Today, we will see Stephen remind the council of another person who played a prominent role in the history of the Jewish people in Acts 7:17:
"But as the time of the promise was approaching which God had assured to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, until THERE AROSE ANOTHER KING OVER EGYPT WHO KNEW NOTHING ABOUT JOSEPH. "It was he who took shrewd advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers so that they would expose their infants and they would not survive. "It was at this time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father's home. "And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son. "Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds. "But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. "And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. "And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. "On the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, 'Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?' "But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, 'WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND JUDGE OVER US? 'YOU DO NOT MEAN TO KILL ME AS YOU KILLED THE EGYPTIAN YESTERDAY, DO YOU?' "At this remark, MOSES FLED AND BECAME AN ALIEN IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN, where he became the father of two sons.”?Here we see Stephen remind the council of another character from the story of the Jewish people that was very familiar to them. This story involved a man named Moses and is recorded for us in the second book of our Bibles, called the book of Exodus. In the first two chapters of the book of Exodus, we read the story of the birth and early life of Moses. When Stephen states that Moses was lovely in the sight of God, this phrase, in the language that this letter was originally written in, conveys that Moses appearance would have positioned him to be accepted by the Egyptians.
In other words, Moses was positioned by God so that he would be accepted by the Egyptians and be in a position to rescue and deliver the Jewish people in the future. Yet, when that future time came, when Moses visited his people with the intent of rescuing them, Stephen reminds the council that the Jewish people rejected him. Stephen then quotes Exodus 2:13-15 to reinforce the reality of Moses rejection. And as a result of their rejection, Moses fled from Egypt and spent forty years as an outsider living in exile in the land of Midian. Stephen then reminds the council that God was not done with Moses, which we see beginning in verse 30:
"After forty years had passed, AN ANGEL APPEARED TO HIM IN THE WILDERNESS OF MOUNT Sinai, IN THE FLAME OF A BURNING THORN BUSH. "When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord: 'I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC AND JACOB.' Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look. "BUT THE LORD SAID TO HIM, 'TAKE OFF THE SANDALS FROM YOUR FEET, FOR THE PLACE ON WHICH YOU ARE STANDING IS HOLY GROUND. 'I HAVE CERTAINLY SEEN THE OPPRESSION OF MY PEOPLE IN EGYPT AND HAVE HEARD THEIR GROANS, AND I HAVE COME DOWN TO RESCUE THEM; COME NOW, AND I WILL SEND YOU TO EGYPT.' "This Moses whom they disowned, saying, 'WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND A JUDGE?' is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush. "This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. "This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, 'GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN.' "This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you. "Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but repudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, SAYING TO AARON, 'MAKE FOR US GODS WHO WILL GO BEFORE US; FOR THIS MOSES WHO LED US OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT-- WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM.' "At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. "But God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, 'IT WAS NOT TO ME THAT YOU OFFERED VICTIMS AND SACRIFICES FORTY YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS, WAS IT, O HOUSE OF ISRAEL? 4'YOU ALSO TOOK ALONG THE TABERNACLE OF MOLOCH AND THE STAR OF THE GOD ROMPHA, THE IMAGES WHICH YOU MADE TO WORSHIP. I ALSO WILL REMOVE YOU BEYOND BABYLON.'In other words, Stephen explains “even though the Jewish people rejected Moses as their deliverer, God was not finished with Moses. God revealed Himself to Moses in a burning bush and sent him back to rescue and lead the Jewish people out of slavery. And the miracles that occurred through Moses showed that He was a rescuer sent by God and that his message and teaching was from God. Yet despite the fact that God’s presence was present with Moses; despite the fact that God gave Moses the Law that is the foundation for the Jewish religious system that you follow to this day; despite the fact that Moses was the first one that predicted and proclaimed that God would send the Messiah that you claim to look for, the Jewish people rejected him.
Instead of following Moses as their rescuer and leader, the Jewish people rejected him and turned their hearts back to idolatry and selfishness and rebellion. And God responded to their rejection of the deliverer that He had sent and to their rebellion and idolatry by rejecting them and allowing them to die off in the wilderness. God even sent the prophet Amos to remind future generations of the Jewish people of the rejection and idolatry of that generation. Yet this rejection of God and idolatry continued throughout their history and led to the Jewish people being conquered by the Babylonians”.
Stephen’s point was that he had not demeaned and disrespected God and God’s word. Instead, it was the Jewish people who had demeaned and disrespected God throughout their history. The Jewish people rejected Moses not once, but twice as their rescuer and deliverer. And not only did they reject Moses, they also rejected God and the word of God contained in the Law in order to pursue and worship something other than God as God.
Tomorrow, we will Stephen address the charge that he was advocating the rejection and destruction of the temple and the Jewish religious system...
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