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We can turn in your Bibles to 
Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 7, we continue in Stephen's defense. Remember, he's arrested in chapter 
6. The particular charges against him are that he spoke blasphemous 
words concerning the law of Moses and concerning the temple of 
God. So he's arrested in chapter six, he gives an extended defense 
in terms of a redemptive history, if you will. He shows Israel's 
history as proof that he's actually right. He's actually the one 
that is not speaking blasphemous words. So their own scripture, 
their own history testifies to him that he's the one that's 
right over and against the Sanhedrin or religious council. So he gives 
that defense in chapter seven, verses one to 53, and then he 
is martyred at the end of chapter seven. And so this morning, we're 
continuing in his exposition of Israel's history, focusing 
specifically on Moses. And this is the longest section, 
and rightly so, because he's been accused of speaking blasphemous 
words against Moses. And I want to read the section 
that we're going to look at this morning, verses 30 to 36. So beginning in Acts 7 at verse 
30, 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. When Moses saw it, he marveled 
at the sight, and as he drew near to observe, the voice of 
the Lord came to him, 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. Then the Lord said 
to him, Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where 
you stand is holy ground. 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. This Moses, whom they rejected, 
saying, Who made you ruler and 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. 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 40 years." Well, let us pray. Father, thank You for the written 
Word. Thank You for Stephen's defense here. And thank You, 
Lord God, that it shows to us The very purpose of the Law of 
Moses, the very purpose of the Temple of God, was to point to 
the Lord Jesus Christ. How we praise You that we live 
in those days where we see these things clearly, where we have 
the Scriptures to declare this for us. And God, may we rejoice 
in Christ, and may we rejoice in the redemption that He has 
wrought out. If Moses was to deliver the people 
of Israel from their earthly bondage, we see Christ as that 
one who delivers his Israel from a spiritual bondage. We rejoice 
that this is the case. We rejoice that you've included 
us in this plan, in this covenant, in this purpose. And God, we 
pray now that your Holy Spirit would guide us as we consider 
the scripture. We pray again for the forgiveness 
of sin and anything that would darken our understanding. And 
we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as I said, 
this is Stephen's defense before the Sanhedrin or the Religious 
Council, and he does give a very excellent history of Israel. 
And if you're not real familiar with the Old Testament, I think 
that if you just focus on what Stephen here says, you will see 
at least a bit of the Old Testament. In fact, Stephen sticks closely 
here to Exodus chapter 3. He speaks of the call of Moses. Remember, we saw that Moses' 
life is broken down into three 40-year sections. He spent 40 
years in Egypt initially, he spends 40 years in Midian, and 
then he spends 40 years in terms of his leadership with reference 
to Israel. And Scripture tells us when he died, he was 120 years 
old. And so Stephen is following sort 
of that framework. And technically, I think verse 
36 goes with what follows, but I want us to see this morning 
the call of Moses by the Lord, and then secondly, the rejection 
of Moses by the people. Stephen, again, making his defense 
is not just instructing them. They know their history. But 
Stephen is orchestrating his defense in such a way to show 
that their history supports Stephen. It doesn't support them. It doesn't 
lend in their direction. They rejecting Jesus are like 
those who rejected Moses. They rejecting Jesus are they 
who have rejected the very law of Moses that he composed by 
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So let's look at, first of all, 
the call of Moses by the Lord in verses 30 to 34. This is closely 
connected to Exodus chapter 3. If you've not read Exodus chapter 
3, this is a good summary. This is a good sort of piecing 
it together, but you really should read Exodus chapter 3. You should 
read all of Exodus. You should read all of the Old 
Testament. because all of the Old Testament points people to 
the Lord Jesus Christ. It is simply not the case that 
the Old Testament is about Israel and the New Testament is about 
Jesus. No, the Old Testament is about Jesus too. And those 
who read the Old Testament will meet Christ in a most blessed 
and wonderful way. It's one of the reasons why we 
sing the Psalms. Though the name Jesus and the 
name Christ is absent from the Psalter, Jesus is everywhere 
in the Psalter. And we should be saying, those 
songs of Zion to our blessed Redeemer and to our blessed Deliverer. So let's look at this call of 
Moses by the Lord. Notice in the first place, the 
burning bush in verses 30 to 31a. God appears to Moses. We know from verse 25 that God 
had in fact communicated something to Moses. Notice in verse 25, 
for Moses supposed that his brethren would have understood that God 
would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 
Moses didn't just wander to see the children of Israel. He went 
to visit them in the sense of helping them, to vindicate them, 
to deal with them, to care for them. He assumed a thought that 
they would have known that he was sent by God for that particular 
purpose. So the 40 years in Egypt done, 
he now goes into this land of Midian. And here in this land 
of Midian, Yahweh appears to him. Again, this functions in 
Stephen's defense. Stephen is not anti-temple. God 
doesn't need the temple. God doesn't need the land of 
Israel in order to manifest himself, in order to appear to people. 
He appears to Stephen in Midian. He appears to Stephen through 
this medium of this burning bush. And that's what Stephen is highlighting 
in this particular instance, the appearance by the Lord to 
him. Now Sinai and Horeb are the same 
place. You will see Sinai referred to 
as Horeb most of the time in the book of Deuteronomy. So when 
you see Sinai, think Horeb. When you see Horeb, think Sinai. 
It's the same place. Not two different mountains, 
not two different places. Some suggest one is one side of the 
slope, one is the other side of the slope. But just know that 
that mountain of God is either called Sinai or it's called Horeb. 
And here specifically, Stephen refers to it as Sinai. Now, this 
40-year reference is a deduction from Exodus 7. In Exodus 7, he 
comes back to Egypt at this time when he's 80. And this is what 
we find here. Now, the text, as I said, reflects 
Exodus 3-2. You might have a translation 
that simply says, an angel appeared to him. Well, this particular 
text reflects accurately Exodus 3-2. It was an angel of the Lord. More specifically, the angel 
of the Lord, who is the Lord himself. Most of the older commentators 
say this was the pre-incarnate Christ. This was the Lord Jesus 
Christ, the second person of the Blessed Trinity. He appears 
in the medium of this burning bush. This is not to say that 
God is a burning bush. It's a theophany. It's a manifestation 
of God through that particular means. And if you doubt that 
Christ is present in the book of Exodus, Paul certainly tells 
us so in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Some early manuscripts tells 
us it was Jesus, according to Jude 5, that led Israel out of 
Egypt. It's a beautiful thing. The second 
person of the Trinity manifests himself here through this medium 
of the burning bush to Moses. Now, Moses' exile in Midian was 
part of God's plan and purpose, and so God now comes to him to 
communicate to him and give him this call so that Moses would 
be the human means, the means, that God would use to deliver 
Israel from their bondage. Now, note the response by Moses 
in verse 31. When Moses saw it, he marveled 
at the sight. He marveled at the sight. In 
Exodus 3, it says, I will now turn aside and see this great 
sight, why the bush does not burn. I mean, that would be an 
amazing sight, wouldn't it? It would be a glorious thing 
to see a bush on fire and it not being consumed. Unfortunately, 
there was a fire yesterday. A house was on fire. And it was 
consumed. It wasn't the case that it just 
burned, but it still remains the same today. But that's what's 
happening with this bush. Again, God's not a burning bush, 
but God is manifesting himself, demonstrating himself, showing 
himself to Moses by means of this particular medium. And so 
Moses marvels. He's amazed by this. It catches 
his attention. He draws near to see it, and 
then he hears the voice of Yahweh. And with reference to this call 
of Moses, I want to focus more on God, because I think in the 
call of Moses, it does focus more on God. In other words, 
I'd like to do what's called theology proper as we proceed 
through the call of Moses. I want us to appreciate the revelation 
of God. That means the revealing of God 
by God to Moses in the call of Moses. I suggest there are six 
things we learn about God. Certainly, the one thing that 
Stephen wants us to realize is that God called him. God chose 
him. God employed him to be the human 
means or to be God's means in bringing Israel out of Egyptian 
bondage. That's the point. And this one 
that God chose, this one that God called, this one that God 
made a ruler and a deliverer, they rejected. So Stephen's point 
here, again, is that Stephen is not the rejecter of Moses. They are. Rejecting Jesus means 
they're rejecting Moses. They are just like these people, 
signified by the rebel of verse 27, who actually questions Moses 
and says, who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Well, it 
was God that made him a ruler and a judge. It was God that 
raised him up for this purpose. It was God that sent him on this 
particular task. And so the people of Israel at 
the time of Moses rejected Moses. The people of Israel at the time 
of Stephen, for the most part, rejected Moses too. Because rejecting 
Jesus meant to reject Moses. That's the point in John chapter 
9. That's the point in John chapter 5. Jesus says to the religious 
contemporaries, he says, you say that you adhere to Moses, 
but if you believe Moses, you'd believe me because Moses wrote 
about me. John chapter 5 very specifically 
says that. And Stephen is utilizing the 
same sort of tactic in his defense. He's not anti-temple because 
God doesn't need temple and land in order to appear to Moses. 
And he's certainly not anti-Moses because Stephen accepts who Moses 
wrote about. Stephen is saying to the council 
of the Sanhedrin that you're like these people. You're like 
the rejecters. You're like the ones who got 
the gift of Moses and said, we don't want it. We don't think 
you should come. We don't want you to be our ruler, 
our deliverer. That's the way it functions in 
terms of his defense. But as I said, I want to look 
at God in this revelation of God in the call of Moses. In 
the first place, notice that our God is a revelatory God. That just means, kids, he speaks. 
God speaks, and we ought to praise God for that. We have the written 
word. We have the embodiment of his 
speech from Genesis to Revelation. If you were paying attention 
this morning at the reading of Psalm 135, you'll also see this 
also in Psalm 115, where the idols are described. And idols 
are described as having mouths, but they can't speak. The very 
blessing, the basis, the foundation of our relationship to God Most 
High is based on the reality that He speaks. He's a revealing 
God. He doesn't keep Himself secret. 
He doesn't hide. He manifests Himself specifically 
here to Moses, and that's what we find at this burning bush. The fact that Moses had heard 
from God before, but now he hears an extended message from God 
calling him to a specific function in the life of Israel. The glorious 
reality is you have a Bible. If this God has spoken, If this God has revealed, if 
this God has shown himself, we, like Moses, ought to marvel. 
We, like Moses, ought to want to draw nigh. We, like Moses, 
ought to want to hear more. You see, Moses is passing by 
this burning bush, and he sees that it's burned, but it's not 
consumed. That draws out his attention. I'm suggesting to 
you this morning that God, who is the creator, we are his creatures. He has spoken to us. We ought 
to seek out that voice. We ought to seek out that message. 
We ought to seek out that word. We ought not to resist or neglect 
the Bible. We ought not to forget the Bible, 
but rather we ought to read it in our private lives, and we 
ought never to miss it when it's preached in the corporate place. 
God has spoken, brethren. That's the beauty of Israel's 
religion. And when I say Israel, I don't 
simply mean Old Covenant Israel, but the Israel of God, the people 
of God. This is one of the prohibitions 
against idolatry, making graven images. God's point is, you didn't 
see any form, you didn't see any shape, but you heard the 
voice of God. We are a people that don't need 
pictures, we are a people that don't need images, we are a people 
that don't need statues, we are a people who have the very Word 
of God Himself. Psalm 29 says that Word is powerful 
to break the cedars of Lebanon. The prophet Jeremiah describes 
God's Word as a hammer. The Word of God is powerful. 
It's a living, it's an active, and it cuts deep. And if Moses 
marveled at this sight of this bush that burned that wasn't 
consumed, we ought to marvel at the reality that God has spoken. 
God has communicated. God has not left us in the dark. 
God is not hiding. The whole idea behind the book 
called Revelation, the end of the Bible, is that very purpose. People look at that book as if 
it's this cryptic, shadowy, dark, horrific book. It's the revelation 
of Jesus. It's to open up for us who Jesus 
is. It's to shine the light upon 
the crown of Christ, upon the glory of Christ. If you are not 
one who reads the Bible, may I encourage you and exhort you 
to consider the fact that your Creator has actually spoken. 
Your Creator has actually communicated, and in a most glorious way. I 
think as times, as Christians, we are pathetic in the way that 
we communicate that people should read the Bible. We need to read 
it ourselves and love it. How many times on a Wednesday 
night, or we're going through these Old Testament narratives, 
or we're going through various parts of the New Testament, the 
way that it's exciting. The story of God's salvation 
of sinners is amazing. You know, most of us like a good 
hero story. What better hero than the Lord 
Jesus Christ? What better hero than the one 
who has come into this world, sinners to save? The Bible is 
most exciting. Parents, communicate that to 
your children by reading it in an exciting way. Preachers should 
preach in such a way that it's interesting. The idea that men 
would come and bore the people of God is absolutely untenable. We have the most exciting book 
on the face of the earth. People should not fall asleep 
on Sunday. You should be gripped. You should 
be ravished. You should be engaged because 
the book of God is coming to you. This is the point. We have 
a revealing God. He has spoken. He shows himself 
to Moses. Notice, secondly, he's a covenantal 
God. How does God identify himself? 
According to Stephen, reflecting accurately, Exodus 3, I am the 
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What's God highlighting to Moses? 
I'm the covenantal God. I made a promise to Abraham. 
I brought it through with Isaac. I secured it with Jacob, and 
I'm not going to renege. I'm going to carry out the purpose 
that I stipulated in terms of my own being. I have sworn an 
oath according to my own name, God says, according to Hebrews 
chapter 6, that I'm going to do what I purpose to do. He's 
a covenantal God. Sometimes people hear covenant 
theology, and they just immediately shut down. Oh, that's for people 
on Saturday morning. That's for seminarians. It's 
for the people of God. It means that what God has said 
is true, and that God is going to do what He says. It's what 
Paul says concerning Jesus Christ. All the promises of God are yea 
and amen in Him. Why? Because God is covenantal. He's gracious. He's merciful. 
He's kind. He has covenanted to do certain things. He has 
covenanted to give Abraham a great nation, a great people, a great 
land. He has covenanted to give all 
these things to Abraham. He brought it through Isaac. 
He brings it through Jacob. And He communicates this very 
fact to Moses. Moses, I'm not some other God. 
I'm not some deity of the Canaanites. I'm not some deity of the Egyptians. 
I am the covenant God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That is a most 
blessed assurance for him. Calvin says, for he is called 
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. for this cause, because 
he committed unto them the doctrine of salvation, that he might thereby 
be known to the world. But God had respect properly 
under the present circumstance when he spoke to Moses on this 
wise, for both this vision and the hope of the delivery of the 
people and the commandment which he was about to give to Moses 
will depend upon the covenant which he had made in times past 
with the fathers. He's calling Moses to a particular 
task. He is the revealing God. He speaks 
to Moses. But he's also the covenantal 
God to highlight to Moses that you're going to win. You're going 
to be victorious. You see, when God tells us to 
do something, he typically surrounds it with comforting promises. 
What's Jesus saying in the Great Commission? He says, all authority 
in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and 
make disciples of all the nations. Baptize them in the name of the 
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them 
to observe all things that I have commanded you and what? And lo, 
I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Moses, you 
don't need to fret in this call. Moses, you don't need to fear 
in this call. I'm not telling you it's going 
to be easy. I'm not telling you to gather up this rabble called 
Israel and bring them out of the land of Egypt is going to 
be a walk in the park. You just read through the books 
of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, and you'll see in Moses' own 
heart at times, he sees the tediousness of it. He sees the hardship in 
it. Even asking God if perhaps God 
will now translate him into heaven because he doesn't think he can 
do it anymore. God's not promising that it's going to be easy, but 
he's promising him it's going to be victorious. Because God 
made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He told them that 
they would have a land. And if Israel is in Egypt, they're 
not in the land. And God is going to see to it 
that they're in their land, and Moses is going to be the means 
by which God does this. Covenant is glorious. Covenant 
is wonderful. Covenant means God can be trusted. Notice Moses' response here in 
Acts 7. When Moses saw it, he marveled 
at the sight. Verse 32, God said, I am the 
God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 
and the God of Jacob. Moses trembled and dared not 
look. Boy, we need some of that in 
the church today, don't we? Kind of interesting, isn't it? God highlights the fact that 
he speaks, I am God, reveals himself to Moses, underscores 
the reality that he's the covenantal God, that he's not going to renege 
on his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that what Moses is 
called to do is going to be successful, and these things cause Moses 
to tremble. These things promote in Moses 
a dare not to look. It's the fear of God, brethren. 
So you don't come to this God as if he's your buddy. You don't 
come to this God as if he's your equal. You don't come to this 
God even as if He's a bit of a superior to you. You come to 
this God with fear. You come to this God with trembling. 
You come to this God with amazement. You come to this God realizing 
He's not a domesticated house pet. realizing that he is not 
tamed by the prevailing standards of political correctness. He's 
God Almighty. He is Creator, and we are creature, 
and it is right for Moses to tremble in his presence. It's 
right for us to tremble in his presence. It's right for us to 
have joy and thanksgiving and gratitude and all of that stuff 
with a heartfelt reverence before the God of heaven and earth. 
Calvin again makes this observation with reference to Moses trembling. 
He says, this might seem to be an absurd thing, that a voice 
full of consolation doth rather terrify Moses than make him glad. But it was good for Moses to 
be thus terrified with the presence of God, that he might frame himself 
onto the greater reverence. See, it's always good for us 
to grow in our reference to God. You know, as parents, we try 
to inculcate in our children that fifth commandment. That's 
probably pragmatism. We like obedient subjects. But 
it ought to be theological. We want to teach them how to 
respond to God. We want them to reverence their parents so 
that when we tell them to reverence God, they don't say, well, what 
do you mean by that? Again, it's pragmatic for the 
most part. We like calm homes. We don't like kids swinging off 
light fixtures. We don't like handprints on the wall. So we 
invoke that fifth word and we tell them, you need to honor 
your parents. But brethren, think like theologians. 
You want to teach them the fear of Yahweh. You want to teach 
them reverence in the presence of the God who is holy, holy, 
holy. The presence of the God who actually 
speaks to us. The presence of the God who is 
covenantal. The presence of the God who is 
almighty, all-powerful, all-glorious. You see, churches today shouldn't 
be full of mayhem. Churches today shouldn't be about 
entertainment. Churches today shouldn't be in 
countergroups. Churches today should be about 
the fear of God Most High. The Apostle in the book of Hebrews 
chapter 12 tells us that we are to come to God in an acceptable 
manner. Like it or not, Canadians and 
Americans and every contemporary in the 21st century, acceptable 
isn't defined by you. Oh, well, I like that church 
because they have a great band. Oh, I like that church because 
they have a great nursery. I like that church because they 
have free coffee. It doesn't matter what you like. 
It really doesn't. Acceptable worship is defined 
by the God who is being worshiped. And he tells us we're to come 
to him in spirit and truth. He tells us we're to come to 
him singing his word, praying his word, reading his word, preaching 
his word, and seeing his word in the sacraments. That's it. 
And that's supposed to inculcate in us the fear of Yahweh. Again, 
mingled with joy and thanksgiving, but there ought to be a reverence. 
There ought to be the fear of God. Chatty pastors with hands 
in pocket and smacking gum and drinking their lattes do not 
belong in the presence of God Almighty. We need men, alight 
by the Holy Spirit, preaching the truth of Scripture so that 
the people of God will not always feel peppy and up and this. Now, I'm not saying you should 
be miserable all the time, but the fear of God ought to be in 
this place. The fear of the Lord is the beginning 
of life. Did we miss that in 21st century 
Christianity? Did we miss what centuries of 
persons before us realized? That God-fearing people are the 
way we're supposed to be described? Well, this is Moses' response. 
He doesn't say, oh, goody, God's speaking to me. God's covenantal. I'm going to put my arm around 
him. I'm going to go, you know, brush up right against this burning 
bush. And I'm just going to be buddy, buddy with that. He fears. 
He trembles. He stands amazed in the reality 
that this God. God is speaking to him. Notice 
thirdly, he's a holy God. He's a holy God. This is what 
promotes that fear more often than not. Notice in verse 33, 
then Yahweh said to him, take your sandals off your feet, for 
the place where you stand is holy ground. Again, this reflects 
Exodus chapter 3, verse 5. You might ask the question, why 
taking off the sandals? Why is this significant? You 
see it also in Joshua chapter 5. When persons are in the presence 
of deity, when persons are in the presence of God, they need 
to respect the reality that this God is holy. You see, that's 
something, again, we're not supposed to forget. And when Isaiah, the 
year that King Uzziah died, and Isaiah sees the Lord lofty, exalted, 
high, and lifted up, he hears these angels. And these angels, 
don't just say it three times. It's constant. It's antiphonal. 
It's all day. It's their job. What's your job, 
angel? I stand before God and I say, 
holy, holy, holy, holy. That's my job. And I love my 
job, because it's the best job in the world. Notice, there's 
a lot of attributes. Could be said, God is love, love, 
love. God is just, just, just. God 
is glorious, glorious, glorious. But it is intriguing. Holy, holy, 
holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is filled with 
his glory. So how should our churches look? How should worship 
look? How should our approach to God be defined and dictated? It should be that we're coming 
into the presence of the thrice holy God, and that we should 
remove our sandals if we're actually thinking biblically. And I'm 
not saying actually do that. That's a different custom, a 
different time. It'd be odd if we took our shoes off out there 
and came in here, but the principle. John Gill defines it this way, 
the removal of the sandals is a token of humility, obedience, 
and reference. Again, things that are fitting 
among the people of God, isn't it? I think we're all way too 
proud. We're all way too unlike the 
Baptist who said that Jesus must increase, but I must decrease. See, we'll say, I want Jesus 
to increase if I can increase a little bit. I want Jesus to 
increase if I can stay the same. But that's not what John the 
Baptist says. I want him to increase. I want me to decrease. C.H. Spurgeon said, may the name of 
C.H. Spurgeon perish, but may the name of Jesus Christ live 
on. See, this is the God with whom we have to do. He's holy, 
holy, holy. And God tells Moses, take your 
sandals off because you're standing on holy ground. Again, Stephen's 
defense. Where's holy ground? Is it in 
Israel at the temple site? It is when God's there. But if 
God's not there, holy ground is in Midian. Holy ground is 
Gentile territory. Holy ground is Egyptian territory 
because the Holy God is occupying it. That's the point in Stephen's 
defense. I'm not anti-temple. You are. You're worshiping the temple, 
forgetting that if God's not there, it doesn't do any good 
to go there. This was Moses' point going into 
the promised land. What's Moses actually say to 
God? If you don't go with us, we don't want to go. The promised 
land is the land of promise because the God of promise is there. 
Heaven is heaven because God's there. It's not the bowling alley 
in the sky. It's not the kitchen in the sky. 
It's not whatever your hobby on earth is. It's not the fishing 
hole in the sky. It's where the darling of heaven 
resides, our Lord Jesus, who's altogether lovely and chief among 
10,000. God is holy, brethren, and Moses came face to face with 
this, and God says, take your sandals off. Chrysostom makes 
the observation concerning Stephen's defense. He says, not a word 
of temple, and the place is holy, though the appearance, or through 
the appearance and operation of Christ. Far more wonderful 
this than the place which is in the holy of holies, for there 
God is nowhere said to have appeared in this manner, nor Moses to 
have thus trembled. See what Chrysostom says? There's 
no recorded instance in the time of the tabernacle or of the temple 
where God manifested himself in the Holy of Holies like he 
does here. Who missed the point of the temple? 
Stephen? No! Stephen's a worshiper of 
the Christ that the temple pointed to. Who missed the point of the 
temple? It's these wretches who saw it 
as their comfort, as the surety that God's presence was there. 
You see this in the prophet Micah as well. They're just blown away 
that Micah would actually suggest that they have problems, that 
they're not doing well. Well, they probably got an eye 
on the temple, and they're saying, what do you mean? The Lord is 
with us. The temple's there, then the Lord is here. They missed 
the point. They missed the point in Micah's 
day, they're missing the point in Stephen's day, and this is 
Stephen's point. In this, He's revealing to us 
the glory of God Most High. He is the revelatory God. He 
is the covenantal God. He is the holy God. But notice, 
fourthly, He is the compassionate God. The compassionate God. It almost doesn't seem like it 
would follow, does it? He reveals Himself, an amazing 
thing. He's covenantal, oh sure, that 
means he's true and he's sure and what he's promised is gonna 
come to pass. He's this holy God. So you almost 
get this response or this thought that we should never look, we 
should only fear, we should only tremble. And then God goes and 
says the things that he says here. He shows his compassion. 
Notice what we find in our text. Verse 33 again, excuse me. May I recommend that you stay 
away from anybody that has this cold? It's been two weeks now, 
and it's still not gone. Do not get near me. Do not get 
near anybody that has it if you value your two weeks of good 
life, because it's a horrible cold. I don't mean to sound vile, 
but it's just bad. Anyways, take your vitamin C, 
drink lots of fluid, whatever it takes. Notice in verse 33, 
then Yahweh said to him, take your sandals off your feet, for 
the place where you stand is holy ground. Verse 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." This compassionate 
God, it reflects the text in Exodus 3, 7. It also reflects 
the text at the end of Exodus 2, 23 to 25. God hears their 
groaning. Now brethren, the groaning of 
Israel at that particular time was not because of their sin. 
It wasn't because of their waywardness. It wasn't because that they weren't 
with their God. It was groaning because of the 
oppression of their harsh taskmasters. And God nevertheless hears that. 
So I think we think, oh, God only hears my groaning if it's 
directly theological. No, He knows when your life is 
a mess, and He hears your groaning. You're not just the God of theology. 
I know that sounds really bizarre. But He's also the God of Tuesday. 
Not just Sunday, but Thursday. Never forget this God. Yes, He 
reveals Himself. Yes, He's covenantal. Yes, He's 
holy. Yes, He's compassionate. Look 
at how it's heaped up. Look at how God says this. And 
notice God doesn't qualify and say, well, I'm speaking in the 
manner of men. I'm, you know, giving all that theologically 
proper sort of qualification and distinction. He's not Turritan. 
He's just simply telling us who he is. Verse 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. The Lord 
sees the oppression of his people. He hears their cries and he knows 
their sorrows. He really is the God we sang 
of in Psalm 103. Brethren, when we sing in this 
church, there's a reason why we sing what we sing. It's not 
filler. It's not because we got to fill 
up the time from 11 to 1130, the preaching. All those songs 
or hymns or psalms are chosen relative to the message at hand. 
What did we sing in Psalm 103? God pities us. He knows our frame. He knows that we're but dust. 
He is our Father, and that's what He's saying to Moses. I've 
heard their groaning. I've seen their sorrow and oppression. I'm going to come down. It doesn't 
mean God actually comes down. That is in the manner of man. 
God is omnipresent. He doesn't need to go from one 
place to another to sort of fulfill His will. That's just not the 
way He does it. The means by which He is going 
to fulfill His will is in the call and employ of Moses. I want 
you to go to Egypt, Moses. And I want you to tell Pharaoh 
to let my people go. And I'm going to tell you right 
off the bat, Moses, he ain't going to do it. He's going to 
harden his heart. Actually, I'm going to harden his heart. And 
then he's going to harden it over and over and over again. 
And there's going to be this series of plagues, 10 of them, 
to be sure. And at the very end, he's finally going to get the 
point when he has to bury his firstborn. And then they're going 
to let you go. And they're not only going to 
let you go, but they're going to beg you to leave. And they're 
going to throw loot at you on your way out. Because God is 
going to demonstrate His glory and His power in that scene. That's God's purpose here. But 
the language of compassion is so beautiful. I have surely seen. Seeing I have seen, it's underscored. 
This is the way that you would bold it or highlight it or underline 
it if you were using word instead of Greek. He says, 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. So he's 
the compassionate God. But fifthly, he is that as well, 
the delivering God. You see, if we had a God, who 
is affected, not affected, again, according to the manner of men, 
God's not affected, there's no movement in God, either locally 
or emotively, but if God hears the cries of his people, he sees 
the sorrows of his people, but he doesn't have power, it's a 
nice sentiment, isn't it? Makes me kind of feel good, but 
really doesn't help. See, this is why we stress with 
reference to Jesus, He's able, He's able, He's able, He is willing. See, it's not enough for God 
to see the oppression of His people, but it's also the case 
that He delivers them from that oppression. So again, I would 
tell anybody here who's not a believer in Jesus Christ, behold God. This is God. God sees your groaning, 
God sees your oppression, God sees your wretchedness and your 
waywardness and your wickedness and your defection against him. 
He sees your bondage. Again, one of the things that 
Stephen is doing here is he is linking Moses and Jesus. Is it 
any accident? They said, who made you ruler 
and judge over us? And Stephen says, God made him 
ruler and deliverer. It's the same language used of 
Christ before the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 5 by Stephen, only 
instead of deliverer, it's savior. The same thing. Ruler and Savior, 
Acts 5.31 with reference to Jesus. Ruler and Deliverer, Acts 7 with 
reference to Moses. Stephen is saying that Moses 
was a type of Jesus. And Stephen is saying that me 
accepting Jesus is accepting Moses. You rejecting Jesus is 
you rejecting Moses. The point I want to make to you 
here is that God sees the groaning. God sees the distress. If He 
saw it with the children of Israel in Egypt, He sees it with you 
and your sin. He sees it with you and your 
bondage. He sees it with you and you spinning your wheels. 
Maybe trying to get a little better in life. Maybe trying 
to clean up some things in your life. Maybe you're trying to 
get a little moral. He sees all that. But may I tell 
you, He has the power to deliver. He has the power to redeem. He 
has the power to save. He has the power to bring the 
forgiveness of sins and to give you a righteousness that will 
fit you to stand in the presence of God Almighty. See, He has 
compassion, but He has power, and that's what we need to appreciate. 
The revelatory God, the covenantal God, the holy God, the compassionate 
God, and the delivering God. And then the final aspect. It's 
not mentioned by Stephen, but I'd hate to leave Exodus 3 without 
at least pointing this out. In Exodus 3.14, we learn that 
He is, sixthly, the true and living God. the true and living 
God. In Exodus 3, 13, Moses said to 
God, indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to 
them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they 
say to me, what is his name? What shall I say to them? And 
God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, thus you shall say 
to the children of Israel, I am has sent me to you. This is who 
God is. In fact, Alec Mottier makes the 
observation, God is what he is. Yahweh, this name, is who he 
is. God is what he is. Yahweh is 
who he is. I Am sent you. This is the name 
of God. This is Yahweh. This is that 
blessed, beautiful name. You know, you hear amongst the 
Jews, their tradition, they wouldn't pronounce that name due to the 
reverence that they had. No. John Owen says it's because 
they were a cursed people and wouldn't dare take that blessed 
name on their lips. We can certainly take that blessed 
name on our lips because the Lord God has saved us. The Lord 
God is our God. He is our Yahweh. He is our I 
Am. Hermann Bavink explaining the 
significance of the names of God says, the name Elohim, which 
is typically how we understand, or the name God, the name Elohim 
denotes God as creator and sustainer of all things. El Shaddai represents 
him as the mighty one who makes nature subservient to grace. 
Yahweh describes him as the one who in his grace remains forever 
faithful. It's a beautiful name. Yahweh 
Sabaoth characterizes Him as King in the fullness of His glory, 
who surrounded by regimented hosts of angels, governs throughout 
the world as the Almighty, and in His temple receives the honor 
and acclamation of all His creatures. So back to Acts chapter 7. Again, 
the emphasis by Stephen is on this connection between Jesus 
and Moses. The emphasis by Stephen is in 
defense of his name, not anti-temple, I'm not anti-Moses. But when 
Stephen highlights this call of Moses, it behooves us as the 
people of God to understand the God who is revealing himself 
to Moses, the God who is calling Moses into service, the God who 
is sending Moses on a task that was most difficult, to stand 
before the highest power on the face of the earth and to demand 
that he let my people go. Moses needed this reinforcement. Moses needed this theology proper. Moses needed this understanding 
of who God is to go about his task. And he did. He did. And that's exactly what Stephen 
tells us. And then finally, quickly, look at the rejection of Moses 
by the people in verses 35 and 36. This is no longer historical 
survey on the part of Stephen in verses 35 and 36. This is 
theological commentary. This is practical application. 
God did this and they did that. God sent him and they rejected 
him. Again, think of Stephen before 
the Sanhedrin making the point that it's not Stephen that's 
got the problem with Moses and Temple. It's the Sanhedrin that's 
got the problem with Moses and Temple. And again, the Sanhedrin 
understands his message better than I think we do, because they 
stop their ears, they gnash at him with their teeth, they drive 
him out of the city, and then they stone him to death. They 
understood all too well what he was saying. He said, you're 
them. You and your rejection of Jesus 
are them and their rejection of Moses. Notice in verse 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. Don't miss that. That is not 
accidental. That is deliberative and purposive, 
I guess is the word, to link Moses with Jesus as Jesus has 
been described before this self-same Sanhedrin in Acts 5.31. He is 
ruler and savior. Moses is ruler and deliverer 
by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 
So he is rejected by the people, but he had been appointed by 
God. J. A. Alexander says the meaning 
of the whole verse seems to be that God had rebuked the incredulous 
and disobedient Israelites in Egypt by sending the same man 
whom they had taunted with aspiring to judicial authority to exercise 
far higher functions, namely those of a national liberator 
and protector. And then we're going to close 
this soon. So just stick with me for a few more minutes. Notice 
what else Stephen is doing. It's something Peter did anytime 
he preached Christ. He shows a contrast between God 
and the people relative to Moses. See, God called Moses, God chose 
Moses, God appointed Moses, and God dispatched Moses. But the 
people rejected him, didn't they? Doesn't Peter do that every time 
he preaches Christ? He speaks about the Christ you 
crucified, but God raised up. These men aren't fools, brethren. 
Their response indicates they're tracking. Their response indicates 
they know how Stephen is defending himself. Their response indicates 
they certainly disagree with Stephen, but they understand 
the implications of Stephen's speech here. There is this marked 
contrast between the way unbelieving Israel treated Jesus and the 
way that unbelieving Israel treated Moses. And Stephen makes that 
apparent. Stephen makes that clear. And 
then he highlights just subsequent to that in verse 36, he brought 
them out after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt. 
Who else does wonders and signs? Jesus. The links couldn't be 
more conspicuous. You'd have to try hard to miss 
this. You'd have to shut down and not get what Stephen is doing. 
He says, the way you've treated Jesus, it's the way they treated 
Moses. He showed signs and wonders in 
Egypt, the 10 plagues. He showed signs and wonders at 
the Red Sea. Remember that fiasco? The children 
of Israel pass by, their feet don't even get wet. The moment 
that Pharaoh's army gives chase, they get in there and their chariot 
wheels fall off. Brethren, I've often thought 
if I was in that band of people, I would have said, let's turn 
back. I'd like to think I would have said that. Let's go the 
other way. Maybe this Yahweh is going to bring judgment and 
calamity upon us. The fact that their chariot wheels 
fall off does not bode well. And then, of course, the waters 
collapse and destroy Pharaoh's army. So Moses shows these signs 
and wonders in Egypt, he shows them in the Red Sea, and he shows 
them in the wilderness. Two whining, grumbling people. 
These people constantly whine. Moses is vexed. Moses is this 
guy that has to listen, this man that has to listen to this 
incessant whining. Just imagine, parent, you're 
in the car with all your kids, and they're all, you know, worn 
out, and they've all missed naps, and they're all hungry, and they've 
all got issues. Is that a fun experience? No! I'm tempted to go buy a pizza 
now just to shut you all up because I can't make it stop. It's terrible. That's what Moses had to do on 
a macro level, a huge level. We want food. We want meat, we're 
tired of the bread, we want meat. It's just constant, nonstop. 
But he showed signs and wonders, just like Jesus showed signs 
and wonders among you. But you rejected him, you resisted 
him, you forsook him the way this generation did with reference 
to the man that God raised up to be both ruler and deliverer 
for them. That's Stephen's defense. I want to draw out a couple of 
thoughts and then we'll close. First of all, obviously, the 
fact that he is not anti-temple. F.F. Bruce makes this observation, 
the God who revealed himself to Abraham in Mesopotamia and 
gave Joseph the assurance of his presence in Egypt, now communicated 
with Moses by vision and voice in Midian, far from the frontiers 
of the Holy Land. That spot of Gentile territory 
was holy ground for the sole reason that God manifested Himself 
to Moses there. See, some have read Stephen's 
defense and they say, well, he doesn't really defend himself. 
He doesn't answer the charges that he's anti-Moses and anti-law. 
I hope I've shown you that that's exactly what he's doing. And 
then they say, well, he didn't finish the sermon. Oh, he finished 
it all right. He absolutely positively finished 
it. He didn't need to say anything 
more. What he said was enough to get their goat in such a way 
that they drove him out of the city to murder him. Stephen is 
a masterful theologian. Stephen takes their history and 
their scriptures and defends himself with it. And these men 
got it. They understood. They disagreed, 
but they understood. Secondly, the typological significance 
of Moses. A type, for those who are not 
savvy, is simply something that you find in the Old Testament. 
Could be a person, could be a place, could even be an event that points 
forward to something greater. Typically, we think of types. 
Typically types. That was interesting, yeah. Isaac's 
liking that one. Typically, types are somebody 
in the Old Testament that typifies, shows us something about Jesus. 
David is a type of Christ, obviously. A king. Melchizedek, we studied 
on Wednesday night, he was a type. He was a priest king. But Moses 
is a type of Jesus here, isn't he? You can't miss it. And this 
is what Stephen is saying. Moses and Jesus were both called 
by God for specific service, to be ruler and deliverer. Again, 
just a bit of a change of the word. Deliverer for Moses, Savior 
for Jesus, end result the same. Secondly, they both performed 
signs and wonders. Moses did in Egypt, Red Sea, 
wilderness. Jesus did in the three years 
of his ministry, glorious and wondrous things. And Moses and 
Jesus were both, by and large, rejected by Israel. That's an 
unfortunate thing, isn't it? It's just a pathetic thing. I 
tried to point out last week when that man says to Moses, 
that fighting man says, are you going to do to me like you did 
to that Egyptian yesterday? If that man had half a brain, 
he'd say, please do to more Egyptians what you did yesterday to get 
us out of this mess. No, we're going to reject the 
very gift that God gives us because we know better, because we don't 
want Him to rule over us. John Gill says that Moses was 
an eminent type of the Messiah, and the redemption of the people 
of Israel out of the Egyptian bondage by him was emblematical 
of redemption from the bondage of sin, Satan, and the law by 
Jesus Christ. And as Moses had his mission 
and commission from God, so had Jesus Christ as mediator. And 
as Moses was despised by his brethren and yet made the ruler 
and deliverer of them, so though Jesus was set at naught by the 
Jews, yet he was made both Lord and Christ and exalted to be 
a prince and savior. And I want to end on this note. 
Moses was sent to be a ruler and a deliverer over a people 
that were in earthly bondage. Jesus is sent to be a ruler and 
a savior over people who are in spiritual bondage. Now, there 
is an oppression connected to slavery that I do not doubt is 
palpable. I have not been a slave. I don't 
know that experience experientially, but certainly the children of 
Israel knew this. They knew what oppression was. 
They knew what it was to have harsh taskmasters. They knew 
what it was to produce when they weren't given the sufficient 
means to produce. They knew all that. There's an 
oppression we're all very familiar with and it's the oppression 
of sin. It's what Jesus speaks of in Matthew chapter 11. Come 
to me all you who are weary and heavy laden. That weariness and 
heavy ladenness there isn't due to physical slavery. That weariness 
and heaviness is due to your sin. Sin's no friend to you. Kids, never get it in your head 
that sin is a good taskmaster. Sin always pays good dividends. 
Sin never does. Sin is always bad. There's never 
a shining edge on that dark cloud of sin. It's just not there. 
It's a lie from the devil. It might be a lie from your friends. 
It might be a lie from your own heart that, yeah, you do this 
and it will be really good. It's never good. It's a harsh 
taskmaster. Jesus speaks about those who 
commit sin as being what? Slaves of sin in John chapter 
8. There's an oppression. Psalm 
130, a psalm that celebrates the glorious forgiveness of God. 
The psalmist starts off by saying, out of the depths I have cried 
to you, O Lord. Why is he in the depths? Well, 
it was David. He was hunted like a dog by Saul 
and by Philistines. He was hated by men. His own 
son usurped his authority. No, that's not why. Out of the 
depths I have cried to you. We know what those depths are 
as we proceed through the psalm. It says, If thou, Lord, shouldst 
mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? The reality of this 
holy God and my sinful self means that I'm in these depths of despair. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark 
iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But, there's a great but 
there, but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be 
feared. You may be oppressed today sorely, not by Egyptian 
taskmasters, but by Satan and sin. There's hope in the ruler 
and savior. There's hope in the Lord Jesus. There's hope in the one who says, 
come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will rest 
you. I will give you rest. He says, 
take my yoke upon you. Learn from me. My burden is light. My yoke is easy. There's certainly 
a yoke in the Christian life, not yokeless, but it's easy. It's light. It's blessed. It's 
empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is according to God's will. 
So if you are in oppression today, come to the Savior. Come to the 
Lord Jesus. Come to the one in whom there 
is forgiveness. Well, let us pray. Father, thank you for your Word. 
Thank you for this account.