Ver. 21, 22. If thou say in thine heart, &c.— It should be observed, that this is to be understood absolutely of an Israelitish prophet. If such a prophet spoke in the name of any other god than the God of Israel, they needed no farther mark to discover him to be an impostor, see chap. Deuteronomy 13:2 but if he came to them pretending to a commission from Jehovah, it was necessary that they should have some certain criterion, whereby to know whether his pretensions were true or false; and this is laid down in the next words; if the thing follow not, that is, the thing which the Lord hath not spoken: for though the mere fulfilling of a sign, or working of an apparent miracle, is not enough of itself to establish the belief of a false and wicked doctrine; yet, on the other hand, to pretend to miracles and predictions, and not to be able to accomplish them, is an absolute mark of an impostor. Let us observe further, that this has nothing to do with conditional predictions, especially of a menacing kind, from the Lord. See Jeremiah 18:7-9. The true meaning, therefore, seems to be, that if a prophet appealed to some miracle or future event as an absolute sign of his being sent from God, and the miracle failed, or the thing foretold did not come to pass, he was to be looked upon as an impostor. For example, when Moses, in attestation of his divine mission, threw his rod upon the ground, and said it should become a serpent; if it had not been transformed to a serpent, he would have been abundantly convicted of falsity. When it is said, be not afraid of him, the meaning is, as Maimonides has well expressed it, "be not terrified or intimidated by his former character for integrity, piety, or learning, from endeavouring to have him put to death, since he had the arrogant presumption to assert such things to be revealed by God, as he was conscious God had not revealed."
Reflections on the similarity between Christ and Moses.
Eusebius, treating of the prophesies concerning Christ, first produces this of Moses, and then asks, Which of the prophets after Moses,—Isaiah for instance, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, or Daniel, or any other of the twelve,—was a lawgiver, and performed things like unto Moses? Moses first rescued the Jewish nation from Egyptian superstition and idolatry, and taught them the true theology: Jesus Christ, in like manner, was the first teacher of true religion, holiness, and virtue to the Gentiles. Moses confirmed his religion by miracles; so likewise did Christ. Moses delivered the Jewish nation from Egyptian servitude; and Jesus Christ all mankind from the power of evil demons, and all that believe, from the servitude of their own evil passions. Moses promised a Holy Land, and therein a happy life, to those who kept the law; and Jesus Christ a better country, that is, a heavenly, to all righteous souls. Moses fasted forty days; so likewise did Christ. Moses supplied the people with bread in the wilderness; and our Saviour fed five thousand at one time, and four thousand at another, with a few loaves. Moses went himself, and led the people through the midst of the sea; and Jesus Christ walked on the sea, and enabled Peter to walk likewise. Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go backward; and our Saviour rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was as a great calm. Moses's face shone when he descended from the mount; and our Saviour's did shine as the sun in his transfiguration. Moses, by his prayers, cured Miriam of her leprosy; and Christ, with greater power, by a word, healed several lepers. Moses performed wonders by the finger of God; and Jesus Christ, by the finger of God, did cast out devils. Moses changed Oshea's name to Joshua; and our Saviour changed Simon's to Peter. Moses constituted seventy rulers over the people; and our Saviour appointed seventy disciples. Moses sent forth twelve men to spy out the land; and our Saviour twelve apostles to visit the nations. Moses gave several excellent moral precepts; and our Saviour carried them to the highest perfection.
Dr. Jortin, in his Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. 1: p. 203, &c. has enlarged upon these hints of Eusebius, and made several improvements and additions to them: observing, that "Moses, in his infancy, was wonderfully preserved from the destruction of all the male children; so was Christ. Moses fled from his country to escape the hands of the king; so did Christ, when his parents carried him into Egypt. Afterwards, the Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt; for all the men are dead which sought thy life; Exodus 4:19 so the angel of the Lord said unto Joseph, in almost the same words, Arise, and take the young child, and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead which sought the young child's life, Matthew 2:20 pointing him out, as it were, for that prophet who should arise like unto Moses. Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction; Christ refused to be made king, choosing rather to suffer affliction. Moses, says St. Stephen, was learned, επαιδευθη, in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and Josephus (Antiq. lib. ii. c. 9.) says, that he was a very forward and accomplished youth, and had wisdom and knowledge beyond his years: St. Luke observes of Christ, that he increased (betimes) in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man; and his discourses in the temple with the doctors, when he was twelve years old, were a proof of it. Moses contended with the magicians, who were forced to acknowledge the divine power by which he was assisted; Christ ejected evil spirits, and received the same acknowledgments from them. Moses was not only a lawgiver, a prophet, and a worker of miracles, but a king and a priest: in all these offices the resemblance between Moses and Christ was singular. Moses brought darkness over the land; the sun withdrew his light at Christ's crucifixion: and, as the darkness which was spread over Egypt was followed by the destruction of their first-born, and of Pharaoh and his host; so the darkness at Christ's death was the forerunner of the destruction of the Jews. Moses foretold the calamities which would befal the nation for their disobedience; so did Christ. The spirit which was in Moses was conferred, in some degree, upon the seventy elders, and they prophesied; Christ conferred miraculous powers upon his seventy disciples. Moses was victorious over powerful kings, and great nations; so was Christ, by the effects of his religion, and by the fall of those who persecuted his church. Moses conquered Amalek by holding up both his hands; Christ overcame his and our enemies when his hands were fastened to the cross. Moses interceded for transgressors, caused an atonement to be made for them, and stopped the wrath of God; so did Christ. Moses ratified a covenant between God and the people, by sprinkling them with blood; Christ, with his own blood. Moses desired to die for the people, and prayed that God would forgive them or blot him out of his book; Christ did more, he died for sinners. Moses instituted the passover, when a lamb was sacrificed, none of whose bones were to be broken, and whose blood protected the people from destruction; Christ was that paschal lamb. Moses lifted up the serpent, that they who looked upon it might be healed of their mortal wounds; Christ was that healing serpent. All Moses's affection towards the people, all his cares and toils on their account, were repaid by them with ingratitude, murmuring, and rebellion; the same returns did the Jews make to Christ for all his benefits. Moses was ill used by his own family; his brother and sister rebelled against him: there was a time when Christ's own brethren believed not in him. Moses had a very wicked and perverse generation committed to his care and conduct; to enable him to rule them, miraculous powers were given to him, and he used his utmost endeavour to make the people obedient to God, and to save them from ruin, but in vain; in the space of forty years they all fell in the wilderness, except two: Christ also was given to a generation not less wicked and perverse; his instructions and his miracles were lost upon them, and in about the same space of time after they had rejected him they were destroyed. Moses was meek above all men that were on the face of the earth; so was Christ. The people could not enter into the land of promise till Moses was dead; by the death of Christ the kingdom of heaven was opened to believers. In the death of Moses and Christ, there is also a resemblance in some circumstances: Moses died, in one sense, for the iniquities of the people; it was their rebellion which was the occasion of it, and drew down the displeasure of God upon them and upon him. Moses went up, in the sight of the people, to the top of mount Nebo, and there he died, when he was in perfect vigour, when his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated; Christ suffered for the sins of men, and was led up, in the presence of the people, to mount Calvary, where he died in the flower of his age. Neither Moses nor Christ, so far as we may collect from Sacred History, were ever sick, or felt any bodily decay or infirmity, which could render them unfit for the toils they underwent; their sufferings were of another kind. Moses was buried, and no man knew where his body lay; nor could the Jews find the body of Christ. Lastly, as Moses, a little before his death, promised another prophet, so Christ another comforter."
A fruitful imagination may find out a likeness where there is none: but, as the same excellent writer concludes, "Is this similitude and correspondence in so many things between Moses and Christ the effect of mere chance? Let us search all the records of universal history, and see if we can find a man who was so like to Moses as Christ was, and so like to Christ as Moses was. If we cannot find such a one, then have we found Him, of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of God."
To corroborate this part of the prophesy, we see also the denunciation in it upon the rejecters of the Messiah remarkably fulfilled. The Jews hearkened not unto him; and have they not been eminently punished? The complete excision of that incredulous nation, soon after he had finished his ministry among them, and after his apostles had likewise preached in vain, is a remarkable completion of the threatening upon them for not hearkening to him. We may be the more certain of this application, as our Saviour himself not only denounced the same destruction, but also foretold the signs, the manner, and the circumstances of it, with a particularity and exactness that will amaze us, as we shall see in a proper place: and those of the Jews who believed in his name, by remembering the caution and following the advice which he had given them, escaped from the general ruin of their country, like firebrands plucked out of the fire. The main body of the nation either perished in their infidelity, or were carried captive into all nations; and have they not ever since, persisting in the same infidelity, been obnoxious to the same punishment, and been a vagabond, distressed, and miserable people in the earth? The hand of God was scarcely ever more visible in any of his dispensations: we must be blind not to see it; and seeing, we cannot but admire and adore it. What other probable account can they themselves give of their long captivity, dispersion, and misery? Their former captivity, for the punishment of all their wickedness and idolatry, lasted only seventy years; but they have lived in their present dispersion, even though they have been no idolaters, now these seventeen hundred years, and yet without any immediate prospect of their restoration. What enormous crime could have drawn down, and, unrepented of, doth still continue to draw down, these heavy judgments upon them? We say, that they were cut off for their infidelity, and that when they shall turn to the faith they will be grafted in again. One would think it would be worth their while to try the experiment. Sure we are, that they have long been monuments of God's justice: we believe, that upon their faith and repentance they will again become objects of his mercy, and, in the mean time, with St. Paul, (Romans 10:1.). Our heart's desire and priest to God for Israel is, that they may be saved. See Bishop Newton on the Prophecies, Dissert. 6.