Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in
the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it
he wondered at the sight; and as he drew near to look, the voice of the Lord
came, 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of
Jacob.' And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. And the Lord said to him, 'Take off the shoes from your feet, for the place where
you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the ill-treatment of my
people that are in Egypt and heard their groaning, and I have come down to
deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.' This Moses whom
they refused, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?' God sent as both
ruler and deliverer by the hand of the angel that appeared to him in the bush.
He led them out, having performed wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red
Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the
Israelites, 'God will raise up for you a prophet
from your brethren as he raised me up.' This is he who was in the
congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai,
and with our fathers; and he received living oracles to give to us. Our fathers
refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to
Egypt, saying to Aaron, 'Make for us gods to go
before us; as for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not
know what has become of him.' And they made a calf in those days, and
offered a sacrifice to the idol and rejoiced in the works of their hands. But
God turned and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written
in the book of the prophets: 'Did you offer to me
slain beasts and sacrifices, forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
And you took up the tent of Moloch, and the star of the god Rephan, the figures
which you made to worship; and I will remove you beyond Babylon.'
In a Nutshell
The dramatic story of God's deliverance of the people of Israel is recounted.
Questions
Remember the accusations against Stephen. Look at what he says here about the way Moses and Aaron worshipped.
The part of Stephen's address would have been well-known to his Egyptian-based accusers, as well as to the Sanhedrin. Stephen was reminding the Council just how much God's own people depend upon the actions of God Himself. Read this portion again and notice how Stephen describes God's intervention on behalf of His people. His very own chosen sons and daughters, from Jacob, from Isaac, from Abraham, would have been locked out of His favour by the hardness of their own hearts if He had not acted. Notice how Stephen tells the story so that at every turn in the road, though God's own people are bent toward turning back and tearing up God's plans, that was never the end of it. His people may declare "Enough! Finish! We have a new god now!" but just because people tell God to get lost does not mean He ever does. Such declarations are not the end of the matter. He is there keeping His promises and will surely return to save his rebellious sons and daughters from their sins. That's Stephen's message.
Stephen reminds the Council how God describes Himself as Holy. Stephen is calling upon them to consider how the Holy One works, to look at the record again and see how God dealt with Israel, with mankind. It is a sorry story. But it is not the end …. If God Himself had not intervened to cut short our rejection of Him …