Thanks, there is a merit in what you are posting.
A prophet is telling his people God will send you a prophet; meaning sending you a message, what is first thing that comes to their mind?; what is he bringing?, they are concerned about his message, so message is the context; as to that, every word in the verse , should be understood according to this context; if I were to tell you that I live in Tampa, and you said: is that right?, I live in Tampa, you are like me. does anyone would understand that we are alike in character, no, but we live in the same city. They take the word out of its context, and understand it in different way according to their belief; which is fine to me, as long as they don't go , and put so much effort to prove you are wrong, and attack your faith or your character, while verse lend itself to your understanding very well.
I see from here that you didn't understand the problem I tried to explain to you with your interpretation. I'm not sure you will understand it this time either, but at least I want you to see my effort is not to disprove your religion, just to explain the passage. If its not true, then we shouldn't say it. So I will leave this here and maybe you will read it and it will be clearer to you, but I don't expect a response.
Let's use an ayah from the Qur'an:
alBakarah 2:6 "
Indeed, those who disbelieve - it is all the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them - they will not believe."
I interpret this verse as a prophecy that there will come a type of disbeliever that is those who don't believe in global warming. And the ayah is saying that people in the world will warn these disbelievers about global warning, but it won't help - they still will not believe.
If I would say that, you will tell me that I'm crazy. You will tell me that this has nothing to do with the surah and it doesn't fit with what the context is talking about. You will tell me that I'm taking out one ayah and translating it in a way that has nothing to do with anything, so that I can use it against people who don't believe in global warming. If I would just look at the context, I will see that the "disbelievers" are the disbelievers in All-h and the "you" are the Muslims that believe in Him. And the ayah is saying that some people no matter how much a Muslim will try to convince them, they won't believe in All-h. This is the context of that verse and if I would just read the ayat before and after, I would see clearly that my interpretation doesn't relate to the context at all.
This is the same problem that I'm telling you that you're doing.
The passage that we were discussing is not Moses telling the Jews a prophecy about some prophet that will come to bring them a new law. That has nothing to do with the passage. Its a passage about Moses telling the Jews how they will be lead while they are in Israel. Here it is with my running commentary. Moses opens up "
When you come to the Land that G-d is giving you". This is the first verse in that passage. So now we know that the context of the next verses has to do with something that will be relevant to coming to the land of Israel that the Jews were about to enter. What about it? "
Don't learn to do the disgusting things that they do there". Moses is telling us that we are prohibited to copy the bad things that they do. But which bad things is he referring to? "
There should not be in you one who passes his son or his daughter in fire..." Moses explains exactly what - first he speaks about worshiping Molech (that is passing one's child through fire) and then he goes on to list eight different types of divination techniques (kosem, inun, nihush, kishuf, hover hever, sho'el ov, sho'el yid'oni, doresh el hameithim). If you'd like I can explain them all to you, but otherwise you can do a little research for yourself or you can take my word for it. These 9 things are often mentioned together and they are prohibited forms of magic and divination. So Moses has said that we are prohibited to perform these types of techniques. Rather we should "
be complete with G-d". We should turn to G-d rather than these techniques. Then it must be that Moses is making some contrast between these techniques and G-d's way. And in fact that's what the next verse does, "
because these nations...they listen to [those that practice] inun and nihush (types of divination techniques to find out the future)
, but you G-d did not give [permission] to do [these things]." So the Jews, when they enter the land of Israel should not try to determine the future using these types of divination. It is prohibited to us. Then how are we to know what to do? "
A prophet from among you, from your brothers, like me, G-d will stand up for you - to him you shall listen." You see the contrast there? Moses is saying, they listen to those that practice divination that is prohibited. But you Jews will not listen to them, but rather to the prophet that G-d will send you.
To say that it is a prophecy about Muhammad doesn't fit the context. Moses is creating a parallel between the prophet and those that practice divination. He isn't making a parallel between false prophets and true prophets. That he does at the end of the passage. So its not talking about laws from G-d. At the end of this passage Moses very clearly discusses false prophets. Over here he is comparing the prophet to the diviner. A diviner is someone who tells you about the future. If you want to know what your lucky lottery numbers are, you go to the diviner, he does whatever it is he does and he tells you your lucky numbers. Moses is telling the Jews, that we are not allowed to go to them. So then who should we go to? The prophet. The prophet can also see the future, except he does it by communicating with G-d rather than communicating with spirits and dead souls. So Moses is saying, don't go to these unholy diviners, go to the holy prophet to ask your questions and listen to him.
Then the Jews say, "what? we're going to have more prophets?" and Moses says, "Yes, you will. Because
everything you asked from G-d when you were at Horeb on the day of gathering, saying: I [can] no longer hear the voice of G-d, my G-d and the great fire I [can] no longer see, and (ie. so that) I will not die." On that day that G-d spoke the commandments at Sinai, the Jews complained that the voice of G-d made them feel like they were going to die. So they asked that G-d not speak directly to them. "
And G-d said, 'they have [said] well, [that] which they spoke. A prophet I will raise for them, from among their brothers and I will put My words in his mouth and he will speak to them, everything which I command him." G-d says, they are correct, its impossible for the entire nation to hear G-d speak to them. So from then on, when G-d wants to tell them something He will use a prophet as a medium. And then, lest we think that since G-d is not directly telling us what he wants, we could somehow ignore the prophet who is speaking in his name, "
And it will be, the person who does not listen to My words that he will speak in My name, I will collect from him." Just because G-d is not telling us directly, is not an excuse to ignore the prophecy. On the other hand, even though G-d will send us prophets, doesn't mean that people can decided to become false prophets. And so the rest of the passage is dedicated towards prohibiting false prophets and differentiating between them.
And in fact, this is exactly what happened. All the prophets of the books of the prophets, brought us messages from G-d telling us to fix our ways. And when we didn't listen, G-d gave us the stick. And when king Saul did go to the diviner instead of the prophet? The next day him and his sons were dead on the field of battle.
As you can see, this whole passage is one continuous idea. We will go the the land of Israel and be exposed to people who use divination to find out the future. We may not perform this divination, but instead are required to turn to the prophet of the day, to find out what we the future holds for us. Then Moses explains how we merited to have prophets lead us during that time - because of our request at Mt. Sinai: G-d agreed to it and promised us that He would use prophets to speak to us. Lastly we are warned against false prophets and how to differentiate between them. This is not a prophecy about a specific prophet that will come 1500 years later. That wouldn't fit the context of the passage. Muhammad was born way after we had already been exiled from the land of Israel. Its direction for how to live in the land of Israel when we arrive there from the desert. According to your interpretation, it says "When you arrive in the land of Israel, don't listen to the people who perform divination, because that disgusts G-d. In 1,500 years from now, when you are no longer in the land G-d will send a prophet from the sons of Ishamel..." This is a non sequitor, the end has nothing to do with the beginning. That is why I keep telling you, your interpretation doesn't make sense with the context.
I know this was long and I don't expect most people will read it. But maybe it will be useful for someone.
We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written,
