Yahweh
your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him.
Deuteronomy 18:15
Deuteronomy 18 [10.] There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices sorcery, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh. Because of these abominations, Yahweh your God drives them out from before you. You shall be perfect with Yahweh your God. For these nations that you shall dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery and to diviners; but as for you, Yahweh your God has not allowed you so to do.
Deuteronomy 18 [15.] Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, 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.”
Deuteronomy 18 [17.] Yahweh said to me, “They have well said that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, 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. But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.”
Meaning:
Moses spoke these words on the plains of Moab, near the end of his life, as Israel prepared to enter Canaan without him. The people were about to live among nations who sought guidance through fortune-tellers, sorcerers and mediums (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). God forbids all of that and promises something far better: he himself will raise up a prophet like Moses, from among their own people, and they must listen to him. The promise provided for the line of true prophets in Israel, but it also looked ahead to one unique Prophet, and by the time of Jesus many Jews were waiting for “the Prophet” to appear.
- God’s answer to the occult
The Canaanites tried to discover hidden knowledge and control the future through divination, omens and contacting the dead. God’s people were not to imitate them. Instead of grasping after secret knowledge, Israel would receive God’s word openly, through the prophet he chose. The principle still stands: believers seek guidance from God’s revealed word rather than from horoscopes, spirits or other forbidden sources.
- A prophet like Moses
Moses was unique among the prophets. God spoke with him “mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles” (Numbers 12:4-8). He was Israel’s deliverer, lawgiver and mediator of the covenant. The following verses explain the promise: at Mount Horeb (Sinai) the people were terrified by God’s voice and the great fire, and asked for a mediator. God approved their request and promised to put his words in the mouth of a prophet from among their brothers.
Over the centuries God sent many prophets, but none fully matched Moses. Israel kept waiting. That is why, when Jesus fed the crowds and taught with authority, people wondered whether he was “one of the prophets” (Mark 8:28), and the disciples on the road to Emmaus called him “a prophet mighty in deed and word” (Luke 24:19).
- Fulfilled in Jesus
The apostles proclaimed Jesus as the Prophet like Moses. Like Moses he was spared as a baby from a murderous king, fed God’s people in the wilderness, spoke God’s words, and mediated a covenant. Yet he is greater: “Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant... but Christ is faithful as a Son over his house” (Hebrews 3:5-6). “The law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).
- “You shall listen to him”
The command at the end of the verse is echoed on the mountain of transfiguration, where the Father’s voice declared, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him” (Mark 9:7). The fulfilment of Moses’ promise carries the same responsibility: the right response to God’s Prophet is to hear and obey.
The Significance of Deuteronomy 18:15
- God speaks to his people
God did not leave Israel to guess his will, and he has not left us in the dark. He has spoken through the prophets and supremely through his Son. Our part is to listen carefully to his word.
- Jesus is the final word
Because Jesus is the Prophet like Moses and more, believers need no other source of ultimate truth. His words are spirit and life, and listening to him means trusting and obeying him in daily life.
Cross-References:
Mark 9:7: "A cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”" God the Father applies Moses’ command, “You shall listen to him,” to Jesus.
Hebrews 3:6: "but Christ is faithful as a Son over his house; whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end." Jesus surpasses Moses as a Son surpasses a servant.
John 1:17: "For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." Moses brought the law; Jesus, the greater Prophet, brings grace and truth.
Luke 24:19: "The things concerning Jesus, the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people" The disciples recognised Jesus as a prophet like Moses, mighty in word and deed.
Conclusion: Moses promised Israel a prophet like himself, raised up by God from among the people, to whom they must listen. God provided faithful prophets through Israel’s history, but the promise reached its fullness in Jesus, the Prophet who is also the Son. The call of this verse is simple and searching: listen to him.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible