T h e S c r ip t u r e s m a k e i t e m i n e n t l y c e r t a in that Moses is to be regarded as the greatest o f all the prophets. His name is recorded some 741 times in the Old Testament and 79 times in the New Testament, a total of 820 times in all. The testimony borne to his greatness is clear. In Numbers 12:6-8 (ASV) we read: “ And he [God] said, Hear now my words: if there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful in all my house: with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and the form of the Lord shall he behold.” And again in Deuteronomy 34:10 (ASV) it is written: “ And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.” Little wonder, then, that our Jewish people refer to Moses as “Our Rabbi,” and Hebrew writers (like Maimonides, the Jewish philoso pher of the Middle Ages) speak of him as “ the lord (the greatest) of the prophets.” Yet this greatest of the prophets predicted the coming of a greater One, and it is Jesus (the Messiah) our Lord. When on earth Christ said “ For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me.” (John 5:45 ASV.) There are at least four great pictures of the Messiah in the five books of Moses: in Genesis it is Isaac, the
obedient son, who was willing to do the father’s will unto death; in Exodus it is the Passover Lamb that died to avert the death stroke; in Leviticus it is the scape goat on the Day of Atonement which bore away the sin of the people o f Israel; and in Deuteronomy it is the prophet like unto Moses. When we turn to this passage just mentioned, we read (Deut. 18:15-19 A S V ) : “ The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; according to all that thou de- siredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the Lord said unto me, They have well said that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” It has been well said: “ This is the most renowned passage of this book, and Moses intro duces it here in the most fitting way when he was speak ing of the priesthood, the authorities, and of all the servants of God.” The passage is indeed significant in its definite prediction of the coming of the Messiah.
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CHARLES L. FEINBERG, Th.D., Ph.D. Dean, Talbot Theological Seminary Editor Of Prophecy Section
by Dr. Charles L . Femberg
21
MARCH, 1965
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