But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. (Deuteronomy 34:10)
Obviously when this verse was first written, there had not been a prophet like Moses and, furthermore, it would be some time before there would be. But it was Moses who predicted that there would come a day when God would “raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear” (Deuteronomy 18:15). And we know that a prophet “like unto Moses” did arise when Messiah appeared. Unfortunately, not all were willing to hear Him.
As it was with Moses — the man that God used to perform signs and wonders before Pharaoh and in the sight of all Israel — Yeshua performed signs and miracles that were, in some cases, unprecedented. And as it was with Moses, those signs were intended to penetrate the hearts of people who had been hardened against the truth; and again as it was with Moses, not all who heard believed.
It is true that many of Yeshua’s signs were subtle and His words hard to discern – at least for those who did not have a heart to perceive. Quoting Isaiah, Messiah said, “Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed” (Matthew 13:14-15).
This may come as a surprise to some but Messiah’s ministry was not only predicted by Moses, but in many ways, patterned after what Moses said and did. In short, if Moses was the prototype then Messiah was the final product as it were. That is not to say that Moses was, in any way, on par with the Messiah; it is to say that there is a still-unbroken connection between Moses and the Messiah. It was Yeshua who said to some of the hard-hearted listeners of His day, “if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me” (John 5:46), a statement that brings us to the main point.
Too many who heard Moses refused to heed his words; likewise, too many in Yeshua’s day heard Him speak but refused to take to heart what He taught them. It falls to us, then, to break the pattern that we see among the people who heard Moses and Messiah. We must be people of circumcised hearts, having ears to hear. There are no greater prophets to come and, therefore, the revelation we need in order to serve God acceptably has been given to us. It is now up to us whether we will hear and obey — or not. Let us be those who are quick to receive the Word of the LORD and follow Him with all our heart.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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