Sunday Message 7/8/2022 (Session 1)

The Defence of Stephen (3) – Moses rejected by Israelites

<Ac 7:20-30>

Prologue:

* Moses is the greatest prophet in the eyes of the Jews

* Moses is the one who delivered Israelites from Egypt and gave them the commandments

* However, Jesus has been found worthy of greater honour than Moses <Heb 3:3>

* 3 stages in Moses’ life:

1) Moses who grew up in Egypt (40 years)

2) Moses who drifted about in the wilderness of Midian (40 years)

3) Moses who led Israelites out of Egypt into the wilderness (40 years)

* Although Moses is a prophet chosen by God to rescue Israel, before He encountered God, he was not able to be a vessel in God’s hands.

Read <Acts 7:20-30>

1. <Ac 7:20> No ordinary child

* Extraordinary – unusual

* Fair in the sight of God

2. <Ac 7:21-22> Moses is prefiguration of Christ in the Old Testament

* His royal conditions, background and special talents are prepared for him to deliver Israel,

* A Moses who is not regenerated is just an ordinary person

3. <Ac 7:23-28> Two important emphases:

1) Israelites rejected Moses, like how the Jews rejected Jesus

* Ponder: Why do people today reject God?

2) Moses’ man-driven ways and his failures

① Moses used his flesh to rescue his own people, but it failed.

② Moses appealed to their nationalism to get Israelites to be reconciled, but it failed

* Ponder: Why can’t people truly live in harmony?

4. <Ac 7:27> Israelites are not willing to have a ruler or judge

5. <Ac 7:28-29>: Moses who reacted in flesh, fled out of fear, but God used this opportunity to break him

6. <Ac 7:30> God did three things in the life of Moses

1) In His timing, God broke Moses down

2) God revealed Himself to Moses

3) God used Moses’ experience in the wilderness