“Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you. (Acts 3:22).

Peter’s sermon shortly after Pentecost identifies Jesus as a prophet just like Moses, a statement which bordered on treason to the Jewish people. Moses was so highly revered that to put anyone in the same category would be tantamount to diminishing Moses. The Law of Moses was at the very core of Jewish life. Every child began memorizing it from an early age. The issue for most was not what the Law of Moses said, but how to apply it in the details of life. The knowledge of it permeated all of their lives.

The people of Israel should have expected another one like Moses, but like so many prophecies, they rejected the message God had spoken directly to their hypocrisy and self-righteousness. The one Moses prophesied about was One whom they should obey just as though His teachings came from Moses himself! In other words, Christ’s teachings had the same authority as the Law of Moses!

To us today, what’s the big deal? To us it would be more important that Jesus was identified as God. But to Jews, that meant Jesus was to be obeyed just like Moses himself! To further stress the matter, Peter goes on: “And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people” (Acts 3:23). This reminds us of what Jesus said:

“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” (Matt 7:26–27)

Such statements were unthinkable and unacceptable to the Jews, who for their whole lives gave complete, exclusive allegiance to the Law of Moses.

Some today have fallen into the misconception that since we are saved by grace apart from the law (Rom 3:21, 28), we do not therefore need to obey God. But that simply is not so. It is true that obedience does not save us; in fact, our inability to perfectly obey God was the cause of our need for grace. But God did not save us to “enjoy” a lawless life. Sin may not bring us eternal judgment, but it can certainly put our lives here in shambles with much heartache, like a house fallen in the midst of life’s difficulties. Christ is the new prophet that replaces Moses. And we need to obey His commands for an abundant life.

Lord, thank You for reminding me that You are the prophet of God speaking truth into my life. It is You whom I exclusively obey. Help me in my disobedience!