Acts 7:37
This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.
Moses promised Israel that God would raise up from among their own brethren a prophet like himself, whom the people were commanded to hear. That promised prophet is Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Son of God, in whom Moses' words find their meaning. Stephen set this promise within his Spirit-filled defense before the council, rehearsing Israel's history from Abraham onward to show that its prophecies pointed to Christ and called Israel to hear Him. Refusing to heed Christ was Israel's sin, for He was Himself the divine leader who had spoken with Moses and the people in the wilderness. Stephen thus presented Moses' prophecy as proof that the crucified Jesus is the Son of God foretold to be rejected, raised, and exalted as the promised Messiah.
Stephen's Defense Setting
This is that Moses spoken of in Stephen's defense before the council on the charge of blasphemy. He answered in a clear, thrilling voice that rang through the council hall and held the assembly spell-bound. He rehearsed the history of God's chosen people, beginning with Abraham and tracing down through generation to generation through Israel's national records to Solomon, taking up the most impressive points to vindicate his cause. His speech showed thorough knowledge of the Jewish economy and its spiritual interpretation now made manifest through Christ. It was his final testimony, spoken under the Holy Spirit before hostile judges shortly before his testimony was cut short, connecting Jesus with Israel's history and the prophecies and presenting Moses' promise of a prophet from among Israel's people, whom they must hear, as a prophecy connected with Jesus Christ.
Stephen's witness ended in his stoning, with Saul standing by consenting to the stoning before Saul himself was confronted by Jesus on the way to Damascus. In this setting Moses stands as Israel's visible leader in the wilderness, while Christ was the Angel with him who directed him by direct communications and who leads both the Jewish and the Christian church as its invisible leader.
Moses Foretells Christ
Moses foretold that the Lord God would raise up from among Israel's own people and brethren a prophet like himself, whom the people were commanded to hear. The promise was of another prophet from within Israel, raised up by God to stand in Moses' place and to require obedient hearing. That promised prophet is Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Son of God. Moses' words find their meaning in Jesus and connect Him with Israel's history as the One foretold in prophecy.
Stephen used Israel's history and the Old Testament witness as evidence about Christ's mission and identity as the Messiah. He showed that its prophecies pointed to Christ and called Israel to hear Him. Israel's sin was refusing to heed Christ's voice. For Christ Himself was the angel who spoke with Moses and with the people in the wilderness.
Stephen used the prophecy as evidence that Jesus who had been crucified was the Son of God. Saul came to see that the prophets had foretold Jesus' rejection, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, proving that He was the promised Messiah. The prophet like Moses whom Israel was commanded to hear is thus identified as Jesus.