The Issue Before the Reader

The question of whether Muhammad is the prophet like Moses foretold in Deuteronomy 18:18 cannot be answered by surface comparison, religious assertion, or later theological tradition. It must be answered by the words of Moses in their own covenant setting. Islamic theology commonly claims that Muhammad is the promised prophet because Deuteronomy 18:18 says that Jehovah would raise up “a prophet like you from among their brothers.” The argument then identifies “their brothers” with the Ishmaelites, and from there with the Arabs, so that Muhammad becomes the expected prophet. The Quran itself supports this claim by presenting Muhammad as the “unlettered prophet” supposedly found written in the Torah and the Gospel, as stated in Quran 7:157. This argument appears weighty to many Muslims because Moses was a lawgiver, Muhammad brought a law, Moses led a community, Muhammad led a community, Moses had military and civic authority, and Muhammad exercised religious and civic authority. Yet none of these comparisons determines the meaning of Deuteronomy 18. The decisive matter is not whether Muhammad can be made to resemble Moses at selected points, but whether he satisfies the covenant criteria Moses himself gave under inspiration from Jehovah.

A careful reading of Does the Bible Prophesy the Coming of Muhammad? begins where all faithful exegesis must begin: the text, grammar, covenant setting, and inspired cross-references. Deuteronomy 18 does not stand alone as an isolated prediction available for later religious claimants. It belongs to Moses’ instruction to Israel as they prepared to enter the land promised to Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob. The prophet like Moses had to arise within the covenant people addressed by Moses, speak in the name of Jehovah, preserve loyalty to the God who brought Israel out of Egypt, and speak words that proved to be from Jehovah. Deuteronomy 13 adds a second and even more severe criterion: even an impressive sign, wonder, or fulfilled prediction cannot validate a prophet who leads people away from Jehovah to a different object of worship. When these two passages are read together, they form a firm biblical boundary. A prophet is not recognized merely by eloquence, political success, conquest, moral seriousness, religious zeal, or claims of angelic revelation. He is recognized by fidelity to Jehovah’s prior revelation and by speaking only what Jehovah commands.

Deuteronomy 18 in Its Historical and Grammatical Setting

Deuteronomy 18:15–22 belongs to Moses’ instruction concerning how Israel would receive divine direction after Moses’ death. The immediate context condemns pagan forms of religious inquiry, including divination, spiritism, sorcery, and attempts to consult the dead. Deuteronomy 18:9–14 warns Israel not to imitate the detestable practices of the nations of Canaan. This matters because the promised prophet is Jehovah’s replacement for pagan channels of claimed supernatural knowledge. Israel was not to seek hidden knowledge through forbidden practices; Israel was to listen to the prophet whom Jehovah Himself would raise up. The issue, therefore, is covenant revelation, not generic monotheism. The prophet like Moses was not promised to the nations as a detached religious founder but to Israel as Jehovah’s covenant people.

The Book of Deuteronomy preserves the force of the language. Deuteronomy 18:15 says, “Jehovah your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—to him you shall listen.” The phrase “from among you” is decisive. Moses is speaking to Israel. The promised prophet arises from within the people being addressed. Deuteronomy 18:18 repeats the promise: Jehovah would raise up a prophet “from among their brothers.” In Deuteronomy, “brothers” commonly refers to fellow Israelites unless the context clearly broadens the reference. Deuteronomy 17:15 is especially important because it commands Israel to appoint as king one “from among your brothers” and not a foreigner. The same covenant vocabulary points to an Israelite ruler in Deuteronomy 17 and an Israelite prophet in Deuteronomy 18. The Muslim claim that “brothers” means Ishmaelites does not arise from the grammar of Deuteronomy. It is imposed on the text from later Islamic theology.

The expression “like me” also must be defined by Scripture, not by selective similarity. Deuteronomy 34:10–12 states that no prophet had arisen in Israel like Moses, whom Jehovah knew face-to-face, with all the signs and wonders Jehovah sent him to perform in Egypt before Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land. Moses’ uniqueness includes direct covenant mediation, authoritative revelation, public signs before Israel and Egypt, the formation of a covenant people under Jehovah’s word, and intimate communication with Jehovah. The promised prophet like Moses would therefore be more than a preacher, lawgiver, or national leader. He would be the climactic covenant spokesman who reveals Jehovah’s words with final authority and calls Jehovah’s people to listen. This is why the New Testament does not leave the identity open. Acts 3:22–23 applies Deuteronomy 18 directly to Jesus Christ. John 1:45 also records Philip saying that they had found the One of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth. John 5:46 records Jesus telling His Jewish opponents that if they believed Moses, they would believe Him, because Moses wrote about Him.

Deuteronomy 13 and the Prior Loyalty Owed to Jehovah

Deuteronomy 13:1–5 gives a second standard that is indispensable. Moses warns that a prophet or dreamer might give a sign or wonder, and the sign or wonder might even occur. Yet if that prophet says, “Let us go after other gods,” Israel must not listen. The people must follow Jehovah their God, fear Him, keep His commandments, obey His voice, serve Him, and hold fast to Him. The issue is not whether the prophet has religious intensity, social influence, or even remarkable phenomena attached to his message. The issue is whether he leads people in loyal obedience to Jehovah, the God who redeemed Israel from Egypt and revealed Himself through Moses.

This means that Deuteronomy 13 guards Deuteronomy 18 from misuse. A claimant cannot appeal to Deuteronomy 18 while contradicting Deuteronomy 13. The promised prophet like Moses cannot lead people away from Jehovah’s prior revelation, deny what Jehovah had already made known, or replace the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and the prophets with a different theological system. This is why Discerning Truth from Deception in the Last Days is relevant to the issue. Scripture repeatedly warns that deception is not always irreligious. It often appears religious, reverent, strict, and confident. A message can honor prayer, judgment, fasting, morality, and divine authority, yet still oppose Jehovah if it denies the Son, contradicts the apostolic gospel, and rejects the revelation Jehovah gave through His inspired Word.

The wording of Deuteronomy 13 is especially important because it focuses on continuity with Jehovah’s earlier acts and words. Jehovah is identified as the One who brought Israel out of the land of Egypt and redeemed them from the house of slavery. He is not an undefined deity waiting to be redefined by later revelations that contradict Moses and the prophets. The God of Deuteronomy is the God who entered covenant relation with Israel, revealed His name, gave His law, spoke through Moses, and promised further revelation that would agree with what He had already spoken. Numbers 23:19 says God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should change His mind. Malachi 3:6 declares that Jehovah does not change. Therefore, a later claimant who reverses Jehovah’s revelation about the Messiah, the Son, the sacrifice of Christ, and the New Covenant does not come as a prophet like Moses. He comes under the warning of Deuteronomy 13.

The Quranic Claim About Muhammad and the Earlier Scriptures

Quran 7:157 presents Muhammad as the “unlettered prophet” whom people supposedly find written in the Torah and the Gospel. Islamic apologetics often uses this verse as a theological bridge, arguing that the Bible foretells Muhammad and that Jews and Christians should recognize him. Yet the claim must be checked against the biblical passages appealed to. The Quran’s assertion does not establish its own truth; it is a claim that must be measured by the earlier inspired Scripture. If the Torah and Gospel genuinely identify Muhammad, then the relevant passages must point to him by grammar, context, and fulfillment. If they do not, the Quranic claim fails at the point where it invites examination.

This is why The Quran—Confirmatory of Previous Scripture? addresses a central issue. Islam presents the Quran as confirming earlier Scripture, yet confirmation cannot mean contradiction. A later document cannot confirm the Torah while redefining the God of the Torah, cannot confirm the Gospel while denying the crucifixion, and cannot confirm apostolic testimony while rejecting the Sonship of Christ. John 10:35 says Scripture cannot be broken. Second Timothy 3:16 says all Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. The Bible’s unity rests on Jehovah’s truthful authorship through the Holy Spirit, who guided the inspired writers. A message that says the earlier revelation was from God but then overturns its central truths is not confirmation. It is contradiction.

Quran 4:157 denies that the Jews killed or crucified Jesus, while the New Testament repeatedly places the execution of Jesus at the center of Jehovah’s saving purpose. Matthew 20:28 says the Son of Man came to give His life as a ransom for many. Mark 15 records the execution of Jesus under Roman authority. Luke 24:46 records the risen Jesus saying that it was written that the Christ should suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. John 19 gives eyewitness testimony concerning Jesus’ death. First Corinthians 15:3–4 states that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. A prophet who denies this does not preserve the revelation of Jehovah. He rejects the very saving act to which Moses, the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles bear witness.

Muhammad and the Requirement to Speak in the Name of Jehovah

Deuteronomy 18:20 gives a direct warning: the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in Jehovah’s name, which Jehovah has not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, is false. Deuteronomy 18:22 adds that when a prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word does not come to pass or come true, Jehovah has not spoken that word. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. This instruction is not concerned with sincere religious conviction alone. It is concerned with divine authorization. The prophet must speak what Jehovah commands, in harmony with Jehovah’s already revealed word.

Muhammad does not speak in the covenant name of Jehovah as Moses did. The Quran’s standard formula appeals to Allah, and Islamic theology does not identify Allah by embracing the full biblical revelation of Jehovah as the God who reveals the Son, sends the Son, and bears witness to the Son through the Holy Spirit-inspired Scriptures. The issue is not merely the use of a Semitic word for God. The issue is theological identity. The God of Moses reveals Himself through His acts, covenant promises, moral character, and prophetic word. The God who spoke through Moses promised the seed of Abraham through whom blessing would come, preserved Israel for the Messiah, foretold the suffering Servant, and sent Jesus Christ as the Son. The Quran denies the Sonship of Christ in passages such as Quran 19:88–93 and Quran 112:1–4. It denies the crucifixion in Quran 4:157. It rejects the Christian confession concerning the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in Quran 4:171 and Quran 5:73. These denials place the Quranic message against the revelation Jehovah had already given.

The Gospel of John makes this point impossible to evade. John 5:23 says that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father, and that the one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. John 14:6 records Jesus saying that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. First John 2:22–23 says that the one who denies the Father and the Son is antichrist, and that no one who denies the Son has the Father. These passages define the matter from the standpoint of apostolic revelation. A message that denies the Son does not lead people to the Father. Therefore, judged by Deuteronomy 13, a message that rejects the Son and His sacrifice turns people away from Jehovah, even if it speaks with reverence about one God, judgment, prayer, and moral accountability.

The Claim That Muhammad Was Like Moses

Muslim apologists often draw comparisons between Moses and Muhammad. They argue that both were born naturally, both married, both led communities, both delivered law, both dealt with enemies, and both held authority over a people. These similarities do not identify the prophet of Deuteronomy 18. Many leaders in history married, governed, gave laws, fought battles, and formed communities. Such general resemblances are too broad to determine fulfillment. Deuteronomy itself defines Moses’ uniqueness in covenant terms, not merely social or political terms. Moses stood as mediator of the Sinai covenant. He spoke with Jehovah in a uniquely direct manner. He performed public signs and wonders before Egypt and Israel. He gave inspired law to the covenant nation. He led Israel out of slavery by Jehovah’s mighty hand. He stood between Jehovah and the people when they feared hearing Jehovah’s voice directly.

The Quran presents Muhammad as receiving revelation through Gabriel, not as speaking face-to-face with God in the manner associated with Moses’ unique prophetic position. Quran 53:2–10 is commonly understood in Islamic interpretation as describing the reception of revelation through the heavenly messenger. Biblical Moses, however, is described in Numbers 12:6–8 as distinct from ordinary prophets. Jehovah says that with other prophets He might speak in a vision or dream, but with Moses He speaks mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles. Deuteronomy 34:10–12 then looks back on Moses as the prophet whom Jehovah knew face-to-face. The point is not a crude physical seeing of God, because Exodus 33:20 says no man can see God’s face and live. The point is directness, intimacy, clarity, and covenant authority. Muhammad’s own claimed mode of revelation, as represented in Islamic theology, is not the Mosaic pattern described in the Torah.

The comparison also fails at the level of public signs. Moses’ commission was authenticated before Israel and Egypt by visible, public, national-level acts: the signs before Israel’s elders in Exodus 4, the plagues upon Egypt in Exodus chapters 7–12, the Passover deliverance in Exodus 12, the crossing of the sea in Exodus 14, the provision in the wilderness, and the giving of the Law at Sinai. These were not private impressions or literary claims. They were public events tied to Israel’s national redemption. The Quran itself records opponents asking why Muhammad had not been given signs like those given to Moses, as seen in Quran 28:48. Islamic theology often answers that the Quran is Muhammad’s miracle. Yet Deuteronomy’s comparison to Moses involves the prophetic office and covenant revelation, not merely the production of a revered book. The kind of public confirmation connected to Moses is not reproduced in Muhammad’s ministry as described by the Quran.

The Apostolic Identification of the Prophet Like Moses

The New Testament gives the inspired identification of the prophet like Moses. Acts 3:22–23 records Peter applying Deuteronomy 18 to Jesus Christ. Peter is speaking to Jews in Jerusalem, addressing the people of Israel concerning the fulfillment of the promises given through Moses and the prophets. He does not say that Moses pointed to a later Arabian prophet. He identifies the promise with Jesus, the risen Messiah. This matters because the apostles were not merely offering private opinion. They were appointed witnesses of the risen Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit-inspired message, and entrusted with the authoritative proclamation of the New Covenant.

Jesus Christ in History, Prophecy, and Fulfillment is directly relevant because Jesus fulfills the Mosaic pattern in the way Scripture itself emphasizes. Moses mediated the Law covenant; Jesus mediates the New Covenant. Moses delivered Jehovah’s words to Israel; Jesus speaks the Father’s words perfectly. Moses performed signs before Israel; Jesus performed public signs before Israel, including healings, feeding thousands, exercising authority over nature, and raising the dead. Moses interceded for the people; Jesus gives His life as the sacrificial basis for forgiveness. Moses led Israel out of Egyptian slavery; Jesus delivers believers from sin and death by His sacrifice and resurrection. Moses was faithful as a servant in God’s house, while Hebrews 3:5–6 says Christ is faithful as Son over God’s house. The comparison is not forced. It is the Bible’s own inspired interpretation.

John 6 provides a concrete example. After Jesus fed the five thousand, John 6:14 records that the people said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” The sign of bread in the wilderness naturally brought Moses to mind, yet Jesus did more than repeat Moses’ work. He revealed Himself as the true bread from heaven in John 6:35. Moses did not give life in himself; Jehovah provided manna through Moses. Jesus, however, identifies Himself as the One through whom eternal life is given. John 1:17 says the Law was given through Moses, while grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. This does not diminish Moses. It places Moses in his proper role as servant and forerunner, while Jesus stands as the greater Prophet, the Son who reveals the Father perfectly.

Jesus Upholds Moses Rather Than Replacing Him With Contradiction

A true prophet like Moses must not overthrow Moses’ revelation. Jesus did not. Matthew 5:17 records Jesus saying that He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them. Fulfillment does not mean contradiction. It means bringing Jehovah’s prior revelation to its intended goal. Jesus upheld the authority of Genesis when He spoke of creation and marriage in Matthew 19:4–6. He upheld the historicity of Noah in Matthew 24:37–39. He upheld Moses in John 5:46. He upheld David in Matthew 22:43–45. He upheld Daniel in Matthew 24:15. He treated the Hebrew Scriptures as the truthful Word of God. The Claim of Divine Inspiration rightly emphasizes that Jesus’ own view of Scripture is decisive for Christians.

Muhammad’s message, by contrast, does not fulfill Moses and the prophets in the biblical sense. It revises the central apostolic claims concerning Christ. The New Testament declares Jesus to be the Son of God, crucified, raised, exalted, and appointed as the only way to the Father. Romans 1:3–4 speaks of Jesus as descended from David according to the flesh and declared Son of God in power by His resurrection from the dead. Hebrews 1:1–2 says God spoke long ago through the prophets but has in these last days spoken by means of His Son. A later message that denies the Son cannot be the continuation of Moses. It is a rejection of the climactic revelation to which Moses pointed.

The Quran’s denial of the crucifixion is especially serious because the death of Christ is not a secondary matter in Christianity. It is the center of the apostolic gospel. First Corinthians 2:2 shows Paul determined to know nothing among the Corinthians except Jesus Christ and Him executed. Galatians 3:13 says Christ redeemed believers from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for them. First Peter 2:24 says He bore our sins in His body. Hebrews 9:26 says Christ appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by His sacrifice. A prophet who denies the event by which Jehovah provides the ransom cannot be the prophet like Moses. He leads people away from the saving work of Jehovah through Christ.

The Sonship of Christ and the Identity of the True God

The Quran’s rejection of divine Sonship places it in direct conflict with the words of Jesus and the apostles. Islamic theology often misunderstands Christian teaching as though Christians believe in a physical, creaturely begetting. Biblical Sonship does not mean that Jehovah took a wife or produced offspring through bodily means. Scripture teaches eternal, relational, revelatory Sonship. John 1:1 says the Word was with God and the Word was God. John 1:14 says the Word became flesh. John 1:18 says the only-begotten God, who is at the Father’s side, has explained Him. The Son reveals the Father because He shares the divine nature and stands in eternal relation to Him.

This is not philosophical excess; it is biblical revelation. Matthew 3:17 records the Father’s declaration at Jesus’ baptism: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 17:5 records the Father saying at the transfiguration, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” That final command echoes Deuteronomy 18:15: “to him you shall listen.” The Father Himself identifies Jesus as the Son to whom His people must listen. The promised prophet like Moses is therefore not Muhammad, who denies the Son, but Jesus, whom the Father commands all to hear.

First John 4:2–3 gives another criterion: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. First John 5:12 says the one who has the Son has life, while the one who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These are not optional doctrinal refinements. They are apostolic boundaries. Since Deuteronomy 13 commands Israel to reject any prophet who leads away from Jehovah, and since the New Testament reveals that honoring the Son is necessary to honoring the Father, the Quran’s denial of the Son shows that Muhammad cannot be accepted as the prophet foretold by Moses.

The Problem of Later Claims Against Earlier Revelation

Islamic theology often replies that the Bible has been corrupted and that the Quran restores the original truth. This argument creates a serious problem. Quran 7:157 appeals to what people find written in the Torah and Gospel. Quran 5:46–47 speaks of the Gospel as guidance and light and tells the people of the Gospel to judge by what God revealed therein. Quran 10:94 tells Muhammad, according to the standard reading, to ask those who read the Scripture before him if he is in doubt. Such statements make sense only if the earlier Scriptures were available and meaningful to their readers. Yet when those Scriptures are examined, they do not point to Muhammad as the prophet like Moses. They point to Jesus Christ.

The claim of corruption also fails because the manuscript transmission of the Bible is historically strong. The Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament are preserved with extraordinary accuracy, and no textual variant removes the doctrines at issue here: the Sonship of Christ, the execution of Jesus, His resurrection, His role as mediator, or the apostolic identification of Jesus as the prophet like Moses. The issue is not that the Bible once taught Islam and then lost that teaching. The issue is that the Bible, in its preserved text, teaches a Christ-centered revelation from Genesis through Revelation. Genesis 3:15 anticipates the seed who crushes the serpent. Genesis 22:18 promises blessing through Abraham’s seed. Deuteronomy 18:15–18 promises the prophet like Moses. Second Samuel 7:12–16 promises the Davidic king. Isaiah 53 describes the suffering Servant. Daniel 7:13–14 presents the Son of Man receiving dominion. Micah 5:2 points to the ruler from Bethlehem. These lines converge in Jesus Christ, not Muhammad.

The New Testament’s use of the Old Testament confirms this. Luke 24:27 says Jesus explained to the disciples the things concerning Himself in Moses and all the Prophets. Luke 24:44 says that everything written about Him in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled. The apostles did not announce a new religion detached from Israel’s Scriptures. They preached the fulfillment of Jehovah’s promises. A later message that reverses the apostolic proclamation does not restore Moses. It rejects the inspired interpretation Moses’ own writings receive in Christ and the apostles.

Why Deuteronomy 13 Is Decisive Against Muhammad’s Claim

Even if one granted for the sake of examination that Muhammad had certain similarities to Moses, Deuteronomy 13 would still forbid accepting him as a prophet from Jehovah. Moses warned Israel that signs and predictions cannot override loyalty to Jehovah. The prophet’s message must agree with the God already revealed. Muhammad’s message leads people away from the Father’s revelation of the Son, away from the cross, away from the resurrection as the vindication of Christ’s sacrifice, and away from the New Covenant announced by Jesus. That is not a minor difference. It is rebellion against the central revelation Jehovah gave through Christ.

The Quran’s presentation of Jesus as a prophet but not the Son is not a safe middle ground. Scripture does not permit honoring Jesus merely as a prophet while denying His identity. John 8:24 records Jesus warning that unless people believe that He is the One He claims to be, they will die in their sins. John 20:31 says the Gospel was written so that readers may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing they may have life in His name. The apostolic gospel does not offer salvation through admiration of Jesus as a creaturely messenger. It calls all people to recognize Him as the Son, the Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, and the only mediator between God and men, as First Timothy 2:5 says.

Deuteronomy 13 therefore reaches the heart of the matter. The Quran does not merely fail to mention some Christian doctrines. It denies them. It denies that God has a Son. It denies that Jesus was crucified. It denies the Father-Son relation central to the Gospel. It denies the full apostolic message concerning redemption through Christ’s sacrifice. Therefore, by the Mosaic criterion, Muhammad is not a prophet like Moses. He is a religious claimant whose message turns people from the revelation Jehovah gave in Moses, the prophets, Christ, and the apostles.

Why Deuteronomy 18 Is Decisive for Jesus

Deuteronomy 18 points positively to Jesus. He is an Israelite, born under the Law, from the line of Abraham, Judah, and David. Matthew 1:1 identifies Him as the son of David and son of Abraham. Luke 2 presents Him within faithful Israelite worship. Galatians 4:4 says God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law. He arises from among Israel’s brothers in the exact covenant sense required by Deuteronomy. He speaks the Father’s words. John 12:49–50 records Jesus saying that He did not speak from His own initiative, but the Father who sent Him gave Him commandment concerning what to say and speak. This directly corresponds to Deuteronomy 18:18, where Jehovah says He will put His words in the prophet’s mouth.

Jesus also gives true revelation with final authority. Matthew 7:28–29 records that the crowds were astonished at His teaching because He taught as one having authority. John 7:46 records officers saying that no man ever spoke like this man. John 14:10 says the words Jesus speaks are not from Himself, but the Father dwelling in relation to Him does His works. Hebrews 1:1–3 places Jesus above the prophets because He is the Son through whom God has spoken in the last days. Moses was faithful as a servant; Christ is Son over God’s house. This is a greater fulfillment, not a lesser one.

Jesus’ signs also fit the Mosaic pattern of public divine confirmation. John 5:36 says the works the Father gave Jesus to accomplish bear witness that the Father sent Him. John 10:25 records Jesus saying that the works He does in His Father’s name bear witness about Him. John 11 records the raising of Lazarus publicly near Jerusalem. Acts 2:22 says Jesus was attested by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through Him in the midst of the people. These signs were not detached spectacles. They revealed His identity and mission. He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, fed multitudes, commanded the wind and sea, and raised the dead. Moses’ signs pointed to deliverance from Egypt; Jesus’ signs pointed to deliverance from sin and death.

The Father’s Command to Listen to Jesus

The command “listen to him” binds Deuteronomy 18 to the transfiguration. Deuteronomy 18:15 says Israel must listen to the prophet like Moses. Matthew 17:5 records the Father saying concerning Jesus, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” The presence of Moses and Elijah in the scene is significant because they represent the Law and the Prophets bearing witness to Christ. When the voice from heaven commands the disciples to listen to Jesus, the Father Himself identifies Jesus as the One with final authority. Moses does not compete with Jesus. Moses points to Him. Elijah does not outrank Jesus. Elijah bears witness to the prophetic line fulfilled in Him.

Acts 3:22–23 then applies the warning side of Deuteronomy 18. Peter says that every soul who does not listen to that prophet will be destroyed from the people. This is solemn language. It means rejection of Jesus is not a minor interpretive disagreement. It is rejection of the One Jehovah has appointed. Islam’s respect for Jesus as a prophet does not satisfy this requirement because Islam refuses to listen to Jesus’ own testimony about Himself. Jesus says He is the Son. Islam says God has no Son. Jesus says He gives His life as a ransom. Islam denies His crucifixion. Jesus says no one comes to the Father except through Him. Islam presents a path that denies His mediating sacrifice. Therefore Islam does not obey the Father’s command, “listen to him.”

This also explains why the Christian answer must remain firm. The issue is not hostility toward Muslims as people. Christians must speak truth with patience, clarity, and moral seriousness. Muslims are neighbors made in the image of God and must be treated with dignity. Yet love of neighbor never requires surrendering the truth about Christ. The apostles preached in a world filled with religious claims, but they did not soften the exclusive authority of Jesus. Acts 4:12 says there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. That apostolic declaration stands in direct opposition to any claim that Muhammad is the final prophet whose message corrects the gospel.

The Quran and the Problem of Contradicting the Gospel

The Quran: of God or of Man? raises the unavoidable question of divine consistency. Jehovah does not reveal one gospel through Christ and His apostles and then later send a message denying that gospel. Galatians 1:8–9 is direct: even if an angel from heaven were to proclaim a gospel contrary to the one preached by the apostles, he is to be rejected. This passage is especially relevant because Islamic theology grounds Muhammad’s revelation in angelic mediation. Paul’s warning shows that an angelic claim does not outrank the apostolic gospel. The content of the message is decisive. If it contradicts the gospel already delivered, it is false, regardless of the claimed source.

The gospel Paul preached included Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and appearances, as First Corinthians 15:3–8 states. It included justification through faith in Christ, not through submission to a later prophetic law. It included reconciliation through the blood of Christ, as Colossians 1:20 says. It included the confession that Jesus is Lord, as Romans 10:9 says. A message that denies the crucifixion and rejects the divine Sonship of Christ is not a supplemental revelation. It is another message. Galatians 1 does not allow Christians to receive such a message, even under claims of angelic delivery.

This point also answers the claim that Muhammad received God’s words in his mouth as Moses did. Deuteronomy 18:18 cannot be separated from Deuteronomy 18:20 or Deuteronomy 13:1–5. The prophet who speaks what Jehovah commands will not contradict Jehovah’s earlier revelation. The prophet who speaks in Jehovah’s name must lead people to Jehovah as He has revealed Himself, not to a redefined theology that rejects the Son and the cross. Since the Quran denies what Jehovah revealed through Christ and the apostles, Muhammad cannot be the Deuteronomy 18 prophet.

The Biblical Verdict

The biblical verdict rests on Scripture’s own standards. Deuteronomy 18 requires the prophet like Moses to arise from Israel, speak Jehovah’s words, and stand in continuity with Moses’ covenant revelation. Jesus satisfies this fully. He is born within Israel, from the line of David, under the Law. He speaks the Father’s words. He performs public signs. He inaugurates the New Covenant. He fulfills Moses and the prophets. He is identified by Peter in Acts 3:22–23 as the prophet like Moses. He is the One to whom the Father commands all to listen.

Deuteronomy 13 requires rejection of any prophet who leads people away from Jehovah, even if religious signs or claims accompany his message. Muhammad’s message, as represented in the Quran and Islamic theology, denies the Son, denies the crucifixion, rejects the apostolic gospel, and directs worship according to a theology that is not the revelation of Jehovah through Moses, the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles. Therefore Muhammad does not merely fail to fulfill Deuteronomy 18. He falls under the warning of Deuteronomy 13 because his message leads people away from the God who has revealed Himself in His Son.

Jesus Christ alone is the true Prophet like Moses. He does not compete with Moses; He fulfills Moses. He does not erase the prophets; He fulfills their message. He does not contradict Jehovah’s revelation; He is its climactic expression. Hebrews 1:1–2 declares that God spoke long ago to the fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken by His Son. That final word through the Son cannot be corrected by a later claimant who denies the Son. The Christian answer, therefore, is clear: Muhammad is not the prophet like Moses. By the standards of Deuteronomy 13 and 18, the claim fails. Jesus Christ alone passes the Mosaic criteria, bears the Father’s approval, speaks Jehovah’s words perfectly, and gives eternal life to those who listen to Him.

You May Also Enjoy

Top Ten Rules in the Quran That Oppress and Insult Women

About the Author

CLICK LINKED IMAGE TO VISIT ONLINE STORE

CLICK TO SCROLL THROUGH OUR BOOKS