Sunday, May 3, 2020

Islam critiqued blasts Jesus; can an Israelite fulfill the prophecy?

In answer to the video "A Prophet Like Moses"

Now of course Christians contend this Deut18 prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus, while to the Jews Deuteronomy 18:18 comes solely in the context of the Israelites wanting an intermediary with God, instead of hearing and seeing the dreadful divine manifestation.

YHWH answers them positively and tells them that instead of this, revelation will now be a personal experience through a chosen individual from their midst, whom they are bound to follow.

Deut18:18 is thus speaking of a prophet generically, just as Deut13:2 is speaking of a false prophet generically, not a specific prophet. Such prophet will be like Moses, ie an Israelite, but inferior in terms of prophetic eminence. To derive that conclusion, they use
Deut34"Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel".
This passage comes after Joshua's appointment as a prophet to succeed Moses. If one argues that the dissimilarity between them is in prophetic rank, why would the text immediately negate Joshua's likeness to Moses without any standard of comparison? Joshua didnt even start his role as a prophet so as to demonstrate his worth in relation to Moses.

If the dissimilarity is solely in terms of prophetic rank, then it should have been made towards the end of Joshua's prophethood, after he received revelation and after he performed his miracles, including some nearly identical ones to Moses, like parting the waters Josh3:6-17. Joshua being unlike Moses in that context of Deut34, cannot therefore be solely related to prophetic status and performance of miracles. Moses' major particularity is that he reformed an intensely rebellious, idolatrous community, shackled under a ruthless ruler, into a nation under God's Law. But because Moses had just selected his successor before passing away, it was necessary to emphasize that this successor will continue his work. Joshua will not change Moses' national agenda and neither bring about a different Law to the community.

He was thus unlike Moses in this major aspect; he simply continued reinforcing the nation already founded under Moses, under a previous Law. The efforts and obstacles Joshua would have to face in that task would be much less than what Moses had to face, hence him being inferior in terms of prophetic experience and miracles as stated in the verse. The passage now makes complete sense in that context
"Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses (ie establishing a new nation and a new law, then needing the following intense revelational experience and miracles to bring about that new nation), whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel". 

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