Acts 7:17–60

Moses, a Rejected Savior

¹⁷“As the time was drawing near to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egypt ^j18until a different king who did not know Joseph ruled over Egypt. ^k19He dealt deceitfully with our race and oppressed our ancestors by making them leave their infants outside, so they wouldn’t survive. ^lm20At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. He was cared for in his father’s home three months, ²¹and when he was left outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and raised him as her own son. ⁿ²²So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions. ^o

²³“As he was approaching the age of 40, he decided ^pto visit his brothers, the Israelites. ²⁴When he saw one of them being mistreated, he came to his rescue and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵He assumed his brothers would understand that God would give them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. ²⁶The next day he showed up while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’ ^q

²⁷“But the one who was mistreating his neighbor pushed him ^raway, saying:

Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸Do you want to kill me, the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday? ^st

²⁹“At this disclosure, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons. ^u30After 40 years had passed, an angel ^vappeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. ³¹When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he was approaching to look at it, the voice of the Lord came: ³²I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. ^wxSo Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.

³³“Then the Lord said to him:

Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴I have observed the oppression of My people in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to rescue them. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt. ^yz

³⁵“This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge? ^a—this one God sent as a ruler and a redeemer by means of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ^b36This man led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, ^cat the Red Sea, and in the wilderness 40 years. ^d

Israel’s Rebellion against God

³⁷“This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, God ^ewill raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your brothers. ^fg38He is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors. ^hHe received living oracles to give to us. ⁱ³⁹Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him, but pushed him away, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. ^j40They told Aaron:

Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him. ^kl

⁴¹They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made. ^m42Then God turned away ⁿand gave them up to worship ^othe host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

House of Israel, did you bring Me offerings and sacrifices

40 years in the wilderness?

⁴³No, you took up the tent of Moloch ^p

and the star of your god Rephan, ^q

the images that you made to worship.

So I will deport you beyond Babylon! ^rs

God’s Real Tabernacle

⁴⁴“Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. ^t45Our ancestors in turn received it and with Joshua brought it in when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers, ^uuntil the days of David. ⁴⁶He found favor in God’s sight and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God ^vof Jacob. ^w47But it was Solomon who built Him a house. ^x48However, the Most High does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands, as the prophet says: ^y

⁴⁹Heaven is My throne,

and earth My footstool.

What sort of house will you build for Me?

says the Lord,

or what is My resting place?

⁵⁰Did not My hand make all these things? ^za

Resisting the Holy Spirit

⁵¹“You stiff-necked ^bpeople with uncircumcised hearts and ears! ^cYou are always resisting the Holy Spirit; as your ancestors did, so do you. ⁵²Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? ^dThey even killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers ^eyou have now become. ⁵³You received the law under the direction of angels ^fand yet have not kept it.”

The First Christian Martyr

⁵⁴When they heard these things, they were enraged in their hearts ^gand gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵But Stephen, filled by the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw God’s glory, with ^hJesus standing at the right hand of God, ⁱand he said, ⁵⁶“Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” ^j

⁵⁷Then they screamed at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him. ⁵⁸They threw him out of the city and began to stone ^khim. And the witnesses laid their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. ^l59They were stoning Stephen as he called out: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” ^m60Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ⁿ“Lord, do not charge them with this sin!” And saying this, he fell asleep. ^o