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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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STEPHEN’S DEFENSE TO CHARGES OF BLASPHEMY - Pt. 2b & 3a (Ac 7:30-38)
11/17/13 Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. CONTEXT OF STEPHEN’S DEFENSE A. Stephen’s defense to the charges of
blasphemy made by the Sanhedrin was positive in nature. He was proving that
his preaching was not blasphemous or heretical but biblical. B. Stephen has been arguing against the four
charges of blasphemy by showing that he believed: (1) God chose and made a
covenant with Israel, 2-17, (2) Moses became the great deliverer of Israel,
18-37, and would say (3) The Law of God was given to Israel, 38-43. II. MOSES BECAME THE GREAT DELIVERER OF ISRAEL
(18-37) A. The Deliverance through Moses (30-36):
“Moses the Deliverer” B. The Angel of the Lord (30, 35, 38) 1. [30] Along with the Abrahamic Covenant,
God revealed that Abraham’s descendants would experience four hundred years
of mistreatment and slavery (Ac 7:6-7). Though being raised by Pharaoh’s
daughter, Moses himself was Hebrew. When he attempted to deliver Israel from
the bondage of the Egyptians, he was rejected by Israel and fled to the
wilderness. a) After “forty years,” The Lord made Himself
known to Moses and called him to be Israel’s deliverer. Stephen recalls in Ex
3:2 where it began with the Angel of the Lord appearing (oraō -
visibility of something invisible, cf. Col 1:16) to Moses in the burning
bush. b) For Stephen, the Angel of the Lord had
major Christologcial implications. The Angel of the Lord was the
pre-incarnate Christ, was equivalent to God (Ex 3:2, 4), was the “Prophet”
Moses spoke of in Dt 18:15 cf. Ac 7:37, was the resurrected Messiah who was
crucified by his listeners, and the one Stephen had been preaching. 2. [31] As Moses saw the burning bush, he
“marveled” (thaumazō - wonder or astonished cf. Mt 9:33), which
was the human response when confronted
by divine revelation. The fact that the bush was
“not consumed” (Ex 3:2) was a divine miracle intended to give evidence to
Moses that the sign was from God. Moses was about to find out the meaning of
the sign and it would come directly from the “voice” of God. 3. [32] God identified Himself as the “GOD OF YOUR FATHERS, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC
AND JACOB.” God spoke and revealed Himself as God
who had chosen Abraham and the patriarchs as His people. a) Moses needed no further explanation to
realize that he was in the presence of the God of His fathers and he
literally began to “tremble” (entromos - trembling caused by fear). b) Further, such reverential fear would not
permit Moses to “venture” (tolmaō - brave enough, dare) to look
at God (cf. Ex 3:6). 4. [33] In the account of Ex 3 God asked
Moses to remove his sandals in vs. 5, preceding Moses trembling. Stephen
recounts the removal of sandals after Moses trembled not as an exact order,
but possibly to emphasize why Moses trembled. It was certainly due to the
realization of the presence of a holy God, which would cause any sinful human
to tremble. 5. [34] Now that God had Moses’ attention
and identified Himself, He told Moses the purpose for this divine
intervention. God was fully aware of the suffering of His people in Egypt. He
heard their groans and was moved to “rescue” (exaireō - lit. choose
(haireō) to take out, deliver) them. In Ex 3:8 God reveals that He
would deliver them. Stephen adds Ex 3:10 where God chose to deliver Israel
through the sending of Moses. 6. [35] Stephen reminded the tribunal that
“this” (houtos - emphatic demonstrative pronoun, Ac 7:35, 36, 37, 38)
Moses was “disowned” (arneomai - denied or rejected) by Israel. He
continued this theme of Israel’s rejection of God’s spokesmen throughout his
sermon (Ac 7:9, 27, 35, 39, 51), leading to the rejection of Christ (Ac 7:52
cf. Ac 4:11). For reemphasis, Stephen adds the rejection of Moses from Ex
2:14 cf. Ac 2:27. a) In contrast to their charge of blasphemy
against Moses, Stephen asserted that “this Moses was the one whom God sent as both “ruler” (archonta)
and “deliverer” (lutrōtēn from luō - to loose or liberate). b) Continuing the theme of the Angel of the
Lord, it was His divine “hand” (cheir - hand, i.e. power and help)
that was present and helped Moses deliver Israel. The pre-incarnate Christ
(Angel of the Lord) was present throughout Israel’s history and still they
rejected Him. 7. [36] “This man” (lit. this one, houtos), i.e. Moses,
delivered and led Israel out of bondage. Accompanying Moses, was the power of
God in “wonders and signs” (always mentioned together, Ac 2:19; 43; 4:30;
5:12; 6:8; 7:36; 14:3; 15:12). a) “Wonders” (teras) were the observable miracles, contrary
to usual course of nature, in order to confirm God’s power through His chosen
spokesman (Jn 3:2). “Signs” (sēmeion) were the miraculous events
that pointed to the message of God’s spokesman (Jn 2:11). b) In strong confirmation of Moses as the
deliverer, he performed miracles in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and throughout his
forty years with Israel. In fact, Moses performed more miracles (19) than any
other human prophet (Elisha - 15; Elijah - 6). This was a strong defense
against the charges of blasphemy against Moses. C. The Promise of the Prophet (37): “Moses
the Forerunner to the Messiah” 1. [37] Having established Moses as Israel’s
greatest human deliverer and a great prophet of God, Stephen promoted Moses’
greatest prophecy, namely the prophecy concerning the Ultimate Prophet. a) In Dt 18:15, it was “this” Moses that prophesied
that God would raise a prophet who was a greater prophet. He would be a
greater prophet on the basis of His very nature as the Son of God. b) In a similar way to Moses (“like me”), but
greater, that Prophet would demonstrate God’s power in wonders and signs. The
Scriptures record some 35 miracles by Jesus and then added that He did many
more things which could not be
contained in all the books of the world (Jn 21:25). c) Most importantly, that Prophet would be
the greatest of all Deliverers, for He would deliver His people (Israel) from
their sins (Mt 1:21). d) Therefore, God said to Moses in Dt
18:17-19 that God would put His words in the Prophet’s mouth and whoever did
not listen to the Ultimate Prophet, God would require it from them. III. THE LAW OF GOD WAS GIVEN TO ISRAEL (38-43) A. The Giving of the Law (38): “Moses the
Giver of the Law” 1. The addition of the mention of the Law
begins a new section in Stephen’s defense against the charge of blasphemy
against the Law. However, it was a natural flow in the recount of Moses’
place in Israel’s history. 2. [38] Therefore, Stephen began with “this
is the one,” i.e. Moses, who was in the “assembly” (ekklēsia -here, generic sense of gathering) in the wilderness. 3. “The angel” (tou aggelou - articular)
with Moses was most probably the Angel of the Lord (30, 35, 38). The Angel
spoke with Moses on Mt. Sinai in the context of the giving of the Law (cf. Ex
20:22; 31:12-18). From Mt Sinai, the Angel most likely spoke “with [to] the
fathers” (Ex 20:1, 18-19; Dt 5:4 cf. “on the day of the (ekklēsia)
assembly” (Dt 4:10; 9:10; 18:16) in contrast to the translation “was with the
fathers” (though both would be true). 4. Scripture gives some light on the fact
that the angels, and little doubt, the Angel of the Lord, assisted in giving
the Law to Moses (Dt 33:2-3; Ga 3:19; He 2:2 cf. Ac 7:53). 5. After receiving the (divine) “oracles” (logion),
Moses became the mediator and the giver of the Law to Israel (Dt 4:13-14, 44;
33:4; Jos 1:7; 8:31; Jn 1:17; Ro 9:4; He 9:19). If the Law was the most
revered possession of Israel, and Moses was the giver of the Law, then Moses
was the most revered figure in Israel’s history. Stephen in no way detracted
from this belief. Hence, he did not blaspheme against Moses or the divine,
holy, and heavenly Law. IV. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS A. Apologetical Value of the Law 1. It was not hidden 2. It was unparalleled revelation 3. It gave true objective morality 4. It was given reverential treatment by
Israel 5. Textual criticism is unfounded B. Obligation to the Divine Word 1. It is Divine 2. It is a picture of the process of
inspiration 3. There is a divine obligation to obey it 4. If a true believer, then of all people,
they should obey the Word C. Christ with His Ekklēsia 1. As Christ was with His people in the ekklēsia
(assembly) in the wilderness, even so He is with His people in the ekklēsia
(church) in the world today (Mt 16:18; Mt 28:20). |
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