Written by: YFriday

Acts 7 v 25-30
Moses thought his own people would understand that God was using him to save them, but they did not. The next day when Moses saw two men of Israel fighting, he tried to make peace between them. He said, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you hurting each other?’ The man who was hurting the other pushed Moses away and said, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ When Moses heard him say this, he left Egypt and went to live in the land of Midian where he was a stranger. While Moses lived in Midian, he had two sons.
“Forty years later an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush as he was in the desert near Mount Sinai. 

Notes
Moses, the man responsible for leading the Israelites out of Egypt and writing down all of their laws wasn't always the great man of faith who parted the Red Sea that most of us know him as. His first attempt at saving his people from Egypt wasn't very spectacular. Killing an Egyptian and hiding him in the sand, then trying to break up a fight between two Hebrews, who knew all about what he'd done the day before

Like the advert used to say, Moses just couldn't help acting on impulse. He wasn't living by faith, he was trying to do things his way, and when this didn't go the way he'd planned, he fled to Midian for forty years. Then when the time was right, God called him

God had a plan, even though Moses didn't know what was going on. Sometimes God has to "set us aside" to teach us what we need to know - and to help us forget the way the world does things. He knows exactly what we need and when we need it... 

Acts 7 v 31-34
When Moses saw this, he was amazed and went near to look closer. Moses heard the Lord’s voice say, ‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses began to shake with fear and was afraid to look. The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground. I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt. I have heard their cries and have come down to save them. And now, Moses, I am sending you back to Egypt.’

Notes
Not something you'd see every day is it? A bush that's on fire but isn't burning up... Moses probably didn't have a clue what was going on, and he certainly didn't know that his curiosity that day was going to change his life forever. When God reveals himself , Moses is understandably a bit scared, but God assures him that He has seen the suffering of the Israelites and has come to save them.

Moses' child-like curiosity that day ended up changing his life. As we walk through our own lives we must keep our eyes and ears open for God speaking to us. The burning bush, at first glance, probably looked like a normal, everyday bush fire which I'm sure were commonplace in the deserts where Moses lived. It was only when he looked closer that Moses discovered that things weren't what they had first appeared, and ended up finding out his life's purpose

Next time you're faced with a situation that looks mundane, or that you think you've seen before, take a closer look... You may find something surprising!

Acts 7 v 35-38
“This Moses was the same man the two men of Israel rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ Moses is the same man God sent to be a ruler and savior, with the help of the angel that Moses saw in the burning bush. So Moses led the people out of Egypt. He worked miracles and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and then in the desert for forty years. This is the same Moses that said to the people of Israel, ‘God will give you a prophet like me, who is one of your own people.’ This is the Moses who was with the gathering of the Israelites in the desert. He was with the angel that spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and he was with our ancestors. He received commands from God that give life, and he gave those commands to us.

Notes
If you've been with us these past two days you may be wondering what on earth Moses is doing in the book of Acts? 

Stephen, one of the leaders of the early church has been falsely accused of blasphemy for proclaiming the good news of Jesus and is up in front of the Jewish leaders of the time to defend himself. He's using the example of Moses to show them that in the past they'd always rejected the people God had sent to be their deliverers and "saviours".

Although they did reject Moses the first time he tried to help them (see Acts 7 v 25-30) when he returned to Egypt they followed him and he led them out of slavery. When Jesus came to finally fulfil everything that Moses had written down in the law (He is the "prophet like me, one of your own people" that Moses talks about) so, many years later, the Israelites hadn't changed a bit, and rejected the one who'd come to save them, not just from the physical oppression of the Egyptians, but from the sins that would send them to an eternity without God. They handed Him the ultimate rejection and had Him crucified. 

Looking at the history of Israel shows how patient God is, and how hard our hearts can be. The simple fact is that Jesus HAS come to die for YOUR sins. It's no fairy story, Jesus IS who He said He was. don't be an Israelite... 

Acts 7 v 39-43
“But our ancestors did not want to obey Moses. They rejected him and wanted to go back to Egypt. They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. Moses led us out of Egypt, but we don’t know what has happened to him.’ So the people made an idol that looked like a calf. Then they brought sacrifices to it and were proud of what they had made with their own hands. But God turned against them and did not try to stop them from worshiping the sun, moon, and stars. This is what is written in the book of the prophets: God says,
‘People of Israel, you did not bring me sacrifices and offerings
while you traveled in the desert for forty years.
You have carried with you
the tent to worship Molech
and the idols of the star god Rephan that you made to worship.
So I will send you away beyond Babylon.’ 

Notes 
God had raised Moses up to be a saviour and ruler over Israel, God had led them out of slavery in Egypt. He'd provided them with food to eat and water to drink. He'd gone before and behind them with pillars of cloud and fire, which must have been an amazing sight. He'd caused the, not very small, Red Sea to part in front of them so they could walk through it. So what did the Israelites do in return for all of this provision?

They threw it back in His face by building a nice golden calf to worship instead, bringing sacrifices to it, and being proud of what they'd made. They rejected Moses again, saying "we don't know what's happened to him". Worse than that, they rejected God, even after all the mercy and provision he'd shown. 

Rejecting God and worshipping idols is a dangerous thing, as the words Stephen quotes from the prophet Amos show. "I will send you away beyond Babylon". Strong words, and a strong warning. 
Now I don't know about you, but I certainly don't live a life where I always put God first, if only I did! But God loved Israel, and you and I, so much that He sent His only Son, that whoever believes in Him may not die, but have eternal life. And there is forgiveness for the times we have put things before God in the past, and the times we undoubtedly will in the future. 
Take a minute now to ask God to help you put Him first, and maybe say sorry for times you haven't done so.

Next time you feel like grumbling, remember Gods ultimate provision!!

Acts 7 v 44-47
“The Holy Tent where God spoke to our ancestors was with them in the desert. God told Moses how to make this Tent, and he made it like the plan God showed him. Later, Joshua led our ancestors to capture the lands of the other nations. Our people went in, and God forced the other people out. When our people went into this new land, they took with them this same Tent they had received from their ancestors. They kept it until the time of David, who pleased God and asked God to let him build a house for him, the God of Jacob. But Solomon was the one who built the Temple.

Notes
The tent (or tabernacle) was where the Israelites met with God, spoke to Him and gave Him their requests and intercessions by giving them to the high priest, who then passed them on to God. God showed Moses EXACTLY how to make this tent. Every last detail was described to the letter and number. The Israelites kept this tent all the way to the time of David, and it went with them wherever they went. 

David asked God if he could build a house to meet with Him in (the temple), but God did not allow David to build it, that task was given to Solomon. 

When we meet God, it is on his terms, not ours. The tabernacle plans were laid out strictly by God, they weren't designed by Moses, and when David asks if he can build a house for God, he doesn't end up being given the task. 

We can all meet God now because of what Jesus did when He died and rose again. But when we meet with him, it has got to be on His terms. We can't just say "OK God, today you're going to do this for me, or have this much of my life". HE is the one who designs our lives, and just like Moses tabernacle every aspect is planned out to the last small detail. 

Acts 7 v 48-50
“But the Most High does not live in houses that people build with their hands. As the prophet says:
‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
So do you think you can build a house for me? says the Lord.
Do I need a place to rest?
Remember, my hand made all these things!’ ” 

Notes 
England is full of church buildings of all different kinds. We've got house churches, churches meeting in schools, Baptist and Methodist churches, Church of England buildings, and we have some magnificent cathedrals that have stood for centuries. (Apologies to any denominations I've left out!) The point is that it doesn't actually matter where we meet to worship God! 

Yesterday I talked about meeting with God on his terms, and today's reading ties in closely with that. We can build our own marvellous enormous church buildings to worship God in (and this applies as much today as it did about cathedrals and older church buildings) but sometimes these can become our own "golden calves". We think more about the building than we do about the God we're worshipping. 

"So do you think you can build a house for me"? says the Lord. 
In John 4, Jesus talks to a Samaritan woman. She asks about the right place to worship God, is it on this mountain or that mountain? Jesus answers that we must worship in Spirit and in truth, for these are the kind of worshippers that God seeks. He is more concerned about how we conduct our lives every day than which particular building we go to worship Him in on a Sunday.... 

Acts 7 v 51-53
Stephen continued speaking: “You stubborn people! You have not given your hearts to God, nor will you listen to him! You are always against what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell you, just as your ancestors were. Your ancestors tried to hurt every prophet who ever lived. Those prophets said long ago that the One who is good would come, but your ancestors killed them. And now you have turned against and killed the One who is good. You received the law of Moses, which God gave you through his angels, but you haven’t obeyed it.”

Notes
Stephen is coming to the end of his speech, and he's really giving the Jewish leaders what for! What courage he had to stand up and say those things when he was probably well aware that he would be stoned to death for saying them. God was with him. 

We are living in a world full of people who have not given their hearts to God, who won't listen to Him and who go against the Holy Spirit. The truth is though, that the majority of these people probably don't even know who the Holy Spirit is. They've maybe heard of Jesus at school or wherever, but no one has actually mentioned the fact that He died to save them from sin and death. They don't know that they can have a relationship with God through Jesus, that the Holy Spirit can live inside them. They don't know because nobody has told them! 

This is where we come in... 

In most places we're not going to be stoned to death for talking about Jesus. We need to have the courage of Stephen to stand up and tell people what we know, and not just with words either! The persecution we face is nothing compared to what the early church had to go through. The same Holy Spirit that was with Stephen as He spoke to the Jewish leaders is with YOU now if you've accepted Jesus into your life and asked to be filled. 

By our actions, and sometimes words let's go and tell people the most important thing they'll ever hear before it's too late! 


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes