Acts 7:17-34

                                                                 ^{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 ¹⁸ until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. ¹⁹ He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. ²⁰ 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, ²¹ and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²² And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

²³ “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. ²⁴ And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵ He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. ²⁶ 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?’ ²⁷ But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, 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 At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

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. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ³² ‘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.³³ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 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.’

When the nation of Israel began to multiply and time began to pass, the leadership in Israel no longer remembered or appreciated the memory of Joseph and all he did to establish the nation of Egypt.  This reality of oppression and slavery in Egypt had been prophesied to Abraham, but now it was a reality.  God was still at work and brought Moses into the scene of what He was doing in this nation.  Stephen is striving to demonstrate to the elders that God has always been at work in their midst but that they have been a resistant people to His plan for them.

 

THE PRESERVATION OF MOSES: As the people of Israel grew, the nation of Egypt began to oppress them. The had great fear that Israel would grow stronger and larger, so they decided to try to reduce their numbers by killing all the male children.  Moses should have been a casualty of Egypt’s infanticide, but God preserved him.  He was beautiful in God’s sight as all children are and Moses was protected by God.  He was adopted into the household of Pharaoh and trained as a member of royalty in the palace.  God was preparing him for a future that was going to be a major part of God’s plan of redemption for this nation.  No matter how difficult things become, God is at work and is able to provide for His people and preserve them for His purposes.  

 

THE PRESUMPTION OF MOSES: Moses understands his heritage and seems to have a conviction that his purpose is to provide liberation to the children of Israel.  He takes matters into his own hands and kills an Egyptian that was oppressing one of his brothers.  He believes that this act will earn him respect and credibility from the man he delivered.  However, when he strives to resolve a conflict between two Israelite brothers, he realizes his actions had spread throughout the camp and he could be exposed as a murderer.  He ends up running for his life.  It is a dangerous thing to presume that we know what is best and how to resolve issues in our own strength.  Moses acted on his own intuition without direction from God.  When he felt exposed, he also acted of his own will and ran without direction from God.  This is too often how we life our lives, simply depending on our own understanding.

 

THE PRESTENTATION OF MOSES: After forty years, Moses hears from God and is called to go and do what he had tried to do on his own strength.  We know from Exodus that Moses did not consider himself to be capable of this task.  When Moses was confident in his own ability, he was not useable to God.  Now that he has no confidence in his own strength or position, God is anxious to use him.  This is often the case with us.  God’s willingness to use us is often proportionate to our own weakness.  When God calls Moses, it is unmistakable.  Not everyone receives such a supernatural call.  However, everyone should seek for the Lord’s wisdom in making decisions and must always move forward in total dependence upon Him.

 

APPLICATION: God is at work in the lives of His people and even in the midst of great tragedy and human suffering, He is able to bring about His provision.  Don’t take matters into our own hands without seeking the Lord for wisdom and depending upon Him.  God will accomplish all He has promised in the time He has determined.  We can trust Him to do all He desires and must be ready to respond when He calls.  He is on mission to reach the nations and calls us to be a part of that mission.  We must look for ways He is calling us to participate in that mission.