numerous jars of oil, sell them, and be free from her creditors. Another instance also involved
Elisha and a barren woman (2 Kng 4:11-16). For a woman in ancient times to have no son was a
great misfortune. For a woman to have no children at all was even worse. Elisha prophesied to
her that she would have a son and she did. Elijah had a similar experience with the widow at
Zarephath in Sidon (1 Kng 17:9-24).
The sustained concern about obtaining divine guidance about these sorts of things sometimes
can seem a bit odd to Westerners (or Western Christians) because of the way Enlightenment
thinking has removed the importance of divine contact and divine guidance from the center of
our world. This is coupled with the fact that the progress of science and technology has put us
much more in control of our world. At the time of the Israelite move into Canaan, people were
keenly aware that the stability of their health, well-being, and their very lives were not assured.
Life was precarious, even dangerous, and God, however rightly or wrongly they might have
conceived of him, was central to their daily lives. Relating to him and receiving guidance was
critically important. That chapter highlights that concern.
In v. 15, the legitimate way to access the divine, to establish contact with the transcendent, yet
personal Yahweh, is that the he will raise up a prophet from within the nation of Israel (cf.
17:15).
In Acts 3:22-23 Peter states that Jesus is the fulfillment of this verse. Early writers such as
Origin and Augustine saw Jesus as the exclusive fulfillment of this verse.
early Israelites and their neighbors because the needs of everyday life demanded the need for
contact with the divine. Yahweh gave Israel the prophets so that the need for contact with him
would happen properly. This understanding of v. 15 does not contradict an ultimate fulfillment
seen in Jesus.
Moses understands that he is a divinely appointed prophet, chosen by Yahweh to be a liaison
between God and the Israelite nation. But he is not to be unique in this role. There will be
another, or others, who will be ,,like him.
There is a desire expressed in the OT that all of Gods people would experience the intimacy in
communication with Yahweh that the prophets had. This seen in Num. 11:26-29 when Joshua
was concerned to limit and control prophecy in the camp. Moses corrects him and expresses his
desire that God would put his spirit on all his people so that they would prophecy.