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ACTS - In the Triumphal Procession of Christ
Studies in the Acts of the Apostles
PART 1 - The Foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and Syria - Under the Patronage of the Apostle Peter, Guided by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1 - 12)
A - The Growth and Development of the Early Church in Jerusalem (Acts 1 - 7)
21. Stephen’s Defense (Acts 7:1-53)

a) A Description of the Days of the Patriarchs (Acts 7:1-19)


ACTS 7:17-19
17 But as the time of the promise came close which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18 until there arose a different king, who didn’t know Joseph. 19 The same took advantage of our race, and mistreated our fathers, and forced them to throw out their babies, so that they wouldn’t stay alive.


b) The Days of Moses (Acts 7:20-43)


ACTS 7:20-29
20 At that time Moses was born, and was exceedingly handsome. He was nourished three months in his father’s house. 21 When he was thrown out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and reared him as her own son. 22 Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was mighty in his words and works. 23 But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, striking the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers understood that God, by his hand, was giving them deliverance; but they didn’t understand. 26 The day following, he appeared to them as they fought, and urged them to be at peace again, saying, ‘Sirs, you are brothers. 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 killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 Moses fled at this saying, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

The false witnesses complained that Stephen rejected Moses and misinterpreted his teaching, which caused Stephen to describe Moses’ life in greater detail. He gave his opinion about the great mediator of the Old Testament frankly and extemporaneously.

First, he recited the life-story of Moses, beginning when he was a baby. His people had greatly grown in number, which caused the Egyptians to act to control their birthrate. They said: “If we leave them they will multiply and become stronger than we are. If we do not enslave them, they will devour us.”

Amid severe trouble God appears even nearer to those who believe in Him. Moses’ parents hid him when he was a baby among the shallow water reeds along the banks of the Nile. The name “Moses” means “drawn out”. The waves of trouble were growing drastically, but at the point of greatest intensity God intervened to save His designated prophet.

The Most High employed those of exalted rank to educate Moses. This young man entered into Pharaoh’s family, where he received the finest education available in Egypt. He also learned all the secrets of Egyptian magic, the rites of the dead, and divination, for in his youth he was not a believer, but a wicked man as all other men.

When he, thereafter, knew that he was not Egyptian, but Hebrew, and that his people were being enslaved and tormented, he immediately and spontaneously acted, rising up to kill one of the Egyptian taskmasters in charge of controlling and dominating his people. All his education was not helpful to him. He found himself thinking in terms of his ability to save his people through violence and bloodshed. This is the way of deception many follow. They want to change situations by means of trickery, force, and bombs. They all hurry after Moses and, like he, become murderers. They do not change anything in regard to the truth, for we do not need new solutions, but regenerated men. At the time of Jesus, the rulers of Israel killed the Son of Man, claiming that by killing Him they were saving their people. In truth, their hearts remained as they were, for nations cannot become reconciled to each other by means of war, bondage, and injustice, which only make matters worse.

Moses supposed that his countrymen would welcome him as a deliverer and make him a king. But when two of his kinsmen fought with each other and rejected his attempt at mediation, he realized that all words purporting a national brotherhood were lies. In the end every individual only loved himself. Moses felt the hatred of his brethren toward him, and experienced their unfaithfulness in their disclosing his murder to the enslaving authority. He fled immediately from Egypt into the wilderness; his nation had rejected him.

Christ also experienced such rejection. God´s design was to save his stubborn people through his Son. In so doing they would be delivered from the bondage of sin, death, and Satan, and find grace in the Day of Judgment. But his nation did not understand Him. They rejected Jesus, just as they had rejected Moses, showing them to be a people bent on rejection with hardened hearts. The question remains: What about our condition? Are we cleverer than the Jews? Do we receive Christ, or do we reject him? Do we not hear the voice of the Holy Spirit calling to us today?

Moses became a refugee among the Bedouins. He learned contentment, humility and shepherding in the deserts and badlands. Shepherding is a hard profession, which requires courage, patience, and experience. It is possible that Moses, during his desert years, also learned Arabic, for the language of Midian was a branch of the Semitic languages. He married a Midianite girl, and fathered two sons. This marriage was a mixed marriage between the Israelites and the Arabs, concluded by Moses, the great leader of Israel (Exodus 18:1-7).

PRAYER: O Lord, keep me from trusting my own power, so that I may not seek to save myself or influence others through my cleverness. Let Your Spirit renew my heart, and let the blood of Christ purify me from all my sins. Have mercy on us, O Lord, sanctify us, and guide us to the fullness of Your salvation.

QUESTION:

  1. How do we know that Moses was not reformed by a good education?

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