Deuteronomy 18 - The Promised Prophet

"The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a PROPHET of thy nation, and of thy brethren, like unto me: him thou shalt hear." (Deuteronomy 18:15)

And so we have another instance of Moses foretelling the coming of Christ, one of the earliest mentions of the Messiah.  One of the most fascinating aspects of the Old Testament is this continuous thread that weaves in and out of the narrative of a great Prophet that is to come in a future age.  It is a wonder of the Word that never fails to captivate me.  There were already some monumental references to Christ in the Book of Genesis, and now again, as we near the end of the Pentateuch, we have a blatant reference to a future great Prophet, one who the people are instructed to listen to and be prepared for.  It is debated, of course, whether these allusions are meant to indicate the Person of Jesus Christ or are just a broad reference to any of the prophets that eventually rose up in the midst of the Jews.  But I find in the arguments of those in favor of the former theory a logical explanation that demonstrates these as obviously Messianic references for a number of reasons.  First, in the passage quoted from Deuteronomy above, Moses says this Prophet will be "like unto me."  Only Jesus Christ, when compared to the other prophets of the Old Testament, can be thoroughly compared to Moses.  Moses was a lawgiver, as is Christ; Moses was the chief of God's people, as is Christ; Moses was a mediator, as is Christ.  None of the other prophets, as great as they were, fit all of those qualifications so exactly.  Secondly, the Messianic references are always in the singular.  We know there were many Old Testament prophets, so why not refer to the coming of prophets rather than prophet?  Could it be that that is because of the, as my commentary puts it, "eminent dignity" of Christ?  He is the only Prophet worth mention.  He is the greatest Hope of the people, and therefore He is referred to frequently to maintain that Hope.  There is also an interesting connection in the verse above to an event in the New Testament.  The verse concludes with the words, "him thou shalt hear."  This sounds a lot like another instruction from God in direct reference to Jesus Christ: "This is my beloved Son, hear him" (Luke 9:35).  It's unbelievable, but here is God centuries before sending His Son, telling His people to "hear him" when he arrives!

But before I conclude, I do not mean to say that God could not have also meant to refer to the general prophets in the verse above.  Much of the Old Testament does operate on two or more levels.  In Deuteronomy 18 God is instructing His people not to take part in the profane activities of the pagans who will be living near them.  This leads to verse 15 in which He promises a prophet.  Along with this being a reference to Jesus Christ, God could be referring to the help He'll provide His people as they strive for holy perfection by sending prophets along the way who will keep the way straight for them.  I don't think the meaning must be one way or the other.