(Prophecy)
When giving instructions to Israel right before entering Canaan; Moses warns the Israelites to not seek out God’s will/what best decision they should make in a specific situation from local pagan witches or fortunetellers:
Deuteronomy 18:14
“The nations you will dispossess (Destroy/kill) listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so.”
He then tells Israel that the proper way they should seek out God’s will/find out what best decision they should make in a specific situation was to find and ask one of his chosen prophets leading them: This is because God told Moses to tell them he would eventually call another Israelite to personally speak too them on his behalf, just like Moses did:
Deuteronomy 18:15-18
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites.…The Lord said to me: ‘…I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.’…”
He would do this because when he tried to speak to Israel directly from Mt. Sinai they begged him to stop speaking directly to them because it was scary and also begged him to just continue to communicate to them indirectly through Moses instead:
Deuteronomy 18:16-19
“For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.’ The Lord said to me: ‘What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.’”
Since the Israelites had grown so accustomed to being completely led by Moses (both as a whole and individually) and since they requested not to hear God’s audible voice directly ever again, God promised them that this was how he would lead them from now on:
He would always pick one Israelite from among all of them and personally speak to him (or her) and tell/ lead him (or her) into what to say to the rest of Israel and what to do in a certain situation.
But who exactly was this prophecy refereeing to? Was it refereeing to anyone specific or was it refereeing to a group of prophets who would come in the future?
Why many may think that this prophecy refers to one man (hence ‘a prophet’) and why this does make sense with the wording of the verse (the phrase ‘a prophet’ would me only one prophet not many) in the context this does not necessarily mean just only one prophet:
Because the point of this prophecy was to ensure Israel there would always be a prophet like Moses around to lead the people and speak for God. This alone does not necessarily mean there was only going to be one prophet like Moses and that would be it: because if this prophecy was only referring to only one person it would defeat the purpose of this prophecy: for Israel to always have a prophet like Moses to tell them God’s will.
If this prophecy was only referring to just one prophet, then only one generation in the future would be lead like Moses, but after that, all other generations would be left in the dark! Does this make sense that God would do this to his people according to this prophecy? Absolutely Not!
So, this prophecy cannot be refereeing to just one prophet: it has to be refereeing to different individual prophets through different generations (therefore this prophecy is referring to multiple people). This makes much more sense in considering the whole point of the prophecy. Is this what happened?
The fulfillment of this prophecy
This prophecy was fulfilled through the rest of the history recorded in the Bible:
In fact, in the very same book this prophecy was recorded to have begun being fulfilled:
At the very end of Deuteronomy, when Moses wraps up his speech, Moses was told by God he was going to die very soon:
Deuteronomy 31:14
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Now the day of your death is near.’ ”
So, God choose Moses’s aid, Joshua, to lead Israel like him:
Deuteronomy 31:14
“Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.”
So once Moses died Israel followed Joshua:
Deuteronomy 34:5-9
“...And Moses the servant of the Lord died…Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him…”
As soon as Moses died God began talking to Joshua and giving him commands just like he did Moses!
Joshua 1:1
“After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ‘Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites…As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ ”
So, Joshua was the immediate fulfillment of this prophecy: He was the prophet which God choose from the Israelites to be a prophet/leader like Moses, but was he the only fulfillment of this prophecy?
After he led Israel into conquering the Canaanite nations in Canaan and he divided the tribes of Israel's land boundaries he also was going to die:
Joshua 24:29
“After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten.”
Did God raise no more prophets to lead Israel and tell his will after Joshua? Absolutely NOT! After Joshua died God did not just leave his people Israel in the dark: in future generations he continued to speak to them through other Israelites and continued to choose Israelites to lead his people; this can be found recorded through the rest of the Bible:
From Joshua, many other men and women were chosen to lead Israel and speak to God on his behalf
Specifically, right after Joshua, these leaders/prophets were called “Judges” because, like Moses, they also helped solve disputes and lead Israel into God’s will:
Joshua 24:16
“Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them…”
(Some famous judges/prophets during this time are Sampson, Gideon, and Deborah)
After this time, Samuel was the next major prophet to lead Israel like Joshua and Moses/Aaron:
1 Samuel 3:4
“Then the Lord called Samuel.”
When God called Samuel, this marked the end of prophets leading Israel because kings began to do this
From this point onward, God choose prophets to speak to the kings of Israel and tell them God’s will and what they should do to lead Israel (and lead the rest of the people in God’s will):
(some famous prophets of this time include Elijah (prophet to King Ahab), Elisha (prophet to King Ahaziah and King Jehu), and Isaiah (prophet to King Ahaz) )
But sadly, Israel and their kings did not listen to their command to only worship God and got banished from their land and taken as captives to new lands:
Specifically for the captives of the Southern Kingdom, God continued to call Israelites to be prophets to these captives to tell them about his disappointment in them, his plan for them now, and some prophets prophesied to even their pagan overlords (some famous prophets of this time include Ezekiel, Daniel, and Jeremiah)
After the descendants of the southern kingdom (now commonly called ‘Jews’) were free from their 70-year captivity in Babylon, God also choose some Jews from them to prophesy God’s will for them to return and lead them back to the Promised land to rebuild the temple and city (like Nehemiah)
So, through all these hundreds of years God had always provided an Israelite prophet somewhere and somehow to tell his will and possibly lead them like Moses first did: God had fulfilled his prophecy! But that was not the end of this prophecy:
Jesus Christ:
the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy
Why it’s pretty obvious from what is covered the above that this prophecy was obviously referring to more than one person, it does have one prophet who was the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy:
That prophet was the holy messiah prophesied to come by other prophets stated above revealed to be Jesus in the New Testament.
Jesus was considered a prophet by the Jews in the recolonized promised land now called ‘Judea’ (as well as ‘Galilee’ and even possibly ‘Petra’):
Matthew 21:11
“This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
But he was not just some prophet, he was the holy chosen Messiah (meaning ‘anointed one’) and not only that, he was also the literal Son of God (and even God himself):
Matthew 16:16
“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
He was a prophet like Moses in pretty much every way:
He was called and chosen by God to save and lead Israel
He performed miracles to give proof that he was truly from God
He taught and commanded Israel God’s laws and commandments
He was the mediator of a New Covenant between God and Israel
He was (and still is) the leader of his people (Christians) and mediator for his people and God
No other prophet was so much like Moses than Jesus was: In fact, it could be said that Jesus was like a ‘Second Moses’ because he was sent to save his people, lead them and make a New Covenant.
Peter confirms in one of his sermons that Jesus was indeed the fulfillment of this prophecy (and many other prophecies):
Acts 3:21-26
“...he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said,
(Paraphrasing Deuteronomy 18:16-19)
‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’
Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days…When God raised up his servant (Jesus: his prophet), he sent him…to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”