Stephen’s sermon (2) 120 Years of Moses
Acts 7:20-45; 6/4/2023; BCBC/IOUC; Rev. Paul Wang
Introduction
How to treat Moses has been an important proposition for God’s people for 3,500 years. This is also an observation of point, line, and surface, including the inspection and selection of the spiritual life of the believers today. Let’s look at the first point:
The first forty years of grace
Why did Stephen mention Moses? This is related to the spiritual life of Moses. The relationship between Moses and God is extremely close and fascinating. First, born of suffering. Who would have predicted that Joseph the specially privileged person would die, and the Bible says: “all that generation died. (Exodus 1:6)” What’s more frightening is that times have changed and things have changed. The Bible says: “Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. (Exodus 1:8)” The decades of peace that the Israelites have enjoyed are over, and the suffering has begun. This is somewhat similar to the situation of our Chinese churches today, right? After decades of reform and opening up, the number of churches has increased and the exaggeration has also increased. The number of Christians in China exceeds 100 million, surpassing the number of the Communist Party. The new pharaoh of Egypt said, well, since that’s the case, we’ll “put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor. (Exodus 1:11)” As a result, churches were destroyed, crosses were torn down, and believers were arrested until now.
Second, it coincides with grace. While God allows suffering to befall believers, He will also leave grace behind. The general environment at that time was to exterminate the male babies of the Hebrews, but at the same time, God also prepared a God-fearing midwife. God is gracious to those who fear Him, and so is the midwife. “And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. (Exodus 1:21)” The original text of “gave them families of their own” means to build a house, which is a great favor to midwives of low social status. Not only that, God also allows: “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. (Acts 7:20)” ”Fine” is what is mentioned in the Pentateuch, but the word “extraordinary” is a reinterpretation added by Stephen, and it is also the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit to people. A pleasing child, even if he is abandoned, is accompanied by the grace that delights him.
Finally, mutual effect. As soon as Moses was born, God made all things work together for the future good of the Israelites. When Moses’ parents saw that they could not hide Moses, “she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. (Exodus 2:3)” This is the protection that parents did their best to protect Moses from the persecution of Pharaoh. Next was Miriam, Moses’ sister, who was watching over Moses. She had been following the papyrus basket downstream, watching from afar to see how God would control Moses’ destiny. At this time, God raised up Pharaoh’s daughter from Pharaoh’s family, and out of mercy to adopt him. God once again moved Miriam to be wise, she asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” (Exodus 2:7)” God miraculously allowed Moses’ mother to breastfeed her own child, which actually made all things work together! Let’s look at the second point:
The second forty years of training
Time flies, and forty years pass by without knowing it. ”The Bible says that “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. (Acts 7:23)” First, keep the conscience. Moses was born in suffering, walked with God’s grace, and was full of God’s power. Pharaoh’s daughter named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water. (Exodus 2:10)” Through what happened from childhood to adulthood, the Holy Spirit continued to remind Moses of who he was, of whom, of whom he was born, of whom he belonged, and the purpose of his life. Although he grew up in the Egyptian royal palace, he never forgot that he was a Hebrew, with the blood of God’s chosen people flowing in his body, and he grew up on the milk of a Hebrew, who was also his own mother. This is in stark contrast to Yang Kang in The Legend of the Condor Heroes, or Wan Yankang’s life of forgetting his conscience. So, what is your conscience and mine? Paul commands us: “ have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:5)” Excuse me, is this your conscience? Is this our common conscience? May I ask, are you willing to keep your conscience for God?
Second, discipleship equipment. Now that one has a heart for the Lord, that is, one who believes in the Lord, the first thing to do is to receive discipleship training from God. When Moses described his upbringing, he did not talk about the studies and training he received in the Egyptian palace. Instead, Stephen used the microscope of the New Testament to reveal: “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. (Acts 7:22)” If even the knowledge of the Egyptians is the content of learning, why should we refuse to study the theology of the Bible? What Stephen said was “all learning”, not picking what one likes to learn. Egyptian learning represented the most advanced and comprehensive knowledge and wisdom at that time. Of course, in addition to knowledge equipment, speaking and acting are more important talents. Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a ruling rightly given.
Finally, deal with flesh. When something happens suddenly, people’s first reaction is to manifest their spiritual life. Moses, who was forty years old, should have been calm, but he still acted in the flesh and had no bottom line. Moses wielded the big knife of Jewish nationalism, and under the banner of patriotism and love for the people, he killed all non-my races! Seeing an Egyptian bully his fellow Israelites, the Bible records: “Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. (Exodus 2:12)” Judging from today’s American law, this is also an obvious crime of murder. When Moses was still immersed in his own moral court and complacent, his compatriots whom he upheld justice for directly slapped him in the face and said: “Who made you ruler and judge over us? (Exodus 2:14)” In this way, Moses fled into the wilderness in fear, avoiding Pharaoh’s battle, 度過他第二個四十年光陰，spent his second forty years, married a wife and had children in Midian, and waited for God’s call. Let’s look at the third point:
The third forty years ordained
The background of the encounter between Moses and God at Mount Horeb is “God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. (Exodus 2:24)” First, God gives vision. How did Moses spend his forty years in the wilderness? There are not many descriptions of this in the Bible, but it is known that he was already eighty years old when he received the vision. When a person reaches the age of eighty, he still leads a flock of sheep to the wild, which shows that it takes time to reduce a person’s hostility. In particular, Moses’ murderous arrogance required the strength bestowed by God in peace and stability. The indestructible bush has two meanings: one is God’s steadfastness to the Israelites, and the other is God’s steadfastness to Moses. Take off your sandals, get rid of your old self, accept my mission, embark on your journey, let’s go! At this time, Moses had already worn away the arrogance and habits of the “second generation reds”, and reflected on himself with a heart of mourning. God encouraged him and said, I am who I am, and I am the one who gave you the vision and sent you on your way.
Second, lead out of Egypt. God gave Moses: the first vision, the second mission, the third faith, and the fourth core values. God appeared in the flames of a burning bush of indestructible love, from which Moses knew that God is love! Not only that, but God is also a covenant-keeping and loving God. People would change, but God never changes! God-given visions will carry power and majesty and declare God to be the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Because of meeting God and receiving the direction and mission of leaving Egypt and entering Canaan, I ask you, Pharaoh, to allow us to go to the wilderness to worship our God. After leaving Egypt, the people of Israel rebelled against God, complained to God, worshiped idols, and had no heart of gratitude. As a result, they walked in the wilderness for forty years, Moses died on Mount Nebo, and only Joshua and Caleb remained in the generation that came out of Egypt.
Finally, live in style. Obviously, after getting out of Egypt, spiritual life still needs to continue to grow. The grace bestowed by God is leaving the pattern of life: there is the ark of the covenant with the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, and the tabernacle where the ark of the testament is placed, and the ark of the testament and the tabernacle will be moved into the land of inheritance and will last until David’s day. If it is said that the ark and the tabernacle are the shadows of God’s revelation, then Jesus Christ himself came to reveal the mystery to us. Jesus Christ is called the descendant of David, and His incarnation lived out the way, the truth, and the life for us. Paul said, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (Philippians 2:6-7)” His sacrifice of life and the washing of the disciples’ feet became the pattern for us to imitate.
Conclusion
Well, thank the Lord! The three forty years of Moses showed us three stages of spiritual growth: gaining grace in suffering, being equipped in adversity, giving in mission, and living out the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Let us pray……
Acts 7:20-45
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family.
21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.
22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites.
24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian.
25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.
26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?
28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.
31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say:
32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’
35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
36 He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.
37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’
38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.
39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’
41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.
42 But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: “‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
43 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon.
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.
45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David,
