¹⁵“And Jacob went down to Egypt and there he and our fathers died. ¹⁶From there they were removed to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. ¹⁷But as the time of the promise was approaching which God had assured to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, ¹⁸until there arose another king over Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. ¹⁹It was he who took shrewd advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers so that they would expose their infants and they would not survive. ²⁰It was at this time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home. ²¹And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son. ²²Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.”

How ironic that the people’s rejection of God in their hearts shows up jealousy in the very ones God desires to save. Joseph’s jealous brothers sold him into slavery, but God intervened to rescue not only the brothers but the entire select family of Jacob: seventy-five people in all (Acts 7:14). However, upon death, Jacob and his sons—including Joseph—were all buried back in Shechem in Canaan, the land given to Abraham and his descendants. In other words, although Jacob and his descendants lived in Egypt for four hundred years, their eyes were toward the land promised them.

After Joseph died, the succeeding Egyptian rulers eventually forgot about him and his relatives and reduced them to slavery. The Egyptians mistreated the Israelites severely, to the point of killing infants to keep the Hebrew population under control. Amid the persecution, God rescued one of the infants, none other than Moses, who ultimately led Israel out of captivity. He is best known for his association with the giving of the Law, called “the Law of Moses.”

Stephen points out that Moses “was lovely in the sight of God” and describes Moses’ selection by Pharaoh’s daughter and his education in Egypt. Most notably, Moses was “a man of power in words and deeds.” We see a progression of Stephen’s message to pre-figure Christ, for Jesus was a “man of power in words and deeds,” as the four gospel accounts show and as all at that time recognized.

This was all in line with what “God had assured to Abraham” (Gen. 15:13). Stephen is showing that God fulfills His promises through select individuals, saving His people from their dire circumstances. All the great rescuers of Israel (Joseph and Moses, so far in Stephen’s message) were pointers to the ultimate select rescuer, the Savior Jesus Christ.

Lord, thank You for being my Savior. You are powerful in words and deeds.