Prophet, Priest, King, & Servant – Shoftim – Aug. 22

Over the course of the past several years I’ve lived in two foreign cities, Jerusalem & Istanbul, for an extended period of time.  Both Jerusalem and Istanbul are popular tourist attractions and I have had the opportunity to entertain various people from around the world, friends and friends of friends, while living in these two cities.

Whenever I am meeting someone for the first time who is coming from abroad I always make sure to give a definite meeting place and time.  I also ask for a description of the person or group with whom I’ll be meeting and describe myself to them as well.  In order for me to properly identify my guests and for them to identify me, we need to know exactly who we’re looking for.  Both my guests and I usually share our age, type of clothing, height, general build, and other relevant information to make it easier to identify one another.  It is also easy to share photos today via the internet.  If we have the proper description of the person whom we are seeking, it is much easier to find them.  It is similar in identifying the Messiah.

Watch a brief introductory video of this week’s commentary

The Identity of the Messiah

This week’s Torah Portion contains one of the clearest prophecies regarding the Messiah originating in the Torah.  This prophecy is found in Deuteronomy chapter eighteen.  In the context of this chapter, Moses gave instructions to the children of Israel warning them not to seek the counsel of those who practice witchcraft or diviners but only to follow after the LORD God.

Moses then clarified how they would follow after the LORD by listening to the prophet whom God would send: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him” (Deut. 18:15).  This same prophecy is reiterated again a few verses later, however, this time God Himself is speaking: “I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him” (Deut. 18:18).  These two verses provide keys to identifying the prophet whom God would raise up to speak God’s words to the people.  This prophet would also be the Messiah.

Who is this prophet whom God would raise up?

The prophet mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:15-18 would be someone from the nation of Israel, who would be like Moses, and He would speak God’s Word to the people.  To be from the nation of Israel and to speak God’s Word would fit numerous different people throughout the ages, however, there is also this qualification that this prophet would be like Moses.

The Claim of Islam

Muslims claim that this prophecy regarding “the prophet” in Deuteronomy 18 is referring to Mohammed, the “final prophet” whom God would raise up.  This claim is very short lived, however, because Mohammed fits none of the qualifications.  Mohammed was not from the people of Israel, but was rather an Arab who was born in Mecca, (Makkah) Arabia from the tribe of Quraysh.  It is claimed that the Makkan people were descendants of Abraham though Ishmael (The Meaning of the Glorious Koran. p. xi. Amana Publications. Beltsville, Maryland, 1999).  He claimed to speak from God but denied both the Old and New Testaments as God’s Word.  And finally, Mohammed doesn’t fit the description that God has given regarding being like Moses, which we will look at in more detail throughout this week’s study.  Mohammed cannot be the prophet who is prophesied about in this section of Scripture.

What does it mean to be like Moses?

The man Moses was a unique man, chosen by God who fulfilled various roles in his lifetime.  In studying the Scriptures I see the following roles and responsibilities as being fulfilled in Moses’ life: prophet, priest, king, and servant.  Let’s briefly look at each of these roles as fulfilled in and through the life of Moses.

Moses as a Prophet

The role of a prophet is one of the clearest and most well-known roles of Moses.  It is not that Moses was continually called a prophet in the Bible, however, he acted like a prophet from the time that the LORD called him and spoke on behalf of God to Pharaoh and to the children of Israel.  When Aaron and Miriam opposed Moses and called into question the role that Moses exercised as a prophet, the LORD Himself spoke these words of rebuke to Aaron and Miriam:

Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; with him I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant, against Moses? – Num. 12:6-8

The LORD Himself testified that Moses was His prophet, in fact, even more than a prophet as God had a unique relationship with Moses from that of other prophets.  Moses was a true prophet of God.

Moses as a Servant

From the same verses quoted above in Numbers chapter twelve we read that Moses was called a “servant” of the LORD.  Moses referred to himself as a “servant of the LORD” (Ex. 4:10) and Moses is known as “the servant of the LORD” when he died: “So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD” (Deut. 34:5).  Moses fulfilled his role as a servant of God in that he was faithful to carry out all that God commanded him to do (Num. 12:7. Malachi 4:4).

Moses as a Priest 

Moses often acted as a priest for the people of Israel throughout their journey in the desert.  We see his priestly role clearly illustrated as Moses acted as a mediator between the LORD and the people concerning the covenant which was confirmed at Mt. Sinai through a sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood on the people (Exodus 24:4-8).  We also read in the book of Psalms: “Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel was among those who called on His name; they called upon the LORD and He answered them” (Psalm 99:6).  Moses was a priest of God.

Moses as a King

The role of king, as pertaining to Moses, is definitely the most obscure of these four distinct roles.  Moses was undoubtedly God’s appointed leader for the people of Israel as they were thrust into nationhood through the event of the “Exodus.”  Although this is true, can we really call Moses a king?

There is actually one verse in the Scriptures that could be understood as identifying Moses as a king.  This verse is located at the very end of the book of Deuteronomy in the final blessing of Moses upon the sons of Israel:

Moses charged us with a law,

A possession for the assembly of Jacob.

And He was king in Yeshurun,

When the heads of the people were gathered,

The tribes of Israel together.  – Deut. 33:4-5

The whole chapter of Deuteronomy 33 contains the blessing which Moses spoke to the people, however, in the couple of verses quoted above we see Moses speaking of himself in the third person, at least in verse four as we read in the first line.  In English, the translators have capitalized the pronoun “He” in the third line clearly pertaining to God as the “king in Yeshurun.”  The Hebrew in this verse, however, it is not clear and could very easily be identified with Moses in this context.  The Hebrew simply reads as follows: “ויהי בישרון מלך” – “vayhee vi’Yeshurun melek” – “and there was a king in Yeshurun.” There actually is no pronoun in Hebrew in this verse.  It only states that there was a king in Yeshurun (The name “Yeshurun” is a sort of nickname or term of endearment used for the people of Israel).

Whether or not this particular verse in Deut. 33:5 is referring to Moses as a king is not that detrimental.  Moses was clearly the leader of the children of Israel, who gave and established the Law for the people, and acted as their ruler before God.  Moses was the earthly leader of the people and the “prophet” who would come after him would be a leader like Moses.

From another perspective, we know without a shadow of a doubt that Moses was connected to royalty.  Moses was born into obscurity but he was adopted into the royal line of Egypt through Pharaoh’s daughter (Ex. 2:10).  Moses was identified as a prince in Egypt which would have put him in line to be the Pharaoh or King.

The Prophet whom God would Raise Up

God stated that He would raise up a prophet like Moses who would speak the words that God gave to him and the people would listen to him (Deut. 18:15-18).  Moses acted as a prophet, priest, king, and servant in relation to the children of Israel and Moses was also used by God to display great miracles on the earth. The prophet whom God would raise up would be like Moses in every way; a prophet, priest, king, and servant who would perform miracles which could only be attributed to God.

The Fulfillment of this Prophecy

The New Testament confirms and validates again and again that Yeshua was the Prophet who was to come into the world.

• God the Father spoke from heaven to confirm to Peter, James and John that Yeshua was His beloved Son and that they were to “listen to Him.” (Matt. 17:5. Luke 9:35)
• Yeshua Himself confirmed that He was the One who spoke God’s Words to His followers as recorded in His prayer to the Father in heaven: “for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.” (John 17:6-8)
• The Jewish people marveled at all the miracles that Yeshua performed and believed that Yeshua was the prophet who was to come in fulfillment of the prophecy in Deuteronomy: “Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, ‘This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.’” (John 6:14-15)
• Yeshua Himself clearly declared that He was the Prophet that Moses had written about: “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (John 5:39-47)
• Peter and Stephen also acknowledged that Yeshua was the fulfillment of the prophecy regarding the prophet like Moses whom God would raise up.  They both quoted from Deuteronomy 18:15. (Acts 3:22. Acts 7:37)

Yeshua as the Prophet, Priest, King, and Servant

Yeshua clearly fulfilled the prophecy from Deuteronomy 18:15-18 from His birth to His death.  Yeshua was born from the people of Israel and was like Moses in every way including the roles of prophet, priest, king, and servant as well as performing miracles by the hand of God. 

• Prophet: The Samaritan woman at the well testified that Yeshua was a prophet (John 4:19).
• Priest: Yeshua served as a priest by instituting a New Covenant through the sacrifice of His own body and blood (Luke 22:14-20).
• King: Pilate declared that Yeshua was “The King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38) and Yeshua will come to reign as King one day (Rev. 11:15-16. 19:16).
• Servant: Yeshua was the servant of all (John 13:3-17. Philippians 2:5-8).
• Miracles: Yeshua healed the sick, raised the dead, and made the blind to see (John 3:2. John 11. John 9).

It is easy for Christians and Messianic Jews to comprehend and accept that Yeshua was the Prophet to come as spoken of in Deuteronomy 18:15-18.  For religious Jews this is a bit more of a challenge.  That said, however, I did find something very interesting in relation to this subject during my study of these verses from Deuteronomy.

The Jewish Orthodox Dilemma

In researching the religious Jewish perspective of the “prophet” spoken of in Deut. 18:15-18, I discovered that some Jewish scholars and rabbis will translate the word “prophet” as “prophets” so as to not speak of one particular prophet that God would raise up but rather of all future prophets.  The significance of this manner of interpretation is to keep the focus off of Yeshua.  One commentary from Targum Onkelos, an Aramaic translation of the Torah from the first and second centuries AD, stated the following:

Onkelos fails to render (Deut.) 18:15-18 in the plural, which would have avoided the messianic interpretation read into the verses by John 5:14. 6:14. 7:40 and Acts 3:22. 7:37… that the verses refer to an individual, Jesus.  This could have been accomplished by using the plural “prophets,” such as was done by Sifrei and Rashi.” (Jonas, Irwin. Onkelos on the Torah. Deuteronomy. p. 168)

This religious Jewish commentary clearly tries to explain away the connection of Deut. 18:15-18 to Yeshua (Jesus) by making the argument that the rabbis of the past should have changed the singular word “prophet” to the plural word “prophets,” as others had done.  The Hebrew, however, is clearly singular.

In other words, the Hebrew text clearly speaks of one prophet in the future whom God would raise up.  Yeshua’s life fits this prophecy well and the Jewish scholars don’t know what to do with it except to potentially change the text; from one “prophet” singular to many “prophets” plural.  This only confirms even more that this prophecy is speaking about Yeshua.

Was Joshua the prophet to follow after Moses?

One final thought from the religious Jewish perspective regarding the fulfillment of this prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15-18 is that the singular “prophet” spoken of refers to Joshua who succeeded Moses.  This is a logical explanation and is also accepted by some rabbinic sources (Jonas, Irwin. Onkelos on the Torah. Deuteronomy. p. 169).  The natural followup question would be, Does Joshua fit the criteria?

Joshua was definitely from the people of Israel and fulfilled many of the same roles as Moses as a prophet and a servant and possibly as a king, as a leader of the people.  It is a bit of a stretch to consider him as a priest, however, Joshua did build an altar on Mount Ebal and offered sacrifices (Joshua 8:30-31).  Miracles were also performed through Joshua (Joshua 6:15-21. 10:12-15).  This all being true, there is something more significant regarding Joshua that I’d like to share here regarding his name.

Does Joshua = Yeshua?

The name Joshua in Hebrew is “יהושע” which is pronounced “Yehoshua” and means “the LORD will save.”  Many believe that the name “Yeshua” (ישוע) is simply the shortened form of the name “Yehoshua,” Joshua.  There is clear textual support for this theory which is illustrated in the Bible.

In the book of Ezra there is a reference to “Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Yeshua the son of Jozadak” (Ezra 5:2).  These exact same names are mentioned in the book of Haggai, however, there is an alteration in one of the names, the name Yeshua the son of Jozadak: “Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak” (Haggai 1:12).  We see in comparing these two Scriptures that “Yeshua the son of Jozadak” is now called “Joshua the son of Jehozadak.”  Variant spellings of the same name is common in the Bible.  These two separate Scriptures are obviously referring to the same person as they are both recorded as being dated by “the second year of Darius king of Persia” (Ezra 4:24 & Haggai 1:1).  Yeshua and Yehoshua are the same person and the same name.  Joshua = Yeshua!

The significance of the link between the names Joshua and Yeshua is that we can see a foreshadowing of the Messiah and Prophet through this prophecy in Deut. 18:15-18.  It is quite probable that this prophecy had a short and longterm fulfillment, meaning that it had an immediate (short term) fulfillment in the life of Joshua after the death of Moses and a future (long term) messianic fulfillment in the life of Yeshua.

From all of the evidence that I have gathered I believe that it is clear that Yeshua is the Prophet spoken of in Deuteronomy 18:18 and He is our Prophet, Priest, King, and Servant!

Shabbat Shalom!

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Torah Portion: Deut. 16:18 – Deut. 21:9

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