Yeshua is everything to us: our salvation, our hope, our future, to name a few. It is important to get to know Him as well as possible. We can do this by interacting with Him and also by reading the Bible. It is the word of Yehovah and Yeshua is the living Word of Yehovah. This series, entitled “Who Is Yeshua?” will consist of twenty-one articles. Each article will explore a different section of the Bible to discover different titles and roles of Yeshua and our response to each role. In the eleventh article in the series, Yeshua is “the Prophet”.
Moses continued, “[Yehovah] your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.” (Deut 18:15).
Yeshua is the Prophet that Moses wrote about in Deuteronomy 18. This is confirmed in Peter’s speech on Shavuot (Pentecost): Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Yeshua, your appointed Messiah. For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets. Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people. Listen carefully to everything he tells you. Then Moses said, ‘Anyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from God’s people (Acts 3:19-23).
Moses prayed on behalf of the Israelites on many occasions throughout Exodus and Deuteronomy. One example is found in Deuteronomy 9:18. Then once again I fell prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in Yehovah’s sight and so arousing his anger. Matthew 4:1-3 tells us that Yeshua was led into the desert for forty days and forty nights and that He fasted and was tempted by hasatan (Satan). Was He also interceding for His people as Moses did? Romans 8:34 says that Jesus “is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” In John 17:20-21 Yeshua prayed “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
Moses taught the Israelites how to live according to Yehovah’s commands and instructions. Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you. (Deut 6:1). Yeshua taught His disciples and large crowds in Israel the same statutes and judgments (Matt 5-7) and even expanded the commandments. You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment. But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell (Matt 5:21-22). Yeshua did not do away with the law of Moses which is actually the law of Yehovah. Moses was merely the messenger or prophet. In fact, Yeshua not only upheld His Father’s law, but raised the bar, so to speak.
Miracles and signs were performed through Moses as endorsement or proof that he had been commissioned and sent by Yehovah. For example, Aaron’ staff turned into a snake. Then the Lord told Moses and Aaron,“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miraculous sign,’ then you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it in front of Pharaoh.’ It will become a serpent.” Exodus 7:8-9). There are other examples of signs and miracles throughout the Old Testament of Moses and other prophets performing signs and wonders. Yeshua also performed many miracles such as changing water into wine (John 2:1-11); healing the sick (Matt 8); raising the dead (John 11:38-44); feeding multitudes with just a few loaves and fish (John 6:1-14).
Moses relayed messages from Yehovah to Pharoah and to the Israelites. Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say” (Ex 4:12). Yeshua relayed messages from Yehovah to the religious and civil authorities and to the people in Israel. For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. (John 12:49).
Moses as a prophet was a messenger for Yehovah, but Moses did not provide the manna in the desert, nor did he part the Reed Sea, nor did he draw water out of the rock by striking it. It was Yehovah who protected and provided for the Israelites. Yehovah is a spirit and it is more difficult for people operating only in the physical realm to related to a spirit. So, Moses, a human like the rest of the Israelites, was more tangible to them, but he was not Yehovah. Yeshua is both Yehovah and a human and is therefore the perfect person to be the Prophet. The Israelites tended to attribute Yehovah’s work to Moses’ credit and there was a tendency to worship Moses rather than Yehovah. Yeshua, the Prophet, relates the Father’s message to us and does the work of His Father, but Yeshua is also Yehovah. When we understand who Yeshua is, then we can more easily make the connection to Yehovah. It is then that we recognize our true Provider and Protector.
Missing Pieces 