Shabbat Shalom, everyone. I'd like you please to turn again to Acts chapter 7 today. We are going to deal with the second section of Acts 7. Really, Stephen recalling to mine, as he's speaking to the Sanhedrin in the city of Jerusalem, he's recalling before them the life of Moses. We call him in Hebrew, Moshe Rabbeinu, Moses, our lawgiver. And Stephen, of course, as a Jewish believer from the dispersion, who immigrated to the land of Israel, and accepted Yeshua the Messiah, and became part of the assembly in the city of Jerusalem, is now, is being challenged by those who accuse him in chapter 6, if you remember, who accuse him as he is the one who is blaspheming and speaking against God, against Moses, against the law.

And here Stephen is now in this long speech, bringing to the surface this man by the name of Moses before the elders of Israel. And I'm going to read today, beginning from verse 17, where he really, you can see it, bring these three periods of time in the history of Moses. Moses died when he was 120 years old, and his life was divided into really three sections. And Stephen brings it about the time that he lived in Egypt, under the learning of the Egyptians, the time that he lived in the wilderness, in the desert, under the learning of the school of God, and the time that he led his people Israel out of Egypt to the promised land, as he was the leader, the servant of God in the midst of the nation of Israel.

And you notice how beautifully Stephen divide the history of Moses into three times 40 years. And he began actually in verse 17. And he says, When the time of promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people drew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. The same dealt subtly with our kindred and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. In which time Moses was born, and was exceedingly fair and nourished up in his father's house for three months. And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.

And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And he was mighty in words and in deed. And when he was full 40 years old, it came to his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffering, he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed, and he smote the Egyptian. For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them. But they understood not. And the next day he showed himself unto them, as they strove, and would have set them one again, saying, "Sir, ye are brethren, why do ye wrong one to another?" But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, and he said, "Who made thee ruler and a judge over us?" "Will thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptians yesterday?" Then fled Moses, this saying, and he was a stranger in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons.

And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wandered at the sight, and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, "I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." In Hebrew we say, "Elohei Abraham, Elohei Yitzchak, Elohei Yaakov." Then Moses trembled, and darest not to behold. Then said the Lord to him, "Put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place where thou standest is a holy ground." "I have seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and I have 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 unto him in the bush?" He brought them out.

After that, he had shown 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 from your brethren, like unto me, him shall ye hear." This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the Mount Sinai, "And with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto us, to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them. And in their hearts turned back again unto Egypt, saying unto Aaron, "Make us gods, to go before us, for as for this Moses which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what become of him." "And they made a calf in those days, and they offered sacrifice unto idols, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands." "And they said unto them, as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?" "Yeh, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your God Ramphan, figures which ye made to worship them, and I will carry you away beyond Babylon." "Now I am going to stop here with the reading, and I would like us dear brothers and sisters today in this ministry meeting to focus on the person of Moses, which Stephen is now bringing to the surface as he was speaking to the Sanhedrin two thousand years ago.

Now bear in mind, brothers and sisters, that Stephen was under pressure. Stephen was this Hebrew believer, who was testifying concerning Yeshua the Messiah to his own brethren, the nation of Israel, and because of his testimony to them, and because they could not resist the wisdom and the spiritual power that he had, they sought to find accusation against Stephen. And so they caught him, as we read already in chapter 6, and they paid money to those individuals that accused him of blaspheming. And if you look back in chapter 6 and verse 11, these people said to him, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God." They stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and they caught him and they brought him to the council, and they raised false witnesses against Stephen, which they said, "This man does not stop to speak blasphemy against this holy place and against the law.

For we have heard him saying that this Yeshua from Nazareth shall destroy this place and shall change the customs which Moses delivered unto us." And they sat him there in the council and they looked at Stephen and they saw his face as he had the face of an angel. I think it's so precious to emphasize it in this presentation again. Remember, this is actually the second session that we are speaking about, Acts chapter 7, and I'm just re-emphasizing the fact that Stephen is here before the council, his face shining as the face of an angel. And why did it shine as the face of an angel?

Because he was taken up with the beauty of Yeshua the Messiah. His face radiant. And the people looked at him, they looked at him in a unique way they could see a man that was occupied with God, with the Messiah. And he was now accused by his own brethren, by the elders of his own people Israel, and he's sitting there in the midst. And he began to share with them one of the longest messages that we have in the book of Acts. The whole chapter 7 is devoted to Stephen's testimony to his own people. We have talked about the first part last week, the first verses, verses 1 to 16.

And today from verse 17 to verse 43 is the second portion of the testimony of Stephen. He has spoken about Abraham before, he has spoken about Joseph before, and now he's moving on to this man by the name of Moses, and he's showing to them, to these brethren, that just like Joseph of old, was rejected by the nation at the first time, and accepted by the brethren in the second time that they have dealt with him. Here you can see that he showed them that Moses was just the same, was rejected by the nation of Israel. And then, in a sense, they are showing here that they accepted him after when he came to deliver them out of Egypt.

And what he's really telling them, we are talking about Yeshua the Messiah. You are rejecting the Messiah. You have done so with Joseph. You have done so with Moses. And I'm going to show it to you, he's saying to them from the history of Moses. So what does he do here? He gives them the division of the history of Moshe. And by the way, Moshe, when we are talking among our people today, we talk about the law, the Torah. Moses' law was an ellipse of our people, our brethren, the people of Israel, all the time. You often hear our people say, did you read the Torah?

What is said in the Torah? What the Torah tells us? What the law tells us? And they always have a reference to Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Every time you would speak with our people, what the Torah says. What the Torah, Moses' law, what Torah Moshe teaching us, our people would say. And here Stephen shows us the history of Israel in the period of time when the Torah was given, that even then there was violation, disobedience to the God of their fathers through Moses, the lawgiver. I would like you just to go back for a moment to Deuteronomy chapter 34. And I want you to see the death of Moses at the end of his life.

Deuteronomy chapter 34, just a couple of verses there. It says in verse five. So Moses, the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beit Peor. But no one knows the sepulcher of Moses until this day. And Moses was hundred and twenty years when he died. His eyes was not dim, nor his natural force abated. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. Here in Deuteronomy chapter 34, verses five to eight, we have the record of the death of Moses.

And there we find out how old Moses was when he died. Moses was hundred and twenty years. And by the way, this is an expression that is often mentioned in Israel, in Jerusalem. Wherever you walk in Israel, when somebody, they ask him, "How old are you?" He says, "I'm twenty-five." They say, "Until hundred and twenty." "How old are you?" "I'm fifty-eight." "Well, we wish you until hundred and twenty." This wishing of our people for each other to live as long as Moshe lived, 120 years he lived, and he was used by God immensely. And Stephen now bring the story of Moses here into the surface. And so, first of all, in Acts 7, verses 17, 18, and 19, after he spoke about Joseph in Egypt, he tells the Sanhedrin of Israel being under the Egyptian slavery.

Look, it says in these next verses, verse 17, "But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose which knew no Joseph. The same dealt subtly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers so that they cast out their young children to the end that they might not live." Stephen looked back to the history of our people Israel in Egypt, and he reminded them of the slavery that the Jewish people, the Hebrews, have experienced for a long time, 430 years in the land of Egypt. He told them of the time of promise drew nigh.

God had promised to Abraham that Israel will be in the land of Egypt for about 400 years. And the time came up. And here is the time that is drawing nigh to the time when Israel are going to be delivered out of Egypt. And here he is saying that the people of Israel grew up and multiplied, but there rose a king who did not know Joseph. The new king that rose now, in verse 18, recorded in Exodus chapter 1, he arose, but he didn't know Joseph. In other words, it's not that he didn't know about Joseph, but he didn't know Joseph in a sense of having a relationship with Joseph.

Joseph's descendants. This king, when he saw that the Hebrews are multiplying and growing and becoming a great nation, he was very much afraid and very much concerned for the Egyptians, for the land of Egypt. And so what did he do? He began to enslave the Hebrews. It says in verse 19, And the same dealt subtly with our kindred and even entreated our fathers. You know that Stephen, though he was a believer in Yeshua, the Messiah, never for a moment disassociated himself with the rest of the unbelieving nation, meaning that he called them our kindred. He called them our fathers. In the beginning of his testimony here, he called the people men and brethren and fathers.

They were his people. But they have not believed in the Messiah. They were not saved. He was a believer in the Messiah. He was a child of God. And he's telling them, look at the way that our people were treated in the time that they were in the land of Egypt. They were dealt in a subtly way. They were entreated evil and so on. And he said, up to the extent that Pharaoh, this one who did not know Joseph, wanted the children of the Hebrews to die. And you remember, when the Hebrew boys were born, Pharaoh went and he told the midwives, listen, when you see a boy come out from their mother, he said, don't allow him to live.

Let him die. And if a girl is being born, allow her to live. He sought to destroy the nation of Israel. Pharaoh, of course, being a type of Satan, who always seek to destroy the people of God, always in opposition against the people of God. Here we see Pharaoh as a picture and a type of Satan who seek to destroy the people of God. So what did he say at the end? And if you remember, in the book of Exodus, he actually told them to cast the boys into the river, to the Nile. And here the story of Moses began. Here in this chapter, from verse 20 to 28, we see the first 40 years of Moses' life.

So let's begin here. First of all, you notice his birth. Very precious is in verse 20. In which time Moses was born. And he was exceeding fair and nourished up in his father's house for three months. Now, you notice that it says the expression here in verse 20, he was exceedingly fair. Now, what does that mean? Every baby that is born, that you and I would look at a baby that is born, they are beautiful. There is a certain attractiveness, usually, in little babies that are born. But this expression, exceedingly fair, is really, is an expression that comes from the Hebrew, exceedingly fair unto the Lord. In other words, God had a purpose for that little baby that was born.

He had a plan for this baby that is born to his mom and dad in the land of Egypt. So this expression, he was exceeding fair, is taken from Exodus 2. And also from Hebrews 11, he was exceeding fair, beautiful unto the Lord. As the Lord had a purpose for this little baby that was born. His mother and father preserved him for three months, it says here. Three months, his mother and father had preserved him, hid him from Pharaoh, hid him from the Egyptians. They kept him. And of course, they could only do it for so long. But they saw that he was a proper child unto the Lord, that he had a purpose by God, a special purpose for him.

So they have kept him in their home for those three months. Then, what happened? After a while, they could not keep him any longer. It says here in verse 21, when he was cast out, that is cast out to the river Nile. Then Pharaoh's daughter took him up and she nourished him for her own son. Now you can see God's hand here without the Lord even speaking. You can see in a sense, God have a purpose for this child. His mother and father have kept him for those three months. They couldn't do it any longer according to Exodus chapter 2. So they end up putting him in a river and they have his sister looking up for him.

But lo and behold, Pharaoh's daughter is going to bathe in the river Nile. And her servant saw this special little ark that was made for him by his family. He was preserved and protected there until the daughter of Pharaoh found him and she took him. And you can see the wisdom of God that she took him. And according to verse 21, which is in connection with Exodus chapter 2, she took him to be as her own son. So he grew up in the land of Egypt under the Egyptian influence. It says in verse 22 about his growth, Moses was learning all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And he was mighty in words and in deeds.

You know, here Moses is growing. He is a Jewish Hebrew Israeli boy, but he's growing in the world. He's growing under the influence of the Egyptians in the palace of Pharaoh. Pharaoh's daughter taking him as her own son and he's growing. But not only that he's growing physically. According to these verses, Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. In a sense, dear brothers and sisters, it's a type and a picture of a person that is very learned here in the wisdom of this world. All the ones that are educated by the world system. They know many things about science. They know many things about math and geography and history and that they bright of law and all the things that they can learn here in this world.

That's what Moses was learning there as he grew up in Egypt. Do you remember when Daniel was taken captive to Babylon with his three friends? Do you remember what the Babylonians sought to do to Daniel and his friends? They wanted to change their names from Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Instead of being occupied with the living God of Israel, to be occupied with the gods of the Babylonians. But they also sought to teach them with the books of the Babylonians. So they will learn from the teaching of the pagan world instead of learning the truth of the God of the Hebrews, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Here we see Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was mighty in words and also in deeds. He could have said, look at me. I have so much wisdom of the world. I have so much knowledge. He could elevate himself, dear brothers and sisters. That's what he could do. But you know, Moses was called by God. He was chosen by God for a service, for a purpose. And even though he had all the wisdom of Egypt, as it says here in our chapter. The writer to the book of Hebrews reminds us in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 24. By faith, Moses, when he came to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season.

You see, he was so much educated. He was so bright in his knowledge and the wisdom that he had of all the Egyptian learning that he had known. And by the way, at that time, Egypt was the world. The world came to Egypt. When the world was hungry, they went to Egypt. When the world needed to learn, they went to Egypt. And the wisdom that he had learned under Pharaoh's daughter and Pharaoh's teachers. He was mighty in words and in deeds. Now, you would think, when a person is in a time like that, who does he need? Who should he care for? I don't care about the people of God, he could say.

But look what we read about him. After these 40 years of learning, it says the first time mentioned in Acts chapter 7 and verse 23 to 28, we see the care that he had for his brethren, the Hebrews. It says here in this verse 23, when he was full 40 years old, it came unto his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. I think it's so precious, brothers and sisters. Now, I know Stephen is sharing this with the Sanhedrin, the history of his people. He doesn't, in a sense, pause here to meditate. He doesn't have any time for that. But when you think about it, that Moses cared for his brethren, the Hebrews, who were slaves.

Though he was sitting there in the palace, though he was learned with all the education of the Egyptians, though as it was mighty words, and indeed, he cared for his brethren, the Hebrews, who were slaves. And so he went unto his brethren, it says here in this verse 23, it came into his heart. I don't know if you watched the movie, the 10th Commandment, and you watched Charleston Heston there. It was growing up and becoming great in Egypt. And of course, he discovered that he was a Hebrew only when he was 40 years of age, but not according to the Bible. According to the Bible, Moses knew all along that he was a Hebrew.

He knew all along about his brethren, the Hebrews. He actually had so much burden for them, but the time was not yet come. And when he was 40 years of age, he laid it on his heart. His heart was moved to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And now notice what he did. He wanted to deliver Israel. So what it says here in the next verse 23, 24, 25, he approaching his brethren. He's seeking to help them understand that he was called by God to deliver them, but they didn't understand him. In fact, what we find out that they really refused him. Look at that. He says in verse 23, when he was full 40 years, it came to his heart to visit his brother and the children of Israel.

Verse 24. "Seeing one of them suffering wrong, he defended him. And he avenged him that was oppressed and he smote the Egyptian." Verse 25. "For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them, but they understood not." You see, Moses wanted to serve God in delivering his people out of the Egyptian slavery, but his brethren didn't understand him. He came out and he took this Egyptian. If you, again, the text is in connection with Exodus chapter 2. He went and he took this Egyptian who did something wrong to the Hebrews. The Hebrews were slaves. He took that Egyptian man and he killed him.

If you read the text in the book of Exodus, you find he hid him somewhere and sighed. So, he thought his brother will understand him. He thought they will accept the fact that he was raised by God for them to deliver them out of Egypt. But the Bible tells us they did not understand him. By the way, just like today, our own brethren do not understand the Messiahship of Yeshua. They do not understand. In fact, the Bible tells the blindness in part happened to Israel until the fullness of the gentle become in. Israel do not understand that the Messiah came to deliver them and they refused him.

Look at the next approach of Moses to his people in verse 26, 27, and 28. Look at that. It says, And the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove and he would have set them at one again. Now, there are apparently two Hebrews, nothing new, eh? Two Hebrews were having a conflict with each other. You know, you heard this expression, two Hebrews or two Jews, three opinion. Well, the point is, here's two Jewish people, two Hebrews who were active against each other and he wanted to set them at one, to unite them. And so what happened? And so what happened? He said to them, sirs, you are brethren.

Why do you do wrong one to another? And then he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away. And he said, who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Who made thee a ruler? And he continued, he said, you're going to kill me as you have killed this Egyptian yesterday? You see, his brethren misunderstood him, but more than misunderstood him. They rejected him. See, the point that Stephen is trying to teach here, the elders of Israel, the Sanhedrin, 2,000 years ago, is that just the same as they reject the Messiahship of Yeshua right now as he was speaking to them, it is a repeated history of our own nation.

When God sent leaders, and God sent servants, and God sent prophets, and he sent messengers, and again and again this repeated in history that there was a rejection of those that were sent by God. Now, let me tell you, the church is not much better in the last 2,000 years. The church have done the very same thing, even worse, in rejection of those whom God has sent to serve the body of Messiah over the 2,000 years of church history. But nevertheless, Stephen is right now, is occupied with his own nation, the nation of Israel, as he's preaching to them or sharing with them about the Messiahship of Yeshua.

And so you can see that the first 40 years of the life of Moses, he was learned in the Egyptian teaching, the Egyptian wisdom, picture of Moses as a learned man here in this world with all what the world can teach, with all the wisdom and the knowledge that the world can teach. His brethren have rejected him when he appealed to them and sought to deliver them and to help them. Well, now he is moving to the second part of the life of Moses, which is really in between his first part in the world in Egypt and the second part in serving God. Here he is speaking about Moses' experience in the desert, in the wilderness, alone with God.

In verses 29 to 34 is the second 40 years of Moses' life. He begins with verse 29, and he speaks about his life in the desert land of Midian. It says in verse 29, "Then fled Moses at this saying, and he was a stranger in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons." That takes us back now to the time that Moses lived in the land of Midian. It takes us to the book of Exodus, chapter 2, verses 15 on. You remember how he fled from Egypt because Pharaoh wanted to kill him. He went to the wilderness, and he was there for 40 years with God in the wilderness of Midian. And here we learn also a very important thing.

Before Moses could serve God in delivering his people out of the land of Egypt, Moses really needed to unlearn all what he had learned in Egypt and be in the school of God in the wilderness alone with God. And then God will teach him things that he can teach him in order to be a true servant of God among his own people. That's also applied to us, dear brothers and sisters. We also need to spend time alone with God in the desert, if you will. We also need to give God his time in order for us to be useful in the ministry of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah.

We cannot just like because of human wisdom that we have and a natural ability that we have, we cannot be used by God unless we go through what is known to be the Bible called the school of God. Paul, Shaul, was for 14 years in the desert also in the school of God. Elijah needed to flee away and get some time alone with the Lord to learn at the school of God. Joseph, when we read about him, had to be away from his family in a time when he was under tremendous pressure to be in the school of God. And then he could be used by the Lord among his own brethren, among his own nation.

Well, Moses now in verse 29 on is now in the wilderness of Midian. And here is the second time the word 40 years mentioned is in verse 30 and 31. We see the Lord appear unto Moses after 40 years in the desert. Look what it says. And when 40 years were expired, these 40 years is the wilderness experience of 40 years. Not in Egypt, not the 40 years when he was in Egypt there and learned from the wisdom of the Egyptians, but these 40 years he was alone in the wilderness in the school of God. When 40 years were expired, there appeared unto him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in the bush.

When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. And as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him. Beautiful to see. That takes us back to Exodus chapter 3. After Moses got married, he had two children. According to this verse, it says here that he had two sons here in verse 29. And now God is ready to take Moses and to send him to bring his people out of the land of Egypt. So he spoke to him. And you remember the beautiful story. He called him from the flame of the fire from the midst of the bush. And the bush is there.

Can you imagine the bush in a desert? And in the middle of the bush, there is fire that's rising up. And yet, according to Exodus, the bush is not burnt. The fire is rising. The bush is surrounding that fire. But the bush is not consumed, is not burnt. God is intending to teach Moses a lesson concerning the people of Israel. Israel, the nation, is under fire. They became slaves in Egypt. The Egyptians seek to destroy them, to consume them, to throw the sons to the river. So the nation will consume. And God says no. Israel is in the midst of the persecution, in the midst of fire.

But the nation, as a nation, will not be consumed. The fire is right in the midst. They are under pressure. They are under persecution. But the nation is going to remain because God has a purpose for this nation. And so Moses saw it. He was wandering at this sight. And he drew near. And behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him. Verse 31. And for verse 32, 33, and 34, the Lord is calling Moses for the service that he had for him. And he said to him, I am the God of thy father. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. You notice, he does not say, I was the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

He says, I am. In other words, as far as God is concerned, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Abraham, Yitzhak, Yaakov, even though they have left his sin, they are still alive. And far as God is concerned, he is not the God of the dead, but he is the God of the living. And so he is saying to Moses, I am the God of your fathers. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then Moses trembled. And he darest not look, as it says here in verse 32. Then the Lord said to him, put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place where you stand is a holy ground.

The place where Moses came on the mount is the presence of God. And Moses had to remove his shoes because the holiness of God was there. And God told Moses, you have to recognize that you are going to stand here. You are standing here and you are going to serve the living God. You are on a holy ground. And so God said to Moses, beautiful. I have seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt. I have heard the groaning and I am come down to deliver them. And now I will send you unto Egypt. Notice everything comes from God. Not from men. God has seen.

God has heard. God has come down. And God is sending his servant for the nation of Israel. Totally from God. Everything is because God's grace. God's care for his nation. Totally from God's side. Think of it, brothers and sisters. Again, in the light of what Stephen is trying to teach the elders here. It is not that Israel sought after the Messiah. It's not that you and I sought after Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah. Not at all. In fact, men by nature said to God, I don't want you to be part of my life. But God, see the need. He has seen. He has heard. He has cared for the need of mankind.

And he is sending the deliverer to bring Israel out of Egypt. He sent the Messiah to deliver us from our sins. And so, he is telling Moses, he is saying, listen, now I am going to send you unto Egypt. Now, from these texts we learn that in the first time that Moses went to Israel, he simply misunderstood his timing. He thought that he is going to deliver Israel with his own strength. That's why he came at the age of 40 to help these two Hebrews, to help this other Hebrew by killing the Egyptian. He thought that he would understand that he was the deliverer. That was not the time.

He went too early, like sometimes we do things not in time. But here is the time for him to go to bring the nation out. He needed to go through some schooling, 40 years of schooling in the wilderness alone with God to make him suitable servant for the nation of Israel to be delivered. Well, we talked about the first 40 years of Moses' life in Egypt. We talked about the second 40 years of Moses' life in the wilderness alone with God. And now from verse 35 to verse 43, we learn about the third portion of the life of Moses, the third 40 years of Moses' life in service among his own people, the nation of Israel.

And now, look at this, verse 35. And I want you to notice that from here on, he mentioned a few times the word "this Moses". This Moses. Notice verse 35. This Moses. Look at verse 37. This is that Moses. Look at verse 38. This is he. Notice he emphasized the person that once already came and they refused him. And it is the same one who is going to come again. And this time he is going to deliver them. What he is really trying to show in connection with Yeshua. This Jesus. This Yeshua that you refuse to accept him in the first coming. It is this Yeshua that is going to be your deliverer at the end.

That's what the point that we learn here from these verses. Look, verse 35. It says, This Moses. Whom they refused. Saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? The same. This Moses. Did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared unto him in the bush. Stephen is saying to them. Listen. Brothers and sisters. Men. Brethren. The same one that our people of all have rejected in the time when he came years ago when our people were in Egypt. It is the same one that God has sent to deliver the nation out of Egypt. That's the same one, not another.

They said to him, Who made you a ruler? Who made you a judge over us? And then they had to learn that God made him a ruler over the nation of Israel. It was God who sent him to deliver them. In verse 36. In verse 36. This Moses was used of God to show all kinds of signs and wonders in the midst of the nation. He, this Moses. He, this Moses, brought them out. He, this Moses, brought them out. After that he had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness. Notice again, how long time? For 40 years.

Here's the third time the number 40 is mentioned in Acts chapter 7. That is the same Moses. That for 40 years, he was used by God for signs and wonders when they were in Egypt. Then when he brought them up in the Red Sea, it was signs and wonders to open the Red Sea in the midst of the nation. There, that they could go ahead. And then he said, it's the same Moses. He said that the Lord have raised. And then for 40 years, he led the nation in the wilderness. Now, do you think you and I know the story of our own brethren, our own nation, Israel, in the history of our people in the desert?

If we know that, we find out how much rebellion was against this Moses. And he's going to show this to us in the next verses. Look in verse 37. It was this Moses was the one who prophesied about the coming Messiah, the prophet. Look, I'm reading verse 37. It says, this is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, a prophet shall the Lord your God will raise up unto you of your own brethren like unto me, him you shall hear. One of the most precious messianic prophecies in the scripture is Deuteronomy chapter 18, where Moses telling the nation of Israel about the prophet that the Lord will raise from their midst.

And that that prophet is really speaking about the Messiah that will come. He's from the midst of the brethren. He's from among the nation of Israel. This man, Moses spoke about the coming Messiah, the prophet that the Lord will raise from the midst of the nation. And that is, by the way, a reference to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 18, verses 15 and 18. And then he continued about this Moses in verse 38. And he says, this is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which speck to him in Mount Sinai and with our fathers who receive the living oracles to give unto us.

Now, here's something technical that I think I should make a point here. You notice he says, this Moses which was in the church in the wilderness. That word for church is the Greek word ekklesia. Yes, called out ones. But the reference here is not to the called out ones, the church of the present day dispensation, which started in Acts chapter 2. The reference here to the called out nation of Israel, who was called out of Egypt to be a nation for God. And they were on a way to the promised land of Canaan. Many times you hear people that say that believe in replacement theology, they use this word, this verse in verse 38 of Acts chapter 7 to say, you see, Moses was part of the church.

But not understanding that that word church here does not apply to the present day heavenly company, the church of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, but it is applied specifically to the nation of Israel. They called out ones from Egypt to God in the wilderness 3,500 years ago. And how do we know when somebody tells you that this is applied to the church of the present day and that Moses was part of the church? You have to go to Acts chapter 19 and show, and I'm going to read those verses in Acts chapter 19, that sometime the word of God used the word ekklesia also to apply it to these Ephesians idol worshippers who were called also an assembly or church.

Look at Acts chapter 19 and verse 28 and on. When they heard this saying, they were full of anger. They cried out and they say, great is Diana of the Ephesians. The whole city was filled with confusion. Having caught Gaios and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companion in trouble. They rushed with one accord into the theater. And when Paul could have entreated in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desire him that he would not adventure himself into the theater. And look at verse 32. And look at verse 32. Some therefore cried one thing, and some another thing.

For the assembly, here's the word, the church, the ekklesia, was confused. And the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. You see, here the assembly applied to those people who lived in Ephesus who were worshipping Diana of the Ephesians. And it is important to distinguish here in Acts 7. And the verse that I've just read, verse 38, applied to the called out one from the nation of Israel in the wilderness. In Acts chapter 19, the called out, or the people who came out, were people who were pagan, worshippers of Diana, of the Ephesians. And you and I belong today to the church of the living God that is now is formed because of the finished work of Yeshua the Messiah.

We are part of the body of Messiah. Jew and Gentiles united in one body that Yeshua said, I will build my church. Matthew 16:18, speaking about the future church that he will build from the time that he was yet alive. He's speaking about the present day dispensation called out once. Anyway, I just had to mention that because oftentimes you hear those that say that the church of today is a continuation of Israel the nation. And it is not true. Israel is Israel. The church is the church. Israel is going to be called back to God, restored in the future day. And Israel have a promises in the land of Canaan.

It's an earthly blessing and earthly promises with spiritual blessing. But the church has a heavenly promises which are not here in this world. And so this must be said as we read verse 38 of Acts chapter 7. And so now let's quickly conclude this portion here. In verse 39, he's still speaking of Moses to the leaders of Israel. This Moses was not obeyed by the fathers in verse 39 to whom, to this Moses, our fathers would not obey. But they thrust him from them. And in their hearts, they turned back into Egypt. You see, what he's saying to them, this is the Moses that he wanted to deliver Israel.

He was called by God to deliver Israel. But the nation did not obey him. God had to deal with the nation in discipline. Just the same like the nation did not obey the word of Yeshua, the Messiah. When he says, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. But the nation did not accept him. And so in the next verses, verse 40 and 41, Israel asked Aaron to make them gods. And he says in verse 40, Saying unto Aaron, make us gods. To go before us. For as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what become of him.

So it says, They made calf in those days. They offered sacrifice unto idols. And they rejoiced in the works of their own hands. You see, Stephen is pointing out, he says, Look, you don't obey Yeshua the Messiah now. What's new? You didn't obey Joseph. You didn't obey Moses. And when he sought to deliver you, to bring you to the promised land, And instead of obeying him, focusing on God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you end up seeking another God. And so what Aaron did? They said to Aaron, Aaron, make us gods. Because we do not know what happened with this Moses. They went up to bring the law.

And instead of waiting on him, what did they do? They did not obey him. And they said to Aaron, make us gods. And what Aaron did? He made for them a calf. And they offer sacrifice unto idols. And they rejoice in the works of their own hands. What a sad picture Stephen was presenting before his own nation. And that's why they were not happy with him at all. Because the next verses he's pointing out now to the time of Israel dispersion and Israel captivity. The last verses in connection with Moses, verses 42 and 43. Israel time of idolatry, which led them to captivity. Verse 42. Then God turned and gave them up to the worship of the hosts of heaven.

As it is written in the book of the prophets. O ye house of Israel! Have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Now, this is a question that God asked Israel that he's quoted Amos chapter 5, verse 25, 26 and 27. Stephen knew the prophets. And he presented before his people the prophet Amos, the language that God was speaking to Israel through the prophet Amos. And he said, "Listen, house of Israel, did you really offer to me the beasts and the sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?" And the answer is no. When Israel disobeyed God, they are actually the sacrifices in a sense, what you learn here in disobedience day, instead of offering it to God, they have offered, as it says in the next verse, to Moloch and to Ramphan, which caused them to be ultimately taken to captivity for years to be taken to Babylon.

As it says, it's verse 43. Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your God Ramphan, figures which ye made to worship them, and I carried you away beyond Babylon. And what, beloved brothers and sisters, we see here that Stephen has been honest with his brethren. He doesn't hide the history. You know, I know that over the years people read the Bible and are accusing our nation, Israel, of all kinds of things: disobedient people, stiff-necked people. You see, it's only the nation of Israel that have their history recorded by divine inspiration and is an open book for the whole nations of the world to read and to hear about.

Not that they will accuse the nation of Israel and elevate themselves and say we are better, no. But to teach us this lesson. That we are not better than what our forefathers have been in the past. And that we need the Messiah today, we need sins forgiven like they needed. We need deliverance like they needed. We need submission to God like they needed. And that's what God said, because of this disobedience, he ended up to take them away to Babylon. And you remember, I always love to read that verses in the Psalms, when the people of Israel said, "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept." As we remember Zion.

There those that took us captive told us, "Sing unto us one of Zion's songs." And Israel, the Jewish people said, "How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" And it was there that they said, "If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." It was there when they were in captivity, they were abused, when they saw the need of restoration to God. It was then that they remembered. Zion. Jerusalem. The temple. The place where God blessed them. And that's what Stephen is trying to teach or trying to minister to the elders of Israel. Look at your history, Israel. History of disobedience to God.

They had the need to accept Yeshua, the Messiah, and not reject Him. But unfortunately, at that time, they didn't. But they will accept, as a nation, they're going to accept the Messiah in a future day, when Israel will look at Yeshua, the one that they have pierced, they will mourn, they will repent, and the true day of atonement will come to pass. When the national restoration of Israel, they will accept Yeshua at the second coming, just the same like they have accepted Moses' second coming. They accepted Joseph at a second time. Israel will accept Yeshua, the Messiah, at his second coming. And so, Stephen, graciously, lovingly presenting these story of Moses.

Hundred and twenty years. In Egypt, in a wilderness, in the service of God. And that's a lesson that we all can learn today from this word. The conclusion to the sharing of Stephen with his brethren concerning the history of their people. Please raise those thoughts to your hearts and encourage us all to seek to follow Yeshua, the Messiah. Can you say amen to that? Amen.