When did Moses prophetically write about Jesus?

Answer 1

Moses did not write prophetically about Jesus. However, Burton L. Mack (Who Wrote the New Testament) says that there is a trick that seems to come naturally when studying The Bible. One can ask any question of the Bible and get some kind of answer. If the first answer does not appear to be helpful, one can look for another answer to the same question, until the right answer appears. So, some say that Deuteronomy 18:15-18 is a prophecy of Jesus:

The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

This passage does not mention Jesus and does not say anything that identifies the prophet as Jesus, nor does it describe him as the Son of God or anything more than a prophet. It could refer to any of the major prophets to come, or any one of the many other Jews who claimed to be the Messiah. By itself itself it is meaningless. However, the author of Matthew's Gospel did draw some parallels between Jesus and Moses. He said that the (step) grandfather of Jesus was called Jacob, parallelling Jacob in the Old Testament. In both cases, the king ordered the slaughter of all the infants, and in both cases there was a flight to Egypt. The problem with this is that the author of Luke's Gospel knew nothing of this. He said that the (step) grandfather of Jesus was called Heli; the king did not order the slaughter of the infants and there was no flight to Egypt - the family returned peacefully to Galilee. So, did the author of Matthew know about Deuteronomy 18:15-18 and seek to identify with it?

More evidence that Deuteronomy 18:15-18 could not have been about Jesus is found in the verses that follow it. Here (Deuteronomy 18:19-22), the Deuteronomist seems to be explaining how to know a real prophet from a pretender, rather than actually prophesying Jesus:

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

So, Deuteronomy 18:15-22, taken as a whole, was really a promise that there would be prophets to come, and an explanation of how to know if someone was a real prophet. Moses did not write prophetically about Jesus.

Answer 2

Moses did not write prophetically about Jesus. However, Burton L. Mack (Who Wrote the New Testament) says that there is a trick that seems to come naturally when studying the Bible. One can ask any question of the Bible and get some kind of answer. If the first answer does not appear to be helpful, one can look for another answer to the same question, until the right answer appears. So, some say that Deuteronomy 18:15-18 is a prophecy of Jesus:
"The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him."

This passage does not mention Jesus and does not say anything that identifies the prophet as Jesus, nor does it describe him as the Son of God or anything more than a prophet. It could refer to any of the major prophets to come, or any one of the many other Jews who claimed to be the Messiah. By itself itself it is meaningless. However, the author of Matthew's Gospel did draw some parallels between Jesus and Moses. He said that the (step) grandfather of Jesus was called Jacob, parallelling Jacob in the old Testament. In both cases, the king ordered the slaughter of all the infants, and in both cases there was a flight to Egypt. The problem with this is that the author of Luke's Gospel knew nothing of this. He said that the (step) grandfather of Jesus was called Heli; the king did not order the slaughter of the infants and there was no flight to Egypt - the family returned peacefully to Galilee. So, did the author of Matthew know about Deuteronomy 18:15-18 and seek to identify with it?

More evidence that Deuteronomy 18:15-18 could not have been about Jesus is found in the verses that follow it. Here (Deuteronomy 18:19-22), the Deuteronomist seems to be explaining how to know a real prophet from a pretender, rather than actually prophesying Jesus:
"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."

So, Deuteronomy 18:15-22, taken as a whole, was really a promise that there would be prophets to come, and an explanation of how to know if someone was a real prophet. Moses did not write prophetically about Jesus.