The physician Luke wrote how, “Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people”, and after being interrogated by the people in the synagogue, “all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Then said the high priest, Are these things so?”, and Stephen defended his faith by referring to, “Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph”. He spoke about “Moses” being raised in Egypt and defending his fellow countryman. After “Moses' act” of killing an Egyptian was known, “Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons”, and in chapter seven and verse thirty of the book of Acts Luke shared how Stephen said Moses saw, “a flame of fire in a bush” where we read:
And when forty years were expired,
there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
The verse begins, “And when forty years were expired, ...” Luke began with the words, “and when forty years” which means “and at the time and moment forty years” “were expired” or “passed by and were completed”. Luke shared how “Stephen” referred to when “forty years” had passed by and the following event occurred.
The verse continues, “... there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.” Luke added the words, “there appeared to him” which means “there was allowed to be seen by Moses” “in the wilderness” or “within the desolate, solitary, lonely and uninhabited desert place” “of mount Sina” which refers to “pertaining to the rising above the plain or hill called Sinai which means thorny and was a mountain or rather a mountainous region in the peninsula of Arabia Petraea” “an angel of the Lord” or “a messenger or envoy belonging to the One to whom a person or thing belongs about which he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah” “in a flame of fire” which means “within a blaze belonging to a fiery fire” “in a bush” or “within a thorn or bramble bush”. Luke shared how “Stephen” told how “God” “appeared” to “Moses” in a “fiery bush” as a “messenger and envoy” in a desert place on “Mount Sinai”.
When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we see how “Stephen” continued his story about “Moses” and he recalled “God” revealing Himself to him in a “bush” that was on fire. Once again we notice how this step in the story of Jesus was part of God's intentional plan to bring “Moses” to the place which would eventually lead to Jesus being born. God loves people, and long before Jesus came, He was at work in the lives of people like “Moses” to provide redemption of sins for every person who believes and trusts in Jesus. Let all who read these words yield themselves to Jesus whose coming was planned well before He died on the cross and rose from the dead three days later.
Next time Luke shares how Stephen says, “when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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