It may please the Lords to help
us for a few minutes this evening. We'll continue our meditation
in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 7, and we'll read tonight
verses 35 and 36. Acts of the Apostles, chapter
7, and reading verses 35 and 36. This Moses, whom they refused,
saying, who made thee a ruler and a judge,
the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of
the angel which appears to him in the bush. He brought them
out after that he had showed wonders and signs in the land
of Egypt. and in the Red Sea and in the
wilderness for 40 years. Although this response of Stephen
is quite lengthy and in detail in some ways, in fact in just
two verses here, it does of course encompass a very large part,
a very important part of the life of Moses. And of course
Stephen was speaking about Moses and showing forth his position
and who he was and of course leading up to the Lord Jesus
Christ. So we read this Moses whom they
refused. We know of course that the Israelites,
they refused Moses initially. They didn't think that he was
the person. but in due time the Lord did
show them that he was the right person and he was sent forth
to lead the children of Israel into the promised land. And it is as significant as we
read together that fourth chapter when God had clearly indicated
to Moses that he was to go and he was to lead the people and
Moses had accepted the position. We read then that he went back
to his father-in-law. Moses went and returned to Jethro,
his father-in-law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee,
and return us my brethren, which are in Egypt, and see whether
they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go
in peace. We think of the analogy with
Jacob and Laban, And of course Laban was very reluctant to let
Jacob go. They both really were occupying
similar positions. Of course Moses for many more
years there must have been very useful to Jethro. But we see
that the grace of God here in Jethro's heart coming forth in
this beautiful way and he said, go in peace. He desired that
the Lord would go with Moses and the Lord would help him and
the Lord would encourage him. And so he had that to commence
his journey and gain peace. Well, we read, who made thee
to be a ruler and a judge? The same did God send to be a
ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared
to him in the bush. The Lord was with Moses. The
Lord did not leave Moses. He had many difficult days in
his 40 years which now were before him. Many times of trial. Many irksome responsibilities
to have to carry out. Many words spoken against him
by his so-called friends. And yet you see, Moses was faithful. Moses did the will of his God. And what a wonderful example
it is for us today to realize that against all the opposition
which Moses faced. And let us not forget when he
came back, the opposition he faced from Pharaoh. He'd been
told that Pharaoh wouldn't let them go and so he had to prove
it. But it must have been a very hard thing to prove. Nonetheless,
God was with him. And then we read, he brought
them out after he had showed wonders and signs in the land
of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for 40 years. Well, there's a lot of history
in those few words. And as Moses returned then into
Egypt and he came and he stood before Pharaoh and he did those miracles that the Lord had told
him to do. And then he carried on. And there
were ten further miracles which were to be carried out before
Pharaoh. And they were very wonderful
and they were very important and they were very great. But
we can find and see the terrible hardness of man by nature. There
Pharaoh clearly witnessed The hand of God. There was no doubt
about it. Because although the magicians could carry out some
of the miracles, some of them they could not at all. And they
said this is the hand of God. But still, Pharaoh would not
let the people go. We observe, do we not, the power
of God. And what we observe is, the Lord
performs his purposes in his time and in his way. He could have so easily allowed
Pharaoh to have agreed to let Israel go after that first miracle
and they could have gone. But no, there had to be many
more miracles and of course they had to lead up to that great
occasion when the Passover was instituted. We look back, don't
we? We see the history. and we rejoice
in what occurred. But if we try and place ourselves
in the position of Israel in those days, it must have seemed
really very strange to them, probably to most of them, what
the Lord was instructing them to do. And yet, as they carried
out those instructions very carefully, they took that lamb and they
slew the lamb and they took the blood and they poured it into
the basin and then with that hyssop they then sprinkled it,
as it were, on the doorposts and the lintels. And that was
the sign that God had ordained that they would be safe. Now,
these people to whom Stephen was speaking would have been
very aware of that. They would have been very aware
of what had occurred previously In the previous days of Abraham
and going right back to the time when Cain was slain, we see how
the Lord appeared and how there was bloodshed. And so it followed
through and yet we come to this time which Stephen is now recalling
and you see the people were still listening. They couldn't but
understand the truth of what he was saying. And so, as he
points out this wonderful statement that he was the ruler and a deliverer
by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
The glory went to the Lord. Moses was the servant. The Lord was the angel. It was
the angel, the Lord Jesus, that had gone before them. It was
he who actually worked those great works which were carried
out before Pharaoh. And then, on that last occasion,
that last miracle, what occurred, having sprinkled the blood, told
to go into their dwellings and stay there, not to go out, There
was no safety anywhere else. There was only safety signified
by the blood of the Lamb. This is of course a wonderful
picture for us today, isn't it? As we realise there is only safety
for you and me as we are under the shed blood of the Lamb of
God that taketh away the sin of the world. And so, That was
instituted part of the night and the effect was then that
Pharaoh let the people go. He went out. He took everything
with him. We read not a hoof that was left
behind. Every single animal went. Nothing
left behind. God was faithful. Here we have
this picture that Stephen is rehearsing. Tell them. Or what
was occurring? What had occurred? And they knew
it had occurred. And not only then did they come
out, and then came to the Red Sea. What was going to happen
now? Appeared no way. Egyptians behind
them. The enemy behind them. The Red
Sea in front of them. How were they to escape? The
Lord made a way. The Lord made a way in a wonderful
way as Moses put forth his rod and the waters came back and
Israel went over on dry land. What a deliverance. The Lord
was their deliverer. How they proved it and how today
we can look back and realise the wonder of it and realise
still today The Lord is our deliverer in our little lives. There are
those times when God, as it were, dries up the water and makes
the way. We go over on dry land. We know what happened to the
Egyptians. They thought they could do the same. God wasn't
with them. The result, they were all drowned. And then the Lord was with Israel
for all those 40 years. Notwithstanding their rebellion,
notwithstanding their turning against the Lord, they complained,
didn't they? And they even said they wished
they were back in Egypt. The Lord was gracious to them.
The Lord fulfilled that which he had promised. So we have this
Verse here, which is so important, he brought them out after he
had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the
Red Sea and in the wilderness for 40 years. The Lord never
failed his people. His promises came to pass. My friends, we can believe today
in our little lives that God's promises come to pass for his
honour and for his glory. Amen.