"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." -- Deuteronomy 18:18
Jesus
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God
raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all
things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul,
which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and
all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many
as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. -- Acts 3:22-24
Muhammad
The prophet described in the above verse must have the following three characteristics:
He will be like Moses.
He will come from the brothers of the Israelites, i.e. the Ishmaelites.
God will put his words in the mouth of the prophet and he will declare what God commanded him.
Let us see which prophet God was speaking of.
The prophet like Moses
Some people feel that this prophecy refers to the prophet Jesus, on whom
be peace. But, although Jesus (peace be upon him and all of God's prophets
and messengers) was truly a prophet of God, he is not the prophet spoken
of here. He was born miraculously, and finally God raised him up miraculously.
On the other hand, Muhammad is more like Moses; both were born in a natural
way and both died natural deaths.
From among the Ishmaelite
Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac (Genesis, chapter 21). Ishmael became the grandfather
of the Arab nation. And Isaac became the grandfather of Jewish nation. The
prophet spoken of was to come not from among the Jews themselves, but from
among their brothers, the Ishmaelite. Muhammad a descendant of Ishmael, is
indeed that prophet.
God will put his words in his mouth
Neither the content of the revelation, nor its form, were of Muhammad's
devising. Both were given by the angel, and Muhammad's task was only to repeat
what he heard" (Word Religions from Ancient history to the Present, by Geoffrey
Parrinder, p.472).
God sent the angel Gabriel to teach Muhammad the exact
words that he should repeat to the people. The words are therefore not his
own; they did not come from his own thoughts, but were put into his mouth
by the angel. These are written down in the Qur'an word for word, exactly
as they came from God.
Now that we know that prophet we must listen to him,
for, according to the Bible, God says: 'I will punish anyone who refuses
to obey him' (Good News Bible, Deut. 18:19).
