Are You “That Prophet”?

Are You “That Prophet”?

Was Jesus the Prophet Spoken of in the Old Testament?

By Irvin Baxter

Moses towers above all others in influence during the Old Testament era. It was through Moses that God gave the world the Ten Commandments. Those Ten Commandments became the backbone of the American legal system and have influenced legal structures throughout the world.

 

However, Moses understood that laws could not supply the answers to the problems of mankind. He understood that a law in the hands of one judge would be interpreted to mean one thing while the very same law would be interpreted in a dramatically different way by a different judge.

 

Because Moses understood the inability of laws to bring mankind into the ways of truth, he spoke of a prophet that would someday be raised up to embody truth to the world. Moses spoke of this prophet in Deuteronomy 18:15, “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.” From that day forward, the people of Israel began to long for the appearance of “That Prophet” spoken of by Moses.

 

When John the Baptist burst upon the scene in Israel preaching his powerful message of repentance, the priests and the Levites asked him in John chapter 1: Are you the Christ? “No.” Are you Elijah who Malachi said must come? “No.”

 

Then they asked John the ultimate question: Are you “That Prophet”? Fourteen hundred years after Moses prophesied about the special prophet that would come, the religious leaders were still anxiously awaiting his appearance. Again, John’s answer was “no”.

 

Then came Jesus. He opened the blinded eyes. He unstopped the deaf ears. He fed five thousand men with five loaves and two fish. After seeing this miracle, the men said, “This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.” (John 6:14) After fourteen hundred years of expectation, they were convinced they had found “That Prophet” that would bring the world the light.

 

When Philip found Jesus, he went to his friend Nathanael saying, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (John 1:45)

 

The Apostle Peter declared Jesus to be “That Prophet” in Acts 3:22-23, “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.”

 

In the next chapter, Peter boldly declared of Jesus, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

 

John summarized the entire issue in one statement: “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ”. (John 1:17)

 

Jesus was “That Prophet” promised to give light and truth to the human race. No wonder Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)

 

Yes, Jesus is “That Prophet” of which Moses spoke! Are we listening to Him? Are we obeying Him? Are we walking in His footsteps?

 

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