A Prophet Like Moses

04/12/2012 20:23

 

One of the prophecies that both Christians and Muslims referr to is Deuteronomy 18:18

"I will raise up from them a prophet like you from among their brothers.  And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him."

Many Muslims claim that this is a prophecy about Muhammad.  Allah also says that Muhammad is written about in the Torah and the Injil as the "unlettered" prophet (S 7:156-157).  Christians claim it's a prophecy about Jesus.  Interestingly enough, Jesus claims that Moses wrote about him (John 5:46)!  So who is the prophet that is like Moses?  Was Moses right about both Jesus and Muhammad?  That's up to you to discover so here is a general analysis to help answer that important question.  More advanced discussions will follow.   

 

Topographical:

X = They share the same likeness

[1] = See references at the end

Moses Jesus Muhammad
1. Was an orphan   X
2. Had a normal birth   X
3. Was a polital leader   X
4. Leader of an earthly army   X
5. Conqured land   X
6. Left his homeland   X
7. Was married   X
8. Was almost killed as a baby X  
9. Was literate X  

Jesus = 2  /  Muhammad = 7

 

Equal:

Moses Jesus Muhammad
10. Rejected by people X X
11. Brought new laws X X

Jesus = 2  / Muhammad = 2

 

Ministerial:

Moses Jesus Muhammad
12. Was an Israelite Jew  X     
13. Left Egypt to perform God's work X      
14. Knew God face to face X  
15. Spoke directly with God X  
16. Was a direct mediator between God and his people X  
17. Performed miracles and signs X [1]
18. Transfigured (illuminated) on a mount giving the new law to the people X  
19. Made a "blood" covenant X  

Jesus = 8  /  Muhammad = 0

 

Dissimilar:

Moses Jesus Muhammad
20. Born in Egypt Bethlehem Mecca
21. Had 2 wives 0 9
22. Did not abrogate any previous revelation Confirmed / Fulfilled Confirmed / Abrogated[2]
23. Died a natural death Crucified Poisoned?[3]

 

This gives us a broad picture of what it means to be a "prophet like" Moses.  Now I've read on many Islamic websites[4], topographical comparisons only.  But that is not the only way one should aproach such a study especially when it's dealing with someting as big as a prophecy.  What happens when you change to a zoom lense and focus on some of the ministerial attributes associated with Moses; you'll find an equal amount of similarities of likenes in Jesus.  The question is where do we go from here?  

 

Let me frame an example of two scenarios of "likness":

 

First, imagine a father and son that have many similarities in their manorism, appearances etc.  Both the father and son may have been orphaned as a young child, they were conceived naturally, they were both presidents of a corporation, both owned millions in stock, both drove the same distance to work in their matching BMW's, both were married... and the topographical list goes on.  Ok you got the point. 

 

Now lets look more deeply into each of their lives and what they did below the surface.  Perhapse the father was an upright man, wise and had good morals but his son was far from being like his father in that respect.  The son was an alcoholic, abused his wife and children, gambled his money away etc.

 

The point is, from an outside apearance alone they might both look like equals, especially when they're sporting a suit and tie every day to the office.  So how can one base prophethood on merely by looking from one angle?  You have to dig deeper to the root... deeper to what God wants you to notice as most important and qualifying.

 

Here's a question, can you be a prophet like Moses if:

  1. You're an orphan?
  2. You lead an army and became a religious and political leader?
  3. You conqured lands?
  4. You brought new laws?
  5. You were rejected by people?
  6. You married and had children?
  7. You left your homeland?

And the obvious answer is, sure!  Had all the pieces fallen into place I'm sure quite a few individuals throughout history fit these categories so what's so special about prophethood if multiple individuals could be a prophet like Moses in this regard?

 

Now answer the next set of questions, can you be a prophet like Moses if:

  1. You are an Israelite?
  2. You perform miracles and signs?
  3. You met God face to face and talk directly with God?
  4. You made a blood covenant with God?
  5. You are transfigured on a mountain (glowing) for all the people to see and fear you?

What would be your answer now?  Its a little more difficult to fit in this picture isn't it.  You see, its much more involved then one may think on the outside.  That is why I'm perplexed as to why many Muslim websites that I've visited only focus on the topographical qualifiers. 

 

I could go further into detail on these qualifiers but that will be on future articles as I have not gone deeper into the "context" of the verses in Deuteronomy, nor have shown you how Jesus is the only one who can fulfill this prophecy.  There's a LOT more to cover than just reviewing ONE sentence in the bible.  As for now, you should be able to compare Jesus and Muhammad from two distinct angles and determine (if not get closer to figuring out) who is the most likely candidate and if you need more of an explanation I'll be adding those details in time.

 

CONCLUSIONS:

  1. If you conclude that Muhammad is the "Prophet like Moses" you must believe that Muhammad also performed miracles and signs, spoke directly with God, made a blood covenant with Him etc. (things that are not true)  By concluding that it is Muhammad you also acknowledge that these ministerial works of Moses are less important than the topographical qualifiers (i.e. you believe that it's more important that Muhammad was an orphan like Moses than Jesus performing signs and miracles like Moses).
  2. If you conclude that Jesus is the "Prophet like Moses" then you believe that he did perform miracles and signs, spoke directly with God, was himself the blood of the new and everlasting covenant etc.  However he did not raise an army, nor was he an orphan etc.  So your conclusion that it is Jesus must be based on the miniserial works of Moses and not necessarily on the topographical qualifiers.  To believe that it is Jesus is to reason that the ministry of Moses is more important than merely topographical qualifiers. 

MY CONCLUSION:

I think that its obvious that Jesus is the "Prophet like Moses", not only because Jesus himself said that Moses wrote about him, but because covenants, signs, miracles etc. are the most important and influential aspects of Moses's ministry for which I believe fits the context of who Moses was speaking about.  It's also important to note the topographical disqualifier that Moses was literate and Muhammad was not.  The fact that Muhammad cannot read or write disqualifies Muhammad as fully being the prophet like Moses as many Muslims believe.  I also find it odd that Allah would not be specific enough to say that Muhammad was written about by Moses and that it took other generations of Muslims to force the idea that Deuteronomy 18 is talking about him.  In my opinion the Muslim argument is weak as it limits the analysis based soley on topographical qualifiers that "work" for them while failing to mention the disqualifying arguments.    

"If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me." [John 5:46]

 

References:

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