Acts 7:37 is Stephen’s reminder to the Jewish council that Moses himself pointed forward to a future prophet God would raise up from among the Israelites. Moses told the people that God would send them someone like him, and Stephen argues that Jesus is that promised prophet. Stephen speaks this while on trial before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, shortly before he is stoned.
This is that Moses, who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.’
Acts 7:37 (WEB)
What Acts 7:37 Means
The phrase “This is that Moses” links the speech back to the figure the listeners revered most. Stephen is saying that the man they honor as their great lawgiver is the same man who promised, in Deuteronomy, that God would raise up another prophet. The point is that Moses was never the final word. He was a signpost.
The words “like me” carry the weight of the verse. Moses was a mediator who spoke for God, led his people out of slavery, and brought God’s words to them. The promised prophet would share that role, and Stephen will go on to show that Jesus fulfills it. The verse does not describe every detail of who this prophet would be, but it establishes the pattern: God keeps speaking to his people through appointed messengers, and those messengers point to something greater.
What the verse does not do is settle every question about prophecy or its timeline. It is a statement from Stephen’s speech, and its force comes from the argument around it rather than from a standalone prediction. Readers should take it as a meaningful claim about continuity between Moses and Jesus, not as a complete map of future events.
The Context of Acts 7:37
Acts was written by Luke, the same author who wrote the Gospel bearing his name, and it records the early years of the church after Jesus’s resurrection and ascension. Its audience appears to be a Gentile believer named Theophilus, and the book traces how the good news moved from Jerusalem outward. Stephen’s speech in chapter 7 is the longest sermon in Acts, and it comes at a turning point, as the first Christian martyr is about to die.
The verses just before and after explain why the verse hits so hard. Stephen has just recounted how Moses was rejected by his own people when he first tried to help them, and in verse 39 he says the fathers “wouldn’t be obedient” and “rejected him.” The pattern of rejection is the thread. Stephen is implying that the people who rejected Moses are now rejecting the prophet he foretold. Read this way, verse 37 is less a comfort than a warning, and it explains why the council reacts with such fury.
Key Phrases in Acts 7:37
Deuteronomy 18:15
The LORD your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him.
(WEB)
This is the original promise Stephen is quoting. Reading it in its own setting shows how Moses spoke these words to a people about to enter the land, and why they carried such weight across the centuries.
Luke 24:27
Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
(WEB)
On the road to Emmaus, Jesus shows his followers how Moses and the prophets pointed to him. This passage shows the same interpretive move Stephen makes, tracing the promise forward to Christ.
A Short Prayer From Acts 7:37
Lord, you have never left your people without a voice. You sent Moses to lead them out of slavery, and you promised a prophet who would be like him and greater still. Thank you for keeping your word across the generations. Help me to listen when you speak, even when your words come in ways I did not expect or would rather not hear. Give me a humble heart that recognizes the one you have sent and follows him faithfully. Amen.
