Biblical Shadows: Moses Foreshadows Jesus

Biblical Shadows: Moses Foreshadows Jesus.

“And Moses told the people of Israel, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like Me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. The Lord said to me, ‘I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to My words that the prophet speaks in My name, I Myself will call him to account.” (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).

“Foreshadow” = an earthly shadow of a heavenly reality; a character that symbolically points to a real person in the future; a preliminary character that anticipates an extraordinary character; a crude outline of a person or thing that will be filled in with details at the right time; a temporary hint of a truth that will later become permanent truth; an incomplete copy of something that suggests a completed reality in the future; a prophetic picture that indicates a fulfillment in the fullness of time.

The Gospel According to Moses. Jesus referred to Moses’ gospel many times during his ministry. … with the disbelieving Pharisees in John 5; with the hard-hearted rich man in the parable of Lazarus in Luke 16; to the distraught disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24; to the amazed and perplexed disciples later in that same chapter in Luke 24; with a number of listening audiences as He spoke of being I AM over 20 times in the Gospel of John. And that’s not even mentioning the over 50 references in the Gospel of Matthew as to how Jesus was the New Moses as prophesied in Deuteronomy 18. “If you don’t believe in what Moses wrote, then how can you believe what I say?” “If you don’t trust Moses’ words that point directly to Me, how will you ever possibly learn to trust in my words?” (John 5:47). So, if a reader of Scripture ignores the deeper meanings of Moses’ words in the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy), then how can that reader ever come to believe in Me, to whom Moses points? Jesus proclaimed this truth a number of times…. If readers of the Hebrew Scriptures don’t understand the deeper implications of Moses’ writings, they probably won’t believe in Me. If readers of Moses are not listening to Moses’ spiritual meanings that point to Me as Messiah, they certainly are not prepared to believe in what I have to say.

Moses and Messiah. The prophet Moses anticipated the Messiah in Genesis 3:15, when he wrote that “He would bruise the serpent’s head under His foot;” in Genesis 49:10, when he referred to the time when Shiloh comes, and “to Him shall be the obedience of the people;” in Numbers 21:9, when Christ on the cross was pictured centuries earlier in the wilderness story of the bronze snake on the pole that would heal all who would look at it in faith; in Numbers 24:17, when Moses quoted the prophecy of the star coming out of Jacob and the scepter coming out of Israel; and certainly in Deuteronomy 18:15-19, when he predicted another Prophet would come just like him.

The Long-Expected New Moses. The Jewish people during Jesus’ time were thus expecting a new Moses to guide and save them, like the old Moses did. They believed that the second Moses would duplicate the teachings and miracles of the first Moses, and would be a mediator between God and the people. Many also believed that this new Moses might even deliver them from foreign occupation. Many expected this new Prophet to be a divinely inspired king and leader for the people. Many Bible scholars have even said that Matthew went out of his way in his most Jewish of all the gospels to present Jesus as the New Moses, pointing out the parallels and duplications of Jesus’ ministry and mission with that of Moses.

“So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call from the heights of heaven, take a good hard look at Jesus and carefully consider Him. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave him to do. Moses was also faithful, but Jesus gets far more honor, just as the builder of the house deserves more honor than the house… Moses served God faithfully in all He gave him to do. The work of Moses prophetically illustrates things that would later be spoken and fulfilled. Moses was getting things ready for what was to come, giving witness to things God would reveal later. But as Son, Messiah Christ is in charge of the house.”  (Hebrews 3:1-6).

Two Peas in a Pod. There certainly were an astounding number of parallels between Moses and Jesus. For starters, they were both preserved in their childhood from an evil ruler who wanted them destroyed. They both had to contend with and defeat the demonic, whether Egyptians sorcerers or the Devil himself. They also had to contend with rejection on the home front, with Miriam and Aaron rejecting Moses in Numbers 12:1, and Jesus’ own family thinking he was crazy and not believing in Him (Mark 3:21, John 7:5). They both fasted for forty days before monumental events. They both were miraculously able to control the sea, and they both fed the multitudes. They both were profoundly effective and sacrificial in their intercessory prayers, and they were both God’s unique messengers and spokesman. It’s interesting that they both appointed seventy helpers to assist them in their mission: seventy elders for Moses (Nu. 11:16) and seventy missionaries for Jesus (Luke 10). There is little doubt that Jesus wanted to point to Moses when He chose his seventy. In addition, both Moses and Jesus literally had mountaintop experiences which resulted in God’s commandments: Moses on Mt. Sinai receiving the Law, and Jesus proclaiming His Sermon on the Mount regarding the fulfillments of that Law. This is in addition to Moses’ face becoming radiant on Sinai and Jesus becoming radiant on Mt. Tabor. Isn’t it wonderful that while on that Mount of Transfiguration Jesus and Moses had a little chat together, the old Moses finally able to enter the Promised Land, conversing with the new Moses? There were many more parallels between Moses and Jesus, with some scholars specifying that there were as many as 50 similarities between them.

Moses and His Hints. There is no doubt that Moses hinted at gospel truths, and that Jesus fulfilled those hints. Many events in Moses’ life anticipated a Christ to come, and numerous events in Christ’s life fleshed out the spiritual meaning behind Moses’ life and mission:

1. The Hint of Deliverance. The gospel idea of a savior started with Moses. He delivered the Jewish nation from slavery in Egypt, and he brought them to the Promised Land forty years later. Moses freed his people from bondage. God gave Moses the mission of delivering his people, and Moses succeeded. The Exodus has been used ever since in Christian thought as an historical picture of a spiritual truth. God appointed Moses to be a savior. God appointed Jesus to be the Jesus’ mission spiritually fulfilled Moses’ mission. Moses brought the Jews salvation from slavery. Jesus brought all people salvation from sin. Moses brought the physical reality of deliverance, while Jesus brought the spiritual reality of deliverance. Moses illustrated the gospel story, while Jesus embodied it. Moses led the old Exodus. Jesus led the new Exodus, the exodus of the soul, freeing humanity from the bondage of, not Egypt, but sin.
2. The Hint of Bread from Heaven. Soon after Jesus’ astounding feeding of the 5,000 and His walking on the turbulent Sea, He was surrounded in the synagogue by a few of the people who had been fed so miraculously earlier. One of those people asked Jesus… Moses fed our ancestors with manna in the wilderness all those years (Exodus 16). If you’re the long-awaited Prophet to replace Him, what sign can you do for us? Jesus couldn’t wait to dignify this awkward question with a self-revelation that is profound and puzzling. Jesus decided to mix the spiritual and the physical in an interesting way. He told them… Are you looking for bread from heaven? Are you seeking a sign like manna in the desert? Didn’t you just get fed out in the middle of nowhere? Think about that manna with Moses. I am like that, only I AM the living bread that came down from heaven to give His life to feed the world. Come to me and you will never be spiritually hungry again. I am the Bread, the living Manna, that comes from heaven to feed you unto eternal life. Think of me as spiritual manna for your souls. (read John 6:26-58). Jesus talked about bread in the context of manna. He even compared Himself to that food provided in the desert. He came down from heaven, just like manna. He is to be eaten, just like manna. And He like manna was a gift from the hand of God. Manna was eaten in order to be sustained physically. Jesus is Bread that is eaten to be sustained spiritually. Manna is a bread of mystery that appeared every morning, the word manna meaning “What is it?” Jesus is another bread of mystery to many who misunderstood and rejected Him. All who ate manna had their hunger satisfied. All who partake of Jesus have their spiritual hunger satisfied, forever. Jesus gives the soul true nourishment, and only those with faith can truly receive it. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”( 34:8).
3. The Hint of Blood Sacrifice. The sacrificial system under Moses anticipated Christ’s sacrifice, the offering of unblemished lambs, long before the unblemished Lamb, for the forgiveness of sins. Blood was the centerpiece of Moses’ and Jesus’ missions, Moses the mediator of the old covenant and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, through blood (Exodus 24and Hebrews 9). “But now the Messiah has appeared at the fulfillment of the ages to abolish sin once and for all by the sacrifice of Himself.”  (Hebrews 9:26)). The blood of the old Passover enabled the salvation of the Jews in Egypt, and the blood of the new Passover Lamb has enabled the salvation of the world. Moses brought the old Passover (Exodus 12). Jesus brought the new Passover. Moses’ actions pointed to the gospel story of Jesus’ action, Moses once again preparing the world for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
4. The Hint of Living Water. Moses was the main character in a famous event in the Hebrew Bible. In Exodus 17we read about the water miracle in which Moses strikes the rock chosen by God. And out from the rock pours fresh water for the desperately thirsty wanderers in the wilderness. This is a classic example of God unexpectedly providing fresh water for the faithful. It was just as the water ceremony was reaching a climax on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles when Jesus stood up in the crowd, got everybody’s attention, and shouted for all to hear, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘out of his heart will flow streams of living water!” (John 7:37-38). This is Biblical theater at its best. The crowd in the Temple was thunderstruck, and they wondered if perhaps Jesus was the Prophet aligned with Moses’ prophecy. Once again, Moses had pointed to the gospel story of Jesus being the source of living water for our souls. Jesus is the only one who can quench our spiritual thirst. Moses once again illustrates through his actions a gospel truth ahead of its time. Even Paul draws the connection between Moses and Jesus when he discusses the wilderness wanderings in 1 Corinthains 10. Paul notes that “all the people drank water from the same spiritual rock that traveled with them in the wilderness – and that Rock was Christ Himself.”   (1 Cor. 10:4). This Moses event set the stage for Jesus, and Jesus was happy to embody that ancient illustration. Jesus once again presents Himself as the greater Moses. And Moses confirms his standing as a prophet who lived into the Good News.

Moses and the Great I AM. Jesus brought Moses front and center to His listeners’ minds when He claimed for Himself the personal Name of God revealed at Moses’ burning bush (Ex. 3:14). Jesus startled His listeners with His claim to be co-equal to the Great I AM, the sacred Name of Yahweh, revered by all faithful Jews and supreme in importance to the Faith. Jesus here is staking His claim to divinity, to being kin to God Himself, the Holy One. The Name of Yahweh was so holy, so set apart, that it couldn’t be spoken aloud. Jesus claimed that He is on the same spiritual plane as I AM WHAT I AM; I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE; I AM ONE WHO EXISTS. Jesus is stating here that He is equal to the LORD, the very personal foundation of existence itself. For Jesus to refer to Himself with an abbreviated form of I AM WHAT I AM, equal to Yahweh in the flesh, is nothing short of scandalous! He reveals Himself to be the I AM around 20 times in the Gospel of John alone, including seven times when He connects the Name to helpful metaphors for a deeper understanding of who He is. In John’s Revelation, Jesus claimed the name of the Great I AM as He made this statement, “I AM the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Rev. 22:13). With every pronouncement of I AM, Jesus is claiming eternal kinship with God the Father.

Simple Pictures of the I AM Mystery. Jesus wasn’t shy about claiming the Name of Yahweh as His own. He uses this I AM formula seven times in the Gospel of John as He wanted to fill in the blanks on the elusive “I AM Who I AM.” I AM the Bread of Life (6:35); the Light of the World (8:12); the Door (10:7,9); the Good Shepherd (10:14); the Resurrection and the Life (11:25); the Way, the Truth and the Life (14:6); and the True Vine (15:1). In these statements, every time Jesus says “I AM” to the people, He is referring to His equality to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Moses, of Creation.

Christ is the Key to Understanding Moses and the Torah.  After listening to those two disciples on the road to Emmaus grapple with His death and missing body, Jesus couldn’t contain Himself any longer. He told them that they were being foolish, that their faith was too small. He told them that the prophets in Scripture were clear about the suffering of the Messiah and how the Messiah would only enter glory after He endured suffering. At this point, “Beginning with Moses and throughout all the Prophets, Jesus went on explaining and interpreting to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning and referring to Himself.” (Luke 24:27). Jesus walked them through the Hebrew Bible, explaining to them all the ways Jesus fulfilled the Scripture. Jesus conducted a personalized Bible Study on the road to Emmaus! What a privilege for them! Later, Jesus told them that He had shared with them everything written about Christ in the law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms (verse 44). Later, the two disciples said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures?” (v. 32).

Jesus Fully Embraced the Law of Moses. Jesus clearly loved Torah. He was an observant Jew who cherished the Law. He accepted the authority of God’s Word in what we now know as the Old Testament. He felt strongly about the importance and permanence of Torah. He basically said that the Law of Moses would never cease to exist. Jesus said in Matt. 5:18, “Truly, assuredly, neither the smallest letter of the alphabet nor the tiniest little mark on one letter would ever be removed from Torah.” In the Sermon on the Mount, He immediately followed His comments on the Torah by repeatedly using the formula, “But I say to you.” He is declaring something rather outrageous in the eyes of the rabbinic authorities. Jesus is claiming that He has equal authority to the established Law. He is saying, ‘You may have heard the Law means this, but I am here telling you that the Law actually means that.’ He is declaring total, divine authority. He is claiming that He knows the original intent of the Law, as if He wrote it Himself. He is telling those around Him that He knows why it was written in the first place. ‘I am here to tell you the Word hidden behind the Word,’ Jesus is saying, ‘the intended meaning that God was thinking about all along. I don’t want to alter the Torah in any way,’ Jesus declared, ‘I want to reveal the deeper meanings hidden in the legal meaning. I want to clarify the Law of Moses so you truly understand what it means.’ “Like other rabbis and teachers, Jesus developed His own approach within the parameters of ancient Jewish faith and practice. He sought to reform and revitalize, not to destroy or replace. Jesus placed the meaning of Torah on a firmer footing.”  (Dr. Brad Young, Jesus the Jewish Theologian).