Full of the Holy Spirit, Stephen continues to use his trial before the Sanhedrin as a God given opportunity to tell them that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah (Acts 7:17-44).
He has told the council how Almighty God sovereignly used goofballs like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve patriarchs and Joseph as players in His divine plan of salvation.
Don't miss two VERY important points. First, the Old Testament is about Jesus. All of it. Second, God is the Hero of the story. Not the human agents he uses.
Stephen then tells the very familiar story of Moses. He reminds the council how the clock counted down to "the time of the promise" (v17).
This is the promise God made to Abraham (Acts 7:5; Gen 17:8; 48:4), what we now call the Abrahamic Covenant.
As the second hand moves closer to God's fulfillment of His covenant, something amazing happens. "The people increased and multiplied in Egypt” (v17). God’s chosen people explode in number.
Again, this was all part of God's promise to Abe. The Israelites apparently grew from about 76 people (Acts 7:14) to upwards of a million in their 430 years in Egypt.
There was one big problem for God's people. There was a new king in town, one "who did not know Joseph" (v18). This new monarch saw these people as a threat and decided to do a little ethnic cleansing (v19).
This was the scene into which Moses was born. "And he was beautiful in God's sight” (v20). Did you know that our heavenly Dad sees each follower of Jesus the very same way?
Steve describes the amazing story of God's hand on this Prince of Egypt. Set afloat on the Nile to avoid infanticide. Rescued by Pharaoh's daughter and raised in royalty (v21). As a result, the Big Mo has life by the tail.
That will soon change. At age 40, Moses murders an Egyptian slave driver for abusing an Israelite (v24). He believed this was the first step in his liberation of his native people (v25).
But instead of hailing Moses as the leader of the rebellion, the Israelites saw him as a killer (v27-28). The would-be liberator turned fugitive and headed to Midian (v29).
Fast forward 40 years and we see Moses stumbling onto a burning bush (v30-31). It turned out to be God's angel (probably pre-incarnate Christ).
The voice from the flame states, "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob" (v32).
God Himself has heard the cries of His people in Egypt, "and I have come down to deliver them" (v34). And He's going to use Moses to do it!
Once again, God uses jacked up people in jaw-dropping ways. Moses is in a long line of losers the Lord loves.
This is what Paul meant when he wrote, "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God" (1Cor 1:27-30).
Remember, God is the Hero of the story. Not the Big Mo.
God uses this not-so-mighty Mo as "ruler and redeemer" to His people (v35). Stephen tells how Moses performed "wonders and signs" just like the apostles in the early church (v36).
Moses is what theologians call a "type" of Christ. He exhibits certain characteristics, qualities and behaviors that give us a hint of the One who is to come.
Moses himself says, "God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brothers" (v37; Dt 18:15). Scripture clearly tells us that Mo is talking about Jesus.
After God uses Moses to lead His people from bondage, the Israelites then stun their leader with one of the most ridiculous moments of mutiny in all of history (v38-41).
While Mo was on the mountain with God receiving the "living oracles" (God's Word is truly living and active according to Hebrews 4:12), they molded a golden cow and began to worship it.
Stephen describes God's reaction to their rebellion. It is frightening. "But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven" (v42).
This same God was with Joseph (Acts 7:9) rejects the people He graciously chose. And when He "gave them over” (v42), this is an example of what is called the Passive Wrath of God.
That means the Lord doesn't punish them directly. He allows them to suffer the consequences of their disobedience. This is His way of letting them have their way. It's God's use of boundaries.
Steve then quotes the prophet Amos. Through Amos, God warns His people that their rejection and idolatry will have dire consequences.
"I will send you into exile beyond Babylon” (v42-43; Am 5:25-27). In other words, He will actively punish them if they continue in their rebellion.
We have seen how our gracious God has used a series of messed up men in His plan of salvation.
Now the very people He has chosen and through whom He will raise up His Messiah have fully rejected Him. His chastisement of them is for their own good. And ultimately, it is for our good.
Stephen tells the council that just as they have rejected Jesus, the people rejected God. He is the Hero of the story.
©2011
Jay Jennings
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