1. Abraham (verses 2-7)
2. Patriarchs (verses 8-16)
3. Moses’ birth (verses 17-22)
4. Moses’ exile (verses 23-29)
5. Moses’ calling (verses 30-34)
6. Moses’ rejection (verses 35-43)

I want to begin this morning with a little trivia. The category is “Moses.” Here are some questions to challenge you:

1) Who adopted Moses?
2) Why did Moses flee to the land of Midian?
3) Who was Moses' first wife?
4) God first spoke to Moses from a _________.
5) On what mountain did Moses encounter the burning bush?
6) What was the name of Moses' firstborn son?
7) Why did God send Moses back to Egypt?
8) How many plagues did God send on Egypt?
9) Why was God going to kill Moses on his way back to Egypt?
10) How old was Moses when he told Pharaoh to let the Israelites go?
11) Who was Moses' mother?
12) What was the second plague on Egypt?
13) Which plague finally convinced Pharaoh to release the Israelites?
14) What sea did God part in order to help the Israelites escape the Egyptians?
15) How did Moses provide the Israelites with water in the wilderness?
16) Why did Moses break the tablets of stone?
17) How many years did Moses lead the Israelites in the wilderness?
18) Why did God prevent Moses from entering the Promised Land?
19) How old was Moses when he died?
20) Why did Moses make a bronze snake?
21) What did Moses instruct the Israelites to do if one of their own towns was found to be worshipping other gods?
22) What tribe was Moses from?
23) Why did Aaron and Miriam begin to talk against Moses?
24) At Marah, what did Moses throw into the water to make it fit to drink?
25) Where did Moses die? ^[1]

__________

We start with trivia about Moses, not because Moses is trivial, but because he is the topic of my message this morning. He is the topic of my message this morning, because he was a topic of Stephen’s sermon when he preached his final sermon. The text of Stephen’s sermon is found in Acts, chapter 7. So, I invite you to turn there in your Bibles.

My message this morning is entitled, “Stephen’s Sermon (Part 2)” I say, “Part 2,” because we began looking at that sermon last week, when we looked at verses 1-16, in which Stephen worked through the history of the Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.

In so doing, Stephen was making one point: When God worked among the patriarchs, he did so away from the promised land, away from the city of Jerusalem and away from holy place of the temple. We can be confident that this was his point, because this is the accusation that came upon him.

Acts 6:13-14
and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”

Though these accusations came upon Stephen on the basis of false witnesses, there was something true about their testimony. Stephen knew that Jesus prophesied of the destruction of the temple. Stephen knew that the temple was no longer needed. Because Jesus was our supreme sacrifice that abolished all other sacrifices! Also, Stephen knew that Jesus had fulfilled the law of Moses. This fulfilment brought changes in the way that we apply the law of Moses today, after the cross of Christ.

These two themes: The temple and the law are the two main subjects of Stephen’s sermon. The temple and the law. Or, as someone else has said, “The Temple and the Torah.”^[2] I like that, especially if it helps you to remember Stephen's main point). Stephen is relentless in showing that God’s working among his people is not limited to the temple. Further, he demonstrates that God’s people have never kept the law.

Last week, we saw Stephen address Abraham and the Patriarchs. He traced out God’s working in their lives.

1. Abraham (verses 2-7)

God revealed himself to Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia (Acts 7:2). Particularly, when you read the Old Testament, it was when Abraham was in Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11:31). God told Abraham to “Go out.” He didn’t tell him where to go. He simply said, “Go.” And so, Abraham believed God and followed in obedience.

The first stop was Haran. There, Abraham remained for a time. And then, God worked in his life, removing him from there and bringing him into the promised land (Acts 7:4).

While in the promised land, Abraham inherited no land. Stephen said, “not even a foot’s length” (Acts 7:5). Further, his home base wasn’t in Jerusalem. Rather, it was in cities, like ... Shechem and Bethel and Ai.

Then, after only three generations, there were problems in the family. Abraham’s grandchildren were at strife with one another. These are who we call the ...

2. Patriarchs (verses 8-16)

Rather than loving each other through the strife, the sons of Jacob sold his brother, Joseph, to Egypt as a slave, where he was wrongfully treated. But God was working. He gave Joseph the wisdom to understand that there would be seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. This brought him favor with Pharaoh. It brought him up to be second in command in Egypt, which poised him to be the salvation of the people of Israel. The Patriarchs found food in Egypt. They found favor with Pharaoh to relocate.

But notice the point: God was working outside the promised land. Abraham was called when far away. He never inherited any of the promised land. The Patriarchs lived only in Palestine for a few generations. Then, God moved in the life of Joseph to cause them to relocate to Egypt, where they lived for four hundred years. During all this time, they weren’t in the promised land! But God was with them. All was well with them. They prospered in the land of Egypt. And that’s where we pick up our text. The people of Israel are increasing in number!

Stephen, preaching to the counsel, said this, ...

Acts 7:17-34
“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

Stephen continues with these words, that we will not quite have time to cover this morning, but are pertinent to see Stephen's main points:

Acts 7:35-43
“This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.
But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:
“‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,
during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
You took up the tent of Moloch
and the star of your god Rephan,
the images that you made to worship;
and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

These verses are all about Moses. They address how God dealt with him, and how the people of Israel dealt with Moses. God was active in the life of Moses. He saved his life as a baby. He appeared to him in the burning bush. He spoke with him on the mountain. He was established ruler and redeemer of Israel. He gave him the law to give to the people. But the people of Israel didn’t much appreciate Moses. The people of Israel failed to understand that Moses would be the means through which they would be redeemed from slavery. They rejected Moses. They refused to obey him. They turned to other gods as well.

So, in the life of Moses, we see Stephen bringing up these two themes central to his entire sermon: The temple and the Torah. In all of God’s working in the life of Moses, he was not in the land of Israel. He was in Egypt. He was in Midian. He was wandering in the desert! He never even stepped foot in the promised land.

For those Jews who so treasured the temple! How easily they forgot that their hero in the faith, Moses, never stepped foot anywhere near the temple! Furthermore, the people of Israel rejected Moses, the giver of the law. They also rejected the law itself, refusing to obey the living oracles that Moses passed on to Israel. So, let’s look at the life of Moses as Stephen presents it.

First of all, we see ...

3. Moses’ birth (verses 17-22)

Stephen begins with the historical context of when Moses was born.

Acts 7:17-34
“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive.

This is the story of the nation of Israel. They were in Egypt for several hundred years. But according to the timing of God’s prophecy in Genesis 15:13, he was going to bring the back into the land after 400 years. Sure enough, that’s what happened, but it wasn’t easy.

It took a tyrannical king, who sought to extinguish the nation through the systematic killing of their infants. It’s not so much different than Germany in the 1940’s, when Adolf Hitler led a movement to systematically eliminate the Jews from the face of the earth. So, it’s not so wrong, that when you thing of the Egyptian Pharoah, you think of Hitler. He was trying to kill the baby boys, but God has his hand on Moses. God had a plan for his life.

When Moses was born, the Lord took notice of him. God noticed that Moses was a beautiful baby. Now, as a pastor of a young church, I have made quite a few visits to new mothers in the hospital with their babies. And I have seen many new babies. It is always a great joy! I love to visit new mothers. Now, I’m not sure that I would often call the babies “beautiful.” In mom’s eyes, they are always beautiful. But I must admit, the creation process is amazing and awe-inspiring as you see 10 fingers and 10 toes. And in this, the children are beautiful But, there was something special about Moses. My guess is that most of you know the story.

Acts 7:20-21
At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.

Pharoah’s daughter was down by the river bathing. She saw a basket floating among the reeds. She went to see what it was. And it was Moses, as a baby, and he was crying.

Exodus 2:6-10
Pharoah’s daughter took pity on him and said, "“This is one of the Hebrews’ children”
Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”
And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child's mother.
And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him.
When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

None of this was an accident. It was God protecting his people in Egypt. Note that this was far away from the holy place.

This Moses would be the great deliverer of the people of Israel! Verse 22 speaks about his greatness!

Acts 7:22
And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

He was mighty in his words and deeds. But again, notice what Stephen emphasizes! It wasn’t that Moses was instructed in the law and in the ways of God, with the temple sacrifice rituals. No, he was taught by the pagan Egyptians! But God used him anyway.

For those of us in the home school and Christian school world, this is helpful to see. We can often think that the Christian education of our children is of utmost importance. But here, we see the training of Moses being entirely secular. Yet, God used him in a mighty way! The Lord can use any type of education our children experience.

OK. Let’s move on. We have seen Moses’ birth (verses 17-22). Let’s move on to see ...

4. Moses’ exile (verses 23-29)

This begins in verse 23,

Acts 7:23
“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.

So, picture Moses. He’s forty years old. And up to this point, he has pretty much lived a life in the palace. He has been educated in the ways of Egyptian royalty. Sure, he is aware of the Jews. He was aware of the economics of their presence in the land. Slave labor was helping to make Egypt rich. Further, Moses was aware of his adoption. He was aware that he is not a native Egyptian. Rather, he has Hebrew blood.

Until this point, the sense we get from the Bible is that he hasn’t really mingled much with the Jews. But, when was 40 years old, "it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel" (Acts 7:23).

Now, where do you think that that came from? Of course, it came from the Lord. It was God’s working in Moses’ life, even when he was far away from Israel. Moses was just like Abraham. God worked in Abraham’s life when he was in Ur of the Chaldeans.And now, we see God working in the life of Moses while he was in Egypt.

God’s working isn’t confined to the holy place in Jerusalem. God can work anywhere. I’m reminded of the story that William Farley tells in his great book, “Gospel-Powered Parenting.”He writes, ...

There I was, laying in bed, wide awake, my eyes searching the dark bedroom ceiling for any sign of hope.

"Are you awake?" I asked my wife, Judy.

"I can't sleep."

"Is something on your mind?" I didn't need to ask. I knew the answer. Our daughter was on a date with a friend we did not approve of. It was after midnight. In addition, since this relationship began she had been distant, obstinate, and uncooperative. Things were not well.

"I'm worried sick," my wife whispered. "I can't sleep."

I reflected on teh battles of recent weeks. My once-compliant daughter had become difficult. Most distressingly, she showed little interest in Christ or spiritual things. The influence of her new friend was not good. I reflected on the title of James Dobson's book, Parenting Isn't for Cowards. I was a coward. I needed courage. I needed hope. I had little.

"Where is she?" my wife asked. "What are they doing? She has been so different lately. I'm worried sick." Anxiety, stress, and fear dripped from her words.

I had not helped the situation. Exasperated by my daughter's sullen rebellion, I had even flirted with the idea of spanking her. My wife's commonsense appeal brought me back to reality. It was a dark time. We were discouraged at the end of our resources. Maybe you have felt the same way.

God used this dark period in our parenting experience to deeply humble us, and we are grateful. For twenty years our parenting had been easy. We had what most would consider a model family. Sadly, we had begun to take pride in our parenting. We had begun to look down on friends with troubled teens. God's Word is clear: "Pride goes before destruction" (Prov. 16:18); "God opposes the proud" (James 4:6, quoting Prov. 3:34). We were proud. The time for humbling had come. God opposed us through our daughter's problems and brought us to our knees. We spend much time in prayer and confession. Looking back, we realize that it was a wonderful turning point.

Thankfully, our daughter also reached a turning point through the process. In a filthy Calcutta hotel (yes, India), sick with the flue and desperately homesick, this beautiful young woman finally called out to Christ. A year later God brought her a wonderful, godly husband. At this writing, they have three attractive children, and actively serve our local church. She has become a glorious gift to the church, to her husband, to her children, and to our wider family.

I told this true story to let you know that Judy and I do not "have it all together." As do all parents, we have learned from God's gracious discipline that we are absolutely dependent on God's Spirit to complete the parenting process. We have one job--faithfulness. It is God's job to bring results!"^[3]

I share that story, not so much to give a lesson on parenting (which the book is about), but to share that God can work anywhere. With the Farley's God was working in far-away India.

Stephen was making the same point in verse 23. While far from Jerusalem, God worked in the heart of Moses "to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. " God wanted Moses to see and understand the plight of his people. We read in Exodus 2:11 that Moses "went out to his people and looked on their burdens.”

For the first time, he was going to see up close and personal the hardships that his people were facing. See, it’s one thing to know about it in theory. It’s another thing to witness it firsthand.

It’s a bit like worldwide poverty. We might hear about the poverty and oppression in other lands. We might know about it. We might see pictures about it. We might read reports about. But nothing will strike you so deeply in your heart about the plight of the poor in this world until you go and visit the poor and witness their hardships for yourself. That’s what Moses did. He saw their hardships firsthand. And it changed him.

Acts 7:24
And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian.

When Moses saw the oppression of his people for the first time, he burned with anger against the Egyptian who was wrongly treating his fellow Jew. He avenged him by killing the Egyptian. In Exodus 2:11-12, we read that Moses "saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand."

At this point, Moses became a murderer! But in his mind, it was all justified! Because, in his mind, he knew that he was the one who would deliver the Jews from all of their troubles. That’s the point of verse 25.

Acts 7:25
He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.

This became clear on the next day.

Acts 7:26-29
And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

At this point, Moses was found out! He thought that he had gotten away with the crime, looking this way and that way and seeing no one. But he was found out. To stay in Egypt would mean his certain death. So, he fled. He fled to Midian.

You say, where is Midian? Again, let’s go back to our map. It’s several hundred miles south of Jerusalem, on the eastern side of the gulf of Aqaba (Akaba).^[4] It is here that God will work in the life of Moses. Even when Moses was in Midian, the Lord gave him two sons, a clear sign of God's blessing. While Moses was in Midian, we see ...

5. Moses’ calling (verses 30-34)

Acts 7:30
“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.

If you do the math on the life of Moses, you can figure out that he was 80 years old when he was called by God. He spent his first forty years in Egypt, living in royalty. He spent the next forty years of his life in Midian. And now, at age 80, Moses encounters the burning bush.

One can only imagine how Moses spent his forty years in Midian. He did get married. He married a gal named Zipporah, who was the daughter of the priest of Midian (Exodus 2:16). He had two sons, Gershom (Exodus 2:22) and Eliezer (Exodus 18:3-4).

Marrying into a priestly family would have brought him into the religion of those in Midian. Those in Midian were certainly not worshiping the one true God. It is here where God calls Moses. This is not so unlike Abraham, who came from an idol-worshiping family (Joshua 24:2).

God would bring Moses back through a burning bush. What was strange about this bush is that it was on fire, but it was not consumed. This is not an everyday occurrence. Usually, when there is a fire, the fuel is consumed. But not so in this case.

That’s why it attracted the attention of Moses. But when Moses came to the bush, he encountered something even more amazing.

Acts 7:31-32
When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look.

Moses encountered God! And he trembled. This is always how it is when people encounter God. They tremble! Isaiah trembled in the presence of God. Ezekiel trembled in the presence of God. God told Moses who he was. He was the God of the Jews. He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Acts 7:33
Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

What is significant here is that Moses was in the wilderness of Mount Sinai! This wasn’t the Holy Place in Jerusalem, where the Jews of Stephen’s day would hold in such high esteem! See, Stephen’s point is that the temple isn’t the only place of worship. God is not limited to the parcel of land in Jerusalem.

Acts 7:34
I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

The story of God redeeming Israel from slavery is a long story. It involves signs and wonders! It involves sickness and famine and death. We don’t have time to tell the whole story now. But, I simply want to reflect upon verse 34, because it’s a great picture of our salvation in Christ. It involves affliction, and groaning and deliverance. Consider the verse again:

Acts 7:34
I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

The first element of the gospel starts with our affliction. God says that he sees those who are afflicted. The gospel starts with us being tormented and tried and troubled. When things go really well for you, there is no need for Jesus. But it is when you are afflicted and see your sin when it is the perfect time for you to see that you need Jesus. These Israelites here were afflicted with their slavery and unfair treatment. They all were born into this system where they needed to make all of these bricks under harsh conditions. They had taskmasters over them making sure that all of their work would get done, often with brutality. It was a bad situation. It was affliction. So also with the gospel. We need to see our own affliction. Too often we don't even see it in our lives.

The second element here to the gospel is God hearing our cry to the Lord. This comes when we really feel our affliction, as did the Israelites. They cried out to the Lord. They could claim the promises of God, "We are your people! We are the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! We are here!" In fact, this was a key factor in the story of the Exodus. When the Israelites cried out to the Lord, "God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob" (Exodus 2:24). So in the gospel, we need to see our own affliction and cry out to the Lord, "I need help!" The promise for us is that "Anyone who calls on the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13).

The third element of the gospel is deliverance. God has come down to deliver the people from Egypt. That is, he saves his people. This morning is Palm Sunday, the time we celebrate the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Jesus came into Jerusalem to save the people! They were saying, "Hosanna!" which means "Save us now!" This is what God promises to do in the gospel.

Sadly, shortly after the triumphal entry, the people turned on Jesus, just as they did against Moses. This is how verses 35-43 turn out. They speak of how they rejected Moses. Sure, there was some sort of deliverance, but it was not full and complete deliverance from their sins. Yet it was deliverance. God said, "Come, and I will send you to Egypt." In this instance, God was saving his people through a mediator. Moses is the mediator, saving the people out of slavery. This is like Jesus, who is our mediator to take us out of our sin.

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on March 28, 2021 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org.

[1] This quiz is taken directly from https://usefultrivia.com/bible_trivia/moses_trivia.html. During my message, I used only a few of these questions and a couple of my own. Here are the answers to the questions: 1) Pharaoh's daughter; 2) He killed an Egyptian; 3) Zipporah; 4) Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1-4); 5) Mount Horeb; 6) Gershom; 7) To free the Israelites; 8) 10; 9) Because he hadn't circumcised his sons (Exodus 4:24-26); 10) 80 years-old (Exodus 7:7); 11) Jochebed; 12) Frogs; 13) Death of the firstborn; 14) Red Sea; 15) He struck a rock (Numbers 20:11); 16) The Israelites built a golden calf (Exodus 32:19); 17) 40 years; 18) Because he struck a rock; 19) 120 years-old (Deuteronomy 34:7); 20) To cure snake bites (Numbers 21:8-9); 21) Burn it down (Deuteronomy 13:16); 22) Levi (Exodus 2:1-3); 23) Because of his wife (Numbers 12:1); 24) A piece of wood (Exodus 15:22-25); 25) Mount Nebo (Deuteronomy 32:48-50)

[2] The “Torah” is the Hebrew word for “Law.”

[3] William Farley, Gospel Powered Parenting, pp. 17-19.

[4] During my message, I showed a few maps on the overhead screen. Here is the source of my maps: https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/23-the-journeys-of-adam-enoch-noah-abraham/abrams-journey-to-canaan/.