God Sent Jesus to Save Even Better than Moses
After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and when he approached to investigate, there came the voice of the Lord, ‘I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’
Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look more closely. But the Lord said to him, ’ Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have certainly seen the suffering of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Now come, I will send you to Egypt .’
This same Moses they had rejected, saying, ’ Who made you a ruler and judge? ’ God sent as both ruler and deliverer through the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, performing wonders and miraculous signs in the land of Egypt, 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 among your brothers .’
Stephen really is a genius. When you read it in little bits like we’ve been doing, you see how much he is setting up Jesus to be the new replacement for Moses.
Moses was rejected by his own countrymen. Moses went away for a little bit. Moses came back and led the deliverance of Israel.
Jesus was rejected by His own countrymen. Jesus went into the tomb for 3 days. Jesus came back from the dead and made a way for the Holy Spirit to come and deliver all who would believe in Him.
Stephen is almost saying “Look, you rejected Jesus, like people rejected Moses, but if you receive Him back as He returns, you’ll be saved as if from Egypt!”
No rejection is permanent as long as you can still change your mind. I’ve done two funerals for guys that were estranged from their families. At the funeral, every person wished they had reconciled or even had a conversation with the dead man before he died.
Here we have a chance to reconcile with Jesus. If you can read this, you are not permanently rejected. If Stephen is reaching out to the very men that killed Jesus, how much more so is God reaching out to us today.
Believe in Jesus. Follow Him. He has saved you and He wants to continue saving you every day.
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