"The Lord said unto me, a prophet will I raise up to them (that is the children of Israel) from among their brethren like unto thee (Moses) and I (the Lord) will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all I may command."

"And it shall come to pass, that if there be a man who will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him."

Verse 15, says the same thing in these words,

"A prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, will the Lord thy God raise up unto thee; unto him shall ye harken."

Let us analyse these words of the Lord and Moses.
   1. It says that God was going to send a prophet, a messenger. Moses says "a prophet," not a dozen, though God sent more than that number of prophets. But this was to be a special messenger.
   2. God said this prophet was to be "like to Moses," What was there in Moses that made no other prophet in the Old Testament, from Joshua to Malachi, "like to Moses?" It was that Moses alone among the prophets was a law-giver, a supreme legislator, and ruler by direct command of Almighty God. Here is what "Vallentine's Jewish Encyclopedia" says of the distinguishing characteristic of Moses as a prophet,

"At the time of receiving or delivering the message the prophet usually fell into a kind of an ecstacy in which he was more or less unconscious of his surroundings; it was one of the marks of superiority of Moses that at the time of the afflatus he was still in full possession of his faculties. Another point that distinguished Moses from all other prophets was that his message included laws and ordinances" (p. 539).

   3. Who, save the Messiah (the Christ), could possibly be "like to Moses" if the other prophets were not? Has any one ever existed who was the complete realization, the complete counterpart of Moses, save Jesus the Messiah? No prophet since Moses, save Jesus, brought "laws and ordinances" and commanded their obeyance. No prophet ever claimed to be the Prophet Moses spoke of save Jesus. Hearken to those words of Jesus, spoke to a group of Jews on the Sabbath Day,

"Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, Moses, in whom you hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me also, for he wrote of Me" (St. John 5:45-46).

On another occasion, while speaking to the Eleven (Apostles), Jesus said,

"While I was yet with you, (I taught) that all things must be fulfilled that are written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me" (St. Luke 24:44).

Jesus has always been recognized throughout the Christian ages, by Protestants as well as Catholics, as the Prophet. Moses foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15. In the Acts of the Apostles, we read,

"...This is the Moses who said to the Children of Israel, 'God will raise up a Prophet from among your brethren, as he raised up me; him shall you hear'" (7:37).

   Converts from the Synagogue to the Church sincerely believe that they are faithful to Moses when they give ear to Jesus. They cry out as did Philip to Nathaniel, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote" (St. John 1:45).
   Why did Moses want Israel in the future to listen to some specific prophet?   The Law God gave Moses had been proclaimed; the Ten Commandments and the application of them had been outlined; the priesthood and sacrifices instituted. It must have been because something greater, something from on High that would be more perfect was to be proclaimed. This deduction is warranted by what did happen, for Jesus proclaimed a more perfect Law than did Moses, though the basic principles Moses proclaimed will forever be binding upon man. A comparison of the Sermon on the Mount to the Message thundered forth on Mount Sinai shows the superiority of Jesus over Moses as a Prophet. Permit me to repeat for emphasis, that the special prophet Moses directed Israel's attention to would necessarily be superior to Moses, otherwise there would be no need to refer to one out of the dozens of prophets that were to come, including Joshua whom Moses commissioned to be his successor. The comparison I suggested, shows the superiority of one over the other in that the Sermon on the Mount is spiritual, love being its guiding principle; whereas the Ten Commandments are naturalistic, Law being its guiding principle.
   Unless I am grossly mistaken, this is sound, authentic evidence which proves one thing conclusively, that Moses foretold the coming of the great Prophet that had something of special import to say, and that the children of Israel were obligated to hear Him. Also that Jesus claimed to be that Prophet. The thought has grown with me through my Christian years, that the afflictions my fellow-Israelites suffer are due primarily to their refusal to do what Moses commanded them to do, hearken to the Prophet of Prophets. Jesus loved Moses. He preached obedience to the Mosaic Law in its fulness, as long as the Law was binding in its fulness; and obedience to the part of the Old Law that remained binding upon others besides the Israelites when the New Law went into effect. All this is embodied in these words uttered in the Sermon on the Mount.

"Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill" (St. Matt. 5:17-18).

   Jesus' claim to be the Prophet Moses referred to was witnessed by a voice from heaven on two occasions (when John baptized Jesus at the River Jordan, and in the presence of Moses, at the Transfiguration), saying "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, HEAR HIM" (St. Matt. 3:17; 17:5).
   Jesus bemoans the unfortunate fact today, that He lamented while in Nazareth, that

"A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, and in his own house" (St. Matt. 13:57).