“I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear” (Acts 7:34-37.) “I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.” The repeated phrase is likely translated “surely” (King James translation of Exodus 3:7) or “certainly.” That’s not incorrect, as in Hebrew (and in the whole Bible), repetition is emphasis. Thus, “Verily verily” = “I really mean it.” God is the God of truth and often (too often, for us thick-headed humans) He must repeat Himself (then we’re all, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”) God is also the God of timing, the Lord Who gives each of us his or her task, as He does here, adding a promise that if God sends, success awaits. “I have heard their groaning” is something of a tautology: God ALWAYS hears us. Why doesn’t He answer? He did. He very often wants you to wait and use this that is oh-so-important to you to develop your rehearsing prayer that is very important to Him. God loves you so much that He wants to hear from you; too often, His leaving us with problems is the only way He gets that which He wants. How hard was this for God? Go back to vs. 18-23 and realize God has heard the Israelites’ groaning for 40, then 80 years before THEY were in a position to accept the deliverance God had for them. “And am come down” is a great phrase putting the whole event in God’s terms: wherever we are, He is “up” (not down), which means He sees us always (including in the dark with His infrared goggles.) Nothing blocks God’s view of us, so whenever He works to help us, He “comes down.” God deigns to help us. His grace is the greatest condescension, ever, and it happens many times for many people each day . . . starting with 7,777,777,777 people on this planet who are still alive, not immediately judged and sent to eternal judgment for disobedience right now. God comes down to deliver the Israelites and we make much of that, and well we should; we also should make much of the fact that He deigns to deliver us EACH DAY. “I will send thee to Egypt” is a phrase we are to notice and remember. “This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.” Stephen now refers back to the previous history (v. 27, spoken by a man who not only didn’t know he’d be perpetually quoted but quoted as speaking for his entire nation!) “This Moses, whom they refused” = even the one being wronged didn’t speak up for Moses, his own deliverer, to at least second Moses’ nomination. NO ONE wanted Moses to deliver them then, so they got to wait another 40 years (and even then, almost not.) This one the Israelites rejected God sent anyway: tough beans, pal, God’s will is God’s will and you don’t fight God’s will (you merely arrange your own hurt and death in the useless effort.) God sends Moses as Ruler and Judge in spite of what Israel wanted, echoing a later event: “the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush” is Who else later wears some thorns. “He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.” Moses proved his veracity as prophet in the wilderness by succeeding at the task God gave him. The only difference is that Moses had 1 moment where he let his emotions get away from him and he disobeyed. Jesus always controlled His emotions (later, you can hash out how long one would spend assembling a whip by hand) and always obeyed His Father and our Father to be our obedient Redeemer. As Jesus “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38), so Moses performed “signs and wonders” or supernatural events proving the validity of his calling and testimony. Thus, those who choose to keep what they imagine they have instead of glorify God first pick a fight with those supernatural events we call “miracles.” The most reliable document on the planet details multiple miracles, leaving us questioning whether folks such as Alexander the Great, Emperor Augustus Caesar, or George Washington existed (if you’ll doubt one, you might as doubt all of them.) Like the Communists, they hope to get away with re-writing history. “This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.” Stephen then pins down his conclusion by quoting Moses’ declaration of his successor: “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken” (Deuteronomy 18:15.) 1) Yehovah raises Him or appoints Him (not some puny human.) 2) From your midst (Luke 17:21.) 3) Of your brethren or a fellow Israelite. The prophecy Jacob gave at the end of his life (Genesis 49) specified that He would be of the tribe of Judah (not one of the other 11.) Since we have here a prophecy, “God shall raise up unto you,” y’all should really be expecting that to be fulfilled . . . not fighting and assassinating anyone who looks to fulfill that because your power seems threatened.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 18:51:29 +0000
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