Jesus as the True Leader

Stephen reveals Jesus as God’s ultimate leader by drawing parallels between Moses and Christ. Discover how Jesus, like Moses, was appointed by God and rejected by His people, exposing the sin of rejecting God’s chosen prophet.

[Scripture]

[37] This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ [38] This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. [39] Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, [40] saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ [41] And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. (Acts 7:37-41, ESV)

[42] But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: “‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? [43] You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’ [44] “Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. [45] Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, (Acts 7:42-45, ESV)

[Daily Word]

The reason Stephen recounts the story of Moses is to testify that Jesus, like Moses, was appointed by God. Therefore, the “prophet like me” that Moses spoke of in verse 37 refers to Jesus. Notably, Stephen describes the Israelites who were in the wilderness as the “church in the wilderness.” (38)

Because Stephen viewed Moses as a type of Christ, he asserts that Moses was present in the church in the wilderness just as Jesus is present in the church today. Moses was the mediator of the covenant at Sinai. Likewise, Jesus came as the Word and brought the new covenant. Yet just as the Israelites rejected Moses, they also rejected Jesus. Moses performed many wonders and signs in the church in the wilderness (36), but the people grumbled against him, refused to obey the law, and ultimately rejected him outright (39) — even longing to return to Egypt. The Israelites, therefore, have been rebels before God from ancient times down to the present day.

To reject Moses was to reject God himself.

While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the law of God, the people at the foot of the mountain made a golden calf and worshiped it. (Exod 32:4) The Israelites were nothing more than persistent idolaters — people who delighted in what they fashioned with their own hands rather than in what God had given them. (41)

Therefore, God turned away from such a people. He rejected them and gave them over. In verse 42, He gave them over to worship the host of heaven in idolatry. In particular, Stephen cites the book of the prophets — namely, (Amos 5:25–27) — as his basis for this charge. [25] “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? (Amos 5:25, ESV) He argues that the Israelites offered no true worship to God during their wilderness years.

This is not to say they never offered sacrifices to God, but rather that their hearts were never truly with Him. Stephen goes on to condemn them for taking up the tent of Moloch and the star of the god Rephan.
Indeed, Israel had a history of defiling God’s name by sacrificing their children to Molech. [21] You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. (Lev 18:21, ESV) Because of this ongoing sin, God ultimately allowed Israel to be taken into captivity in Babylon.

Stephen now introduces the tent of witness as evidence that the people of Israel truly worshiped God. (44) This tabernacle was built according to the pattern that God had shown to Moses. (Exod 25:8) He therefore argues that it was not merely a human construction, but one ordained by God. The “tent of witness” that God instructed is completely different from the tent of Moloch mentioned earlier.

A person who lives with God at the center does not have their heart set on the world.

If the heart drifts toward anything that takes priority over God, one will ultimately fail to live according to the Word—just as Israel did. Attending temple worship does not automatically mean living by the Word. Above all, when our own will comes first, whatever we are most focused on inevitably becomes an idol.

Therefore, may we never forget that God the Father is what matters most to us, and may we remember that true blessing comes when we follow the Word alone. We pray that we would be a people whom God remembers and delights in.

Moses and Jesus, the church in the wilderness, Stephen’s testimony, the mediator of the covenant, the rejected prophet

Originally published in Korean at bible2u.com