54 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



" In consequence of this prediction, an expec- 

 tation of some extraordinary prophet had always 

 prevailed among the Jews, and particularly about 

 the time of our Saviour. They understood and 

 applied it, as \ve\\ as other similar prophecies, to 

 the Messiah, who they admitted would be as 

 great as Moses : but, forgetting the distinct ex- 

 planation with which it was accompanied, they 

 looked for pomp and splendour, instead of the 

 quiet manifestation of divine power on suitable 

 occasions ; they looked for the worldly attributes 

 of dominion, instead of the meekness and humi- 

 lity which had characterized Moses, and which 

 entitled him to use the expression, 'like unto 

 me.' 



" When our Saviour had fed live thousand 

 men by a miracle like that of Moses, who fed 

 the Israelites in the wilderness, then all those 

 that were present exclaimed, ' This is of a 

 truth that prophet that should come into the 

 world.' St. Peter and St. Stephen* declared 

 to the people that the prophecy directly applied 

 to Jesus, for he fully answered the definition of 

 a prophet like unto Moses. He was by birth a 

 Jew of the middle class like Moses. He had 

 immediate communication with the Deity, and 

 to him God spake ' face to face' as he had 

 done to Moses. He was a lawgiver as well as 

 Moses, and he performed signs and wonders' 



* Acts iii. 22. vii, 37. 



