Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him shall ye hearken;
Moses has just warned Israel against the fortune-tellers and diviners of the nations around them. He answers that darkness with a promise, and it raises three questions: who is this Prophet, what does "like me" mean, and what does it cost to ignore Him?
Moses has just condemned those practices. One writer sets the promise beside them:
Turning back to Deuteronomy 18, we hear Moses say to Israel: "these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners." These were what the nations turned to when they wanted light on the world beyond. But what about God's people? "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers — it is to him you shall listen."
The New Testament settles who this Prophet is. One commentator says the proof does not rest on those quotations alone:
Here we plainly have the true prophet put forward, Christ Himself. Against all the unbelief of men, the Holy Spirit applies it to Him again and again — Peter in Acts 3, Stephen in Acts 7. In fact we do not even need these quotations. The whole New Testament is itself the unanswerable proof that Christ is the prophet meant here, and that listening to another is folly and sin.
Some have named Joshua instead. The same writer tests that against the wording:
The theory of Aben Ezra and others, that Joshua is meant, cannot be held. Joshua only added to Moses' work, and in little more than one direction. He in no way stands out as the prophet raised up from his brothers like Moses. What set Moses apart was his place as mediator, whose words people must hear on pain of death. That is true in the highest degree of none but the Messiah.
The likeness is not left vague. Another writer spells it out:
The description of the Coming One was clear and exact. The likeness would lie in this: the Lord would know that Prophet face to face, as He had known Moses. So the Coming One would be a man, and God would deal with Him in person, as He had with Moses. Prophet after prophet arose over the years. But between the days of Moses and those of John the Baptist, not one of them matched that description.
The words "from your brothers" mean a real man standing between God and the people. Israel had begged for that at Sinai:
God remembered Sinai. The thought of hearing God Himself speak to them had terrified Israel, and they had asked for a go-between with God. So the Prophet spoken of in verse 18 is the "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
Their fear exposed a limit that Moses could not overcome:
If Moses had been enough, there would have been no need for another. But the Law was bound to fail to bring people near to God. God had told the lawgiver himself, "Man shall not see me and live." The veil in front of the Most Holy Place bore witness to that all through those years.
Being like Moses does not mean being on his level:
God will establish a new covenant under the Messiah, and that is no dishonour to the law of Moses. Moses himself predicted it. He foretold that the Lord God would raise up a prophet like himself — like him, yet greater than him. This prophet would not be greater if He did not bring in a new state of things, that is, the new covenant. Moses brought in the old covenant. Christ will bring in the new covenant.
The command still has someone to obey today. One writer shows where we hear that voice now:
How precious the privilege of hearing the voice of such a Prophet! It is the voice of God speaking through the lips of the Man Christ Jesus. He does not speak in thunder, in flaming fire, or in the flash of lightning. He speaks in that still small voice of love and mercy, which falls with soothing power on the broken heart and the crushed spirit. This voice we have in the Holy Scriptures. We must never forget this. The voice of Scripture is the voice of Christ, and the voice of Christ is the voice of God.
- Fear — At Sinai the people begged not to hear God's voice. This Prophet is God's answer to that fear.
- Man — "From among you, from your brothers" means a real man. He would know God face to face as Moses did: the one mediator between God and men.
- Instead — God gives this voice in place of fortune-tellers and diviners. His people never needed to look elsewhere for light.
- Greater — Like Moses, but above him: Moses brought in the old covenant, Christ the new.
- Listen — Peter and Stephen both name Jesus as this Prophet. His voice still reaches us in Scripture, and refusing Him is refusing God.
according to all that thou desiredst of Jehovah thy God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Jehovah my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
This verse looks back to a day Israel could never forget. At Horeb the people heard God's voice out of the fire and begged never to hear it again. The Prophet promised here is God's answer to that plea.
Horeb is the mountain where God gave the law. What the people saw and heard there drove them back, and they asked for someone to stand between them and God:
When "all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking," they "stood far off and said to Moses, 'You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.'" (Ex. 20:18-19.) They felt their need of a mediator, and the LORD answered, "I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken." (Deut. 5:28.)
God called their words well spoken. But that was not praise for the vow they had made, as one writer explains:
From this passage it might seem as though the Lord approved of their making a vow. But read the whole context, verses 24-27, and you will see at once that it has nothing to do with the vow. It expresses their terror at the consequences of their vow. They could not endure what God commanded... It was their own confession that they could not face the LORD in that terrifying character which their proud trust in law had led Him to take up.
The people wanted Moses to carry the weight of hearing God. What God gave went far past the honour they tried to press on Moses:
Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant, is the answer of the God of grace to the instinctive desire of the human conscience, once the searching light of truth falls on it. God promised Him as a Prophet of salvation to His people, in answer to their natural though ignorant plea on the day of the assembly at the earlier mount of God... In their selfish panic of alarm and ignorance they tried to thrust that honour on Moses, and it would not stay there. It would rest for ever on One whose fitness to speak words of comfort to His people goes far beyond anything they could ask or think.
They were afraid of a voice, and God answered with a voice — His own words, now spoken by a Man among them:
He spoke what the Father gave Him to speak; for He had become flesh to draw near to us. He was truly a Man among men, walking in grace and in dependence upon God. As the promised Prophet, God had told the people to hear Him (Deut. 18:15). They had been afraid of the voice of divine majesty, speaking in fire and storm from the smoking mountain where God gave the law. So God promised to raise up One "from among their brothers," who would speak in grace.
One writer draws out how that voice sounds, and where we hear it now:
How precious the privilege of hearing the voice of such a Prophet! It is the voice of God speaking through the lips of the Man Christ Jesus. He speaks not in thunder, not with flaming fire or flashing lightning, but in that still small voice of love and mercy. It falls with soothing power on the broken heart and the crushed spirit... The voice of Scripture is the voice of Christ, and the voice of Christ is the voice of God.
The surrounding verses forbid Israel to consult mediums, fortune-tellers and the dead. God gives the promised Prophet in their place:
If the professing people of God turn to such things, it is not because God has refused them the joy and blessing of direct communication of His mind: it is because they have turned their back on Him. He would not even wait for the people to call on Him. He would come near to them Himself in the Prophet He would raise up like Moses, and they were to hear Him. And He would call to account anyone who did not hear that Prophet.
- The cause — At Horeb the people heard God speak out of the fire and begged never to hear it again. That day is why God promised a Prophet.
- The confession — Their words were not praise for their vow. They confessed they could not endure God's voice.
- The gift — They tried to press the mediator's place on Moses. God gave instead One whose fitness to comfort His people goes beyond anything they could ask or think.
- The voice — The Prophet speaks the very words of God, no longer in thunder and fire, but in grace. His voice reaches us now in Scripture.
- The result — God comes near in this Prophet, so His people need no mediums or the dead. Turning to them means turning your back on a God who has already spoken.
And Jehovah said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
At Horeb the people begged never to hear God's voice out of the fire again. He agreed with them — so what made their fear right, and what did He give them instead?
Their words were not a boast but an admission. One commentator warns against reading God's approval as approval of the vow they had made to obey:
From this passage it might seem as though the Lord approved of their making a vow. But read the whole context, from verses 24-27, and you will see at once that it has nothing to do with the vow. It expresses their terror at the results of their vow. They could not bear what He commanded... They were confessing that they could not face the LORD in the terrifying character their proud legality had led Him to take.
Another writer sees two things here. The confession was true. But the honour they pushed onto Moses would rest on Someone far greater:
They had spoken well in that confession of their dread. They were, in truth, unable in themselves to have to do with God. In their selfish alarm and ignorance they tried to push that honour onto Moses, but in vain. It would rest for ever on One far more able to speak words of comfort to His people than they could ask or think.
God answered their fear with a Man to stand between Himself and them:
God remembered Sinai, where Israel was terrified at the thought of hearing God Himself speak (Ex. 20:18-20). They had asked for someone to stand between themselves and God. So the Prophet spoken of in verse 18 is the "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5). He would faithfully speak the words He received from God.
The promise also answers the fortune-tellers and mediums banned in the verses just before. God does not leave His people without a voice from Him:
If the professing people of God turn to such things, it is not because God has refused them the joy and blessing of hearing His mind directly. It is because they have turned their back on Him. He would not even wait for the people to call on Him. He would come near to them Himself in the Prophet He would raise up like Moses, the One they were to hear.
The likeness has a limit. Moses gave the old covenant; the Prophet like him brings in something new:
He foretold that the LORD God was to raise up a prophet like himself, but although like him, superior to him (Deut. 18:15, 18). There would be no superiority in this prophet if he did not bring in a new state of things, that is, the new covenant. Moses brought in the old covenant. Christ will bring in the new covenant.
Read after the coming of Jesus, the wording of the promise gains a weight it could not have carried before:
Every word has taken on a force far beyond anything anyone could expect before this revelation. Each expression is now bright when we see it fulfilled in the Lord Jesus. Jesus alone makes their full truth known. He also makes known the utmost danger of slighting Him, and so losing all the more.
The people could not bear the fire. The voice God gave instead comes in a completely different tone:
How precious the privilege of hearing the voice of such a Prophet! It is the voice of God speaking through the lips of the man Christ Jesus. He speaks not in thunder, not with flaming fire or flashing lightning, but in that still small voice of love and mercy. It falls with soothing power on the broken heart and crushed spirit... The voice of Scripture is the voice of Christ, and the voice of Christ is the voice of God.
Moses called Israel to hear, and the nation would not. The same call now comes from Someone greater:
Israel was the LORD's "deaf servant." Now God had raised up another Prophet, and Scripture says of Him, "It is to him you shall listen" (Deut. 18:15; Acts 3:22-23; Acts 7:37). Moses urged the people, "Hear, O Israel." Now One greater than Moses cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
- Confession — Their words were right because they were true. They admitted they could not stand before God.
- Provision — God met that admission not with a rule but with a Mediator, one Man to receive His words and pass them on.
- Initiative — He did not wait for them to call on Him. He came near in the Prophet He promised to raise up.
- Fulfilment — The Prophet is like Moses yet above him, bringing in the new covenant Moses could not give.
- Response — The voice that once terrified now speaks in love through Christ. Everything turns on whether we listen.
A prophet will I raise up unto them from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
Moses is near the end of his life. He tells Israel what God will do after him. God will raise up a Prophet from Israel's own people and give Him His own words to speak. Two questions follow. Who is this Prophet? And what is it like to hear Him?
This promise comes in a chapter that has just warned Israel against fortune-telling and contact with spirits.
Here is the divine resource of the Lord's people, at all times and in all places... He shows them very clearly that they had no need to turn to spirits of the dead, enchanters, wizards or witches, all of which were detestable to the Lord.
Jewish teachers have proposed various candidates — Jeremiah, Joshua, or a whole line of prophets. None of them fits the words "like me."
How else could we explain a man like Abarbanel twisting the words of Deuteronomy 18:18, quoted here, and applying them to Jeremiah?... Completely untenable is the theory of Aben Ezra and others that Joshua is meant. Joshua only added to Moses' work, and in hardly more than one direction. In no adequate way does he stand out as the prophet raised up from his brothers like Moses. So some of the most distinguished Jewish teachers have tried to read this one prophet as a line of prophets! That goes against the use of the language as much as against the facts of their history... The role of mediator, whose words people must obey or die, points to what was unique in Moses. And it is true in the highest degree of no one but the Messiah.
The words "from among their brothers" answer something the people themselves had asked for at Sinai.
God remembered how the thought of hearing God Himself speak at Sinai had terrified Israel (Ex. 20:18-20). They had asked for someone to stand between themselves and God. So the Prophet spoken of in verse 18 is the "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5). He would faithfully speak the words He received from God.
Jesus spoke of His own words in the same way.
The Son never claimed that anything He spoke was His own. This made the rejection of His words all the more serious for those who claimed God as their God. Every word He spoke was the Father's, for "The Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak." Not only the substance of what He said, but the very words were the Father's. In obedience to the Father, the Son made known every one of them.
Commentators differ over how far "like me" reaches. One reads it as implying superiority, because this Prophet brings a change of covenant.
He foretold that the Lord God would raise up a prophet like himself — like him, yet superior to him (Deut. 18:15, 18). There would be no superiority in this prophet if he did not introduce a new state of things — that is, the new covenant. Moses brought in the old covenant. Christ will bring in the new covenant.
Another asks what the word "prophet" means here, and points out what Moses does not claim.
The word "prophet" here seems to point to the divine authority of the lawgiver rather than to the power of seeing the future... The One this passage speaks about was to be "a prophet," Moses says, "like me." The Jews acknowledged the authority of Moses as their lawgiver appointed by God and the founder of their system. But he himself foretold the coming of another of equal authority — he does not say higher. And this one they were to hear in all things.
The people dreaded God's own voice at the mountain. Hearing this Prophet is different:
How precious is the privilege of hearing the voice of such a Prophet! It is the voice of God speaking through the lips of the man Christ Jesus. He speaks not in thunder, not with flaming fire or flashing lightning, but in that still small voice of love and mercy. It falls with soothing power on the broken heart and crushed spirit... We have this voice in the holy Scriptures. We must never forget this. The voice of Scripture is the voice of Christ, and the voice of Christ is the voice of God.
- Raised up. God's answer to a people tempted by mediums and diviners was not a technique but a Person — a Prophet He Himself would provide.
- From among. He comes from Israel's own family. He is the mediator they begged for at Sinai, when God's own voice terrified them.
- In His mouth. The Prophet speaks nothing of His own; Jesus said the Father gave Him the very words, not just the substance.
- Like Moses. Commentators differ on whether "like me" means equal authority or greater. Either way, no earlier prophet fits. The description lands on the Messiah alone.
- Hear Him. The same voice still reaches us in Scripture, no longer thunder from a mountain but mercy spoken to a broken heart.
And it shall come to pass that the man who hearkeneth not unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
God promises a Prophet like Moses, and then adds a warning in His own voice. Refuse what that Prophet says in God's name, and God Himself will call you to account. So who is this Prophet? And what does God mean when He says He will "require it" of the one who will not listen?
Moses never names the Prophet he foretells. The New Testament does. One writer says we do not even need the apostles' quotations, because the whole New Testament proves the point:
So plainly we have the true prophet put forward, Christ Himself. Men refuse to believe, but the Holy Spirit affirms over and over that it applies to Him — through Peter in Acts 3, and through Stephen in Acts 7. In fact we do not even need these quotations of the passage. The entire New Testament is itself the unanswerable proof that Christ is the prophet meant here. It also proves the folly and sin of listening to anyone else.
This warning grows out of something the people asked for. At Sinai they heard God speak and could not bear it. God's answer was a Man who drew near to them and spoke the words His Father gave Him:
He spoke what the Father gave Him to speak, for He had become flesh to draw near to us. He was truly a Man among men, walking in grace and depending on God... They had been afraid of the voice of divine majesty. It spoke in the middle of fire and storm, from the smoking mountain where God gave the law. God therefore promised to raise up One "from among their brothers," who would speak in divine grace.
The verse warns, but first it offers something tender. God's own voice now comes to people through the lips of a man:
How precious is the privilege of hearing the voice of such a Prophet! It is the voice of God speaking through the lips of the Man Christ Jesus. He does not speak in thunder, nor with flaming fire or the flash of lightning. He speaks in that still small voice of love and mercy. It falls with soothing power on the broken heart and the crushed spirit. It falls like the gentle dew of heaven on thirsty ground. This voice we have in the Holy Scriptures... The voice of Scripture is the voice of Christ, and the voice of Christ is the voice of God.
The verse does not explain the phrase. One commentator spells out what God promises to do, and who must answer for it:
If someone would not listen to God's words spoken by this Prophet, God would require it of him. God would make this a serious issue that the guilty person could not escape... He is the one Prophet whom everyone is responsible to recognise and believe.
Peter quotes this promise in Acts 3 with sharper words: the soul who will not listen is "destroyed from the people." What comes before the promise explains why the choice is that stark:
The law was bound to fail to bring people near to God. "Man shall not see me and live" had been His word to Moses himself. The veil in front of the holiest place bore witness to that all through those years... There must be, then, another Prophet and a different message. If a person hears Him, the way to God that is otherwise closed opens for him. If he will not hear Him, there is indeed no remedy: "every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people."
The verse asks for a hearing because of the sender: the Prophet speaks in God's name. When the Son came, God asked for more:
People were to receive a prophet because he spoke in the name of Jehovah who sent him (Deut. 18:18-19). But now men had to believe in the name of the Speaker Himself — the Only-begotten Son. Israel had to believe the message of the prophet, but not on his name. But now God called the people to believe on the Son, for Jehovah's "name is in Him" (Ex. 23:21).
- Asked for. At Sinai Israel begged not to hear God's voice from the fire. The promised Prophet is God's answer to that fear — One who speaks in grace.
- Given. That Prophet is Christ. Peter says so in Acts 3, Stephen in Acts 7, and the whole New Testament proves it.
- Gentle. His is not the voice of thunder but the still small voice of love and mercy. We have that voice now in Scripture: the voice of Scripture is the voice of Christ, and the voice of Christ is the voice of God.
- Required. God Himself takes up the refusal of those words, and no guilty person escapes it. The law could not bring anyone near God, so apart from this Prophet there is no remedy.
- Named. People heard a prophet for the sake of the name that sent him. We believe on the Son for His own name, because God's name is in Him.