“Adonai your God will raise up to you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers. You must listen to him….” (Deuteronomy 18:15, mjlt)

Reaching the end of his days, Moses stood before Israel, giving them his final instructions before he could lead them no more. Prophet that he was, Moses pointed to the future, urging his people to await the coming of one who would take his place. But Moses neglected to provide the name of his successor, what he would look like, or even when he would arrive. How can Israel identify this Prophet if nothing is known about him? And yet, perhaps Moses told us all we need to know, simply by likening the Prophet to himself. If we can understand the qualities that distinguish Moses from other prophets, then we will be able to clearly recognize the one who is like him—the Master Yeshua the Messiah.

The Scriptures describe a myriad of prophets—each one unique in his own way, but all having in common their service to God as His mouthpieces, sent to speak His words in the presence of the people. Though many think of prophets simply as seers of the future (which they often were), they were also called to command, instruct, and correct the people of Israel. Adonai spoke to the prophets in the form of visions—sometimes with spectacular and confusing images; sometimes with an audible voice—just as He had established in the Torah: “…If your prophet is of Adonai, I will make Myself known to him in a vision; in a dream I will speak with him” (Numbers 12:7[6], mjlt).

With Moses, however, Adonai revealed Himself differently, saying, “Not so of My servant Mosheh…. I speak with him mouth to mouth, and by sight, and not in riddles, and he looks at the form of Adonai” (Numbers 12:7-9a[6-8a], mjlt). Rather than receiving God’s words through the usual method utilized with other prophets—through visions and dreams—Moses would physically enter the presence of the Living God (Num. 7:89), drawing near to His glory and form. “And Adonai had spoken to Mosheh face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exo. 33:11a, mjlt).

Moses’ close companionship with Adonai enabled him to exceed his prophetic role as God’s messenger, acting also as an intermediary to plead Israel’s case before God. When Israel abandoned their God, He would have wiped them out in His anger, “had not Mosheh, His chosen one, stood in the breach before Him, to turn back His wrath from destroying them” (Psa. 106:23, mjlt; cf. Exo. 32:9-14). And it was this position as mediator that qualified Moses to be the one through whom God established the covenant of Torah with Israel. Sacrificing calves before Adonai, he consecrated the nation through the sprinkling of “the blood of the covenant,” initiating them as God’s holy kingdom of priests (Exo. 24:4-8, 19:5-8).

In these ways—his deep friendship with God, his mediation between Adonai and the people, and his initiation of God’s holy covenant—Moses surpassed all other prophets in honor, authority, and holiness. His position over Israel was so preeminent that none could rise to fill it when he died (Deu. 34:10). Yet Moses’ greatness pales in comparison to the glory of the Messiah Yeshua, who took up his mantle as the Prophet who was to come.

Whereas Moses knew the Creator as a friend—dwelling in His presence and seeing God’s form—Yeshua is God’s very Son, having been with God since the beginning, and existing in God’s form Himself before giving up His equality with God to become a man (Joh. 1:1-14, Phi. 2:5-7). No other man—not even Moses—could ever know Adonai so closely.

“No one has ever seen God. The one and only of God, [Yeshua,] who is in the arms of the Father—he explained Him.” (Yochanan 1:18, mjlt)

As God’s Son, Yeshua is supremely qualified to be the one and only mediator between Adonai and all mankind, providing us the only way to see and know the Father (1Ti. 2:5, Joh. 14:6-9). In Him we have a righteous advocate who reconciles us to God, thereby saving us from His wrath (1Jo. 2:1, Rom. 5:9f). And just as Moses—in his intercessory role—mediated the covenant of Torah, so also has Yeshua been exalted to mediate a far greater covenant, the B’riyt HaChadashah. Having sacrificed Himself, He sprinkles our hearts with the blood of the covenant—His own blood—to perfect us, set us apart, and write the Torah on our hearts and minds (Heb. 10:14-22).

Yeshua—the Prophet like Moses—is worthy to lead Israel with even greater authority than that of His forerunner. Yet to this day, Israel refuses to acknowledge that authority, just as they rejected Moses when he was set over them (Acts 7:35ff). But God has promised that He will not allow them to close their ears to Him forever, saying, “And it will be—the man who will not listen to My words which [the prophet like Moses] speaks in My Name, I will require it of him” (Deuteronomy 18:19, mjlt). May all Israel soon heed the voice of the one Prophet who can draw them back to God, the one mediator who can turn God’s wrath away from His people, the one covenant-maker who alone can save the Jewish people.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!