Moses, God’s Deliverer

Moses, God’s Deliverer

“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph.

He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. “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 was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ‘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. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’ “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, performing 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 like me from your brothers.”

Let us pray…

David said in, , The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.”

David also said in, , “Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.”

Paul said in, , “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Now this morning as we look at the second section of Stephen’s sermon before the Jewish leadership, he also is speaking to them about a deliverer, God’s deliverer that in this case is Moses.

Having successfully defended himself against the charge of blaspheming God, Stephen now moves to the second accusation, that he had rejected Moses. He shows that just as he reveres God, so also does he honor and revered Moses. Again, he pleads “ not guilty” to the charges. Stephen clarifies his defense by continuing his historical survey of the Old Testament.

Now in the first sixteen verses of this chapter, he has covered the period from Abraham to Joseph, from the call to Abraham to the very captivity of Israel in Egypt. Now he moves into the second great period of Israel’s history, from Moses to the Babylonian captivity. The time of the promise refers to the time when God would fulfill His promise to Abraham. That promise was that “He would give (the land) to him as a possession, and to his offspring after him. By this time, the patriarchs were dead and the people of Israel had increased and multiplied in Egypt. They were content there, and had not returned to the land God had promised them. The time for God’s promise to be fulfilled had arrived, and He sovereignly orchestrated events to move Israel out of Egypt.

They unknowingly received God’s deliverer

At this time, there arose another king over Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. , “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.”

This reference to a new leader in Egypt who did not know Joseph presumes they were familiar with the narrative of Joseph’s entry, problems, and rise to power in Egypt.

The description of the taskmasters who were put in place to afflict Israel echoes the vocabulary of God’s covenant with Abraham, which he foretold that his offspring would sojourn in a foreign land and “be afflicted for four hundred years”. It is commonly accepted today that the site of Raamses is located at Qantir in the eastern Nile delta about 12 miles (19 km) south of Tanis. Excavations have confirmed this identification. During the second millennium B.C., a massive settlement of Asiatic foreigners lived here. In addition, a factory has been discovered at the site; it produced decorated glazed tiles. Pottery fragments found in the factory bear the name Raamses. Pithom is probably located at, about 17 miles (27 km) southeast of Raamses.

Stephen uses this quote to show his knowledge of the Old Testament history. He shows them that the Pharaoh took shrewd advantage of the Jewish race, forcing them into slavery and hard labor. They mistreated them, compelling them to expose their infants so they would not survive. This infanticide by throwing babies out to be left to the elements was limited to male infants we see the explanation of this practice in .

, “Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

God had prepared His deliverer, however. It was at this crucial time in Israel’s history that Moses was born. The details of Moses’s life and ministry were well known to the Sanhedrin, so Stephen merely summarizes them to make his point. Sensitive to the accusation that he had blasphemed Moses, Stephen makes a point of praising him, describing him as lovely in the sight of God.

Moses could not escape the peril of the time, and after being nurtured three months in his father’s home, he also was exposed. Like so many other infants, he was to be thrown into the Nile to drown. His parents, however, placed him in a basket so he would not die. According to God’s sovereign plan. Pharaoh’s daughter found him, took him away, and nurtured him as her own son.

, “Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews' children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

As the adopted grandson of the pharaoh, Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians. Stephen continues to show his respect for Moses by describing him as a man of power in words and deeds. Moses was a remarkable man. He natural leadership qualities, coupled with the most comprehensive education in the ancient world, made him uniquely qualified for his task.

God’s call came when he was approaching the age of forty. At that time, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. Although raised in Pharaoh’s household, Moses had never forgotten his people. No doubt his mother instilled that into him during the years God had providentially arranged that she serve as his nurse. He decided to help his beleaguered people. Seeing one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian.

But taking that murderous action, Moses supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him.

His goal in visiting them was not to pay a social call but to deliver them from their oppressor. They, however, did not understand that he would become God’s deliverer. Although Moses had shown his commitment to them by killing an Egyptian, they failed to recognize or acknowledge him as their deliverer.

On the following day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting one another, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, “Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?” Moses was himself not only God’s deliverer of the nation but also as a peacemaker among individuals. His efforts were not appreciated through, and he was rejected. The one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying sarcastically, “ Who make you a ruler and judge over us?” Then he added ominously, “You do not mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you.”

Realizing his killing of the Egyptian had become widely known, Moses fled, and became an alien in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons Pharaoh sought unsuccessfully to execute him. No doubt viewing him as the leader of a Jewish insurrectionist movement. Israel’s foolish rejection of Moses served to lengthen their time in bondage by forty years.

That, too, is analogous to Israel’s rejection of the Messianic Deliverer and consequently lengthened forfeiture of their blessing.

When you think about it waiting on God is part of His process, Joseph waited 12 years, Abraham waited 25 years, Moses waited 40 years and Jesus waited 30 years.

If God has you waiting you are in great company.

, “Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

They knowingly rejected God’s deliverer

Now, Moses lived among the Midianites for those forty years.

At the end of that time, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush. The fire represented the presence of God. When Moses saw it, he began to marvel at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord: “ I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob.”

God was renewing the covenant, as the reference to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob indicated. Unlike many today who gratuitously claim visions of God, Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look. God’s presence called for reverent fear, not flippant familiarity. Therefore the Lord said to him, “ Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. Like the Holy of Holies in the temple, the area around the burning bush was made holy by the presence of the Holy One of Israel. After forty years in the desert, the time had come for Moses to lead the people to the Promised Land. “I have certainly seen, God told them, “ the oppression of My people in Egypt, and have heard their groans, and I have come down to deliver them. Come now, and I will send you to Egypt.”

Although His people were continually unfaithful to Him, God remained faithful to His covenant.

, “Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the LORD God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.”

, “The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

if we endure, we will also reign with him;

if we deny him, he also will deny us;

if we are faithless, he remains faithful—or he cannot deny himself.”

Stephen makes his point when he tells them. That the very Moses whom they disowned, saying, “Who made you a ruler and a judge?” Is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and judge and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush. This is a constant pattern of Israel’s historical spiritual pride coupled with their spiritual ignorance that causes them to reject the deliverers that God sends them.

It is sometimes argued that Jesus could not have been the Messiah, of else Israel would have recognized Him. As Stephen points out, however, they rejected both Joseph and Moses also.

This was their typical response to those God sent as deliverers to them. Jesus spoke of this same attitude in

, “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;

this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.”

They responded to the return of God’s deliverer.

Moses accomplished his mission and led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Rea Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. Israel’s further rebellion against God under Moses, in spite of the wonders and signs they had seen in the land of Egypt and in the parting of the Red Sea and in the wilderness, cause them another delay. Because of that rebellion they wandered outside the Promised Land for forty more years. Now this the third time we have heard of these words “forty years.” Whenever the writers of the Hebrew text want to draw attention to the text they repeat themselves.

So, now, what can we learn from Moses' life? Moses’ life is generally broken down into three 40-year periods. The first is his life in the court of Pharaoh. As the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses would have had all the perks and privileges of a prince of Egypt. He was instructed “in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds” (). As the plight of the Hebrews began to disturb his soul, Moses took it upon himself to be the savior of his people. As Stephen says before the Jewish ruling council, “[Moses] supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand” (). From this incident, we learn that Moses was a man of action as well as a man possessed of a hot temper and prone to rash actions. Did God want to save His people? Yes. Did God want to use Moses as His chosen instrument of salvation? Yes. But Moses, whether or not he was truly cognizant of his role in the salvation of the Hebrew people, acted rashly and impetuously. He tried to do in his timing what God wanted done in His timing. The lesson for us is obvious: we must be acutely aware of not only doing God’s will, but doing God’s will in His timing, not ours. As is the case with so many other biblical examples, when we attempt to do God’s will in our timing, we make a bigger mess than originally existed. Moses needed time to grow and mature and learn to be meek and humble before God, and this brings us to the next chapter in Moses’ life, his 40 years in the land of Midian. During this time, Moses learned the simple life of a shepherd, a husband, and a father. God took an impulsive and hot-tempered young man and began the process of molding and shaping him into the perfect instrument for God to use.

What can we learn from this time in his life? If the first lesson is to wait on God’s timing, the second lesson is to not be idle while we wait on God’s timing.

While the Bible doesn’t spend a lot of time on the details of this part of Moses’ life, it’s not as if Moses were sitting idly by waiting for God’s call. He spent the better part of 40 years learning the ways of a shepherd and supporting and raising a family. These are not trivial things! While we might long for the “mountain top” experiences with God, 99 percent of our lives are lived in the valley doing the mundane, day-to-day things that make up a life. We need to be living for God “in the valley” before He will enlist us into the battle. It is often in the seemingly trivial things of life that God trains and prepares us for His call in the next season. Another thing we see from Moses during his time spent in Midian is that, when God finally did call him into service, Moses was resistant. The man of action early in his life, Moses, now 80 years old, became overly timid. When called to speak for God, Moses said he was “slow of speech and tongue” (). Some commentators believe that Moses may have had a speech impediment. Perhaps, but then it would be odd for Stephen to say Moses was “mighty in words and deeds”. Perhaps Moses just didn’t want to go back into Egypt and fail again. This isn’t an uncommon feeling. How many of us have tried to do something (whether or not it was for God) and failed, and then been hesitant to try again? There are two things Moses seemed to have overlooked. One was the obvious change that had occurred in his own life in the intervening 40 years. The other, and more important, change was that God would be with him. Moses failed at first not so much because he acted impulsively, but because he acted without God. Therefore, the lesson to be learned here is that when you discern a clear call from God, step forward in faith, knowing that God goes with you! Do not be timid, but be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might (). The third and final chapter in Moses’ life is the chapter that Scripture spends the most time chronicling, namely, his role in the redemption of Israel. Several lessons can be gleaned from this chapter of Moses’ life as well. First is how to be an effective leader of people. Moses essentially had responsibility over two million Hebrew refugees. When things began to wear on him, his father-in-law, Jethro, suggested that he delegate responsibility to other faithful men, a lesson that many people in authority over others need to learn (). We also see a man who was dependent on the grace of God to help with his task. Moses was continually pleading on behalf of the people before God.

Would that all people in authority would petition God on behalf of those over whom they are in charge! Moses was keenly aware of the necessity of God's presence and even requested to see God's glory (). Moses knew that, apart from God, the exodus would be meaningless. It was God who made the Israelites distinct, and they needed Him most. Moses’ life also teaches us the lesson that there are certain sins that will continue to haunt us throughout our lives. The same hot temper that got Moses into trouble in Egypt also got him into trouble during the wilderness wanderings. In the aforementioned incident at Meribah, Moses struck the rock in anger in order to provide water for the people. However, he didn’t give God the glory, nor did he follow God’s precise commands. Because of this, God forbade him from entering the Promised Land. In a similar manner, we all succumb to certain besetting sins which plague us all our days, sins that require us to be on constant alert. These are just a handful of practical lessons that we can learn from Moses’ life. However, if we look at Moses’ life in light of the overall panoply of Scripture, we see larger theological truths that fit into the story of redemption. From Stephen’s discussion of Moses, it is obvious that he has the utmost respect for him. The charge of blaspheming Moses is a false as that of blaspheming God. Indeed, Stephen turned the tables on the Sanhedrin, showing the nation itself had been guilty of rejecting Moses. The Jew’s response to Moses’ lift, like their response to Joseph’s parallels their response to Christ.

Stephen reminds them that Moses taught them and predicted Messiah would come, prophesying to the sons of Israel, “ God shall raise us for you a prophet like me from your brethren.”

, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.”

This passage was well known and understood by Stephen’s contemporaries. In this is what was said about Jesus,

, “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” They affirmed that He was the One Moses had promised would come, affirmation with which these Jews would not agree. They were thus doing again what their father had done- rejecting the God sent –deliverer. Only this was more serious than all the others times combined. This was the Messiah they were rejecting. Had the Sanhedrin been willing to consider the facts, they could not have missed the parallels between their nation’s history and their behavior toward Jesus. Nor could they have missed the parallels between Jesus and Moses. Moses humbled himself by leaving Pharaoh’s palace; Jesus humbled Himself by becoming man.

, “But emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Moses was rejected at first, so was Jesus, , “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Moses was a shepherd; Jesus in the Good Shepherd,

, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” Moses redeemed his people from bondage in Egypt: Jesus redeems men from bondage to sin. The history of Moses foreshadows the history of Jesus Christ. Like Christ, Moses provided redemption for his people. Moses delivered the people of Israel out of slavery and bondage in Egypt and brought them to the Promised Land of Canaan. Christ delivers His people out of bondage and slavery to sin and condemnation and brings them to the Promised Land of eternal life on a renewed earth when Christ returns to consummate the kingdom He inaugurated at His first coming. Like Christ, Moses was a prophet to his people. Moses spoke the very words of God to the Israelites just as Christ did (). Moses predicted that the Lord would raise up another prophet like him from among the people (). Jesus and the early church taught and believed that Moses was speaking of Jesus when he wrote those words (cf. , , ). In so many ways, Moses’ life is a precursor to the life of Christ. As such, we can catch a glimpse of how God was working His plan of redemption in the lives of faithful people throughout human history. This gives us hope that, just as God saved His people and gave them rest through the actions of Moses, so, too, will God save us and give us an eternal Sabbath rest in Christ, both now and in the life to come.

Always remember the giant in front of you is never bigger that the God inside of you, God is our deliverer.