Chapter Seven –
Stephen’s Defense and Death
ACTS 7:17-37:
In our
previous lesson, we introduced the first portion of Stephen’s defense. He
has gone back to Abraham and then to the patriarchs to follow, establishing
that everything in his defense before the council has been the work of God.
It was in this first portion of Stephen’s defense that he would encompass
the book of Genesis, from the promises of God to Abraham, to the fulfillment
of the portion that would lead to his descendants in Egypt.
In this
lesson, Stephen will now move forward to the work of Moses in the
fulfillment of God’s words to Abraham (Genesis
15), to bring his descendants out of Egypt; judging both Egypt
and the Canaanites in the process. In addition, in this portion, he will
also answer to the accusations of blasphemy against Moses and the Law.
Text #1:
Vs. 17-43:
Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy.
Acts 7:17-22
“But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham,
the people grew and multiplied in Egypt
18
till another king arose who did not know Joseph.
19
This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers,
making them expose their babies, so that they might not live.
20
At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was
brought up in his father’s house for three months.
21
But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up
as her own son.
22
And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in
words and deeds.”
Stephen has
now completed the linear thread he had sown in the first portion of his
defense. He began with the promise to Abraham concerning his descendants
multiplying, but becoming slaves in Egypt, then bringing them out (Genesis
15:12-21).
It would be
as God prepared to redeem His people through Abraham from their slavery that
Moses would be born. The circumstances of his birth and what Stephen has
rendered here can be read in the
first two chapters of
Exodus.
Although a new Pharaoh would come up in Egypt who now does not care that
Joseph saved his people before; but began a campaign of burdening the
Hebrews due to a greater fear of the Hebrews and their numbers, they would
continue to prosper. This would force the Egyptians to more drastic
measures; harsher. It would be during the edicts of Pharaoh concerning
putting the male children of the Hebrews to death that Moses would be born,
and spared. Due to special circumstances, he would be raised in the house of
Pharaoh and trained in the wisdom of Egypt (He like the Apostle Paul would
excel beyond his contemporaries;
vs.22;
Galatians 1:14).
Text #2:
Acts 7:23-29
“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his
brethren, the children of Israel.
24
And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who
was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian.
25
For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would
deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.
26
And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting,
and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do
you wrong one another?’
27
But he who
did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying,
‘Who made you a
ruler and a judge over us?
28
Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’
29
Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian,
where he had two sons.”
Highlighted
passages are direct quotes from:
Exodus 2:14.
Forty Years
Old:
In
verse
23, we have the first of three forty year periods to be mentioned
(2nd in
vs.30; and the 3rd in
vs. 36).
This first one describes the first period in the history of Moses’, and the
time of his coming of age in Egypt.
As Moses
has now come of age, there is the realization that he is not Egyptian but
Hebrew; however, going to his own people at this stage has not worked out
well. He is forced to flee to Midian (An area mostly east of the Jordan
River, paralleling the Dead Sea and extending south to the eastern portions
of the Sinai Peninsula).
Along with
this portion of Stephen’s defense, note the Hebrew writer’s words concerning
this first portion of the history of Moses:
Hebrews 11:23-27
“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents,
because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not
afraid of the king’s command.
24
By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of
Pharaoh’s daughter,
25
choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing
pleasures of sin,
26
esteeming
the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he
looked to the reward.
27
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured
as seeing Him who is invisible.”
The portion
in
verse 26; “esteeming the
reproach of Christ”, is a reference of to the rejection of Moses by his
own people in the same fashion as Christ Jesus (see:
John
1:11).
Text #3:
Acts 7:30-36
“And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to
him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.
31
When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to
observe, the voice of the Lord came to him,
32
saying, ‘I
am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look.
33
‘Then the LORD said to him,
“Take your sandals
off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.
34
I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I
have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come,
I will send you to Egypt.”’
35
“This Moses whom they rejected, saying,
‘Who made you a
ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and
a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush.
36
He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of
Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.”
Highlighted
passages are direct quotes from:
Exodus 3:5,
7,
8,
10;
2:14.
Forty Years
had Passed:
An
interesting thought should occur to you now that maybe you had not
considered before; Moses is eighty years old when God is going to send him
back to Egypt to bring the children of Israel out.
The God of
your Fathers:
As God
would present Himself to Moses to establish Who it is that is sending him to
redeem Israel; He states that He is the God of Moses’ fathers, the same ones
that Jesus would state demonstrates that He is the God of the living to the
Sadducees (Luke
20:37).
In the
Wilderness Forty Years:
At the
conclusion of this final text, we learn that an additional forty years of
history is included after the Israelites come out of Egypt by the power of
God; to include the wilderness wondering (which would see Moses to 120 years
old).
The Hebrew
writer also would commentate on this final portion in this text:
Hebrews 11:28-29
“By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who
destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
29
By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas
the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.”
Summary
The
importance of this history lesson by Stephen is first, to establish that God
has made these things come about. Secondly to bring to the forefront this
prophetic statement by Moses, note:
Text #4:
Acts 7:37
“This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel,
‘The LORD your God
will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren.
Him you shall hear.’”
See:
Deuteronomy 18:15-19.
In
establishing the history to this point as controlled by the mighty hand of
God; how could Stephen speak blasphemy against Moses and the Law, when it
was Moses who said that when the Prophet like him came from among them (one
of their own, a redeemer, a lawgiver, and a prophet); He should be heard
above Moses and the Law!!!
If this
established truth is understood; it is they then that are blasphemous in
rejecting this established Prophet of God, without even stating it!!!
Next: “You Didn’t Hear Moses and You Still Don’t
Hear!”