Page 145 - World Religions I - Islam

o Moses and Muhammad made possible the immediate and successful conquests of the land of
Palestine after their deaths by their followers, Joshua and Umar respectively.
• It is easy to reverse this reasoning process to just as easily show similarities between Moses and Jesus
where Muhammad can be contrasted with them.
o Moses and Jesus were Israelites; Muhammad was an Ishmaelite. The point above illustrates how
this is a crucial factor in determining the identity of the prophet to follow Moses.
o Moses and Jesus both left Egypt to perform God's work; Muhammad was never in Egypt.
 Concerning Moses: "By faith he forsook Egypt...". (Hebrews 11:27)
 Concerning Jesus: "Out of Egypt have I called my Son". (Matthew 2:15)
o Moses and Jesus forsook great wealth to share the poverty of their people; Muhammad did
not. By contrast, the Qur'an states that Muhammad received the spoils of war (8:1, 41).
 Concerning Moses: "He considered abuse suffered for the Christ greater wealth than all
the treasures of Egypt" and that he chose "to share ill-treatment with the people of God".
(Hebrews 11:25-26)
 Concerning Jesus: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was
rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich".
(2 Corinthians 8:9)

A Prophet Like unto Moses...Contextualized
If a simple comparison between Moses and Muhammad or Jesus using only Deuteronomy 18:18 tends to
work either way, how then can we truly identify the prophet who was to be like Moses?

As there were numerous prophets down the ages, it is logical to assume that this prophet would be uniquely
like Moses in a way that none of the other prophets were. Clearly the prophet to come would emulate him in
the exceptional and unique characteristics of his prophethood. Indeed, we would expect that God would
give some indication in the prophecy of the distinguishing features of this prophet who was to be like Moses.

• The context of the prophecy states that the nature of the prophet to follow Moses would be a mediator
of the covenant between God and His people:
o "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren
- him you shall heed - just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the
assembly, when you said, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire
any more, lest I die'." - Deuteronomy 18:15-16
 The prophet would be raised up just as God had raised Moses up as the mediator of
the covenant which he gave at Horeb.
• The Israelites pleaded with Moses to become a mediator between them and
God because they did not wish to hear God's voice face to face.
• God said "They have rightly said all that they have spoken" (Deuteronomy
18.17).
• God raised Moses up as the mediator of the covenant between himself and
Israel.
• Other verses also offer context in the way that Moses spoke with God: face to face.
o "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend." - Exodus 33:11
 This is even confirmed in the Qur'an (4:164), which teaches that God spoke directly to
Moses in a way in which He did not speak to other prophets.
• God worked great signs and miracles through Moses in order to confirm the mediatorial work in which
he was to perform.

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