Context – Deuteronomy means “second law” or “repeated law.” While Moses reiterates the importance of loving and obeying God in the land of Canaan, he also gives Israel hope for an even better prophet to come:

Deuteronomy 18:15-19 – The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.” 17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.

Context – The Jewish leaders were persecuting Jesus because He had healed a man on the Sabbath and claimed equality with God (John 5:18). Jesus calls them out, not for relying on the Old Testament, but missing the fact that it is actually about Himself:

John 5:39-40,45-47 – You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life… 45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

Context – As the name suggests, Hebrews was written for the Jews to show them how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament as the promised Messiah, securing salvation and offering eternal hope:

Hebrews 3:3-6,4:14-16 – Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory… 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

• What kind of prophet did God promise to send?
• What does Jesus claim about the Scriptures?
• What does Jesus as the better Moses and Great High Priest mean for believers?