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Acts of the Apostles were in 
Acts chapter 7. And going through Stephen's speech in Acts chapter 
7, it's lengthy. Essentially what we have in chapter 
6 is the arrest of Stephen in verses 8 to 15. Chapter 7, the 
bulk of, is the defense of Stephen, verses 1 to 53. And at the end 
of chapter 7, going into chapter 8, we have the martyrdom of Stephen. So Stephen was one of those initial 
men chosen from the church in Jerusalem to serve. He's also 
a man who can preach the gospel, who can speak the truth, and 
we see that he is a threat to the religious leadership in Israel 
at the time. So, he is standing before the 
High Court, essentially, in Israel. He's standing before what's called 
the Sanhedrin or the Council. It was made up of 71 persons. 
It was presided over by the high priest, and it was the high priest, 
according to verse 1 in chapter 7, that asked him, are these 
things true? And there are two charges presented 
against Stephen, and those charges are, in the first place, they 
said that he spoke blasphemous words against Moses, or Moses 
and the law. And then secondly, they said 
that he spoke blasphemous words against this holy place, the 
temple of God. So those are the two things on 
the table. Now, you might ask the question, 
why doesn't Stephen just stand up and in verse two say, that's 
not true, I am not anti-Moses and I'm not anti-temple, and 
then sit down. I think Stephen chooses this 
particular process to show that their own history and their own 
scriptures are on Stephen's side. In other words, it's one thing 
for him to say, I'm not anti-law and I'm not anti-temple, but 
it's another thing for their written records to show that. 
It's another thing for their history to show that, and that's 
the wisdom of Stephen. He weaves together a biblical 
theology of the nation of Israel. not to instruct them. The Sanhedrin 
certainly knew their own history. He's not giving them lessons 
here on history, but rather he is sustaining or showing or demonstrating 
that it's not him that's anti-law Moses, and it's not him that's 
anti-temple. But it's rather those in the 
history of Israel that rejected the prophets, those in the history 
of Israel that found the temple as the end and made that an object 
of worship. It's those persons represented 
by the council or the Sanhedrin now that Stephen wants to show 
are the true ones that are anti-Moses and anti-temple. It's not Stephen. So we've seen him appeal to Abraham, 
we've seen him appeal to Joseph and the patriarchs, and now he's 
going to spend the bulk of his defense on the man Moses. So I want to read verses 17 to 
29. Verse 17, but when the time of 
the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the 
people grew and multiplied in Egypt till another king arose 
who did not know Joseph. This man dealt treacherously 
with our people and oppressed our forefathers, making them 
expose their babies so that they might not live. 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. But when he was set out, 
Pharaoh's daughter took him away and brought him up as her own 
son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians 
and was mighty in words and deeds. Now, when he was 40 years old, 
it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of 
Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and 
avenged him who was oppressed and struck down the Egyptian. 
For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God 
would deliver them by his hand. But they did not understand. 
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? 
But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, Who 
made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill 
me as you did the Egyptian yesterday? Then at this saying, Moses fled 
and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in heaven, we thank you for the written word. We thank 
you for this defense of Stephen and the great theology that it 
holds forth to us. I pray that your spirit would 
help us to understand this passage, help us to appreciate how that 
history, how that Old Testament led inevitably to the Lord Jesus 
Christ. And God in heaven, we pray that 
that Lord Jesus Christ would be exalted here in the preached 
word by the power of the Holy Spirit so that sinners may act 
upon what they've just sung in terms of fleeing to Christ. And 
may this happen today for your glory and for your honor and 
for your praise. Again, forgive us now for our 
sin and transgression and fill each and every one of us with 
your Holy Spirit. And we pray through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord, amen. Well, essentially, as Stephen 
comes to Moses now, as I said, this is the lengthier portion 
of his defense, which makes sense, because he's accused of having 
spoken blasphemous words against Moses, against Moses' law, and 
so he spends the bulk of his time here. And essentially what 
you have is the Moses section divided into three sub-sections, 
40-year blocks. You can see that in verses 23 
to 29, then again in verses 30 to 35, and then finally in 36 
to 43. And then there are three times 
that Stephen highlights that Moses was rejected by Israel 
at the time that Moses lived and ministered. He highlights 
that in our text here in verse 27. He'll mention it again in 
verses 35 and 39. Now, Stephen sticks very closely to Exodus 
chapters 1 and 2 in the narrative here. So, we're going to kind 
of go back and forth to see what's happening, and then ultimately, 
at the end, draw out how Stephen is using this history of Moses 
in terms of his own defense before the Sanhedrin. So, I want to 
look first of all at the birth of Moses in verses 17 to 22, 
and then secondly, the visitation by Moses in verses 23 to 29, 
that time when he's 40 and he comes now to visit his brethren. 
But in the first place, note what Stephen says in verse 17. 
But when the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn 
to Abraham, go back in Stephen's speech to chapter 7, verses 5 
to 7. Notice in chapter 7 at verse 5, and God gave him, this 
is Abraham, no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his 
foot on. But even when Abraham had no 
child, he promised to give it to him for possession and to 
his descendants after him. But God spoke in this way, that 
his descendants would dwell in a foreign land and that they 
would bring them into bondage and oppress them 400 years. And 
the nation whom they will be in bondage I will judge, said 
God, and after that they shall come out and serve me in this 
place. So we have these promises made 
to Abraham. God tells Abraham in Genesis 
12, Genesis 13, Genesis 15, Genesis 17, Genesis 20, Genesis 22, God 
says, I'm going to give you a land. And I'm going to give you a seed. 
I'm going to give you a great multitude of descendants. In 
you, all the nations of the earth are going to be blessed. And 
then specifically in Genesis 15, God tells Abraham that there's 
going to be this period of bondage. There's going to be this time 
when they are subject to a foreign power, when they're living outside 
of the land that Yahweh gave them, and they will be sufferers. They will be oppressed. And so 
that's most likely what Stephen refers to here in verse 17. God does not forget his promise. When the time of the promise 
drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham. Now I think that's 
very important for us because I think we like God to be on 
our time frame. We like God to jump when we say, 
say how high, when we say jump. We don't want to wait 400 or 
430 years. We don't want to wait four minutes. 
We want God to deliver what God says He's going to deliver, and 
we want it right now. Well, we need to be patient. 
We need to back it down. God's not on our time frame, 
we're on His time frame. And the reality is, He never 
forgets His promises, He never reneges on His covenant, and 
He is always faithful. We need to wait, and we need 
to wait patiently. In fact, when we get to the time 
that Moses comes to visit his brethren, he's 40 years old at 
that time. One might wonder if he's the 
deliverer, if he's the champion, why doesn't he come at 20? Why 
doesn't he come at 25? Why doesn't he come at 30? Why 
does he wait until 40 years of this oppression and this bondage? 
Well, we don't know the answer to that other than God's timetable. 
And this is something that Stephen sets forth in verse 17. Now I 
want you to put your pencil there and go back to Exodus for just 
a moment. So I want to sort of shine a 
light on this statement of Stephen's in verse 17, the fact that God 
remembered His promise. As I said, Stephen's speech here 
centers on Exodus 1 and 2, and he sticks very closely to the 
narrative in Exodus 1 and 2. And in fact, as he cites the 
particular things that he will, you'll see its connection to 
Exodus 1 and 2. But I want us to see at the end of Exodus 2, 
God's disposition to His suffering people. Verse 23 says, Now it 
happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. 
Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they 
cried out, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, 
and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and 
with Jacob, and God looked upon the children of Israel and God 
acknowledged them. Brethren, behold your God. It 
may not come in four minutes. It may take 400 years, but behold 
your God. He hears the cries of his people. 
He sees the bondage of his people and he comes to deliver his people. And in this instance, what is 
truly unique is that the Israelites were not groaning because they 
were far from God. They weren't groaning because 
they wanted God's involvement. They were groaning because of 
the bondage. They were groaning because of 
the hurt. They were groaning because of the pain. And notice 
Yahweh doesn't upbraid them and say, well, you need to cry because 
you put yourself in this mess. No, He sees their pain and He 
comes to their aid. That's our God. It may take 400 
years, but that's our God. Again, we're not to demand that 
He live according to our timeframe, but rather we, by grace, are 
to live according to His timeframe. Now, going back to Acts chapter 
7, we see this treachery of Pharaoh in verses 17b to 19. It's very 
important that you get this. It's very important that you 
see the connection. At this time, Moses is born. at this time of infanticide on 
a corporate level, at this time when the rage of the Pharaoh 
is palpable, at this time when it seems that there's no hope 
whatsoever. Doesn't God often do that when 
everything is contrary to, when everything looks that it's absolutely 
impossible? It's that time when God sends 
his man And that's precisely the emphasis here in 17b to 19. Now notice in 17b it says, the 
people grew and multiplied in Egypt. That's Exodus 1.7. Now, 
just take you back there. You don't have to actually flip. 
If you can manage to not flip back and forth, that's great. 
But if you want to see it, you're going to have to flip back and 
forth. But Exodus 1-7 tells us the children of Israel multiplied 
greatly, tremendously. It was an amazing thing. What 
should that do to you when you get to Exodus chapter 1? It should 
cause you to reflect that God is faithful. Because as I said 
in Genesis 12, 13, 15, 17, and 22, God said that Abraham's seed 
would be a multitude. So we get to Exodus 1, 7, and 
we see that Abraham's seed is a multitude. And then we have 
this expectation that whatever problems Israel is facing in 
terms of their claiming their land, it will nevertheless be 
done because God is faithful. If He gives them the seed in 
that sort of a setting, He will give them the land in that same 
sort of a setting. And that's the emphasis that 
Stephen is highlighting, the consistency and the faithfulness 
of God. But this new pharaoh, this new 
king, did not know Joseph. Remember, Joseph was renowned. Joseph had endeared himself to 
the previous pharaoh. Joseph was an interpreter of 
dreams. Joseph was the second in charge throughout Egypt. Joseph 
was the means by which Israel didn't die. Joseph was the means 
by which Egypt didn't die. But the pharaoh dies and there's 
this new pharaoh and he doesn't know Joseph, so now he no longer 
holds Joseph's people in any sort of regard whatsoever. And 
he sees them rather as a slave force, and this is what is mentioned. Notice it says, this man dealt 
treacherously with our people. In Exodus 1, 9 and 10, pharaoh's 
fear was this. He looked out at this multiplication 
of Israelites and he said, if they ever get the bee in their 
bonnet to rise up and revolt, we're going to have big problems. 
Now, that's a paraphrase, but that's essentially what's going 
on in his head. He sees these Israelites multiplying 
like bunnies, and he says, if they ever rise up in revolt, 
they're going to overtake us. We've got to subdue them. We've 
got to crush them. We've got to deal subtly with 
them. In fact, Exodus 1, 9 and 10, 
he feared that they would be more and mightier than the Egyptians, 
so he said, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, 
and it happened in the event of war that they also join our 
enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land. 
Now, Stephen rightly interprets deal shrewdly as dealt treacherously. Now, how did Pharaoh do this? 
He did it by three means. First, he oppressed the workforce. 
He oppressed the workforce. He made them a slave force. He took away the supplies necessary. He made their task difficult. Again, you break the back of 
slaves so at the end of the day, they don't have meetings on how 
they're going to revolt or reject the government. He kept them 
too busy and too tired. The second means by which to 
oppress them was infanticide. It's good to know that if this 
Pharaoh lived today in America, there'd be one party with open 
arms for him, because they are the party of infanticide, and 
that's what this Pharaoh was all about as well. And that's 
precisely what he did. He orders the midwives to terminate 
the male Israelite babies. These Hebrew midwives were told 
to snuff them out, to kill them, to get rid of them. We can't 
have them more and mightier. We can't have an uprising. We 
can't have them revolt or reject us. Now the midwives thankfully 
feared God. The midwives thankfully allowed 
babies to live because they feared God. Interesting note, the Geneva 
Bible, which preceded the King James Bible, had a note on Exodus 
119 saying that what the Hebrew midwives did was good, it was 
commendable. King James, of the King James 
Bible, called that seditious. It was sedition to rise up against 
the crown, even if the crown demanded infanticide. I'll go with the notes in the 
Geneva Bible, thank you very much, over against King James 
and his desire to see subjects loyal to whatever it is the king 
might say or suggest. But when the midwives revolted, 
when the midwives rejected, then Pharaoh gives the order at large 
to put the babies in the river, to kill them, to exterminate 
them, to liquidate them. Again, we've got to manage the 
population. We don't want young strong males. We don't want young virile men. 
We don't want them rising up and taking over. We want a good 
slave force that we can subdue, that we can oppress, that we 
can manipulate, and that we can utilize to build whatever it 
is that we want. That's what Stephen says was 
the prevailing conditions at the time Moses comes. Don't miss 
the connection. Don't miss the point. Notice 
in verse 20, at this time Moses was born. At this time Moses 
was born. John Calvin says, it is not without 
cause that Stephen knows the circumstance of time. Moses was 
born at the very same time when the king had commanded that all 
the men children should be cast out. Therefore, it seems that 
the minister of deliverance is dead before he is born. But that 
time is most fit for God to work in, when there is no hope or 
counsel to be looked for at man's hands. That should throw your 
hearts, brethren. This is one of those instances 
where if we were in amen-saying church, we'd amen the words of 
John Calvin there. At this time, when everything 
is contrary, when everything is bleak, when everything looks 
hopeless, that's when God works. See, again, he's not on our time 
frame. He doesn't march with reference 
to our orders, but rather we're supposed to subject ourselves 
to Him. We are to submit to Him. We're 
to trust in His wise government. We're to trust in His providence, 
which as we move through the narrative, as you read through 
Exodus 1 and 2, how anybody could come out of that and not be reformed 
in their theology is absolutely mind-blowing. The way that God 
uses the means to preserve Moses is baffling. It shows his power 
and sovereignty and majesty, all the while preserving this 
man sent to Israel as the deliverer. Now notice, the birth of Moses 
was pleasing to God. Verse 20, at this time Moses 
was born and was well pleasing to God. Now, as you might imagine, 
excuse me, As you might imagine, there's 
a lot of other stuff that has been written about Moses in the 
Jewish tradition. Moses is a hero in the Christian 
and Jewish traditions. I mean, if you said top five 
men in the Bible, Moses is most likely going to be in that list 
every single time by anybody who ever is asked that question. 
There's a lot of things written about Moses in the sense that 
he was so gorgeous, he was so beautiful, that as a little baby, 
persons would see, get a glimpse of him and stop and just stare. 
You know, that may be, but we don't know that. When he tells 
us that he was skilled in the wisdom of the Egyptians, that 
he was mighty in both deeds and words, they say that Egyptian 
civilization owes its being to Moses, that the rest of civilization 
owns its being to Moses. And various men commenting on 
the geometry and the trigonometry and the various things that Moses 
mastered. Well, the text doesn't tell us that. You kind of see, 
though, how with a great man these stories would rise. The 
point of the passage is not that he was so endearingly beautiful, 
that he was so handsome, that he was that baby that every mother 
loved. Rather, he was pleasing to God in the sense that God 
raised him up. God made him a judge and a deliverer. When that Hebrew later on rebels 
and rejects him and says, who made you judge over us? God made 
him judge over you, and you need to pay attention to him. So this 
man was well-pleasing to God for the time that he was going 
to engage, and this is precisely what we find here. Notice the 
protection of Moses in verses 21 and 22. Again, whole-scale, 
whole-soul infanticide in the land of Egypt. Yeah, baby Moses 
makes it. Baby Moses arises. Baby Moses 
not only makes it, but he's raised in Pharaoh's house. You see the 
glory and the sovereignty and the supremacy and the majesty 
of God? How could anybody doubt that 
when you come face to face with it in the pages of Holy Scripture? Right under Pharaoh's eyes, God 
is raising up the man that is going to vindicate his people 
and liberate those people that Pharaoh has worked very hard 
to subdue and to subject. Notice in terms of the preservation 
or protection of Moses the protection of Moses by his faithful parents 
in the first three months Notice verse 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 It's a parallel in Hebrews 
11 It says by faith Moses when he was born was hidden three 
months by his parents Because they saw that he was a beautiful 
child and they were not afraid of the king's command Praise 
God for those midwives. Praise God for Amram and his 
wife. Praise God for the parents of 
Moses, that they weren't afraid of the king's commands. But now 
three months has passed. They set him out in this little 
ark. What happens? His sister Miriam is watching, 
and Pharaoh's daughter goes out, and her heart is drawn to this 
baby. Look at the difference in this 
family. The father's policy is infanticide. The daughter's policy is adoption. The father wants to liquidate 
and terminate, and the daughter sees with compassion this little 
one. Her heart is drawn out in love 
for him. And then Miriam makes the suggestion, 
shall I fetch a wet nurse from the Hebrews? And that rings good 
for this pharaoh's daughter. So what does God do? God orchestrates 
it in such a way that Moses' mother feeds Moses and gets paid 
to do it. Do you doubt your God? Do you 
doubt that He's going to come to your aid? Do you doubt that 
He's going to vindicate you and rescue you? Do you actually doubt 
that His Word is not true? Do you actually think that there's 
a time in your life that he's going to leave you or forsake 
you? Perish the thought. Again, it may not be in our time 
frame, it may not be according to our watch, but vindicate his 
people, he most certainly will. I mean, look at how he orchestrated 
this, all of the moving parts. So Jacobat, his mother takes 
him and nurses him and then brings him back to Pharaoh's daughter 
and he's raised up according to Egyptian wisdom. Look at the 
providence of God there. He's a fit leader. Now, I know 
that we're gonna meet Moses and in chapter four, he's gonna say, 
I'm not given to eloquence, but it says here, he's mighty in 
deed and word. That causes people problems. 
Could it be the case that somebody's mighty in deed and word, and 
at certain junctures of their life, they feel like they can't 
do anything right? Is that a potential? Is that 
a possibility? Or do we demand that there's 
contradiction in the text? Moses was a young man. Moses 
got better speaking, obviously, because if you know the book 
of Deuteronomy, it simply addresses by Moses on the plains of Moab 
to a great multitude of people. So at some point, he found his 
voice. At some point, he was able to lift it up and speak 
to great multitudes. But this Moses is the man God 
raised up for this particular time. And when God sends him, 
he orchestrates all things for the particular end in view. And 
I would suggest to us that we need to see that, we need to 
understand that, that this God is our God. This God is with 
us. This God has promised us in Hebrews 
13, I will never leave you nor forsake you. And I think we take 
that text in Hebrews 13 out of context. It's primarily their 
temple. We know God will never leave 
us or forsake us in the spiritual realm. There is no separating 
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
He who begins a good work in you will complete it unto the 
day of Christ. In Hebrews 13, the context is 
temporal provision. I'll never leave you, nor will 
I forsake you. It may not be steak and lobster 
every night. It may be gruel from time to 
time. It may be, you know, you may be living on the $15 bag 
of oats that's a pretty reasonable price there at Save-On for longer 
than you might think. It's always struck me odd. People 
buy a little thing of oats for $5 when they can buy that massive 
thing that you have to, you know, hoist out of there for $16. And 
those oats last forever. So that's the thing. It may not 
be steak and lobster. It may not be immediate. It may 
not be in our way. But God is always faithful. Can 
any of you who've walked with Christ for any amount of time 
ever say, well, you know, He led me down here. He wasn't there 
here. He didn't do this. No. The consistent 
testimony of God's people is great is thy faithfulness. The 
consistent testimony of God's people is He's always there. 
He's never left us. He's never forsaken us. Now notice, 
secondly, the visitation by Moses. Again, following Exodus 2, 11 
to 25, very closely. Notice age at verse 23. Now when 
he was 40 years old, Excuse me, when he was 40 years 
old, the reference in Exodus 2.11 says when Moses was grown. I think this is a helpful way 
for us to remember Moses and to remember the blocks in Moses' 
life. He was, according to Deuteronomy 
12, 34, 120 years when he died. So there are these three 40-year 
blocks of his life. He spent 40 years in Egypt, he 
spent 40 years in Midian, and then he spent 40 years leading 
the children of Israel. Those are the three 48-year blocks 
in Moses' life, and this is what Stephen refers to now with reference 
to his arrival to his brethren. Again, question may arise, why 
did it take him so long to get involved in the affairs of his 
people? If it hadn't entered into your 
head, I'm sorry for introducing it, but that is an issue. Why 
40 years? He wasn't ready at 30. He wasn't 
ready at 35. He wasn't ready at 39. He operates 
according to God. God is sovereign over all the 
moving parts. God is sovereign in orchestrating 
every detail. It's God's timing. You know what's 
really intriguing in this particular narrative? It's when they reject 
Moses. Moses leaves to go to the land 
of Midian for 40 years. By their rejecting Moses, they 
bought 40 more years in the hardship and the oppression that Egypt 
had to offer. You see that in the text. Now 
guess where I'm going to go with that. Don't reject Jesus. The Lord Christ is preached in 
this church as the only one who can save you from your sins, 
the only one who can deliver you from the bondage of your 
sins. Why would you reject him? Why 
would you send him away? Why will you leave today at 1215 
or 1220 or 1230? It won't be any longer than that, 
I can guarantee you. But why will you leave having 
sealed your own bondage for more time? Why reject Moses? Why get rid of the deliverer? Why say no to him? Why do that 
with Christ? Why say no to Jesus and the offer 
of salvation that he brings? Why when you hear Jesus say, 
come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest, you say, no, I want to continue with this yoke of 
bondage on my neck. I want to continue being driven 
by that taskmaster Satan. I want to continue to be governed 
by my lusts. I want to continue to be governed 
by lawlessness and recklessness and wickedness. Don't do with 
Jesus what these men did with Moses, rejecting their deliverer. Again, you see Stephen's point. 
Just the way that Moses was rejected then, the Council is now rejecting 
Jesus. It's not Stephen that's anti-Moses, 
it's the Council, it's the Sanhedrin. In their rejection of Jesus, 
they're rejecting the one that Moses wrote about ad nauseam. He wrote all about the Lord Christ. That's Stephen's point in terms 
of his defense. But notice, He goes to visit 
his brethren. Actually, one text I should shine 
the light on, Hebrews 11. Hebrews chapter 11 gives us information 
concerning this decision of Moses. Excuse me. And in verse 40, it 
calls, Hebrews 11, verse 24 says, by faith, Moses, when he became 
of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 
She showed him great compassion, didn't she? She kept him from 
the death squad. She kept him from the Nile in 
its most horrific way. She spared him. You see, this 
was a religious commitment on the part of Moses. Couldn't side 
with Pharaoh's daughter, couldn't side with Pharaoh's daughter's 
gods. He sides with Yahweh and his people. So by faith Moses, 
when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's 
daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people 
of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the 
reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in 
Egypt, for he looked to the reward. So going back to Acts chapter 
7, let's see these visits by Moses to his people at this particular 
time. And the visit here isn't simply, 
I just want to go see them. You know, I want to leave the 
palace for a bit, stretch my legs in the back 40, and just 
get a view of those people that I identify with. No, no. The 
visits here are to help. The visits here are to proffer 
assistance. The visits here are to vindicate, 
to aid them. to come alongside of them. And 
that is precisely what both these visits do with Moses. Now notice what we find in verse 
26. I'm sorry, verse 24. And seeing 
one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who 
was oppressed and struck down the Egyptian. Now again, this 
is Exodus 2, 11 and 12. And in this particular exchange, 
Moses defends an Israelite from an Egyptian. And in the defense 
at this particular moment, he delivers a lethal blow and kills 
the Egyptian. Now, mind you, commentators and 
Bible students are perplexed about this. Was it justifiable 
homicide? Was it something legit? Are we 
given the prerogatives to do that? And thus, no, we're not. But, with reference to Moses, 
I think verse 25 is absolutely crucial for our understanding. 
And I think it's absolutely crucial for understanding what Stephen's 
doing in his speech. Notice in verse 25, for he, Moses, 
supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would 
deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. Now, 
This indicates that God had revealed to Moses something of Moses' 
task. And we typically think of the 
burning bush, and that's going to come later in the book of 
Exodus, where God visits Moses out there in Midian via the burning 
bush. But even prior to that time, 
Stephen tells us that Moses knew that he was an instrument in 
the hand of God to be a means of deliverance for the children 
of Israel, and Moses assumed that they knew that too. Moses 
assumed that they would have understood his particular purpose. Now again, this is theology. This is Stephen, under the inspiration 
of the Holy Spirit, telling us something that the text of Exodus 
does not make clear. We know God communicates to Moses 
at the burning bush. But prior to that, we don't have 
this sort of interchange where God reveals himself to Moses, 
dispatches him to his brethren, and says, I want you to fix them. 
I want you to help them. I want you to deliver them. But 
Stephen tells us that Moses knew this. Stephen tells us that Moses 
thought that everybody else knew this, and operating on that assumption, 
I would suggest that it was most likely a justifiable homicide. He's employed by God for a particular 
task, and in the execution of that particular task, he deals 
a lethal blow to this Egyptian. Now back to the text of the second 
visit. Notice what Stephen goes on to say. Verse 25, he supposed 
that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver 
them by his hand, but they did not understand. They did not 
understand. This is it. This is what Stephen's doing. 
He's saying, just like you guys don't understand. They didn't 
understand Moses, you don't understand the one that Moses pointed to. 
They didn't understand Moses, you don't understand Jesus. He 
is linking these two characters. He is showing the Sanhedrin that 
it's not him that is anti-Moses, it's them that's anti-Moses. 
You reject Jesus, you reject Moses. This is what Jesus says 
in John 5. You claim to like Moses. John 8, they claim to be of Abraham. John 5, they claim to be committed 
to Moses. He says, but Moses wrote about 
me. And you wanting to kill me, you wanting to destroy me, is 
completely contrary to what Moses wrote of. Moses wrote about me. That's what Stephen is doing 
in this particular instance. In fact, Marshall says, what 
is emerging at this point is a comparison between Moses as 
an offerer of salvation and Jesus as a savior, and between the 
incomprehension of the people toward Moses and toward Jesus. Matthew Poole makes it very, 
very pithy when he says, stupidity is frequently charged upon this 
people. They then did not receive Moses 
as these now would not receive Christ. See, verse 25, Moses 
assumed that they would see that he was a deliverer. They didn't. 
And that's what brings on this response in verses 26 to 28. 
Notice, in the next day, he appeared to two of them as they were fighting. So it's not Egyptian against 
Israelite. It's two Israelites fighting amongst each other. 
Two Israelites in some sort of a tussle. Moses is there to help. And notice, he doesn't defend 
or go on the offensive in terms of either or, but he seeks reconciliation 
amongst his brethren. Again, Bach makes the observation, 
that's precisely what Stephen's doing. Stephen's trying to bring 
reconciliation to the nation by pointing them unto Jesus Christ. 
This is Moses' point, he comes to these two Israelites, they're 
fighting together and he says, no, don't argue, don't fight, 
don't be at odds with one another. Now notice the text in verse 
26, the next day 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? Now, note, but he who did his 
neighbor wrong pushed him away. He who did his neighbor wrong 
pushed him away. Now, you've probably heard me 
say this before. If you were my wife, you've probably 
seen me do this before. You get rebuked, and what's the 
tendency? Well, what about you? Has that 
ever happened to you? Somebody says, you know, brother, 
I didn't talk to you about this. You've got this issue and this. 
Well, what about you? All right, we can deal with me 
later. But right now, let's deal with 
you. It's an attempt to hide. It's an attempt to defend. It's 
an attempt to obfuscate. It's an attempt to wriggle out 
of something uncomfortable. And of course, it's the guy whose 
fault it is says, well, what about you? I'm not going to own 
this. I'm not going to receive this. 
I'm not going to reconcile with my fellow Israelite. I'm going 
to keep on in this particular vein, and I'm going to expose 
your problem, Moses. Who do you think you are? That's 
the emphasis in the text. Verse 27, He who did his name 
wrong pushed him away, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge 
over us? We know the answer. It's God. This is precisely what the Sanhedrin 
does with Jesus. Who made you this? Who said this 
of you? We saw it in John chapter eight. You see it in John chapter five. 
You see it at the trial of our Lord Jesus. We abjure you, we 
put you under oath. Are you the son of God? And Jesus 
says, yes, and they flip out and they tear their clothes. 
This was always the issue with them. It was always the issue 
with the unbelieving in Israel. To whichever leader God sent, 
in this instance, it was Moses, the man Moses. I mean, the guy 
that has all this history written about him, the hero of Israel. And this rebel Israelite is functioning 
like the rebel Israelite council in the first century. And this 
is what he says, who made you a judge over us? Do you want 
to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday? Again, Marshall says 
the reply implicitly denies Moses' divine appointment, which it 
is assumed the man should have recognized. The slaying of the 
Egyptian is seen as a threat rather than it's a means of rescue. 
Brethren, I hate to break this to you. I hate to upset your 
21st century fragility minds, but Egyptians had to die to vindicate 
God's people. Right? In order to break the 
back of oppression, some eggs have to get cracked in the midst, 
right? So this Israelite says, are you 
going to kill me like you did the Egyptian? Hey, genius. Maybe if Moses did that to more 
of these Egyptians, you wouldn't be slaves. You'd be free. You could go back to your land. 
It's an intriguing thing, isn't it? That God actually has to 
use the treachery of infanticide to make these people want to 
leave. And even when they finally do want to leave, and even when 
they're finally in the wilderness, what happens? They want to go 
back. They want to go back to the land 
of Egypt. We don't like the wilderness. 
We don't like manna. We'd rather be slaves eating 
garlic and melons than be free men sustained by God in the wilderness. I think Israel is very typical 
of just about every other human being on the face of the earth. 
We like the safety and security that slavery provides. rather 
than the freedom, the liberty, the liberty that the sons of 
God enjoy. You see, this is what's happening. They reject Moses. They despise Moses. So back to 
Marshall. The slaying of the Egyptian is 
seen as a threat rather than as a means of rescue. Thus, the 
role of Moses as redeemer and reconciler is rejected. Again, 
a parallel with Jesus is implicit. Now, brethren, we did an overview 
of the sermon. I know we're going very slow 
through the sermon. But as we end this particular 
sermon, in terms of Stephen's defense, he connects the dots. They understand his implications. 
That's why they block their ears. That's why they gnash at him 
with their teeth. That's why they drive him out 
of the city. And that's why they stone him to death. Because Stephen 
is saying, you're the rebel Israelite. You're the one that's mouthing 
off to Moses. You're the one that's on the 
offensive against God's deliverer. You are the people in your rejection 
of Jesus. You're just like those who rejected 
Moses. That's Stephen's point. Now notice 
this flight to Midian. We'll end here and conclude with 
a few thoughts and then we'll go. Notice his flight to Midian, 
verse 29. This is intriguing. Then at this 
saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, 
where he had two sons. The one son is Gershom, which 
means stranger in a strange land, at the end of Exodus 2. The other 
son is mentioned in Exodus 18, Eleazar. But it is intriguing. Why the mention of his two sons? 
Just a historical factoid? Just a little bit of nugget there 
in case you weren't following when you read Exodus, Moses had 
two sons? One commentator at least said 
it's irrelevant. It's an irrelevant fact. Why 
include that in there? I like Barrett. I don't always 
agree with Barrett. I think Barrett's got some issues, 
but Barrett's right here. He says, or was the intention 
to emphasize that, but for the divine call, Moses would have 
good reason to remain in Midian. Right? Don't you think Moses 
settled down 40 years in Midian? He marries Zipporah, he's got 
two sons, he's living on the land. It would take something 
pretty huge to get him out of retirement. It would take something 
pretty significant to get him back into Egypt. And that's the call of God upon 
him to go and to tell Pharaoh to let my people go. It's a beautiful, 
wonderful, glorious story. Well, in conclusion, I would 
suggest the first thing that we need to get our minds wrapped 
around is the promise of God to Abraham. 717 picks up on 7, 
6, and 7 the way that Exodus 2, 23, and 25 picks up on Genesis 
15, 13, and 14. 400 years is a long time. 430 
years is a long time. 400 days is a long time. 400 minutes 
can seem like a long time. Again, brethren, we need to make 
sure that our minds are wrapped around God's time frame. Humble 
yourselves under the mighty hand of God, and in due time, He will 
lift you up. That due time is not the time 
that you and I want. That due time is, Lord, it could 
have happened 25 minutes ago. It's His time, brethren. We need to submit. We need to 
guard against whining and grumbling and complaining. Paul tells the 
Philippians, do all things without disputing and grumbling. Where 
do you think he gets that? He gets it from this generation. 
See, Moses does get this call. Moses does go back. God does 
vindicate. God does free. God brings them 
out into the wilderness. And what do they do there? They 
whine, and they grumble, and they complain. It's incessant. You've all read the story. You 
read it. You go, come on, guys. Can you buck up and just sort 
of hang in there and trust that God's good and he's not going 
to discount your needs? You know, in our own hearts, 
we don't see the whining. We don't see the grumbling. We 
don't see the complaining. We don't see the bitterness and 
the resentment that may settle in our hearts if we think God 
has been tardy in answering a particular prayer request. You know, brethren, 
Yahwehism, or true Bible religion, is not Baalism. Baal was a god 
you could manipulate. Baal was a god you could coerce. Baal was a god you could sort 
of gin up so that he would deliver for your particular needs. Yahweh 
is not like that. We are his creatures. We are 
dependent upon him. It really ought to sadden us 
that the breath we take from him we use to whine against him. The food that we eat and the 
water that we drink that energizes us and strengthens us to whine 
comes from Him. We're not supposed to be a whining 
people. We're supposed to be a faithful 
people. But when the time promise drew near, which God had sworn 
to Abraham." How many times did the Bible say stuff like that? 
How many times did the Bible underscore for us previous promise 
and realization? How many times does the Bible 
tell us something that God said then is coming to pass it now? It does that because we're thick. 
It does that because we don't make connections. It does that 
because we won't say, hey, there it is, there's that promise. 
God himself has to say, okay, here was the promise and here's 
me making good on it. And every time we read something 
like that, it should strengthen our faith in him so that we'll 
patiently wait upon him and not run and whine and grumble and 
complain. Secondly, the providence of God 
in the birth of Moses. The treachery of Pharaoh. Again, 
Bruce argues that it was that treachery of Pharaoh which was 
the means by God, used by God, to make sure that Israel didn't 
get too comfortable in Egypt. But they still did. They still 
did. Would you want to go back to 
a country where the king said to take your baby boys and throw 
them into the water so that they could die? It doesn't matter 
how many good melons and garlics and leeks they have. They pollute 
the river there with the blood of innocents. You got to really 
wonder about Israel when you read through the narratives. 
And again, I'm not picking on them. I see them as typical of 
the rest of us. I see them typical of the rest 
of us. We want to be slaves where we get the melons and the garlics 
and the leeks, rather than free men dependent upon God for our 
bread. We don't want that. Just give 
us the security and the stability that slavery provides. Secondly, 
the God-fearing Hebrew midwives. Praise God that there were these 
Hebrew midwives that said, no, we're not going to do that. These 
are babies. These are precious. They're image 
bearers. We don't kill them. We preserve 
them. We cuddle them. We hug them. We breastfeed them. When they 
get older, we play ball with them. We take them with us when 
we fix the fence. We take them with us when we 
go to the superstore. We like to be with them. We don't 
kill them. They're not expendable. Praise 
God that these Hebrew midwives feared God and not men. As well, 
praise God for the love and courage of his parents. How many of us, 
when the government says, this is what you must do, are going 
to say, with Amram and Jochebed, not us, Not us. We must obey 
God rather than men. We're not going to expose our 
baby. We're going to love our baby. We're going to care for 
our baby. We're going to tend to our baby. The compassion of 
Pharaoh's daughter. Again, Moses, God of age, he 
said, I don't want to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 
But at that time in the providence of God, praise God for her compassion. Praise God that in that unholy 
court, there was a woman who had that affection, that natural 
affection. And then praise God for the way 
that he orchestrated everything in terms of the sister connecting 
the parties and such that payment was even rendered to Jacobet 
when she nursed her baby boy. Isn't that beautiful? You doubt God's sovereignty? 
You doubt providence? You doubt that he governs all 
his creatures and all their actions? Look at every step of the way 
in the life and the preservation of Moses. Why is that? Because 
God's going to use Moses to do great things. And whatever it 
takes, God's going to make sure Moses does great things. He's going to preserve him in 
his providence. Now, thirdly, as I've said, the 
place of Moses in Stephen's defense. Stephen's not anti-Moses, the 
council is. Stephen is not anti-temple, the 
council is. God reveals himself to Moses 
in Egypt. He's not confined to Temple. 
He's not confined to Canaan. He is not confined to any locale. And Moses and Temple always pointed 
forward to Jesus Christ. That's Stephen's point throughout 
this entire sermon. And then as I mentioned earlier, 
a bit offhandedly, but I'm convinced if this man Pharaoh needed a 
political party today, Do you know that everyone in the Democrat 
Party running for president in the US just voted against a bill 
that was put up to preserve the lives of those who survived abortion? Like, that we'd even have abortion 
is unthinkable. You know, some people say, well, 
can you believe it? Yeah, I can believe it. Because if you don't 
treat all life with dignity, you're going to get to the point 
where you treat no life with dignity. And we're seeing that 
consistently played out. But a man, Ben Sasse, I think 
it was, one of the senators, put forward legislation, legislation 
that has been put forth in the past. to preserve babies who 
survive abortions. What ghoul or monster doesn't 
sign off on that? Everyone running for the president 
of the United States of America in the Democratic Party. They're 
the party of infanticide. That is horrifying. Now, before 
we look down our noses and say, those wicked, terrible Americans, 
it ain't any better in Canada. There is an utter disregard for 
the lives of children. Pharaoh would fit right in in 
modern North America. And as I said to you earlier, 
if you're not a believer in Christ, look at what this fool did. This 
man, who made you a judge over me? You want to kill me like 
you did that Egyptian yesterday? And then Moses flees to Midian 
where he's there 40 years. Again, genius. This was the man 
who could bring deliverance. This is the man who might kill 
a hundred thousand more Egyptians to vindicate the people of God. 
And you drove him out to the land of Midian. Don't do that 
with the Savior as he's offered to you in the gospel. Don't resist. Don't reject. Don't embrace the 
bondage of sin. Don't say, this is the kind of 
life that I love and I want. No. Flee to the Lord Christ. Come to the one in whom there 
is forgiveness, the one who says, I will give you rest. You can 
have rest today. You can have the forgiveness 
of sins today. You can have peace with God today. You can have what Paul speaks 
of in Romans 5. Therefore, having been justified 
by faith, we have peace with God. Let me tell you, there's 
nothing better than peace with God. It's good to be at peace 
with your wife. It's good to be at peace with 
your husband. Good to be at peace with your kids and with your 
civil society. But there ain't nothing like peace with God. 
And that comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't 
look at him and say, who made you a savior or a deliverer for 
me? Come to him in faith. Well, let 
us close in a word of prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you 
for your word. We thank you for Stephen's speech. We thank you 
for its purposes and not only setting forth his defense, but 
showing forth the glory of Jesus Christ as that one to whom the 
law of Moses and the temple of God pointed. That one in whom 
all the promises of God are yea and amen. taking their own scriptures, 
their own history. Stephen shows how all these things 
inevitably led to Christ. And God, as we live on this side 
of these blessed events, may everyone here see Christ as that 
one who is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. And may, 
by grace, they come in faith and taste and see that the Lord 
is good. And God, for all of us, may we be comforted in this 
passage to see that though the promises may have some significant 
time in terms of fulfillment, may we never run ahead and may 
we never whine and grumble and complain, but may we stay our 
hearts upon a faithful God, knowing that you deliver on your promises. 
Again, go with us now. Bless us. Help us to keep the 
day. Help us tonight to glorify you in our worship. And we pray 
these things through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. We'll close our 
service by singing the doxology in praise to God, Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit. You can stand as we sing together.