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A final exhortation:
v. 22. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord, your God, raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you.
v. 23. And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.
v. 24. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
v. 25. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
v. 26. Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning a way every one of you from his iniquities.
That Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah appointed to the Jews, and that the prophecies were fulfilled in Him, Peter brings out in the last part of his discourse. Moses had made a clear statement in one of his last prophecies to the Israelites in the wilderness, one that did not refer to a mere human prophet, but to One whose words would demand absolute obedience. Moses had spoken of this Prophet that was to come as being like unto himself. As Moses was the mediator between God and the people, both in conveying God's messages to them and in standing between the dead and the living, so Jesus is the true Mediator between God and sinful mankind; as Moses was the deliverer of his people when he led them out of the house of Egypt's bondage, so Jesus had delivered all men from the bondage of sin, death, and damnation. The Prophet, therefore, whom Moses had in mind can be no one else than Jesus Christ. This greatest Prophet of all the Jews must obey, as the prophecy of Moses demanded, Deu_18:15-19, in all His teaching to them. The penalty of disobedience, as Moses had said, was that it would be required of every such defiant person, usually by the sentence of death, Exo_12:15-19; Lev_17:4-9. Peter here gives a transcription and explanation of the words of Moses by saying that every soul that was guilty of willfully disobeying this great Prophet should be utterly destroyed from the people, should be punished with eternal condemnation. And Moses does not stand alone with his testimony, but his prophecy is seconded and corroborated by that of all the prophets of old, beginning with Samuel, as the founder of the schools of the prophets. As many as spoke prophecies made proclamation of these days, the days of Christ and the Messianic kingdom with all their promises of salvation. All the comfort of these prophecies and promises, as Peter finally assured his hearers, was intended for them, and should be a source of rejoicing to them. The Jews were proud of their descent and of their nation, and in a way they had reasons to be. For they were children of the prophets and of the covenant which God had set forth and established with their fathers. They were heirs, above all, of the promise which God made to Abraham, Gen_12:3; Gen_18:18; Gen_22:18, to Isaac, Gen_26:4, and to Jacob, Gen_28:14, in which He stated that all families, kindreds, generations, or peoples should be blessed in their Seed, in their great Descendant, Jesus of Nazareth. In Jesus Christ the blessing of full salvation, of complete redemption, has come to all people in the entire world, not only to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. But the Jews had been granted the first opportunity of enjoying the blessings of the risen Lord, just as Jesus had spent the time of His ministry exclusively in their midst. God, having raised up His Child, His Son, from the dead, and thus sealed the acceptance of the redemption made by Him, sent Him to bless, to bring the blessings of this redemption to, the Jews, through the work of the apostles. All the blessings and benefits of the Savior would be transmitted to them in and by conversion, in this, that He turns everyone from his iniquities. That is the will of God with regard to every sinner, that he turn from all his evil ways and transgressions and accept the blessings of Christ and His atonement.
Summary.Peter heals a lame man at the gate of the Temple, whereupon the astonishment of the people gives him occasion to speak to them of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and His atonement.