Acts 7: 17-34

(Acts 7: 17-34)

 

But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.  The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.  In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months:  And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.  And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.  And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.  And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:  For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?  Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?  Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.  When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the LORD came unto him,  Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.  Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.  I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.

Stephen, one of the seven deacons established by the early church, was full of the grace and power that God gave, and performed great wonders and signs to many people. However, Stephen's teachings made the hearts of many Jewish religious leaders uncomfortable at the time, and eventually they urged the people, elders and scribes to arrest Stephen and set it up before the council. The words in Chapter 7 are Stephen's sermons proclaimed to the Jews and Jewish religious leaders who were living under the name of the guardian of the faith, holding only the shell that had lost its essence.

 Following Joseph's story, the story of Moses that appeared in Stephen's sermons in verses 7:17-38 was very familiar and well-known to the Jews. But why is Stephen dare to retell the story of Moses, whom he already knows well?

The story of Moses explained by Stephen is intended to remind the Jews who are listening to Stephen's sermons once again of the appearance of Moses and the Israelites who rejected Moses' message, despite the fact that it was Moses that God established to save Israel. Have. It tells us that the time God promised Abraham is nearing. This is what God said in Genesis 22:17: "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 』

This story tells Abraham that the promise that he will make Abraham's descendants multiply and become a nation, like the stars in the sky, like the sand of the sea, will soon be fulfilled. It is said that the time is near. And to accomplish this, God chose Moses, the beautiful man in God's eyes.

After Joseph was sold to Egypt, his father Jacob and his brothers and their families were invited to Egypt and settled in Egypt. Over the course of 430 years, the number of Israelites increased rapidly. After a king who did not know Joseph was appointed, in order to suppress the number of Israelites, King Pharaoh of Egypt forced midwives to throw all boys into the Nile when they were born. God chose Moses and saved Israel in a special way to save Israel in the time of crisis and confusion that the Israelites faced, so that they could grow up and be educated in the royal family of Egypt, who had the greatest power of the time as the son of an Egyptian princess.

To the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt, Moses, who grew up in the Egyptian royal family, would have had nothing to blame for being the leader of Israel on external terms. However, the Israelites did not recognize Moses as their leader.

God prepared Moses to be the leader of Israel for 40 years with a plan to save the people through Moses, but the people did not try to recognize Moses as their leader. "Who made you judge?" Because of the rejection of the Israelites, Moses fled to the wilderness of Midian and spent another 40 years.

Stephen's sermon divides Moses' life into subdivisions. Stephen tells us that the second and third forty years were a very special time in Moses' life, after referring to the first 40 years Moses spent in Pharaoh's royal palace learning Egyptian scholarship. The 40 years that Moses spent on fleeing to the wilderness of Midian was a time for the Israelites to become more eager to get out of Egypt. Also, this time was a time of refinement for Moses to become more mature and worthy to use by God.

Moses became more sensitive to God. The people could not hear God's voice, but Moses reacted sensitively to God's voice. And Moses proceeded in obedience to the Word of God in a very humble manner. In this way, Moses, who was sensitive and humbly obedient to God, sent again to the Israelites to unfold the plan of salvation for the people. Israel had to commit an additional 40 years of slavery in Egypt because of the rejection of the leader established by God, and finally their voices of groaning and pain came to God, and God had compassion on the people and saved Moses again. It was sent to the people.

When Moses was 80 years old after 40 years of life in the wilderness of Midian, the Israelites who were groaning in Egypt finally faced an amazing liberation from Pharaoh through 10 plagues. When there was nothing, when Moses climbed Mount Sinai to meet God, they could be seen repeatedly against Moses' leadership and resentment against Moses and God several times afterwards.

Contrary to the image of Moses, who was sensitive to God, listening to God's voice, and taking off his shoes in front of God and humbled himself, the Israelites were truly suspicious and stupid people who refused even God's plan without fully aware of God's will. Was. They did not have spiritual eyes to see what God was preparing for them. Nevertheless, God brings the Israelites to the Promised Land and saves them.

The Israelites' ignorance and rejection of God's will reappeared after about 1500 years. Countless prophets prophesied in the Old Testament, and the Savior Jesus Christ, who will save mankind, whom God himself confirmed through the Holy Spirit, came to this earth to save mankind. Jesus, who is God, came to this earth in human form, lowly and humble, and through his teachings and many ministries, he personally showed and said that Jesus is God, but many Jews did not try to accept Jesus as Savior. Even though God had sent the only savior to save them in the face of extreme pain and despair of death, they did not recognize the savior, but rather rejected him.

Those who did not accept Jesus as Savior did not accept Jesus as Savior, still spreading many false rumors about Jesus not only before His crucifixion, but also after He overcame death and resurrected. Their rejection of Jesus led to not only rejection of the Gospel, but also rejection, oppression, and persecution against those who believe in Jesus Christ and preach Jesus Christ. And in the end, they captured Stephen, preaching that Jesus is the true Savior, and set it up in front of the council.