God had promised the Israelites to raise up for them a prophet like Moses from among themselves:

“Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you (miqqirbaka), of your brothers (me’aheka), like me. You shall listen to him. This is according to all that you desired of Yahweh your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again Yahweh my God’s voice, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die.’ Yahweh said to me, ‘They have well said that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers (miqqereb ahehem), like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” Deuteronomy 18:15-19 World English Bible (WEB)

The Hebrew words “from among you,” and “of your brothers” are always used in reference to a fellow Israelite:

“you shall surely set him whom Yahweh your God chooses as king over yourselves. You shall set as king over you one from among your brothers (miqqereb aheka). You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.” Deuteronomy 17:15 WEB

“You shall serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you (miqqirbaka).” Exodus 23:25 WEB

“You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers (me’aheka) or one of the foreigners who are in your land within your gates.” Deuteronomy 24:14 WEB

“Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did because of Baal Peor; for Yahweh your God has destroyed all the men who followed Baal Peor from among you (miqqirbaka).” Deuteronomy 4:3 WEB

“That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk in. So you shall remove the evil from among you (miqqirbaka)… certain wicked fellows have gone out from among you (miqqirbaka) and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let’s go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known,” Deuteronomy 13:5, 13 WEB – Cf. 17:7; 19:19; 21:9, 21; 22:21, 24; 24:7

“‘It will happen in that day’, says Yahweh, ‘that I will cut off your horses out from among you (miqqirbaka), and will destroy your chariots.’… I will cut off your engraved images and your pillars out from among you (miqqirbaka); and you shall no more worship the work of your hands… I will uproot your Asherah poles out from among you (miqqirbaka); and I will destroy your cities.” Micah 5:10-13-14 WEB

“In that day you will not be disappointed for all your doings, in which you have transgressed against me; for then I will take away out from among you (miqqirbek) your proudly exulting ones, and you will no more be arrogant in my holy mountain.” Zephaniah 3:11 WEB

As far as the New Testament is concerned Jesus was (still is) an Israelite living in the midst of Israel, and was therefore truly from among the Israelites:

“of your brothers” “from among their brothers”

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Matthew 1:1 English Standard Version (ESV) “And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” Mark 10:47-48 ESV “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:32-33 ESV “Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli… the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,” Luke 3:23, 31-34 ESV “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.” Acts 2:29-31 ESV “that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.” Acts 3:20-26 ESV “And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.” Acts 13:22-23 ESV “concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh” Romans 1:3 ESV “They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ…” Romans 9:4-5a ESV “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,” 2 Timothy 2:8 ESV “For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.” Hebrews 7:14 ESV “And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” Revelation 5:5 ESV “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” Revelation 22:16 ESV

“I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.” “to my words which he shall speak in my name,”

“Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, ‘Rabbi, eat.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Has anyone brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.’” John 4:31-34 ESV “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” John 5:30 ESV “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.” John 5:43 ESV “So Jesus answered them, ‘My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.’” John 7:16-18 ESV “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” John 8:28-29 ESV “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” John 12:49-50 ESV “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.” John 14:30-31 ESV “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” John 15:9-10 ESV

The Torah further explains what it means for a prophet to be like Moses:

“Since then, there has not arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face, in all the signs and the wonders which Yahweh sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, and in all the mighty hand, and in all the awesome deeds, which Moses did in the sight of all Israel.” Deuteronomy 34:10-12 WEB

For a prophet to be like Moses he must do miracles like Moses, and speak directly with God as Moses did.

In this article I will show how Jesus fulfills these criteria, and highlight some additional similarities between the two.

THE COMMAND TO KILL MALE CHILDREN

 MOSES

 “Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, ‘You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.’” Exodus 1:22

 JESUS

 “Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’ Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.” Matthew 2:13-16 ESV

 SPEAKING WITH GOD FACE TO FACE

 MOSES

“Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up. They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphire stone, like the skies for clearness. He didn’t lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank. Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them.’ Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto God’s Mountain. He said to the elders, ‘Wait here for us, until we come again to you. Behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them.’ Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. Yahweh’s glory settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud. The appearance of Yahweh’s glory was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. Moses entered into the middle of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” Exodus 24:9-18 WEB

“Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. He turned again into the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, didn’t depart from the Tent.” Exodus 33:11 WEB

“Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Chisel two stone tablets like the first. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. No one shall come up with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain. Do not let the flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.’ He chiseled two tablets of stone like the first; then Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and took in his hand two stone tablets. Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed Yahweh’s name. Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, ‘Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth, keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.’ Moses hurried and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped… When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mountain, Moses didn’t know that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him. When Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come near him. Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them all the commandments that Yahweh had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. When Moses was done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. But when Moses went in before Yahweh to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and he came out, and spoke to the children of Israel that which he was commanded. The children of Israel saw Moses’ face, that the skin of Moses’ face shone; so Moses put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.” Exodus 34:1-8, 29-35 WEB

JESUS

“And he said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.’ And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, ‘This is my beloved Son; listen to him.’” Mark 9:1-7 ESV

“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.” 2 Peter 1:16-18 ESV

“And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’” Mark 1:11 ESV

“‘Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not mine.’” John 12:28-30 ESV

“If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” John 10:37-38

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’ Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.’” John 14:6-11 ESV

 SIGNS AND WONDERS

 MOSES

 “And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.” Acts 7:22 ESV

JESUS

 “And he said to them, ‘What things?’ And they said to him, ‘Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,’” Luke 24:19 ESV

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—” Acts 2:22 ESV

“After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?’ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, ‘Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?’ Jesus said, ‘Have the people sit down.’ Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!’ Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself… So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’ Jesus then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’ Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’” John 6:1-15, 24-35 ESV

It is not a coincidence that the people began to wonder if Jesus was indeed the prophet that was to come into the world, and the topic of God sending down the manna from heaven at Moses’ time came up right after Christ miraculously fed the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. They could see from this miraculous sign that Jesus truly was the prophet like Moses.

CALLED GOD

 MOSES

“He will be your spokesman to the people. It will happen that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God (l’elohim).” Exodus 4:16 WEB

“And Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have made thee God to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.” Exodus 7:1 DARBY

JESUS

Whereas Moses was God in a functional sense, since he stood in the place of God as his authorized agent and spokesperson, Jesus is God in an ontological sense. The New Testament authors plainly state that Christ fully possesses all the essential attributes which make God what he is.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1, 14 ESV

“Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:27-31 ESV

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” Acts 20:28 ESV

“To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever.” Romans 9:5 ESV

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,” Colossians 2:8-9 ESV

“waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,” Titus 2:13 ESV

“But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.’” Hebrews 1:8 ESV

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” 1 John 5:20 ESV

MEDIATOR OF THE COVENANT

MOSES

“Moses came and told the people all Yahweh’s words, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, ‘All the words which Yahweh has spoken will we do.’ Moses wrote all Yahweh’s words, then rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to Yahweh. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, ‘We will do all that Yahweh has said, and be obedient.’ Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.’” Exodus 24:3-8 WEB

“Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.” Galatians 3:19-20 ESV

 JESUS

“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:26-28 ESV

“But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.” Hebrews 8:6 ESV

“Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.” Hebrews 9:15 ESV

“and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Hebrews 12:24 ESV

PRIEST OF GOD

A priest’s work entails making atonement for sins by offering up vicarious sacrifices and interceding for the people of God.

MOSES

“On the next day, Moses said to the people, ‘You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin.’” Exodus 32:30 WEB

“He said, ‘If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go among us, even though this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.’” Exodus 34:9 WEB

“I fell down before Yahweh, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which Yahweh was angry against you to destroy you. But Yahweh listened to me that time also. Yahweh was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. I prayed for Aaron also at the same time… You have been rebellious against Yahweh from the day that I knew you. So I fell down before Yahweh the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because Yahweh had said he would destroy you. I prayed to Yahweh, and said, ‘Lord Yahweh, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance that you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don’t look at the stubbornness of this people, nor at their wickedness, nor at their sin, lest the land you brought us out from say, “Because Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.” Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’… I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights; and Yahweh listened to me that time also. Yahweh would not destroy you.” Deuteronomy 9:18-20, 24-29; 10:10 WEB

“Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who call on his name. They called on Yahweh, and he answered them.” Psalm 99:6 WEB

JESUS

“Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” Romans 8:34 ESV

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” 1 Timothy 2:5-6 ESV

“who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life… The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.” Hebrews 7:16, 23-28 ESV

“Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:23-24 ESV

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2 ESV

LAWGIVER

 MOSES

“Then Joshua built an altar to Yahweh, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones, on which no one had lifted up any iron. They offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh and sacrificed peace offerings.” Joshua 8:30-31 WEB

 JESUS

“To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.” 1 Corinthians 9:21 ESV

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 ESV

ONE GREATER THAN MOSES HAS ARRIVED

 Even though Jesus is truly the prophet like Moses, he is much more than a prophet. As I have already shown, Christ is God who became flesh, and therefore infinitely better than Moses:

“For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” Hebrews 3:3-6 ESV

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high… And, ‘You, Lord [the Son], laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.’” Hebrews 1:1-3, 10-12 ESV

Hence, Jesus is like Moses in one sense, but infinitely greater than him in another sense. I.e. Christ is the eternal Son of God who created and sustains all creation, and who is the Lord over God’s household, in contrast to Moses who is a servant in God’s house.

After all, being like Moses doesn’t mean that Christ must be identical to Moses in every manner. Jesus is like Moses in all the ways that the Torah states that the prophet like Israel’s great lawgiver is supposed to be.

 

 

 

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