B: 4th Sun of OrdTime (31 Jan 2021) - PROPHET LIKE MOSES (Deut 18:15-20)

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like myself, from among yourselves, from your own brothers; to him you must listen” (Deut 18:15).

This quotation is uttered by Moses to the Israelites, assuring them that the leadership he embraced would be continued even in the succeeding generations. The Israelites took this prophecy seriously that even in the New Testament the Jews continued to remember well his words. For instance, Peter, in his speech to the Jews gathered in the portico of Solomon (Ac 3:11-26), preached with the words: “Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people a prophet like me. You must listen to whatever he tells you” (v. 22). In a similar vein, Stephen boldly argued with the high priest and his persecutors (Ac 7:1-50), stating: “It was Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you, from among your kinsfolk, a prophet like me” (v. 37). Both Peter and Stephen in these passages were referring to Jesus as the one being foretold by Moses as the one sent by God.

Meanwhile, the concept of the return of Moses was not only important to the followers of Jesus. Such was also vital among other ethnic groups. In fact, the Samaritans were anticipating a prophet like Moses to return. They may have probably equated him with the so-called Taheb (it literally means in Hebrew “the one who comes”), which is alternately called Moses redivivus (i.e., the reincarnated Moses). For them, they expected him to be their prophet par excellence, and even the very Messiah himself, who would educate them and give lasting peace and unity among the tribes of Israel. This hope is clearly expressed in the words of the Samaritan woman in her conversation with Jesus: “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything” (Jn 4:25). Jesus did not negate their belief, but he only properly qualified it with a declaration: “I am he, the one who is speaking with you” (v. 26). Simply put, Jesus identified himself as the one Moses was prophesying in Deuteronomy.

While it is founded in the NT that Jesus was the fulfilment of all the prophesies in the OT inclusive of being like or greater than Moses (Jn 5:46), our big dilemma in the 21st century is on how to know if another prophet in the mold of Moses had been sent by God and was speaking for him, given that Jesus has long been ascended into heaven. Actually, the same question was already anticipated by Moses in his conversation with the Israelites, “Should you say to yourselves, ‘How can we recognize that a word is one the Lord has not spoken?,’ if a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord but the word does not come true, it is a word the Lord did not speak. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not fear him” (Deut 18:21-22).

The barometer of the truth! Indeed, speaking truthfully—without any guile, malice, and ulterior motives—should be the prime trait of any leader in our society today. Moses and Jesus exemplified this virtue, and, in effect, gained much following for Yahweh. In fact, only in the truth can one attain salvation as Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6).

In our present context where we are constantly confused on whom to follow, and on what to believe, let us, then, painstakingly search always for the truth and be not easily swayed by populist rhetoric and divisive propaganda. And once we discover it, let us hold it dearly, spread it, and fight for it, lest we put to heart and action something that is not coming from the Lord.

- Rex Fortes, CM