“So I fell down before the LORD the forty days and nights, which I did because the LORD had said He would destroy you. I prayed to the LORD and said, ‘O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look at the stubbornness of this people or at their wickedness or their sin…. Yet they are Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have brought out by Your great power and Your outstretched arm'” (Deut 9:25-27, 29).
In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses promised God will “raise up a prophet LIKE him” (Deut 18:15, 18). It is clear, however, the prophets of Israel did not interpret “like” as being equal. Isaiah and Jeremiah, for example, describe the “new exodus” as far greater than the first exodus (Jer 16:14-15; Isa 52:12; see Exod 12:11; Deut 16:3). This greater “new exodus,” therefore, implies a future deliverer who is “greater than Moses,” the fact of which is made quite clear in Isaiah 49:6:
“He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.'”
Greater Intercessor
In light of the expectation of a redeemer greater than Moses, let us consider Moses’ role as Israel’s intercessor. He constantly stood in the gap for a sinful people, pleaded their case, and reminded God of his promises. And as an intercessor, Moses prevailed! In fact, the Torah presents Moses as an intercessor par excellence. The biblical expectation for a greater new exodus, therefore, leads us to the conclusion the coming redeemer must also be an intercessor far greater than Moses (see Isa 53:12).
But let’s assume, for argument’s sake, replacement theology is correct; then God has in fact rejected and/or replaced ethnic (national) Israel because they rejected Yeshua as the Messiah. But if this is true, then we must also come to terms with the fact that Yeshua is not an intercessor greater than Moses. For unlike Moses who convinced God not to reject and/or replace national Israel (Exod 32:9-14), the Yeshua of replacement theology failed (perish the thought!). But if Yeshua is not a greater intercessor than Moses, then he does not qualify to be the promised Messiah whom God will use to bring a far greater exodus.
The coming redeemer must also be an intercessor far greater than Moses
But since Yeshua is far greater than Moses, we can rest in the certainty that our mighty intercessor (Rom 8:34) continues to plead on behalf of national Israel. And to be the Messiah of Israel, he must prevail, most especially for his own name’s sake!
“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Yeshua, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt 1:21).
“He has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever” (Luke 1:54-55).
