Question 219: Is Jesus the prophet that Moses is talking about in Deuteronomy 18:15?
Answer: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers-it is to him you shall listen” (Deuteronomy18:15). As with many prophecies, this one likely has a double fulfillment. The ultimate Prophet would be Jesus as Hebrews 1:1,2 teaches “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” There is no doubt that Moses is talking about both, the primary fulfillment and the secondary fulfillment. Jesus is the primary or ultimate fulfillment and all the true prophets who followed Moses are the secondary fulfillment. Before developing the primary or ultimate fulfillment, lets look at how it can be fulfilled secondarily through other prophets.
A prophet is one who has received a call from God to be His spokesman to God’s people. God called Moses to be His spokesman to the Israelites, but in Deuteronomy Moses is nearing the end of his life and God is speaking through him to the Israelites promising them that God would provide others like him to lead them. As a secondary fulfillment, God did provide many like Moses to follow him such as Samuel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, etc. As Israel waited for the ultimate fulfillment, a greater Prophet, the Messiah, God warned them that there would be many false prophets. They could recognize these false prophets by whether or not their prophecies came to pass. If they were proven to be false prophets because their prophecies did not occur, they were worthy of death.
Even though Moses’ teaching could be fulfilled secondarily by any of the prophets who followed him, the expectation of the Israelites was clearly that God would send one particular prophet, the Messiah. Of course, Jesus did not fit the description of the type of leader that the people had erroneously expected, but all of Israel did expect that God would send a special leader to rescue them. When John the Baptist appeared on the scene, the people thought that he might be that prophet. John 1:19--23 records a conversation between the priests and Levites from Jerusalem and John about his identity. They asked him if he was the Prophet and he answered that he was not. In Luke 4:24, Jesus referred to himself as a prophet, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.” There is no doubt that the Israelites were looking for a special Prophet, the Messiah. However, Jesus was much more than what the people expected. He would not only speak God’s Word but He was the Son of God, claiming to be one with God. The Israelites were disappointed that Jesus did not meet their narrow-minded expectations of the Prophet, but Jesus came for a much greater purpose, to provide salvation to all who would place their trust in Him. He came to be a substitute for sinful man by paying for the sins of all who would believe in Him. Additionally, Jesus the Messiah, as our redeemer, would transfer the benefits of His righteousness into our account and God would declare that person to be righteous and sinless as a result of what Christ accomplished in His life and death. That is the Good News of Jesus Christ. Everything we need to have for life abundantly right now and eternal life in heaven forever has been done for us. Jesus has met all of God’s requirements through the life, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. Our salvation is secured if we simply place our trust in what Jesus has done for us. What a Savior!