A Prophet like Moses – The Moneychangers

There is a prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 that God would raise up a prophet like Moses – that prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus. In today’s parallel, Jesus and Moses both confronted the practice of changing money into animals for worship. In both passages, a feast to the Lord was about to occur; money or gold was exchanged for animals by people about to worship the Lord; Jesus and Moses showed great zeal; the animals were removed.

Exodus 32:2-7, 19-20 And Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off the rings of gold which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD." 6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.  7 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down; for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves…19 And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tables out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it upon the water, and made the people of Israel drink it.

John 2:13-16 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money-changers at their business. 15 And he made a whip of cords, and drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple. And he poured out the money of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! You shall not make my Father’s house a house of merchandise!”

There are many signs and wonders that Jesus did that were like those done by Moses – can you find them? Do you know what religion claims that someone else fulfilled the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15-19? The other religion does not have a parallel for confronting the money changers.

J. Clontz – Editor of The Comprehensive New Testament