Misunderstanding Moses

Moses was one of the most revered figures in first-century Judaism, with various Jewish schools of thought wanting to be seen as the prophet’s true heir. The two largest groups, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, both saw Moses as their father and model. The Sadducees emphasized the written law of Moses as the chief source of doctrine and practice, while the Pharisees sought to follow both the written Mosaic law in Scripture and the oral traditions that they (wrongly) believed went back to Moses. The Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews, had members from both groups, and since both groups respected Moses, they did not look kindly on any perceived threats to the law. Thus, they persecuted both Jesus and Stephen, recognizing in their teaching a change to the entire sacrificial system and priesthood (Acts 6:8–15). They believed themselves to be following and defending Moses by refusing to admit any alteration to the Mosaic system.

Stephen masterfully responded to their purported defense of Moses in his speech to the Sanhedrin by pointing out that from the very beginning of Moses’ work, those who would profess to follow him actually rejected him. In Acts 7:23–29, we read Stephen’s remarks concerning Moses’ killing of an Egyptian who was beating one of the Israelites. Stephen presents the story, as originally recorded in Exodus 2:11–15, by bringing out the reality that in killing the Egyptian, Moses thought that the Israelites would see the act as God’s providing deliverance (Acts 7:23–25). The Exodus account does not tell us whether Moses was right to do what he did, but that is not important for Stephen’s argument. Even if the killing was not justifiable, Moses was seeking to save his fellow Hebrews, but many Hebrews refused to acknowledge this. Instead, they objected to Moses’ becoming leader over them even before God officially commissioned him, forcing Moses to flee to Midian (vv. 26–29). The point Stephen sought to make was that Jesus and His followers truly respected Moses, but the Sanhedrin rejected him just as the ancient Israelites did. Matthew Henry writes, “The [Sanhedrin] charged [Stephen] with blaspheming Moses, in answer to which he retorts upon them the indignities which their fathers did to Moses, which they ought to be ashamed of, and humbled for.” Instead of shame and humility, however, they started “quarrels . . . under pretence of zeal for the honor of Moses, with [Stephen, who] had as great a veneration for [Moses] as any of them had.”