Acts 7:30-34
Acts 7:30-34
July 12, 2020
Acts 7:30-34
30 “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. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ‘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. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 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.’ 1
After being born to a slave in Egypt, raised by the Pharaoh’s daughter in the palace, reaching out to his people in an attempt to help, but actually killing an Egyptian and fearing for his life after facing rejection from the Israelites, and unable to go back to the Egyptian palace, we find Moses in the wilderness. He’s now 80. He’s living his new life. He’s married. Has sons. Is a shepherd. A far cry from the Pharaoh’s palace, but at least he’s not dead. At least he’s not a slave.
He has started a new life. A new chapter. A forty-year chapter so this is the new normal.
But...Moses’s life is not his own. He is the one rescued by God eighty years prior. He is the only one who truly understands the way of life in Egypt among the Egyptian powerbrokers. He is the only one who
1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ac 7:30–34). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
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understands both the Egyptian ways and the Israelite ways, as he never abandoned his heritage.
Stephen the disciple, on trial in Jerusalem thousands of years after the life of Moses, stands before the religious leaders – facing false accusations and offered an opportunity to speak. He speaks. He preaches. He gives an Old Testament survey course to the religious elite. The sermon is long, but not boring. The message is clear, if they would just have the ears to hear. The opportunity for salvation is offered, if they, the listeners would repent and receive.
Moses is a known character, a prophet of God, one whom is respected and revered by all in the room. And...just to be clear...everyone in the room believes themselves to be holy, righteous, religiously right, confirmed in their convictions, and blessed by God.
Just because one believes himself to be right with God does not make it so. Just because one knows the Bible does not mean one knows the author of it.
Stephen is revealing this. Not as an accuser, but as a disciple offering truth.
So, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Stephen takes the listeners back to a place where every true Christian has been, what every authentic follower of God has experienced, a place where challenges meet opportunities, where comfort meets calling, where life meets legacy.
THE WILDERNESS
There are many wilderness stories in Scripture. Stories where God’s man or his people as a whole were faced with dire circumstances. Places where questions were asked with hard-to-find answers. Locations where challenges can seem overwhelming, where it is much easier to give up,
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give in, and live out one’s life as a little more than an extra in a great eternal story, unnamed, blurry, background filling, and remembered by some as one who wasted potential and missed opportunities.
Sadly, this happens more often than not. Stephen paints the word-picture...
1. GOD APPEARED TO MOSES IN THE WILDERNESS
30 “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.
Forty years after his personal exodus from Egypt, God appears to the prophet. God sends an angel and through the burning, but not consumed, bush, God surprised, shocked, likely scared this old shepherd.
The curiosity within Moses drew him to see how this bush was burning but not being consumed. The drawing of Moses was clear. This is a reminder that ultimately, no one seeks God of their own volition. No believer in this room, or online, began the journey of faith of their own intent to find God. Even if it felt that way. Even if you’ve been told that’s how it works. Even if you actually have convinced yourself that it was your choice, your desire, your intent to find God...you did not do so on your own.
Romans 3:10-11
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. 2
Paul quotes the psalmist here and reminds us, through the Holy Spirit’s words, that God always initiates the relationship.
2 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ro 3:10–11). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
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As Jesus stated...
John 6:44
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.3
Thanks be to God that he sought Moses. That he sought you. That he sought me. That he draws us to himself. That he knows we do not seek righteousness and by his grace initiates the relationship and keeps it secure.
2. GOD AMAZED MOSES IN THE WILDERNESS
31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ‘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.
The burning bush amazed the old shepherd. He had never seen anything like this before. Drawn to the flame, he stands in awe...and then the voice of God speaks. A voice of clarity. A voice of a personal God. The God whom Moses had heard about from his Israelite mother who was his nurse while being raised in the Pharaoh’s home. The God who unlike Pharaoh had never forgotten Joseph. The one who had never forgotten Jacob, Isaac, or Abraham either. The God whom after forty years of Moses being in exile as a shepherd, had not forgotten him either.
The God of grace. The God of amazing grace...speaks.
To the lone shepherd. On the side of a hill. In the region of Midian. Far from the home where his family lives in Egypt. Far from the
3 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jn 6:44). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 4
home promised to his ancestor, yet to be found. Far from comfort. Far from the good life. Far from everything, but near to Moses.
3. GOD AWAKENED MOSES IN THE WILDERNESS
33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 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.’ 4
The holiness of God is the most difficult of all God’s attributes to
explain, partly because it is one of His essential attributes that is
not shared, inherently, by man. We only become holy in
relationship to Christ. It is an imputed holiness.
This phrase “holy ground” is only found twice in the Bible. Once
in the Old Testament and once in the New.
This statement of holy ground is to let the reader (and Moses
know) that the dirt is not holy by virtue of it being dirt. It’s not
even holy because there is a burning bush upon it.
In other words – in the wilderness at this moment Moses, do not
miss the significance. This is not a meeting with your “buddy
God.” This is not a gathering with the “man upstairs” or the “big
guy” or your “BFF.” This is an encounter with the Creator of all
that was, is, and ever will be. The one who is fully responsible for
your existence. The only one who can bring someone to heaven.
The only one who knows all. The God of the universe is holy. To be invited and drawn into his presence is nothing to scoff at. This
is not a meeting with the governor or president. This is not a
meeting with the Queen or King. This is an encounter with God.
4 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ac 7:30–34). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
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That is often forgotten, mistaken, dumbed down, and ignored.
Moses, the guy who grew up in a palace, is told clearly, concisely,
with no equivocation to “take off your sandals – this is no chance
meeting.”
It is here that Moses is commissioned for the calling. It is the
rescue story that was put in place prior to the 80-year-old ever
being put in a basket and crying his first cry. Moses, despite his
initial refusal is awakened to the calling for which he has been
created, rescued, redeemed, and sent.
Moses will lead God’s people from slavery. He is a redeemer that
prepares us for the ultimate redeemer – Jesus Christ!
Why can’t the Sanhedrin and the religious council see this?
CONCLUSION
Because they have had no wilderness experience.
As you look throughout scripture, you will see a stream of godly people
who have their own wilderness experiences. Men like Abraham at his
calling, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, and even Jesus.
Some, of course rose to prominence in other ways, with no wilderness.
Men like King Saul. Oh, look there. A good example. He was the king
the people deserved, not the king the needed. A failed king remembered
for his insecurity and tarnished legacy. Not unlike others who never
experienced God in the wilderness.
But what about you? What about me?
Maybe it’s not a burning bush, but there is a moment of surrender. A
moment of calling. A moment where God drew you to himself and
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revealed the truth. A moment where you knew Jesus and weren’t just
“praying a prayer” and doing the church thing because that’s what your
parents or grandparents wanted. A moment where God truly appeared
(oh, likely not physically, but you knew he was drawing you to himself,)
amazed you, and awakened you.
God did not create you to sit on the bench, to be a good church member
(by the world’s standard which looks like a good club member) but to
awaken you to a story bigger than self, a calling deeper than desire, and
a moment of clarity where when the challenges come, the doubts appear,
and the fear overwhelms you can go back and say “
I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that
day what has been entrusted to me.5”
Where was your wilderness? Where is that moment you look back to as God brings to mind to give you assurance, peace, and the strength to carry on?
The wilderness is terrible. Truly. But it is in those moments where our faith is not only tested but cured. Where our faith becomes ours – not our parents, not our grandparents, not our pastor’s – and we live wide awake for the sake of the call.
Footnotes
