In this segment I want to pick up right where we left off and talk about three more prophecies that Peter quotes quotes from or alludes to in the Book of Acts and in 1 Peter. So in the previous lesson, we looked at two prophecies that Peter referenced. One is from Psalm 16, and the other one is the prophecy that was given to David in 2 Samuel 7, 1 Chronicles 17. So I want to pick up in Acts chapter 3 where Peter is giving his sermon in Solomon's portico in the temple area.
He has just healed a crippled man, and he's preaching to the crowd. In verse 22, we'll pick it up there. For Moses truly said to the fathers, " The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things whatever he says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.
Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed, as many as have spoken have also foretold these days, " You are sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, " saying to Abraham, " And in your seed, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. " To you first, God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquity. So Peter here quotes from the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18.
He says, " For Moses truly said to the fathers, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. " And then in verse 36, he says, " And God has raised up this Jesus. " So once again, as we saw before, in the example of the prophecy of 2 Samuel chapter 7, God says He's going to raise up, which could be taken either figuratively or could be taken literally.
And I'm sure that when Moses wrote that, " The Lord will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers, " they just said, " Well, some prophet's going to come along. " But the word that he used there was anistemi in the Septuagint in Deuteronomy 18. And he said specifically, " The Lord will raise up the same exact term that was used for the descendant of David.
The Lord will raise up, not send or commission or appoint, but raise up a special prophet like Moses in the future, one prophet, and all God's people must heed the voice of this prophet in his commands or else face dire consequences. " Let's go back to Deuteronomy chapter 18 and read from the Septuagint. This is a wonderful prophecy, one of my favorite prophecies in all of Scripture, a very rich prophecy. Deuteronomy 18:15. So this is the prophecy that Peter is quoting from applying to Jesus.
" The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brethren. Him you shall hear, according to all you asked from the Lord, your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ' Let us not hear again the voice of the Lord our God, nor let us see this great fire anymore lest we die. ' Then the Lord said to me, ' What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren. And I will put my word in his mouth. He shall speak to them all I command him.
Therefore, whatever man will not listen to whatever the prophet speaks in my name, I will require it of him. So this is the famous prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15. So as I mentioned before, he says that God will raise him up. He uses the same word anistemi here. And so let's take a look at the points and the applications from them here. So keep in mind that this prophecy given through Moses is issued 1,400 years before the birth of Jesus.
Eusebius in Proof of the Gospel, Book 3, made a very interesting point to me about this prophecy of Moses. And Moses said, " It'll be a prophet like me. " Now think about Moses and all the other prophets. What was different between Moses and every other prophet that came after him before the time of Jesus? And Eusebius pointed out I had never thought about it this way when he says to be a prophet like Moses.
Eusebius made the point that the thing that was different between Moses and every other prophet that followed, think about Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah. Moses brought in the law. Every other prophet who came after Moses up until the time of Jesus just said, " Follow the law of Moses. " None of them added any new laws. Think about that. So they just said, " Follow the law of Moses. " So Moses was unique among all the prophets in that he is the only one who brought in new law.
And so when Moses says that it will be a prophet like him, the point Eusebius makes is in order to be like Moses, he had to be a prophet who would bring new laws from God. And if we think about the Sermon on the Mount, that's exactly what Jesus says. That's the format of the Sermon on the Mount. The format of the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus says, " You've heard Moses say this, but I tell you this.
" So he is going beyond the commands of Moses and giving new and in many cases much more challenging commands than Moses did. So the other thing that I think about is Jesus said, " I didn't come to destroy the law but to fulfill it. " Well, Moses said here that this command of God was given to him, this promise of another prophet that would come. It was given to him on the day of the assembly at Horeb. This is the day in Exodus 20 and in Deuteronomy 5 when the Ten Commandments are given.
So Moses, in Deuteronomy 18, this is near the end of his life, the end of the 40-year period in the wilderness. And he's reminding them of a story. He's telling them a story of a promise that God had made to him about 38 years earlier when at the same time that the Ten Commandments were given. So when Jesus says Moses, God told Moses He gave Moses the Ten Commandments and the other laws. And then he said, I think of this as like the 11th commandment. Moses said that there will be one more prophet to come.
God said to Moses that there'd be one more prophet just like him who would come and the people must listen to him. So he gave the Ten Commandments and then he said, " There's more to come. I will send another prophet. " He said, " I will raise up another prophet like you. And when he comes, the people must listen to what he says. " So in that sense, Jesus, when he says, " I didn't come to abolish the law of Moses, I came to fulfill it.
" He's basically fulfilling the incompleted part, the 11th commandment that God gave him, is that there'll be more to come. A future prophet, you must follow what he says. And that's Jesus. So he's the capstone who fulfilled the law of Moses and who brought in more laws. It also says he says he would come from among their brothers. In Deuteronomy 18:18, it says, " I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren. " So that tells you right there, he must be a Jew.
He must be descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as were all the people who were gathered there in the wilderness, ready to go into the Promised Land. And then God says, literally, according to Peter, he would raise him up. And this is the point that Peter is making in Acts chapter three, which I, for some reason I missed for several years, God said he would raise up a prophet like Moses from among their brothers, and then he goes on further, and he says, " And he just did raise up Jesus.
" So this once again is a promise that is hidden in this expression to raise up which has multiple meanings. And of course, anyone who doesn't heed what this prophet says, God will call them to account and be punished. There's so much more in this prophecy when God says that He will raise up a prophet like Moses. If we look at the life of Moses, this is a subject I hope to teach another lesson on at some point in the future.
There's so many extraordinary similarities between Moses and Jesus if you take a look at their lives. When God says, " I will raise up a prophet like Moses. " If we look at the life of Moses in detail in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, we'll see so many extraordinary similarities to that of Jesus. I'll throw out a few obvious ones. Childhood in Egypt, evil king wants him killed. Many male babies are killed, but he somehow miraculously escapes. He has an unusual way of crossing the sea.
He brings in the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. He led God's people out of slavery. He fed thousands with bread from heaven. The similarities between Moses and Jesus, those are just a few. There's a lot more, a subject for another time, hopefully. So this is the third prophecy that Peter alludes to here about the resurrection, that God would raise up a prophet like Moses. So he is the prophet who was raised up physically.
I wanna turn now to a fourth prophecy, and this isn't mentioned by Peter, but I believe it's alluded to. So I think about this. Let's go back to Acts chapter three. Acts chapter three, verse 24, he says, " Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. " So I'm thinking, " Why did Peter say and Samuel and those who follow? " So he says, " Moses and also Samuel and those who follow are foretold these days.
" So he's talking about Jesus raised from the dead in fulfillment of the prophecy given by Moses, which was in Moses ' author of the first books, and he said, " Samuel and those who follow. Can you think of any prophecy given by the prophet Samuel that talks about the resurrection of Jesus? " And Peter says it's there. He doesn't tell us what it is. So of course, following the trail here, I'm thinking, I better go back and read in Samuel. Is there some prophecy about the resurrection that I missed in there?
So Peter says it's from Samuel and those who follow, so there's got to be something in there. And I was reading through in Samuel, and Samuel is born and dies in 1 Samuel. So from Samuel on, it's got to be something in 1 Samuel. His whole life in ministry are in that book. And so going back and taking a look at Samuel, and from the time when Samuel was alive, there is an interesting prophecy in 1 Samuel chapter 2. Let's turn there. So in 1 Samuel 2, the prophet Samuel is a young boy. He's in the house of Eli.
And Eli has two sons who are corrupt, wicked members of the priesthood. And a man of God comes and pronounces judgment on the house of Eli and tells what's going to happen in the future. And he concludes in 1 Samuel chapter two, verse 34, and we're reading from the Septuagint where it's designated the First Kingdoms. Now this shall be the sign to you that will come upon your two sons, this is referring to Eli, on Hophni and Phinehas, and one day both of them shall die.
Then I will raise up from myself a faithful priest who will do all that is in my heart and my soul. I will build him a faithful house and he shall walk before my Christ forever. And it shall come to pass. Everyone who remains in your house will for a small amount of silver prostrate before him begging, " Place me in the priesthood so I may eat one loaf of bread. " So a couple of things that I noticed here, it says, " I will raise up for myself a faithful priest.
" And once again, this word raised up in the Septuagint, most texts is anistemi. It's the same word we saw in the other prophecies. And he says, " A faithful priest that will do all that's in my heart. He shall walk before my Christ, my anointed one, forever. " This reference to the faithful priest reminds me of a discussion in the beginning of the book of Hebrews, which has to be referring to this. In Hebrews chapter two, starting in verse 17. Let's turn there.
So remember, there's the promise that Hophni and Phinehas will die, but God will raise up a faithful priest. Now, with that in mind, let's start reading in Hebrews chapter 2 in verse 17. " Therefore, in all things, he, " referring to Christ, had he made like His brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in all things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For that he himself has suffered being tempted, he's able to aid those who are being tempted.
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers in the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession. Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him who appointed him, as Moses also was faithful in all his house. For this one has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses. In as much as he who built the house has more honor than the house. Every house is built by someone, but he who built all things as God.
Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward. But Christ, as a son over his own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope to the end. So one of the main themes running throughout the book of Hebrews is that Christ is the faithful high priest who is over the house of God. And this is a fulfillment, I believe, of the prophecy of 1 Samuel chapter 2. It's basically paraphrasing that.
He is the faithful priest over God's house. And we are that house if we remain faithful. That's the point that's being made in Hebrews. So this is basically that Jesus is the long-awaited, promised, faithful high priest. That in order to be a priest for us, he had to be made like us, fully human, tempted, able to relate to our struggles. In Hebrews, it says he was a priest related from a new line. All the priests from the time of Moses had to be physical descendants from Aaron.
Look what happened in Korah's rebellion when Korah tried to expand the priesthood outside the direct descendants of Aaron, is that God opened up the earth and swallowed Korah and those with him and obliterated the other 250 who were with him, that the priest was limited only to the descendants of Aaron, but it says in Psalm 110 that the Christ would be a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
The priest who offered the perfect sacrifice once for all time, who brought in a new covenant with the perfect sacrifice of his own blood, who abolished the old covenant and the old priesthood. He was the only one who could enter the Most Holy Place, heaven itself, the presence of God with His own blood. And since he was a faithful priest over the house of God, we are called to be the faithful house of God if we hold fast into loving and obeying Him to the very end.
This is really this theme is developed throughout Hebrews, but it starts off with the idea that he is the faithful priest, which is a fulfillment of the promise made in 1 Samuel 2, that I will raise up a faithful priest over the house and he will walk before My Christ forever. Lactantius, early Christian writer, points out the significance of this prophecy about the priesthood of Christ. I'm going to quote from Divine Institutes and Ante-Nicene Fathers Volume 7 page 113.
" From which things it is evident, " Lactantius says, " that all the prophets declared concerning Christ, it should come to pass at some time that being born with the body of the race of David, he should build an eternal temple in honor of God, which is called the church and assemble all nations to the true worship of God. " This is the faithful house. This is the everlasting temple. And if anyone has not sacrificed in this, he will not have the reward of immortality.
And since Christ was the builder of this great eternal temple, he must also have an everlasting priesthood in it. There can be no approach to the shrine of the temple and to the sight of God except through him who built the temple. David in the 109th Psalm, which is referring to our Psalm 110, teaches the same, saying, " Before the morning star I begat you, the Lord has sworn it will not change his mind. You're a priest forever in the Order of Melchizedek.
" And also in the first Book of Kings, which is 1 Samuel, which we just read, " And I will raise me up a faithful priest who shall do all the things that are in my heart. I will build him a sure house and he shall walk in my sight all his days. " So he's making the connection between Psalm 110, 1 Samuel chapter 2, and what it says in Hebrews. He's the faithful priest over the faithful house of God, priest from the Order of Melchizedek, and the house is the church, the eternal house of God.
Other early Christian writers who wrote about this prophecy in 1 Samuel chapter 2 of God raising up a faithful priest is applying to Jesus, Hippolytus, Cyprian, Eusebius. So this is the, once again, a prophecy about God raising up not only a prophet as it said like Moses, but also a faithful priest that God would raise him up and he raised him up literally.
So I believe this is what Peter is talking about when he says in talking about the resurrection of Jesus, this was prophesied not only by Moses, but also all the prophets from Samuel on. I want to turn to the last prophecy I want to cover in this segment is a fifth prophecy about the resurrection that I get a clue from in looking at the writings of Peter. Peter's first letter, he describes Jesus as being like a great shepherd.
And he says in 1 Peter 2:5, he says, " You were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your soul. " So the imagery Peter is using here is that Christ is the chief shepherd. He is the shepherd and overseer of our souls. And perhaps you think about Jesus saying, " I am the good shepherd. " But this is also, when Jesus says, " I am the good shepherd, " he's pointing back to a prophecy in Ezekiel chapter 34. In Ezekiel chapter 34, let's take a look there.
This is the fifth prophecy that Peter is alluding to about that points to the resurrection of Jesus. Starting in verse 20, " Therefore says the Lord and Master. " So the backdrop of the story is that God is disgusted with the bad shepherds of Israel who are showing no concern for the sheep, but are just feeding themselves and they're trampling and abusing the sheep. And God says, " In the future, he's going to make things right that he will send his own shepherd.
" Verse 20, " Therefore thus says the Lord and master, ' Behold, I shall distinguish between the strong sheep and the weak sheep because you pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns and greatly distressed the weak. Therefore I will save my sheep and they will not be as plunder anymore. And I shall judge between one ram and another. I shall raise up one shepherd over them and he will tend them even my servant David.
He shall be their shepherd and I the Lord will be their God and David will be the ruler in their midst. I the Lord have spoken. Now Ezekiel of course is writing hundreds of years after King David had died. But he's using this language, obviously referring to the one who would come from David, the one who was the seed of David, as we've seen in other prophecies. So he says, God says, " I will search for my sheep and I will care for them. As a shepherd seeks his flock, I will bring them back.
" The ones that are misled. So God describes His people there as being like sheep. The sheep are God's people. Some of them have wandered away. They've been brought back. And this is the same kind of language that Peter uses in talking about the shepherds who are watching over the sheep as their bishops or overseers. So Peter saw Jesus as fulfilling the prophecy of the one shepherd, the good shepherd that was promised who would be watching over all of God's people.
So again, when he says when the Lord says, " I will raise up one shepherd. " This is the same word that we've seen elsewhere, anistemi. He literally is going to raise them up. And I believe Lactantius is alluding to the significance of this statement when he wrote, " He remembered the days of old who raised up from the earth a shepherd for the sheep.
" And so I think this is a clear allusion to God said he would raise him up and he remembered he raised up a shepherd for the sheep that he did this literally by raising him up from the grave in Ezekiel 34. That's from Lactantius is from Divine Institutes Book 4, chapter 12. And Ante-Nicene Fathers Volume 7, page 111. So this David had to refer to the Son of David who would be a ruler in their midst, a ruler over God's people, and his rule would be marked by a covenant of peace.
Obviously, all of these terms apply to Jesus Himself, the Son of David who was raised up and who is the good shepherd who cares for the sheep and brings back the lost and searches after them. So I also think about in connection with this prophecy from the closing words in the book of Hebrews, it says in Hebrews 13:20, it says, " May the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
" So this points back this is Hebrews 13:20 to me. It also points back to the wonderful prophecy in Ezekiel 34 that the God of peace speaks of the covenant of peace that he brought and who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead speaks of God who raised up one shepherd, the great shepherd of the sheep. And of course, I think Jesus is alluding the same thing in John chapter 10 when Jesus says, " I am the good shepherd. " Well, what good shepherd is he referring to?
This is the promised good shepherd that God said that he would send. He said, " I know my sheep, my sheep know me. " And he says, " In the future, there will be one flock and one shepherd. " And that's exactly what it says in Ezekiel 34:23, " I shall raise up one shepherd over them, and he will tend them, even my servant David. " So all these points that Jesus is making about himself in John 10 point back to the one good shepherd that God would raise up, that there will be one flock and one shepherd in the end.
So if you might notice a pattern here is that there is a cluster of four prophecies that we've looked at in this lesson and the last one, all of which share in common a statement that God would raise up some one person who was significant. And this commonality is pointed out by Cyprian in his treatise number 12 where he discusses all these four prophecies that speak of Jesus. It says that God would raise up, first of all, a king from David, from 2 Samuel chapter 7, 1 Chronicles 17.
He would raise up a prophet like Moses, Deuteronomy 18. He would raise up a faithful priest over the house of God, 1 Samuel 2, and he would raise up one shepherd to rule over God's flock, even his servant David, in Ezekiel 34. So this is from Treatises of Cyprian Ante-Nicene Fathers Volume 5, pages 511 to 512. He says, " All of these four prophecies, the king, the prophet, the priest, and the shepherd all converge and all are fulfilled by Jesus.
And the wonderful thing that all of them have in common is it says that God would raise up one. " So Jesus is the prophet, the priest, the king, and the shepherd that God raised up. In the next segment, we'll take a look at some other prophecies that talk about the resurrection.