If They Hear Moses, They Can Hear Yeshua
In Luke 16:31, Yeshua says, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.” That statement takes on remarkable significance after Yeshua Himself rises from the dead. It suggests that Moses had already supplied testimony by which Israel ought to recognize Him. Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9 is especially rich in such testimony. It speaks of righteous judges, a coming king, priests, a promised Prophet like Moses, cities of refuge, truthful witnesses, warfare, mercy toward captives, protection of inheritance, the rebellious son, the man hung upon a tree, and atonement for innocent blood. Messiah followers can reasonably see these as patterns that reach their fullest expression in Yeshua. At the same time, several themes are compatible with the universalist hope of Acts 3:21—not because this Torah portion explicitly teaches universal salvation, but because judgment repeatedly serves the restoration of justice, preservation of life, and removal of evil.
Yeshua the Righteous Judge — Deuteronomy 16:18–20
Moses begins by commanding Israel to appoint judges who “shall judge the people with righteous judgment.” They must show no partiality and accept no bribe. Then comes the memorable command, “Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue.” Yeshua perfectly fulfills the ideal toward which these judges pointed. Human judges can be corrupted; Yeshua cannot. Human judges possess incomplete knowledge; Yeshua knows the heart. In John 5:22 the Father entrusts judgment to the Son. Moses therefore introduces us to the need for the perfectly righteous Judge who eventually appears in Yeshua.
Universalist Theme: Judgment Has Righteousness as Its Goal
The purpose of these courts is important. Judgment is instituted so that injustice will not destroy Israel’s community. It exists to put matters right. This is congenial to a universalist understanding of divine judgment as rectifying judgment—judgment that confronts evil because Yahweh loves what evil has damaged. Acts 3:21 speaks of the “restoration of all things.” Restoration necessarily requires judgment because what is crooked must be made straight. Thus universalists do not minimize judgment; they understand judgment as one of Yahweh’s instruments for setting creation right.
Yeshua the King Yahweh Chooses — Deuteronomy 17:14–20
Moses astonishingly anticipates Israel’s future monarchy centuries before it appears. Israel’s king must be one “whom Yahweh your Elohim chooses.” Unlike pagan kings, he must not multiply horses, wives, or wealth. Most significantly, he must continually read Yahweh’s Torah so that his heart will not be lifted above his brethren. Israel’s later kings repeatedly failed this standard. Yeshua does not. He is the humble King who perfectly obeys Yahweh, serves rather than exploits His subjects, and possesses a Kingdom founded upon righteousness. The king envisioned by Moses therefore creates an expectation ultimately satisfied by Messiah Yeshua.
Universalist Theme: Messiah’s Kingdom Is a Kingdom of Righteousness
The limitation placed upon royal power reveals something about Yahweh’s intended Kingdom. The king exists for the people; the people do not exist merely to enrich the king. Yeshua brings this principle to perfection when He says that He came not to be served but to serve. Luke 2:10-11 believers connect this servant-kingship with the eventual universal reign of Messiah: the One before whom every knee bows is not a cosmic tyrant but the King who gave Himself to ransom His subjects.
Yeshua Our Priest and Inheritance — Deuteronomy 18:1–8
The Levites receive no ordinary territorial inheritance because Yahweh Himself is their inheritance. This points beautifully toward Yeshua. The New Testament presents Him as our great High Priest, but He is also the believer’s ultimate treasure and inheritance. What the Levites experienced symbolically—possessing Yahweh rather than merely possessing land—anticipates the deeper reality of possessing life in Messiah.
Yeshua the Prophet Like Moses — Deuteronomy 18:15–19
Here the hidden Yeshua becomes almost impossible to miss. Moses declares: “Yahweh your Elohim will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.” Yahweh then says, “I will put My words in his mouth.” The New Testament explicitly applies this passage to Yeshua in Acts 3:20–23 and again in Acts 7:37. This is especially important because the very Acts 3 passage containing the “restoration of all things” immediately identifies Yeshua with Moses’ promised Prophet. Peter connects the two ideas in the same sermon.
A Remarkable Connection With Acts 3:21
This deserves special emphasis. Peter does not mention the restoration of all things and then randomly change subjects. After announcing restoration in Acts 3:21, he says in verse 22, “Moses said, ‘Yahweh your Elohim will raise up for you a prophet like me.’” Peter himself therefore connects the restoration theme with Deuteronomy 18. Whatever one’s final theology of universal salvation, this textual connection is unusually strong: Yeshua is Moses’ promised Prophet, and Peter places His ministry within Yahweh’s promised restoration.
Yeshua Versus the False Spiritual Powers — Deuteronomy 18:9–14
Moses forbids divination, sorcery, mediums, and attempts to communicate with the dead. Israel does not need occult intermediaries because Yahweh will provide His own Prophet. The contrast is striking. Humanity searches everywhere for hidden knowledge, but Yahweh answers by giving humanity Yeshua. The solution to spiritual darkness is not another technique for reaching heaven; heaven sends its true Teacher to us.
Yeshua Our City of Refuge — Deuteronomy 19:1–13
The cities of refuge again provide one of the Torah’s most beautiful pictures of salvation. Roads were to be prepared so that a person fleeing the avenger of blood could reach safety. The emphasis upon accessibility is striking: make the road ready and provide refuge so innocent blood is not shed. Christians have long used refuge imagery for Yeshua. Hebrews 6:18 even speaks of those who have “fled for refuge” to lay hold of the hope set before them. Yeshua is not merely pointing toward safety; He Himself becomes our refuge.
Universalist Theme: Yahweh Commands That the Road to Refuge Be Prepared
There is a particularly beautiful restorative principle here. Yahweh does not hide the refuge or make it deliberately difficult to reach. Israel is commanded to prepare the road. From a universalist perspective, this harmonizes with the larger biblical picture of Yahweh actively making provision for salvation. The direction of divine action is toward preserving life. The city exists because justice alone, without carefully administered mercy, could produce additional innocent bloodshed.
Yeshua the Faithful and True Witness — Deuteronomy 19:15–21
Moses requires two or three witnesses before guilt can be established and condemns false testimony. This creates another expectation that Yeshua perfectly fulfills. Revelation calls Him “the faithful and true Witness.” Unlike false witnesses who later testify against Him, Yeshua bears completely truthful testimony concerning Yahweh and humanity. He does not merely speak truth; He declares Himself to be the Truth.
Universalist Theme: Judgment Requires Truth
This requirement also matters for restorative judgment. Yahweh does not permit careless condemnation. Facts must be established. False accusation itself comes under judgment. Divine justice is therefore neither impulsive nor arbitrary. If Acts 3:21 culminates in the setting-right of creation, truth must necessarily precede restoration. Falsehood is exposed so that genuine reconciliation can occur.
Yeshua the Warrior Who Fights for His People — Deuteronomy 20
Israel is told not to fear superior armies because Yahweh goes with them and fights for them. Christians can read these historical battles typologically through Yeshua’s greater victory. His enemies are ultimately not flesh and blood but sin, death, corruption, and the spiritual powers that enslave humanity. At the cross, the apparently defeated Messiah becomes the victorious King; through resurrection He defeats humanity’s greatest enemy—death.
Universalist Theme: Peace Is Offered Before Destruction
Deuteronomy 20:10 contains an easily overlooked command: “When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace.” This does not erase the severe warfare texts that follow, and those texts should not be softened. Nevertheless, the presence of a prior offer of peace is significant. Judgment is not Yahweh’s only vocabulary. Within the judicial framework itself appears an avenue toward peace. 1 Timothy 4:10 Believers may reasonably see this as consistent with the later Messiah who “made peace through the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:20).
Yeshua and the Captive Woman — Deuteronomy 21:10–14
The law concerning a woman captured in war is difficult for modern readers, but within its ancient setting it restricts what an Israelite man may do. The woman is given time to mourn, cannot simply be treated as property, and if the marriage fails she must be allowed to leave freely rather than being sold. It would be unwise to make the woman a direct type of Yeshua. The safer Christological connection lies in the Torah’s movement toward restraining exploitation, which reaches its fullest moral revelation in Yeshua’s treatment of vulnerable people.
Yeshua and the Rights of the Firstborn — Deuteronomy 21:15–17
Moses commands that the firstborn son’s inheritance cannot be taken away merely because his mother is unloved. The rightful inheritance must be honored. The New Testament repeatedly uses firstborn language for Yeshua: He is “the firstborn of all creation” and “the firstborn from the dead.” Unlike earthly firstborn sons, however, Yeshua receives the inheritance in order to share it. Romans 8 even describes believers as fellow heirs with Messiah.
The Rebellious Son and a Striking Gospel Reversal — Deuteronomy 21:18–21
The law concerning the persistently rebellious son is severe. Yet when we reach the Gospel, something extraordinary happens. The truly obedient Son enters a world filled with rebellious sons and daughters. Yeshua deserves the Father’s approval, yet He voluntarily suffers the condemnation associated with rebels. Paul summarizes the reversal: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf.” The obedient Son bears what the disobedient deserved so that the disobedient might be brought home.
Yeshua the One Hung Upon the Tree — Deuteronomy 21:22–23
Here the testimony becomes unmistakable. Moses writes that “he who is hanged is accursed of Yahweh.” Paul explicitly quotes this passage in Galatians 3:13 and applies it to Yeshua: “Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’” Thus one of the darkest images in this Torah portion becomes one of its clearest portraits of Calvary. Moses was indeed writing about something “to be spoken later.”
Universalist Theme: The Curse Is Taken Up Into Messiah
This is particularly significant from a universalist perspective. The biblical story does not end with humanity beneath the curse. Yeshua enters the curse Himself in order to overcome it. Paul immediately explains the purpose: “in Messiah Yeshua the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles” (Galatians 3:14). The movement is therefore curse → Messiah → blessing to the nations. That trajectory strongly resonates with the universalist expectation that Yahweh’s final word over creation is blessing rather than curse.
Yeshua and the Atonement for Innocent Blood — Deuteronomy 21:1–9
The portion concludes with an unsolved murder. Even when the murderer cannot be identified, innocent blood cannot simply be ignored. The elders perform a prescribed rite involving a heifer, washing their hands and praying, “Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O Yahweh.” Atonement is made so that bloodguilt may be removed from the community. Christians can see here another shadow of Yeshua: innocent blood has created a problem humanity cannot solve for itself, and Yahweh provides the means by which guilt is removed.
Universalist Theme: The Story Ends With Atonement, Not Bloodguilt
The location of this passage at the end of the Torah portion is particularly suggestive. The problem is guilt; Yahweh’s provision is atonement. The objective is not that guilt remain eternally unresolved but that it be dealt with and removed. That does not by itself establish universal salvation, but it fits naturally within the restorative pattern culminating, for universalists, in Acts 3:21. Yahweh confronts guilt precisely because He intends to put things right.
Conclusion: Moses Was Preparing His Hearers to Recognize Yeshua
Luke 16:31 becomes especially powerful when read beside these chapters: “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.” Moses had already given Israel the vocabulary with which to recognize the risen Messiah. Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9 presents the Righteous Judge, humble King, Priest, Prophet like Moses, City of Refuge, Faithful Witness, victorious Warrior, Firstborn, obedient Son, Curse-Bearer, and the One through whom bloodguilt is removed. These shadows converge remarkably upon Yeshua.
And perhaps the most important universalist connection is one Peter himself makes. Acts 3:21–22 places “the restoration of all things” immediately beside Moses’ prophecy of the coming Prophet in Deuteronomy 18:15. The Torah portion does not explicitly declare universal salvation, so we should not force it to say more than it does. Yet its direction is unmistakably restorative: justice sets things right, refuge preserves life, peace is offered, oppression is restrained, guilt is removed, curse gives way to blessing, and Moses’ promised Prophet ultimately appears in Yeshua. From a Christian universalist perspective, these are tributaries flowing toward Peter’s great river of hope—the day when Yahweh’s Messiah completes the “restoration of all things.”
Brother Roger
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