, the divine command is, ³Do not be afraid of him.´

Footnotes1

See also S. 44:30-33.2 Yusuf Ali notes on this verse: ³Allah spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. Hence the title of

Moses in Muslim theology: Kalim All ah: the one to whom Allah spoke.´ (Footnote #670)3 This verse is plagued with problems for Muslims, for not only does there seem to be a

discrepancy among the translators, with some translating it as ³with some Allah spoke´,rather than ³with one of them Allah spoke´, but it also seems to suggest that Moses and Jesuswere both ³preferred´ or ³gifted´ above Muhammad, for the former spoke to Allah directly

and the latter had miraculous signs.4 Surah 2:118; 2:145; 6:37; 6:109; 10:20; 11:12; 13:7; 13:27; 17:59; 17:90 -93



Do Not Be Afraid of Him ² Part II

By Anthony Rogers

Introduction

Having shown in P art One that the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18 was not and could not have been speaking of Muhammad, it remains only to show who the ultimate fulfillment of the

passage really is. Although the previous article was dispatched in short order, focused as itwas on Muhammad, about whom the passage has nothing positive to say, the present paper

will naturally be somewhat longer since the focus is now on ³... the one Moses wrote about in

the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote ± Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.´

(John 1:45)1

Getting the Big Picture

Before coming directly to the heart of the matter, there is something in the wider context that

is noteworthy, because suggestive, to state it mildly, of the direction in which one should be

looking for the fulfillment of this prediction.

Whereas the prophetic office was a significant one in Israel, the context of Deuteronomy 18reminds us that there were two other offices that were equally important in the Israelite

economy and God¶s plan of redemption: the offices of king (Deuteronomy 17:14-20) and

priest (Deuteronomy 18:1-13). It is not surprising therefore that along with delivering the

promise of another great prophet to come in the future, the Spirit of God moved Moses to

speak of these other offices as well. Appointment to all three offices was formally signified

by the act of anointing,2 from which the words Messiah (from Hebrew) and Christ (from

Greek) are derived, which pointed to the coming of the Holy Spirit to an individual,consecrating and empowering him for divine service.

Although it is clear that a succession of kings and priests is in view in the words of Moses

found in Deuteronomy 17-18 regarding these other offices, it is just as clear from other places

in the Law of Moses and the rest of the Old Testament that the kingly (e.g. Genesis 49:10;

Numbers 24:19) and priestly (Genesis 14; Psalm 110; cf. Hebrews 7:1ff.) offices would each

climax in one singularly great individual. Conversely, it is also clear from the whole Biblethat there would be a succession of prophets, even though the passage in Deuteronomy 18

only emphasizes one great prophet to come,3

of whom all other prophets would serve, moreor less, as types, with Moses being the foremost type of all. In other words, Moses speaks

here in chapters 17 and 18 of many kings and priests but throws into emphasis a particular

prophet, even as the rest of Scripture (including the Law of Moses) points to the coming of a particular king and priest but details the calling and careers of many prophets, witheverything leading up to and converging in one person who would outstrip or be the climax

of them all.

Over time this great individual spoken of throughout the Old Testament came to be called the

Messiah (in Hebrew) or the Christ (in Greek), because, unlike those kings, priests, and prophets who came before Him, all of whom were anointed, He would hold all three offices

simultaneously, would sum up their fullest import, and would discharge the duties associated



with them in a way that none of those prior to him ever did or could. Accordingly, this personwould not simply be on a par with and anointed like those prior to Him, He would be set

above them, being anointed beyond measure. Simply put: He would not merely be an anointed one or a messiah (which is just to say, He would not be just one more prophet,

priest, or king among many); instead, He would be the Anointed One or the Messiah. In the

words of the Psalmist:

³You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God

has blessed you forever ... Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever; a scepter of justice

will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore

God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.´

(Psalm 45)

Likewise, the prophet Daniel spoke of the coming of ³the anointed one´, ³the prince´ (or

ruler), who would be ³the most holy´, and whose coming would be to ³put an end to sin, to

atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness´, as well as ³to seal up vision and

prophecy´ (Daniel 9:24-27). The prophet Isaiah said that the Spirit of God would rest upon

Him (Isaiah 11:1ff.), thus anointing Him to proclaim the good news, the news that the year of

the Lord¶s favor had come (Isaiah 61:1ff.). King David even declared in Psalm 2 and Psalm110 that this anointed one would be God¶s own Son, the Lord at His right hand, the king and

heir of all things, a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, and therefore that all peoplemust kiss and worship Him.

One of the things this means, among others, is that it can be no objection if the person who

comes after the fashion or similitude of Moses is at the same time greater than him, for that is

just what the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18 (taken in context and along with the rest of

Scripture) confirms. In fact, no Muslim should raise such an objection, since in practice they

hold Muhammad to be greater than Moses, with reputable Muslim authorities even being

forthright enough to admit this in theory: ³Here is a prophet [i.e. Muhammad ± AR] and a

book [i.e. the Qur¶an ± AR], greater than Moses and his book. Are you going to reject himand it?´4 Furthermore, the logic of their own Qur¶an, at least in some places, forces this

posture upon Muslims as well. More importantly, Jewish sources also point out that theMessiah, whom they took to be the one prophesied in Deuteronomy 18, would be greater than

Moses (not to mention Abraham and the ministering angels):

It is written, Behold, my servant shall deal wisely, He shall be exalted, and extolled, and bevery high (Isaiah 52:13). It means, He shall be more exalted than Abraham of whom it is

written, 'I lift up my hand' (Genesis 14:22). He shall be more extoll ed than Moses of whom it

is said, 'As a nursing father beareth the nursing child' (Numbers 11:12). 'And shall be very

high'²that is, Messiah shall be higher than the ministering angels.)5

And so the context reminds us of the larger Scriptural expectation of a chosen one who wouldnot only be like Moses, but would, as the promised Messiah/Anointed One, the very Son of Yahweh, also be greater than Moses. In keeping with this the New Testament speaks of the

Lord Jesus being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18-23; Luke 1:35), of having the Spirit officially descend and remain upon Him at the time of His baptism

(Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22), even above measure or without limit (John3:34), of working mighty miracles and casting out demons by the Spirit of God (Acts 10:38),

of offering Himself up on the cross through the eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), and even of

being vindicated (1 Timothy 3:16) and ³declared the Son of God with power by the



resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness´ (Romans 1:4). It is upon thisvery basis ± that because Jesus became a man, even the appointed Messiah, and was anointed

and invested with the Spirit to perform the great work given to Him by His Father, a work that He willingly undertook and perfectly executed ± that Jesus received a kingdom and the

promised gift of the Holy Spirit, which He in turn bestowed and poured out upon His people.6

(See John chapters 14-17; Acts chapters 1-2)

The Case for Jesus

With the above in mind, we may now move on to the specifics of Deuteronomy 18.

As was already pointed out in P art One, whatever else may or may not be true of the coming

prophet, and whatever other points of comparison there may or may not be between him andMoses, the Chosen One has to be like Moses in at least the following three ways in order to

meet the specific terms of the prophecy: a) he has to be an Israelite; b) he has to speak directly with God; and, c) he has to have a divinely attested public ministry marked by

miraculous signs and awesome deeds. These are the sine qua non of the prophecy, the bare

necessities. If a prophet comes and puts forward all manner of other credentials, however impressive, but fails to meet even one of the aforementioned criteria, let alone all three, as we

saw in the case of Muhammad, he is not that prophet. However, provided a person does in

fact meet these criteria, other considerations or comparisons may most certainly be made,

especially if the points of correspondence are of such an unusual and striking nature as to

virtually demand that we see a link between them.

Accordingly, we turn now to see how the Lord Jesus exactly fulfills the specific terms of the

prophecy, and, following this, how other points of correspondence between the life and

ministry of Moses and Jesus are so arresting that we are compelled to view Moses¶ life as a

divinely decreed, providentially ordered and prophetically revealed type or foreshadowing of

the Lord Jesus Christ.

Among Thy Brethren

The fact that Jesus was an Israelite is a matter beyond question. The genealogies and other

statements of Scripture bear this out, and since the Qur¶an and other Islamic sources do not

dispute but rather confirm this, it is a point that doesn¶t need to be stressed. There is however

a very pregnant observation to be made from this: not only was Jesus an Israelite, He was ±

given the exalted dignity of His royal person, divine nature, and high calling and work as the

appointed Messiah ± the embodiment and the completion of Israel itself. The following points

demonstrate and draw this out:

1. Above all individuals it could be said of Him, Jesus, that he was/is the Prince of God,which is involved in the meaning of the word I sr ael : ³And he [i.e. the LORD] said, Thy nameshall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with

men, and hast prevailed (KJV, Genesis 32:28).´7

As the true Son and Heir of the Father, theone by Whom and for Whom all things were made (Colossians 1:15ff.), Jesus was, and is,

³the Mighty God, the prince of peace´ (Isaiah 9:6). Furthermore, Jesus was chosen (andchose) from all eternity to be Messiah the Prince (Daniel 9:26-27), the one who would appear

in the fullness of time and seal up vision and prophecy to become ± through His incarnation,



perfect life, atoning death, victorious resurrection, glorious ascension and session at the righthand of the Father ± the ³Prince and Savior´ of those who believe (Acts 5:31).

2. Not only is Jesus the epitome of what the name Israel means, He is even called Israel by

the prophets, as can be seen not only by a careful examination of the great Servant Songs, as

they are called, of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-9, 49:1-7, 50:4-10; and 52:13-53:12), where

the corporate solidarity between the promised Servant of Yahweh and His elect people givesrise to the name I sr ael being applied alternately to each, but by the way these same

prophecies are applied to the Lord Jesus in the New Testament (Luke 2:25-35; Matt. 12:15-

21; Acts 13:47). Furthermore, Jesus puts Himself forth in this light, as for example when He

says He is the true vine (John 15:1ff.), a figure elsewhere used for Israel by the prophets

(Isaiah 5:1; Jeremiah 5) and even by Jesus Himself (Matthew 20 and 21).

3. That Jesus is the true Israel is why (and is also further confirmed by the fact that) Jesus

recapitulates the history of the nation of Israel. Just like Jacob (who was renamed Israel) had

twelve sons (Genesis 49:28), so Jesus called twelve disciples (Matthew 10:1ff); just like

Israel as a young nation was brought down into Egypt under the patriarch Joseph (Genesis

48-50), so also Joseph, Jesus¶ (adoptive) father, took Jesus down into Egypt when a child

(Matthew 1:13-15); just as Israel was called God¶s son by elective birthright (Exodus 4:22;Deuteronomy 8:5), so Jesus was God¶s Son by nature (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9); just as God

called His elect son, Israel, out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1), who then passed through the Red-Seato be tested in the wilderness (where Israel failed), so Jesus, God¶s eternal Son, His perfect

image, was called out of Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15), eventually passed through the waters of baptism, and was immediately driven by the Spirit into the wilderness where He was tested

by God and tempted by Satan (wherein He proved Himself and prevailed).8

In these ways and more Jesus is shown to be not only an Israelite but Israel par excellence,

the true prince of God, the one who embodied in His own person all that God desired of the

nation of Israel, the one who overcame where the entire nation failed (for in retracing Israel¶s

steps He also atoned for her missteps), the one in whom all Israel¶s hopes (and the hope of the world) were centered and realized.

This means that Jesus was not only qualified to fulfill the promise of the coming prophet who

would be an Israelite, one of their own brethren; it shows that if anyone was qualified, thenJesus was qualified all the more.

I Will Put My Words I nto His Mouth

It is also clear from many lines of evidence that Jesus was a prophet who received and spoke

the words of God, not only in the general sense that was true of all prophets from Moses

onward (Numbers 12:4-8), but in the special sense that was only otherwise true of Moses

since his time.

This is true on more than one level. To see this, several things should be remembered: in the

first place, God spoke audibly to Israel under Moses, as Exodus 20:18 makes plain. Secondly, because the Israelites were terrified by this direct encounter with God, attended as it was by

awesome displays of God¶s power, glory, and holiness, they beseeched Moses to speak withGod alone, to be, as it were, a go between with God, a mediator of divine revelation

(Deuteronomy 5:22-32). Thirdly, when Moses did as the Israelites implored, and as GodHimself approved, Moses returned to them with a face that radiated with the glory of God,



having been transfigured in the presence of Yahweh on the mountain and successivelythereafter in the tent of meeting where they spoke face to face (Exodus 34).

In each of these ways we have a direct correspondence to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ,

for not only did God the Father audibly testify to Jesus from heaven at His baptism (Matthew

3:16-17, Mark 1:10-11, Luke 3:21-22), after the triumphal entry (John 12:27-29), and on the

mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35; 2 Peter 1:16-18), but, at leaston the latter occasion, Jesus¶ face was transfigured before His disciples, revealing not simply

the reflected glory of God, as was true in the case of Moses, but a glory that was already His

by nature (Hebrews 1:1-3), a glory that He shared with the Father from all eternity (John

17:5), a glory that He veiled during His earthly ministry (John 1:1-18; Philippians 2:5-11).

This glory of Christ was on full display after His resurrection and ascension, and is a fact to

which both Paul and John bore witness (Acts 9:1-9; Revelation 1:9-17). Furthermore, the

very words spoken from heaven on these occasions were that Jesus is His [i.e. the Father¶s]

Beloved Son, and that all men are to ³Hear Him.´ In fact, at the transfiguration these words

were spoken to the disciples in the presence of Moses (and Elijah), as he was conversing with

Jesus about His approaching ³exodus´ (the literal Greek word translated ³departure´ in mostEnglish versions).

In fact, if all that isn¶t enough to clinch the matter, the fact that Jesus spoke the words of God

is all the more true in the case of the Lord Jesus, for as the very Word of God (John 1:1; 1John 1:1; Revelation 19:13), the Father¶s eternal self-expression, image, or Son (Colossians

1:15; 1 Corinthians 11:7; 2 Corinthians 4:4), Jesus stood in a face to face relationship withthe Father from all eternity (John 1:1). This renders Jesus preeminently, even exclusively,

capable of exegeting and revealing the Father and His Words to men (Matthew 11:25-30;John 1:18; John 14:1-14), which is something Jesus did in a preliminary and tertiary way

through the prophets of old, especially in His role to them as the Angel/Messenger of

Yahweh, but perfectly, finally, and publicly in His own person at the time of his advent in the

flesh:

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many

ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things,through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact

representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power ... (Hebrews1:1-3)

Like Unto Me

As for the third and final criterion indicated in Deuteronomy 18, there can be no question that

Jesus was like Moses in many striking ways, many of which will be pointed out momentarily.

But there is one way that stands out above the others and that calls for immediate mention

and particular emphasis, a way that no degree of eloquence or rhetorical flourish could bestride, and that not even a satanically-charged ability to perform lying signs and counterfeitmiracles could trump, as Pharaoh¶s court magicians learned in the course of their dealings

with Moses.

As said in part one, the ministry of Moses was abundantly attested and accredited by theSpirit and Finger of God, who anointed him and superintended his ministry, enabling him to

perform and/or herald such miracles, signs and wonders as the world never saw before andwas never to see again until the coming of Jesus. Not only is this a clear, identifying feature



of Moses¶ ministry, one evident from the story itself, written as it is across every page, but itis the very thing that the book of Deuteronomy singles out, along with seeing God face to

face, when describing what a prophetic likeness to Moses entails.

And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to

face, none l ike him f or all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the

l and o f Egypt , to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and f or all the mighty power and all the great deeds o f terror that Moses did in the sight o f all I sr ael .

(Deuteronomy 34:10-12)

This is just how Jewish sources understood the prophecy of Deteronomy 18, saying, that,

even as Moses brought the nation of Israel to the Lord, so the Messiah would do so as well,

but with the difference that the Messiah would not draw just one nation but people from

every nation, kindred, and tongue:

'A Prophet from the midst of thee.' In fact, the Messiah is such a Prophet as it is stated in theMidrash of the verse, 'Behold my Servant shall prosper' (Isaiah 52:13) ... Moses, by the

miracles which he wrought, brought a single nation to the worship of God, but the Messiah

will draw all peoples to the worship of God.9

We¶ve already seen that Muhammad was not comparable to Moses in this regard, for so at

least the Qur¶an concedes, saying that Muhammad was not given miracles like Moses (S.

28:48); over against this there is the Gospel of Jesus, and, as Yusuf Ali said: ³There is no

story more full of miracles than the story of Jesus.´10

The following passages are but a small sampling of what the New Testament relates on this

score:

³Jesus was going throughout Galilee, ... healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they

brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs,

epileptics, paralytics and He healed them. (Matthew 4:23-24)

³When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast

out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken

through Isaiah the prophet: µHe Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.¶´

(Matthew 8:16-17)

³Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, ... and healing every kind of disease and

every kind of sickness.´ (Matthew 11:35)

³And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind,mute, and any others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. So the crowd

marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the

blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.´ (Matthew 15:30-31)

³When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of

Judea beyond the Jordan; and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.´

(Matthew 19:1-2)



³And Jesus entered the temple ... and the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, andHe healed them.´ (Matthew 21:12-14)

³And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He

was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.´ (Mark 1:34)

³When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners wereastonished, saying, µWhere did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to

Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?¶´

³They were utterly astonished, saying µHe has done all things well; He makes even the deaf

to hear and the mute to speak.¶´ (Mark 7:37)

And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on theSabbath; ... And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another

saying, ³What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the uncleanspirits and they come out.´ And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the

surrounding district. (Luke 4:31, 36-37)

While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases

brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them.

Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, ³You are the Son of God!´ But rebuking

them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ. (Luke

4:40-41)

Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His

disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who

were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured. And all the people were trying to touchHim, for power was coming from Him and healing them all. (Luke 6:17-19)

When the men came to Him, they said, ³John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, µAre You

the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?¶´ At that very time He cured many

people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind.

And He answered and said to them, ³Go and report to John what you have seen and heard:

the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the

dead are raised up, the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.´ (Luke 7:20-

22)

And all of this is just the tip of the iceberg, for not only do the Gospels report that Jesus

healed the blind, the deaf, the mute, the lame, the leprous, and all manner of other ailments

and diseases, or that He had authority over demons and brought the dead back to life, but theyeven tell us that He exercised authority over nature, such as cursing a fig tree so that it

withered, changing large quantities of water into wine, walking on water, and even

commanding and exercising authority over the winds and the waves. Given this it is little

wonder the apostle John concluded his account, saying:

Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are

not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the

Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:30-31)



To single out just one of Christ¶s miracles for special mention, after Jesus said the followingto the Jewish authorities,

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that

testi f y about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not

receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I

have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his ownname, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another

and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? Do not think that I will

accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your

hope. F or i f you believed Moses , you would believe Me, f or he wrote about Me. But i f you do

not believe his writings, how will you believe My words? (John 5:39-47)

He crossed over the sea of Galilee, went up a mountainside, and looking up to see a large

crowd of about five thousand people who had followed after him, He took five small barley

loaves and two small fish and fed them all. And then we read: ³After the people saw the

miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, µSurely this is the Prophet who is to come

into the world´ (John 6:14), a statement that finds similar expression elsewhere, as for

example in the very next chapter when Jesus stood up and proclaimed Himself to be thefulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles, which was enjoined by Moses in the Torah: ³On

hearing His words, some of the people said, µSurely this man is the Prophet.¶´ (John 7:40)

Moses A Foreshadowing of Jesus

Unlike Muslims who are unable to show that Muhammad met even one of the necessary

conditions of the prophecy to begin with, which renders any and all other considerations null

and void, Jesus not only met the terms in the fullest sense imaginable, but in His life, words

and works Jesus provides us with such substantive parallels to Moses as to easily trounce

those that Muslims have proffered in favor of Muhammad. Consider the many striking parallels between the life and ministry of Moses and Jesus that follow:

1. Just as Moses came after four centuries of prophetic silence as the penultimate

fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham, so Jesus came after four centuries of prophetic silence as the ultimate fulfillment of the words spoken by all the prophets

from Abraham to Malachi;2. Just as Moses was delivered as a baby from the wrath of Pharaoh, a pagan who ruled

over the people of Israel, and who ordered the slaughter of the innocents (Exodus 1-2), so also Jesus was delivered as a baby from the wrath of Herod, another pagan who

ruled over Israel, who also ordered the slaughter of all male children (Matthew 2);

3. Just as Pharaoh was outwitted by the midwives, which allowed Moses to survive, so

Herod was outwitted by the Magi, which providentially insured that Jesus would notdie before the appointed hour;

4. Just as Moses forsook Egypt¶s glory to identify with the people of God (Hebrews

11:24-26), his brethren (Exodus 2:11), so Jesus left heaven¶s glory to identify withHis people (2 Corinthians 8:9; Philippians 2:6-7), not being ashamed to call them His

brethren (Hebrews 2:11);5. Just as Moses was told to return and see to the deliverance of Israel, because ³all the

men who were seeking your life are dead´ (Exodus 4:19), so Jesus returned to deliver



Israel after the word came from heaven: ³... for those who sought the child¶s life aredead´ (Matthew 2:20);

6. Just as Moses performed miracles by ³the finger of God´ (Exodus 8:19), so did Jesus(Luke 11:14-28, esp. vs. 20).

7. Just as the first of the ten signs of Moses¶ against Egypt was turning the water into

blood, from the water of the Nile all the way down to the water found in their stone

jars, so Jesus¶ first sign was to turn water into wine at a wedding feast, which wascontained in stone jars, and wine is used thereafter to represent Christ¶s blood, the

blood of the New Covenant (many other parallels can be found between the signs

given to Moses and those performed by Jesus)11

;

8. Just as Moses passed through the sea into the wilderness, so Jesus passed through the

waters of baptism and was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit (Matthew 3:13-

4:11);

9. Just as Moses fasted for forty days on the mountain as He communed with God

(Exodus 34:28), so Jesus fasted forty days (Luke 4:2);

10. Just as Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the law after his forty days of fasting,

so Jesus, after forty days of fasting, delivered His great Sermon on the Mount, whereHe disabused the Law from the false glosses and interpretations of the scribes and

Pharisees (Matthew 5-7).11. Just as Moses was tested in the wilderness, where he proved himself a faithful servant

in God¶s house, so Jesus was tested in the wilderness and proved Himself a perfectSon, worthy of His rightful place over God¶s house (Hebrews 3);

12. Just as Moses was transfigured on the mountain (Exodus 34), so Jesus wastransfigured on the mountain (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36);

13. Just as Moses took three men with him up the mountain ± Joshua, Aaron, and Hur

(Exodus 24:1ff), so also Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John;

14. Just as Moses interceded for Israel when she sinned, even expressing his willingness

to lay down his life on her behalf (Exodus 32:19-35), so Jesus interceded and ever

lives to intercede for those He willingly died for (Romans 8:34);

15. Just as Moses, at God¶s command, effected the redemption of Israel by directing

every household to sacrifice an unblemished lamb at the Passover (Exodus 12), so

Jesus is the true Passover, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (1

Corinthians 5:7; John 1:29, 36);

16. Just as Moses lifted up a serpent on a pole as a sign to look upon and be saved from

temporal calamity (Numbers 21), so Jesus was lifted up on the cross and saves all

those who look upon Him for eternal salvation (John 3:14);

17. Just as Moses provided bread from heaven, which a man could eat but still eventuallydie, so Jesus is the true bread from heaven, which a man could eat and live forever

(John 6);18. Just as Moses provided water from a rock by striking it with his staff (Exodus 17;

Numbers 20), so Jesus was struck, causing water to flow out of His side (John 19:34;

see also 1 Corinthians 10:4);19. Just as Moses constructed the tabernacle in which the glory of God came to dwell, soJesus is the Word and glory of God who became flesh and tabernacled among us

(John 1:14); in addition, Jesus is building a New Covenant tabernacle/temple,

consisting of all who are indwelt by His glorious Spirit (Ephesians 2:1-22, see esp. vs.

21);

20. Just as Moses mediated the Old Covenant between God and Israel, ratified by the

blood of sprinkling (Exodus 24), so Jesus mediated the New Covenant in His blood

(Matthew 26; and Hebrews 9).



This is part of the reason why the apostle John said, ³The law was given by Moses, but graceand truth came by Jesus Christ´ (John 1:17). The upshot of this verse is that Jesus is the

realization, the fulfillment of what was foreshadowed or typified in and by the person andministry of Moses and the Mosaic Covenant or Law.

Joshua and Jesus

A further line of evidence that helps to solidify Jesus as the true fulfillment of Moses¶

prediction is to be found in the person of Joshua, Moses¶ long time aide and immediate

successor, who, as such, also serves as a type of the Lord Jesus.

Although not in the final sense the prophet spoken of by Moses, as some have erringly

asserted, and as Deuteronomy 34:10-12 expressly refutes, it is surely no accident that Godchose (Numbers 27:12-23) and commissioned (Deuteronomy 31:1-23, 34:1-9) Joshua to

succeed Moses as the prophet-leader of the people of Israel.

The significance of Joshua in pointing the way to Jesus already appears from his very name,

which was intentionally changed by Moses from Hoshea to Joshua (Numbers 13:8, 16).Speaking of the import of this name, the book of Sirach says, ³Joshua the son of Nun was

mighty in war, and was the successor of Moses in prophesying. He became, in accordance

with his great name , a great savior o f God's elect ́ (46:1).

The reason this is significant is because Joshua and Jesus are the same name: the former

being translated into English from the Hebrew Y ehoshua; and the latter being a transliteration

into English of the Greek form of this name, i.e. I esous. (In Aramaic this name is rendered

³Yeshua´.)

This can be followed up with another list, similar to that above with regard to Moses,showing prophetically significant parallels between Joshua and Jesus, i.e. how Joshua in the

Old Testament provides several prophetic-pointers, pre-pictures or foreshadowings of the

Lord Jesus Christ.

1) Although it was given to Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt and reveal the Law, it fell to

Joshua to lead the people into the promised rest of Canaan.

In his death and resurrection Jesus is the anti-type of both Moses and Joshua. In his death

Jesus paid the penalty of the law, thus serving as the counterpart of Moses, apart from whose

death the people could not enter the land; and in his resurrection and spiritual conquest He is

the complement of Joshua, leading His people into the eternal rest of God (Hebrews 4). As

Meredith Kline said, ³... Jesus is both dying Moses and succeeding Joshua. Not merely after a

figure but in truth a royal Mediator redivivus, he secures the divine dynasty by succeedinghimself in resurrection power and ascension glory.´12

2) Even as the Lord parted the Red-Sea for Moses so that the children of Israel could pass

through, so the Lord caused the Jordan River to stand up in a heap for Joshua, allowing the

people to cross over into Canaan.

Similarly, at the beginning of His work to secure eternal rest for God¶s people, the Lord Jesus

was baptized in the Jordan River, it being necessary in order to fulfill all righteousness. Even



though the Jordan was not then parted or made to stand up in a heap, in good anti-typical13

fashion a much greater thing occurred: ³Immediately coming up out of the water, He [Jesus]

saw the heavens opening , and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice cameout of the heavens: ³You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased´ (Mark 1:10-11).

The Greek word used for ³opening´ in Mark means ³being parted.´ This is reflected in one

way or another in various translations, for example: ³torn open´ (NIV, NEB); ³torn apart´(Jerusalem Bible); ³split open´ (Phillips); ³cleft´ (Moffat); ³parting´ (NKJV); and ³parted´

(Revised Berkley Version).

3) The day the people crossed the Jordan under Joshua is the same calendar day that Moses

commanded the people of Israel to choose the lamb for the Passover sacrifice (Exodus 12:1-

3; cf. Joshua 4:19); when the Lord Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, John the Baptist, whose

mission was to identify the Chosen One to Israel (John 1:29-34), cried out: ³Behold, the lamb

of God who takes away the sin of the world´.

4) After Joshua and the people crossed the Jordan, Joshua was to choose twelve men, and he

was to choose twelve stones to represent them and the tribes over which they were appointed

as leaders. The stones were to serve as witnesses of the Lord¶s redeeming acts (Joshua 4:1ff.).

Similarly, after Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, He chose twelve disciples (Mark 3); later

appointing them to be His witnesses, and not simply throughout Israel but to the uttermost

parts of the earth (Acts 1:8). These twelve apostles were promised that they would judge the

twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28). They are also each represented by a stone

(Revelation 21:12-20), the same basic kind of stones earlier given to Moses to represent the

twelve tribes (Exodus 28:17-21).

5) Although previously commanded to observe the rites of Circumcision and Passover under

Moses, the people of Moses¶ generation proved unfaithful to this charge; it was left to Joshua

to renew the covenant with their children and administer these rites so the people could

receive the promised inheritance (Joshua 5:1-10).

Similarly, after the Old Covenant proved ineffective due to man¶s sin, the Lord Jesus came

and established a New Covenant, and instituted the rites of Baptism and the Lord¶s Supper,

which correspond to Circumcision and the Passover meal.

6) What God was doing with Israel was a microcosm of God¶s plan for the entire world.

Under Joshua the entire land of Canaan was to be inherited by the Lord¶s people; under Jesus

the earth is to be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:1-

16).

This all serves to show in advance how the prophecy of Moses of one coming who would belike him would be fulfilled. The fulfillment would come in Joshua, i.e. Jesus ± the one for

whom the very heavens would be parted and upon whom the Spirit of God would come to

rest; the one who would be the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; the one

who would appoint twelve men to be His witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth; the one

who would establish a New Covenant, a covenant of grace, and provide the effective

circumcision, a circumcision not done with human hands and in the flesh, but a circumcision

by the Spirit in the very heart of man, a reality that is signified by baptism (Colossians 2).



Conclusion

Although it leaves a great deal more to be said, for it is truly the study of a lifetime, the facts

that have been presented, I am convinced, are plain enough to say, without controversy, that

Jesus was an Israelite, He spoke directly with God, and his ministry overflowed with wonder

working power, the scope and quality of which had not been seen since the days of Mosesand have not been seen since. All of this, accentuated by the many and varied parallels

between the life, character, and teachings of Moses and the Lord Jesus Christ, only a select

number of which have been given, as well as the foreshadowing of Jesus provided in Joshua,

lead to one inescapable conclusion: Jesus is the Prophet whose coming was foretold in

Deuteronomy 18. In the face of the evidence presented above, all protestations to the contrary

must be put down to an obtuseness and/or obdurateness of the most radical kind.

Since Jesus is the true Prophet, the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one all men are

finally to listen to, the one who calls to all and promises rest to those who come, His words

cast out all fear. Those who ³Hear Him´, i.e. Jesus, have no reason to ³fear him´, i.e.

Muhammad.

Footnotes

1 The passage just quoted brings up an important observation: over against the otherwise

curious vagaries of the Qur¶an, where Muhammad is supposed to have said that his coming

was prophesied in the Torah and the Gospel (S. 7:157), but does not there or elsewhere ever

go on to quote the relevant passage (or passages) where such prior testimony is believed to be

found, even though he should have had access to such even without the help of Jews or

Christians since he supposedly held converse with the angel Gabriel, the apostles are clear in

seeing the fulfillment in Jesus, providing both clear allusions and direct quotations (e.g. the

apostle Peter in Acts 3:1-26 and Steven in Acts 7:37-53).

This observation also has a broader application: not only is Muhammad silent at this

particular (and one would assume crucial ) point, but he is everywhere silent when it comes to

showing his competence in the ³previous´ Scriptures. In this way Muhammad was very much

unlike Jesus and the apostles who time and time again gave evidence that theirs was not a

superficial knowledge of the Scriptures, such as one might have by merely overhearing them

rehearsed or paraphrased on certain privileged occasions, but a studied and spirit-inspired

familiarity. To say the least: Muhammad¶s silence is deafening and makes it look

suspiciously like he was not only unstudied, as he admitted, but that he was not in touch with

the primal source of revelation either.

Not only does it stand to reason that Muhammad would demonstrate such insight, if what heclaimed was true, but it is just such an interpretation that is provided by Ibn Kathir when

commenting on Surah 2:99-103:

³Imam Abu Ja¶far bin Jarrir said that Allah¶s statement, µAnd indeed We have sent down to

you manifest Ayat,¶ means, µWe have sent to you, O Muhammad, clear signs that testify to

your prophethood.¶ These Ayat are contained in the Book of Allah (Qur¶an) which narrates

the secrets of the knowledge that the Jews possess, which they hid, and the stories of their



earlier generation. The Book of Allah also mentions the texts in the Books of the Jews thatare known to only the rabbis and scholars, and the sections where they altered and distorted

the rulings of the Tawrah. Since Allah mentioned all of this in His Book revealed to His prophet Muhammad, then this fact alone should be enough evidence for those who are

truthful with themselves and who wish to avoid bringing themselves to destruction due to

envy and transgression. Further human instinct testifies to the truth that Muhammad was sent

with and the clear signs that he brought which he did not learn or acquire from mankind. Ad-Dahhak said that Ibn µAbbas said that, µAnd indeed We have sent down to you manifest

Ayat,¶ means, µYou recite and convey this Book to them day and night, although you are an

Ummi (unlettered) who never read a book. Yet, you inform them of what they have (in their

own Books). Allah stated that this fact should serve as an example, a clear sign and a proof

against them, if they but knew.¶´ (T af sir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), Vol. 1, P arts 1 and 2 ± Sur at

Al- F atihah to Verse 252 o f Sur at Al-Baqar ah, Abridged By A Group of Scholars Under the

Supervision of Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri, p. 311)

2The following passages are among those that point to the act of anointing that took place for

each of these offices: King (1 Samuel 9:15-16), Priest (Exodus 40:15), and Prophet (1Chronicles 16:22; Psalm 105:15).

3 Deuteronomy 18 puts the word µprophet¶, which is singular, in the emphatic position, before

the verb in Hebrew, both at verse 15 and at verse 18. Even though this may be taken in acollective or in a distributive sense, as I think it should be so understood, leaving the door

open for a succession of prophets, as indeed there were many after Moses, it just as clearlyindicates that one person in particular of the class of prophets is especially in view here. For

more on this, go to: Appendix I: The Prophet and the Prophets .

4Yusuf Ali, The Meaning o f the Holy Qur¶ an, fn #2711. See also #¶s 289, 366, 779, 1127,

1131, 1132, 1732, 1878, 2181, 2278, 2473, 2501, 3943, 6749, and 6221.

5 Midr a sh T anhuma (Israel: KTAV Publishing Company, 1989), p. 166-67

6One of the characteristic mistakes that Muslims make when it comes to identifying who

Jesus is, i.e. both God and man, is confusing His office and function as the Messiah, together

with the accompanying messianic investiture, whereby the Father gave the Son the HolySpirit, authority, and a command to execute a certain work, with what the Son is

ontologically or by nature from eternity. But it might be asked at this point, if Jesus was notdivine as well as human, how could God bestow such things on a mere creature? The Spirit

beyond measure? All authority in heaven and on earth? The task of redeeming and savingsinners? However Muslims might answer all of this, the Bible is clear in telling us that the

possibility and reality of such rests upon the antecedent fact that Jesus is divine, the eternal

Word or Son of the Father. It is only because Jesus was/is not merely a man but the divine

Word of God that such a bestowal could take place. It is a lamentable shame that men wouldcast the Lord¶s condescending love in His exalted face when what He did in humblingHimself was for the sake of saving sinners.

7 The name µIsrael¶ is of disputed derivation, with some scholars and lexical sources seeing it

derived from a verb meaning ³to persevere´, ³to prevail´, or ³to struggle´, and others seeingit derived from a verb meaning ³to rule as a prince´ (coupled with the word El , which means

God). I have adopted the latter meaning, which enjoys the support of various translations



such as the KJV, used above, Young¶s Literal Translation, and is reflected in a footnote to the New King James Version.

Keeping in mind that Ancient Near Eastern cultures ascribed greater prominence to the

meaning of a person¶s name ± especially in a Semitic and Hebraic context, as here, where we

have the added fact that one¶s name is being changed by God Himself ± so that it is held to

reveal the nature, character, and destiny of the one who bears it, and this understanding of thename I sr ael fits nicely with observations like the following:

When the Lord promised Abraham that kings would come from his loins, He changed his

name from Abram, meaning µfather of many¶, to Abraham, µfather of many nations¶, and He

also changed Sarai¶s name to Sarah, which means µprincess¶ (Genesis 17, whole chapter).

Both Abraham and Sarah were the grandparents of Jacob, who was eventually renamed

Israel. In fact, another account of Jacob¶s name change, which is given in Genesis 35:9-12, is

followed up by this same promise to Abraham being made to Jacob:

³God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him. God

said to him: Your name is Jacob; you will no longer be named Jacob, but Israel will be your

name. So He named him Israel. God also said to him: I am God Almighty. Be fruitful andmultiply. A nation, indeed an assembly of nations, will come from you, and kings will

descend from you. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. And I will

give the land to your descendants after you.´

³µHe will be prince with God,¶ or µcontender of God,¶ ( pugnator Dei, Winer), the fut. of the

root sar ah, to be princely, as regards power, or to wage war, Ge. 32. 29; Hos. 12. 4, and El ,

God, vid. Abdiel´ (Alfred Jones, Dictionary o f Old Test ament Proper N ames (Grand Rapids,

MI: Kregel Publications, 1990), p. 167)

Even if the other derivation is taken as the correct one, there can be no question that Jesus

struggled, persevered, and prevailed (had power) with God, both in His work of redemption

and in His ongoing work of intercession.

³But it may be asked, wherein consists that resemblance of the Messiah to Israel, on account

of which he here receives his name. Most Messianic interpreters here find a reference to the

twenty-eighth verse of the thirty-second chapter of Genesis; according to which, the name

Israel, µone who contends with God,¶ was given by Jehovah to Jacob, after his wrestling with

him. Christ deserves this name in its highest sense, since by his vicarious life and suffering he

mightily contended with God and prevailed.´ (E. W. Hengstenberg, Christology o f the Old

Test ament , translated from the German by Dr. Reuel Keith, abridged by Thomas Kerchever

(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, [1847], 1970), pp. 237-238)

For a brief online source discussing the etymology and meaning of the name Israel, see here.

8This gives all the more poignancy to the fact that every one of Christ¶s Scriptural responses

to Satan during His wilderness experience came right out of the mouth of Moses as they were

spoken to Israel during her time of trial in the wilderness. To see this, one may simply

compare Matthew 4 with Deuteronomy chapters 6-8.

9Rachmiel Frydland, What the Rabbis K now About The Messiah (Cincinnati, OH: Messianic

Publishing Company, Messianic Literature Outreach, 1991), p. 22



10Yusuf Ali, The Meaning o f the Holy Qur¶ an, fn #937.

11Of additional interest here is: Jesus tells them to ³draw out´ the wine and take it to the ruler

of the feast (2:8); and the meaning of Moses¶ name is to ³draw out´, for he was drawn out of

the Nile (Exodus 2:10).

12 Meredith Kline, Treaty o f the Great K ing: The Covenant Structure o f Deuteronomy (Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1963), p. 41

13The type/anti-type language used here should not be misunderstood. The idea is not that the

former and the latter stand opposed to one another, but that the two correspond to each other

in a way analogous to a sign and the reality that it points to, or to a shadow and the actualsubstance or embodiment of something. The word ³anti´ in this connection means ³in the

place of´ rather than ³against.´ Furthermore, in the nature of the case, the reality is greater than the sign, the substance than the shadow.

Appendix I: The Prophet and the Prophets

By Anthony Rogers

The Prophets

In its grammatical-historical context, Deuteronomy 18 doesn¶t directly predict the coming of

one specific individual, at least not in the way that many people surmise.1

Whereas Deuteronomy 18 speaks of a ³prophet´, singular, the grammatical-contextual usage,

in full harmony with the exigencies of Israel¶s historical situation, indicates that the word is being used in a collective or distributive rather than in a simple sense, and therefore points

not to just one person but to many prophets or an entire order of prophets. In other words, the prophecy/promise of Deuteronomy 18 is about the prophetic office, and is, at least initially,

as will be shown, fulfilled in the case of Joshua, Moses¶ immediate successor, as well as thelong train of Hebrew prophets that God would raise up after him, from Samuel to John the

Baptist.

The Modern Consensus

As Driver and Kaiser, both quoted later, point out, this view is held by the overwhelming

number of modern commentators, whether Jewish, Christian, or otherwise. The following

quotes are some representative examples of this:

According to the Jewish Study Bible:

A prophet , while grammatically singular, is distributive in its meaning: ³I will repeatedly

raise up for you a prophet.´ More than one prophet is clearly intended.2

(Italics in original)

Christian scholar Tremper Longman III (Ph.D.), professor of Old Testament at Westminster

Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, said:



Deuteronomy 18:15-22 announces that God will raise up a prophet like Moses for the peopleof Israel. While the expectation is expressed in terms of a singular prophet, this singular is

rightly understood as a collective singular since the people¶s request for a mediatingspokesperson that leads to this promise is a constant need. In other words, Deuteronomy 18

understood within its ancient context may be perfectly explainable in terms of the rise of the

prophetic movement and prophets like Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, and so on.3

Scholar Gerhard von Rad, a prominent twentieth century advocate of the ³tradition-

historical´ approach to the Old Testament, said:

[9-22] The comprehensive law concerning the prophet s is quite clearly arranged: it deals first

in verses 9-14 with mantic practices, which were not permissible, then positively with the

o ff ice o f a prophet itself, actually founded at Sinai (vv. 15-18), and finally with disobedience

to the prophet¶s word and with possible corruption of the prophet¶s office itself (vv. 19-22).4

(Italics mine)

The Textual and Historical Evidence

This understanding is confirmed by the historical context, which is the impending death of Moses, something that naturally raised the question of how Israel was going to hear from

God, since Moses was God¶s chosen mouth-piece. The death of Moses would create a

prophetic vacuum, and this would be of immediate concern to God¶s people, not simply to a

generation of Jews who would be living two-thousand years in the future, when Jesus came,

or five centuries after that in Arabia, when Muhammad is believed to have existed.

As the verses preceding the promise indicate, rather than leave Israel to the sort of devices

seized upon by pagans in their futile efforts to discern the divine will, God instituted the

prophetic order:

When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate

the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who

makes his son or daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices

witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium,

or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the

LORD; and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out

before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For those nations which you

shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the

LORD your God has not allowed you to do so. The LORD your God shall raise up for you a

prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him«

(Deuteronomy 18:9-15)

The following commentary catches the drift of this:

The insertion of this promise [i.e. ³The Lord thy God shall raise up unto thee a prophet], in

connection with the preceding prohibition, might warrant the application which some make

of it, to that order of true prophets whom God commissioned in unbroken succession to

instruct, to direct, and warn His people; and in this view the purport of it is, ³There is no need

to consult with diviners and soothsayers, as I shall afford you the benefit of divinely-

appointed prophets, for judging of whose credentials a sure criterion is given´ (vs. 20-22).5



The verses immediately following the promise point up the collective nature of this as well,for they speak of the need to test and reject ³a prophet´ if he speaks presumptuously, i.e.

without divine authority:

But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not

commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall

die. You may say in your heart, µHow will we know the word which the LORD has notspoken?¶ µWhen a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about

or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it

presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. (Deuteronomy 18:20-22)

This test, along with the one provided in Deuteronomy 13, was obviously given to ferret out

any and all false prophets, not just one special or particular false prophet.

Finally, it is evident from Deuteronomy itself that the promise was already being fulfilled in

at least an initial sense in the raising up of another prophet to replace Moses as the leader of the people of Israel. This comes acutely to the fore in Deuteronomy 31 and 34 and also can

be seen in Joshua chapter 1.

So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. And he said to them, "I am a hundred and

twenty years old today; I am no longer able to come and go, and the LORD has said to me,

'You shall not cross this Jordan.' It is the LORD your God who will cross ahead of you; He

will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who

will cross ahead o f you, just a s the LORD ha s spoken. "The LORD will do to them just as He

did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them."

The LORD will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the

commandments which I have commanded you. "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid

or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you He will not fail you

or forsake you." Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be

strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD hassworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance." The

LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you He will not fail you or forsakeyou. Do not fear or be dismayed." «.Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, the time for

you to die is near; call Joshua , and present yourselves at the tent o f meeting, that I ma ycommission him." So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of

meeting. The LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood atthe doorway of the tent«.Then He commissioned Joshua the son o f Nun, and said, "Be

strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to

them, and I will be with you." (Deuteronomy 31:1-8, 14-15, 23)

Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is

opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as thewestern sea, and the Negev and the plain in the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far

as Zoar. Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, andJacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants'; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you

shall not go over there." So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab,according to the word of the LORD. And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab,

opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day. Although Moses was one

hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated. So the



sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the days of weeping andmourning for Moses came to an end. Now J oshua the son o f Nun was f i ll ed with the spirit o f

wisdom, f or Moses had l aid his hands on him; and the sons o f I sr ael listened to him and did a s the LORD had commanded Moses. (Deuteronomy 34:1-9)

Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to

Joshua the son o f Nun, Moses' servant, saying, "Moses My servant is dead; now thereforearise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the

sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as

I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the

river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of

the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your

life. Just a s I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be

strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to

their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to

all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the

left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not departfrom your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do

according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and thenyou will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not

tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:1-9)

The leading facts demonstrating Joshua to be a prophet ³like Moses´ are:

y God Himself chose Joshua to replace Moses

y God commissioned Joshua as Moses¶ successor

y Moses l aid his hands on Joshua, which is an act of identification and transfer of

authority

y The same promises originally made to Moses are given to Joshua

y The work initiated by Moses is to be completed by Joshua

Several other facts serve to identify Joshua in this regard as well. For example,

Even as Moses¶ mission begins with a theophany, an appearance of the M al akh Y ahweh, who

tells Moses to take off his sandals, ³for the place on which you are standing is holy ground´(Exodus 3), so Joshua¶s mission also begins with a theophany, and he is likewise told to

remove the sandals from his feet (Joshua 5).

Even as Moses spear-headed the deliverance of Israel from Egypt attended by signs and

wonders, so Joshua successfully led the people to take possession of the land of Canaan

attended by signs and wonders similar in some cases to those performed under Moses.

For an example of one such sign/wonder, at Joshua¶s behest the people of Israel cross the

Jordan River on dry ground, it having been stopped up by the Lord, a fact that is reminiscentof the Red-Sea crossing under Moses:

³For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed,

just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we



had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty,so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.´ (Joshua 4:23-24).

Other points of correspondence between Moses and Joshua can be found at almost every turn,

just as many points of correspondence can be found between Moses and all the other prophets

who came after him. All of this serves to show that Moses was the exemplar of an entire

order of prophets, and that this is part and parcel of what is being spoken of in Deuteronomy18.

The Prophet

The Modern Witness

Yet, as many have rightly pointed out, the foregoing does not mean that there is no indicationin Deuteronomy 18 of the coming of a particular prophet who would be uniquely like Moses.

This, too, has been recognized by many modern commentators.

And so, for example, Samuel Rolles Driver, after saying,

The exclusively Messianic reference of v. 15-18, adopted by many of the older expositors (cf.

Acts 3:22ff, 7:37), is inconsistent with the context; and has been deservedly abandoned by thegreat majority of modern commentators and theologians« The promised prophet is to meet a

continuous and permanent need of the people, after they are settled in Canaan (v. 9): he is tosupersede the necessity either of God¶s addressing Israel directly Himself (v. 16-18), or of

Israel¶s having recourse, like their neighbors, to the arts of divination (v. 14f.); and a criterionis even added enabling the Israelites to distinguish the true prophet from the false (v. 21f).

The argument of the passage shows that the ³prophet´ contemplated is not a single

individual, belonging to a distant future, but Moses' represent ative f or the time being , whoseoffice it would be to supply Israel, whenever in its history occasion should arise, with needful

guidance and advice: in other words, that the reference is not to an individual prophet, but to

a prophetical order . The existence of such an order in Israel, forming a permanent channel of

revelation, was, of course, a signal mark of distinction between Israel and other nations of

antiquity.

Goes on to say,

At the same time the terms of the description are such that it may be reasonably understood

as including a reference to the ideal prophet, Who should be ³like´ Moses in a preeminentdegree, in whom the line of individual prophets should culminate, and Who should exhibit

the characteristics of the prophet in their fullest perfection (so Hengst., Keil, Espin, al .).6

(Emphasis in original)

As well, F. C. Cook said:

In fact, in the words before us, Moses gives promise both of a prophetic order, and of theMessiah in particular as its chief; of a line of prophets culminating in one eminent individual.

And in proportion as we see in our Lord the characteristics of the Prophet most perfectly



exhibited, so must we regard the promise of Moses as in Him most completelyaccomplished.7

The Textual and Historical Evidence

The fact that the prophecy is to be understood in a collective sense does not rule out reference

to a particular prophet, especially for those who hold the Messianic interpretation, for thevery sufficient reason that many of the Messianic predictions of the Old Testament, e.g. those

pertaining to the promised seed, i.e. Genesis 3:15, 22:18, etc. (cf. Galatians 3:16), do so in

this very way. As Walter Kaiser said:

The key interpretive crux, however, is whether the term nabi, "prophet," is a collectivesingular or a simple singular. Does it refer to the institution of the prophetic order, or to an

individual prophet? Jewish and most recent commentators regard the term "prophet" inDeuteronomy 18:15-19 as a collective and generic term. This, of course, must be admitted,

for the context of Deuteronomy 17-18 speaks of classes or groups of leaders such as the priests and Levites. However, most o f the previous Old Test ament messianic prophecies are

generic and collective in nature. And the context de f initely favors an individual prophet in

that the prophet is not only represented a s coming out o f I sr ael, but is compared to theindividual Moses. Presumably, there f ore, he too will be an individual. There f ore, this

pa ssa ge at once provides f or a whole order, or institution o f prophets, while it incorpor ates

within that same seminal thought the provision f or one who would be the represent ative o f all

o f [sic] prophets par excellence....8

Furthermore, the very fact that the passage uses the singular, collective though it may be, is

surely significant; for whereas a plural form would rule out reference to an individual

altogether, the use of the singular at least allows for it. As O. Palmer Robertson said:

The use of singular ³prophet,´ while not in itself sufficient for expecting one prophetic figure

uniquely like Moses, allows this possibility much more than would a plural form, in which it

would be difficult to suppose a reference to a singular prophetic figure that God would raise

up in the future.9

With these considerations out of the way, the following are among the many reasons why the

collective use of the noun in Deuteronomy 18 is rightly understood to include within it a

reference to a specific prophet.

1) Although the noun is being used collectively, it does so in an otherwise peculiar way. The

use of collective nouns usually alternate back and forth between both singular and plural

forms, but the word prophet, used here in Deuteronomy 18, always takes a singular form. The

Semitic philologist and Biblical expositor E. W. Hengstenberg points this out in the following

words:

³« the Hebrew word employed is always used in the singular, and with singular suffixes,

whereas in the case of collective nouns, it is usual to interchange the singular and the plural

« the word does not occur elsewhere as a collective noun, nor are the prophets anywhere

spoken of in the manner alleged [in Deuteronomy 18].´10

If the divine intention was at once to point to the prophetic order and also to a specific

prophet, then the above oddity goes away.



2) The fact that the word ³prophet´, in both instances where it occurs (vs. 15 and 18), is putin the emphatic position, before the verb in Hebrew, would seem to indicate that more is

afoot than just referring to many prophets, and that a preeminent, individual prophet may also be in view.

3) According to the inspired, prophetic-redactor of Deuteronomy 34, probably Joshua or

Samuel, no prophet ever exhausted or filled up the measure of Mosaic-likeness, not evenJoshua himself, directly commissioned though he was by Moses.

One of the same passages quoted earlier, about the death of Moses, and Joshua succeeding

him as the prophet-leader of God¶s people, concludes in this wise:

Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt²toPharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty

power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.(Deuteronomy 34:10-12)

This passage highlights two of the ways in which Moses was utterly unique from all other prophets: first, that he knew God ³face to face´, a figure that is explained in greater detail in

Numbers 12; and second, that he publicly displayed the mighty power of God as no other, as

may be seen by reading the entire book of Exodus.

And so, for as much as Joshua and the prophets who came after him may be seen as fulfilling

in some way the prediction of Deuteronomy 18, none of them can claim to fill up the full

measure of what is in view, each of them being more like the shadow of what God promised

then the reality itself.

4) Whether or not the collective sense was always understood, the relevance of the passage toa specific, archetypical prophetic figure was readily understood by both Jews and Christians

in antiquity, as is borne out by the New Testament (e.g. John 1:19-21, 6:14-15, 7:40; Acts

322-26: and 7:35-37), as well as early rabbinic and patristic sources.

5) The case for recognizing Jesus as the fulfillment of this prediction, as part two of this

series contends, also argues in favor of viewing the passage as a reference to a specific

individual.

Conclusion

So, the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18 clearly indicates that God would send many prophets tothe Jewish nation, and also that he would send one specific prophet to be the culmination of

them all.

[But this means, in so far as this was a uniquely Israelite institution and office, that not only

would each prophet necessarily be of Jewish stock ± as indeed we also know to be the case

from other lines of evidence that derive from Deuteronomy 18, not to mention from a survey

of Israel¶s history ± but so would the prophet, as the head and culmination of the institution

itself, the archetype and end to which all the prophets pointed, be of Jewish stock as well. The

same parameters that circumscribe the passage in its collective reference to the prophetic

order also circumscribe the passage when it comes to pointing to an individual who will



fulfill the prophecy to the hilt. If the prophets were to be Israelites ± and, again, we know onindependent grounds, both exegetically and in hindsight, that they were ± then so necessarily

would the prophet be an Israelite.]

Footnotes1

This is especially true of Muslim apologists, who, in their haste to make Deuteronomy 18 a

prophecy about Muhammad, neglect the duty of careful exegesis.2 This source is available online: here.3

Stanley E. Porter, ed., ³The Messiah: Exploration in the Law and Writings,´ The Messiah in

the Old and New Test aments (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,

2007), p. 28. This source is available online, see here.4 Von Rad, Deuteronomy: A Comment ary (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Westminster

Press, 1966), p. 122-123. Available online: here.5 A Comment ary, Critical and Expl anatory, on the Old and New Test aments, Vol. 1

(Hartford: The S. S. Scranton Company, n.d.), p. 1336 Rev. Samuel Rolles Driver, The I nternational Critical Comment ary: A Critical and

Exegetical Comment ary on Deuteronomy, Vol. 5 (New York: Charles Scribner¶s Sons, 1895),

p. 228-229; for online source, see here.7

F. C. Cook, gen. ed., The Bible Comment ary, Exodus ± Ruth, abridged and edited by J. M.

Fuller (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, [1953], 1980) p. 3078

The source of this citation is from the following: here. For Kaiser¶s fuller treatment, consult

his Messiah in the Old Test ament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House,1995), p. 57ff., which is part of the Studies in Old Testament Biblical Theology series.9

O. Palmer Robertson, The Christ o f the Prophets (Philipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian

and Reformed Publishing, 2004), p. 5910

E. W. Hengstenberg, Christology o f the Old Test ament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel

Publications, [1847], 1970), p. 54 -55. Incidentally, the reader may be interested to know that

Hengstenberg¶s dissertation for the Doctor of Laws degree, which demonstrated his

competence as a Semitic philologist, and also showed that his competence in this area ranged

well beyond Hebrew, was a Latin translation of the Arabic Moall ak at (or Mu'allaqat) of

Amrulkeisi/Amrulkais (alt., Amru¶lQais or Imru'l Qais). For more on Imru'l Qais, see here.

© Answering Islam, 1999 - 2011. All rights reserved.

Do Not Be Afraid of Him - By Anthony Rogers

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