Acts Chapter 7 Part 2

Shalom and welcome to via hafte yes Ryan a Hebrew phrase which means you shall love Israel we hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher dr. Baruch shares his expose Ettore teaching from the Bible dr. Baruch is the senior lecturer at the Zahra Avraham Institute based in Israel although all courses are taught in Hebrew at the Institute dr. Baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in English to find out more about our work in Israel please visit us on the web at love Israel you are G that's one word love Israel Oh our G now here's Baruch with today's lesson to get your Bible and look with me to the book of Acts in chapter 7 the book of Acts chapter 7 now we started this chapter last week we're going to continue this week into it and conclude it next week God willing and we're going to pick up where we left off last week for example if you look at Acts chapter 7 and you read here and verse 14 it speaks about Joseph who called to his father Jacob and it says that there was gathered to him and it says 75 souls that that went down went down out of the promised land to Egypt now this section of Scripture and I alluded to it last week this section of Scripture for those who want to attack the New Testament and say that it's not reliable one of the first places they go is right here to the book of X and last week I I spoke briefly on this section at the end I want to go back I received several emails wanting more explanation we know that if we look for example in the book of Genesis and we go to that place where where Stephen is quoting from what we have a problem don't we because the Torah says 70 but Stefano's he says seventy-five and remember what we share there are words that we need to know one is the Septuagint the Septuagint comes from a Greek word meaning 70 because there was 70 scribes that copied the Torah and the tradition has and this is a tradition from Judaism when they finish company copying the Torah these 70 individuals who did so by themselves they brought their work and they compared them and Jewish tradition says they were identical to one another and this was for the purpose of saying the Septuagint translation from Hebrew into Greek for the Torah the first five books it was inspired by God now if that's true and that's what Judaism says then we have a problem because when you look at the Masoretic text we find that there are 70 people mentioned but when we look to the Septuagint 75 so what does that tell us well if we believe Jewish tradition there's a problem that would mean that the Masoretic text the texts that is seen as most authoritative in Judaism today for the Hebrew Bible well it has problems now what else do we know well we know that when we go to the Dead Sea Scrolls which were texts Hebrew texts from approximately 700 years to maybe a thousand years before the Masoretic text and there's differences between the Masoretic text and the Dead Sea Scrolls what I shared with you was that when we compare those differences we find that the differences between the Masoretic text and the the Dead Sea Scrolls when we look at these differences we find that the Septuagint overwhelmingly agrees with the Dead Sea Scrolls and not the Masoretic text when the New Testament quotes the Old Testament they quote the Septuagint both for the tour but also in other writings there were additional books obviously the books of the prophets also the coving the writings and they were translated later from Hebrew into Greek and there was a general general agreed upon Septuagint for the Holte brew Bible and that is what the New Testament authors are using now for our discussion today only the Torah's relevant and we find that there was this agreement I explained to you that when you look at the subtool Junt we find that there's a verse that doesn't appear in the Masoretic text and that is Joseph he just didn't have two sons but as we talked about the Septuagint and also the Dead Sea scroll says he had nine sons born to him in Egypt and an additional how many an additional seven so you say well that means 77 and not 75 if all of those sons are included you're right but the Septuagint doesn't count Jacob because it says he went down 75 souls he's not including that and Noah is Joseph because he's already down there so when you count this way you do not have 77 you have 75 now what's very interesting to note is that these 75 souls that went down to Egypt what do we know about them well they went down to Egypt for the purpose of Exile they were there for 400 years literally 430 and when we go for example to the book of look and look at Luke's Jenny genealogy for Messiah we find that there are 75 names 75 generations now there's actually 77 but if you don't count God and you don't count count Messiah just like you don't count Jacob and you don't count the son of Jacob Joseph it is amazing how the Book of Luke follows in a very very symbolic way this same tradition of the Torah this number 75 so it's only when you rightly understand these differences and the basis for these differences and see how they are reflected in the New Covenant you find that the New Covenant revelation is even better than the Masoretic text and it's on the par with that saying revelation that we find attested to in the Dead Sea Scrolls which are the closest we have going back to the original manuscripts now I mentioned that this scripture this section of Scripture acts chapter 7 is always a favorite place to go for those who want to discredit the New Covenant they see problems with 75 opposed to 70 but look on at something else look at verse 15 and Jacob he went down into Egypt and he and our fathers died now who's our fathers well just doesn't mean the patriarchs but but more more accurate because a forum didn't go down with with Jacob yet Scott didn't go down with with Jacob they were already buried in America map Allah in Chevron so when it speaks here about our fathers it's spiking about the 12 tribes the twelve sons of ya'qub or jacob that they went down and also in the same way that joseph's was brought up well perhaps others were brought up within these these patriarchal leaders and that they were buried in the land perhaps many of them near Joseph in gem or Shechem and why do I say that well look now to the next verse verse 16 and they were transferred and that's one of the word ways to translate this word meta Tiffany and means to set something with something else or alongside so they were set together they were transferred as another way to understand it and they were transferred into Shem and they were set in the tombs which said in the tomb which Avraham bought with the price of silver or money from the sons of a more of skin now there's a problem this is another famous problem that people like to go to and there's a very very simple solution now many people see father's and they think about the patriarchs they go wait a second Avraham but as we have discussed in our study the book of Genesis he bought a parcel of land called Martha Machpelah where he buried Sarah and he was buried also Rebecca and yet shocked and also Jacob and Leah it's in have room but he bought it from the sons of pet from an individual Efron not from what we see here so we have a problem well he's not referring to that transaction now if we read carefully it says look at verse 16 in the middle of that which Avraham bought with the price of silver from the sons of emore of skin well if you look for example to Joshua chapter 24 and verse 32 it does speak about a parcel of land being bought from a more as a burial place but here's the problem Jacob and Joshua Jacob purchases that not for him because Avraham they want to say the mistake is that it's have Ron and it's not a more but it's Ephraim so they want to throw it out but the problem is and here's what I don't like is in sincerity when someone says something only to further their purposes and they ignore what they have said other places because the problems that we have in the New Covenant these these textual problems guess what these same problems maybe with different stories and different people but the same type of problems also appear throughout the Old Covenant and the rabbi's have all types of interesting answers many of which I like and belief but they use a format and a methodology and statements in order to deal with these that's fine but then when they come to the New Covenant none of that methodology none of those those manners are ever allowed for the New Covenant let me give an example I'm talking about I believe totally that we're speaking about the place that Jacob bought from a more in the same tomb that Joseph was was buried in as Joshua tests so the mistake is that it's Haram is mention here rather than what the Torah says Jacob but here's what we have to understand and and any Jewish scholar of the Old Testament knows this it is very common that people do something in behalf of a deceased loved one we see that all the time in Judaism fort alia ha mishima aloo eat and the schima to raise up the Solon I don't agree with that that methodology or that purpose because the Bible says it's appointed man to die once and after that the judgment I cannot do something that that favorably impacts someone who's already dead I can't change their their future in regard to where they're going to spend eternity but here's what Judaism says out of respect many times people will do something in the name of someone else and we see in the book of Genesis for example yet skok he went to places where offer him was and what did he do he redeemed the land what does that mean he repurchased it he claimed it he took ownership of it now that is exactly what Jacob was doing he purchased the land which Avraham had purchased earlier it's not a problem whatsoever or simply that he did it in the name of Avraham so we have two possibilities either he redeemed it or he purchased it in the name of Avraham and that that concept is being being embraced and revealed in the Book of X but there are numerous explanations explanations that are just as good if not better for many of the same types that the rabbi's give about Old Testament difficulties so what I don't like is they will go to a book a book that's written by believers that deals with answers for Bible difficulties and they'll go along with what said concerning the Old Testament and see these are legitimate explanations reasonable once but then they'll ignore these same reasonable explanations for the New Testament and what will they do they will just talk about the difficulties and leave it there that's not people of integrity people who have honesty that's wrong we have to be fair so we read here look again verse verse 16 and they were transferred into skin and they were put into the tomb which Avraham that he he for the full price from the sons of of a more of scam bought verse 17 and just as the time of the promise came about or drew near it says God swore to Abraham and what happened that the people as God swore to Abraham what he was going to do at the time of the fulfillment of the promise we read that the people meaning the Jewish people they grew and they multiplied in Egypt and we read that there arose ain't neither king who did not know Joseph oh this is a great example of the New Covenant being a solution for Old Testament difficulties let me give an example the passage were studying it a king arose in Egypt that did not know Joseph traditionally in Judaism when I say tradition I mean the the vast number of scholars in Judaism will say that it's a same Pharaoh the same king but he only appeared different because he forgot he ignored he rejected Joseph meaning I don't know him he's dead I don't know anything about this and he didn't act in light of what Joseph taught him but the same one now that is one of the explanations of the text but we find here this can't be because when we look at this it says busty loose a tauros tauros means different so we have here a different King not just that he seemed different but he had to be a different individual so a different King arose which did not know Joseph and it says this one he dealt treacherously the word has why wisdom in it but it's also has the one for putting something down so he dealt wisely in an underhanded way I believe some Bibles will say cunning or or whatever it uses here but it has to do with a deceitful way that's rooted in intelligence see lots of times you sometimes go and interview people in prison that have done thefts or what never ever or con jobs sometimes they are very intelligent people and they used the wisdom that they had for a wrong for an underhanded purpose that's what this passage is saying that that this king who did not know Joseph this one dealt underhandedly with our our kindred our family it's not the normal word family but race meaning the Jewish race and not just underhanded if you keep reading there's a word for doing evil he did evil to our forefathers and at the time of the casting at the time that there was the throwing or casting of the children their children into meaning into the denial it says in order that they would not live so he wanted to destroy the seed of Abraham and why did he want to do this as king because and here's the key he saw the anointing of God on the people that they grew that they multiplied isn't that what the scripture is going to tell us we see how they were were going back to verse 18 where it says and the people grew and they multiplied in Egypt and the point here is that they did so in a supernatural way and therefore this king feared the anointing of God and he acted underhandedly against them ordering that the children must be thrown into the Nile look if you would to verse 20 at this time Moses was born and notice what it says about Moses and he was and the word here has an idea of fitting or appropriate to God and he was raised up three months in the house of his father now three is for the purpose of revealing something and the fact that they did not obey the king's order because they saw something about Moses now in the New Testament they used the word for something that is ascetic that is something that is pleasing to the sight and seen as right appropriate fitting something that that meets the expectations but in the Hebrew it's just a word Toth which means good meaning appropriate for the will of God so the New Testament comes and says not just that he's connected to the will of God but that he is fit he's appropriate for the will of God to be manifested through him that's why the number three they hit him three months and what happens well when he was placed placed in that River what happens well we find that the daughter of Pharaoh lifted him up and that word has a resurrected context to it meaning it's tied to the resurrection Moses should have died but God brought him out of death the same that all those other children were dying Moses was cast in but remember he was put in that little little basket and by the way that basket if you asked most people well if Moses was put into a basket how would you say that in Hebrew and if someone would say not knowing the Word of God hem samu moshe rabbeinu Bissau they put Moses our teacher in a basket Sal but it's not the word sows the word tava so what what's at Ava well it's the same word for Ark like in Noah's Ark not the Ark of the Covenant but Noah's Ark and that was a place that people entered into by faith so it's speaking here that that Moses was put into that that basket by faith the same faith that Noah and his family had going in Moses as parents had that same faith when when they put Moses in that that basket so he was put there and Pharaoh's daughter she came right and we find that she raised him as her own son I think that is a very very special statement she knew that he was one of the Hebrews but she looked upon him and everything changed he she heard him cry and that brought about a change in her so just by seeing some just by hearing something a change can come into your life pray to God that you see what he wants you see and here's the things that he wants you to hear in order that you might do the right thing as Pharaoh's daughter she raised him the text says as her own son verse 22 and remember all that we're reading is what Stephen is saying before the Sanhedrin he's going through he's being accused of being a heretic being a Kaffir someone who does not follow the law of Moses and he's wanting the people know that he knows that law very much and the law supports his faithful stand and his commitment to Messiah shew that Messiah schewe and we'll see that next week but look at verse 22 and Moses grew in all wisdom of Egypt and was powerful in word and deed so Moses has an anointing upon him what does the scripture mean when it says that he grew and all the wisdom of of Egypt which if Egypt was the foremost place at this time for academics for education in the ancient Sciences science and so forth it was a place of exceedingly high learning and we know that because if you go back and see some of the things that were built and some of the things that came out of Egypt ancient Egypt they had a great intelligence and Moses he mastered it very well so Moses grew and all wisdom the wisdom of Egypt he was powerful in word indeed verse third 23 and when it was multiplied unto him 40 years so when he was 40 years old it went up upon his heart to do something and it's the word here well we get the word to be skeptical to to you know just look at something very critically and that's what Moses was doing now if you do a good study of this word it's to look critically at something but from a spiritual standpoint to take kind of a spiritual inventory and that's what Moses was doing he was looking at his people the Hebrews he was looking at them in a spiritual matter accessing their spiritual condition of his brothers the sons of Israel and that term is so important sons of Israel because son involves a and your Bible my sake children but its sons meaning heirs and the term Israel is so important there in Egypt he's looking saying something's not right here spiritually because we're supposed to inherit Israel not be people in Egypt verse 24 and seeing a certain one behaving how on righteously or unjust ously unjustly he warded off he defended and he made basically vengeance he avenged the one who was being oppressed and what did he do well this one who was being oppressed was by an Egyptian and it says that he slew or struck the Egyptian verse 25 now Moses knew that there was a call upon his life and he was at the age of forty remember forty is that number for transfer for change we should expect differences when the number forty manifests itself so now Moses who have grown he's learned he's has wisdom he has spiritual sensitivity and he looks at his family meaning the sons of Israel and he expected verse 25 now and he reasoned he thought that his brethren that God through his hand would give to them salvation that's a word salvation some Bibles may say deliverance but it's a normal word for salvation so here Moses was was thinking to himself he was discerning when he looked at them that they would recognize and understand that God through his hand meaning Moses hand would give to them salvation now other people want to say it's the hand of God fine but God's hand upon Moses he thought that people would receive him but what happened well as he began to to act and faithfulness those what happened keep reading in verse 25 but they did not understand and on the next day appeared to them he appeared to them who's them these two individuals who were having contention they were were struggling arguing with one another and he did something he compelled them to peace he said you know it's not right men you are brothers and it's not proper that you act unjustly to one another in 2 verse 26 so he's speaking truth he's interested in justice and he does not want the people of God to be warring against one another and noticed the response and the one who was acting unjustly to his neighbor he pushed Moses and that's literally what it says the idea pushing him back rejected and that push was a very significant act representing Israel this time that they were going to be reject that they want to push Moses away so he pushed him and notice what he said this certain one says who appointed you ruler and judge over us and he goes on and says do you want to kill me and the idea here is in the same place that you killed the Egyptian now Moses did kill the Egyptian and if you remember what the Texas that Moses did something he looked this way and he looked that way making sure no one was there and he buried that Egyptian he thought he had gotten away with it but now someone who was angry with him who's from his own heritage fellow Hebrew is now angry with him and he knows Moses secret and because of that look now to verse 29 and because of that we read and Moses fled because of this word and he became a sojourner or a foreigner in the land of media median and it was born to him literally was he bore or beget two sons now these are the two sons of Moses that he had with sapore who was the daughter of yet row or Jethro in Midian and he was there approximately forty years remember when he began to get involved with the plight of his family the Jewish people the Hebrews at that time we read that he was forty and now we were to see that he spent forty years there and now he's 80 and when forty years had been fulfilled we read the Angel Lord appeared to him in the wilderness or the desert of Mount Sinai in a flame of fire at the bush so this is that unique occurrence says Mount Sinai can also say Mount Horeb same place and Moses is there and God appears to him at 80 years of old and why is that significant well 80 has that number 8 and it's symbolic of what it's symbolic of redemption Moses was going to have a kingdom call upon him so we read that God appeared to him this angel the Lord appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai in our through a flame of fire and Moses saw verse 31 he saw and was amazed at this appearance and he drew near but it says he did so to understand to look in 10 that's literally what it means to look intently and it came about a voice or the voice of the Lord unto Him and notice recess I am the God of your father's the God of Abraham the god of Isaac and the God of Jacob now this is important because as I've said many times whenever there is a reference in the scripture to the patriarchs benning Avram yet Scott and Yaakov what should come into our mind and you should know promised these were faithful men because they were motivated to act in a way to receive the promises of God so what's happening here God is appearing to Moses in order to move once again in the life of the Hebrews in order that they might become recipients of the promise of God and those promises are dependent upon what my answer is being in the land if the Jewish people are not in the Land of Israel those covenant Allah promises and what's the greatest of the Covenant Allah promises the establishment of the kingdom if the people aren't in the land they will not be where you will not be as well recipients of the kingdom the kingdom won't come and that's why these false teachers that say Oh Israel is no longer significant there's no more significance to the Land of Israel all of that is Old Testament that's been canceled out these people are false teachers they aren't dangerous they do not understand the message of the New Testament either so in this passage of Scripture God says look at verse 32 I am the God of your father's the God of Abraham the god of its and the god of Yaakov and he Moses became a trembling and that's literally what it says Moses became trembling and he dare not remember what he did he saw this bush birding but was not consumed that's the taursus and he drew near to look intently but once he found out that this was God at this place we find that Moses was trembling and he dared not look he didn't want to look upon this sight but the Lord said to him take off your shoes take off the shoes of your feet for the place in which you are standing is holy land or holy ground literally holy land and it's important because of this word for standing it implies that he stood there before he's there now and he'll be back there in the future in other words this grammatical construction of the perfect in normal speech we wouldn't use the perfect construction for that verb in this usage the fact that it is stands out and when it stands out it's not because as some would say well the the author here of the book of Acts doesn't know the Greek language very well that's not what he's saying it's to mark it as significant so you are standing you have stood you will stand and you will stand in the future on this holy ground and what holy ground are we talking about we're talking about Mount Sinai behold I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt now we prayed as we began our study about we are his people the flock or the sheep of his pasture and God here is reaffirming the Hebrews as his people based upon a covenant promise to who the patriarchs Avram gets cocky miracles so all of that sin what the twelve sons of Jacob did literally eleven of them because it was done to Joseph what they had done did not it put them into exile they suffered because of it but it did not end that covenant Allah promised that generation lost out but God was good be faithful to their descendants God's good to keep covenant with the house of Israel well he tells Moses take off your shoes for the place of your stains holy ground and I have seen verse 34 I've seen the affliction of my people in Egypt and we read he has heard their groaning I have come down to deliver them and now come I will send you to Egypt now we know Moses if you read this account in the book of Exodus Moses didn't want to go back to Egypt it was a place that was fearful because he felt if he went there they would kill him and one of the things that I'm gonna be teaching when we look at Acts chapter 18 would be speaking on that in a few weeks few weeks from when we're recording this that passage Paul is told don't fear in other words if we're gonna be a great servant of God we have to learn how to overcome fear so God is speaking here and he says to Moses behold the affliction of my people in Egypt I have I have seen and their groanings I have heard I've come down to deliver them and now come I will send you into Egypt verse 35 and this Moses they rejected saying who appointed you ruler and judge this one God has sent to be ruler and a change in word Redeemer by the hand of the angel the angel that appeared to him where at the bush so the answer is that people said you know who appointed you and an angel came through that angel God appointed Moses to be not just the ruler but the Redeemer that changed from judge to Redeemer and what do we glean from that well judge oftentimes is a word that that brings to our mind condemnation but the Redeemers of one that takes us away from condemnation and restores us back to the purpose the will the good things of God his promises and that's what Moses is going to foreshadow why do I say you have to pay attention to how the scripture unfolds keep reading verse 36 this one led them out with doing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the desert forty years so this one he testified and what's the purpose of this coming out what was the purpose of this testimony of wonders and signs that did for 40 years that they might be changed that they may be transferred from a wilderness experience into the experience of the promised land and when we keep reading notice what happens verse 37 by the way verse 37 is going to be our last verse brings in a very important prophecy from the book of Genesis a messianic prophecy we all know it this one Moses says to the sons of Israel so this Moses says to the sons of Israel from the God the Lord your God from your brethren as me it says he's hearing now it's an important passage I skipped over verse look again to verse 37 this Moses he spokes speaks to the son of Israel and says a profit to you the Lord our God the Lord your God will raise up from or out of your brethren as me him you shall hear that's the key a messianic prophecy why to show Moses is a paradigm for Messiah that he is giving an experience a messianic experience to the people in preparing them for that true that final messianic experience and the fact that Moses is called a redeemer earlier shows that Messiah is going to be the one that brings about the full implication the full outcome of a redemptive experience so look at the scripture again verse verse 37 and basically this is Moses the one who said to the sons of Israel here again inheritance sons of Israel a prophet among you the Lord your God will rise up from out of your brethren as me you shall hear and this is also prophetic because the people really didn't listen to Moses did they many times they wanted to kill Moses they picked up stones three times to slay him and God preserved Moses he caused Moses to overcome the plans of the people and this also foreshadows Yeshua's rejection by the house of Israel and it also foreshadows a resurrection experience that God delivered Messiah from death in order to bring about a kingdom experience so let's move towards our conclusion of this this study and our time of worship by realizing something stephen is testifying and the way that he's sharing shows number one that the foundation of his faith is the Torah if he's going to give testimony of Messiah and in order for the people to rightly understand Messiah what do they have to understand first that's right the Torah it is not in in contradiction but the truth of Messiah the ability to identify understand him recognize all of that is laid for the person in the Torah the more that you truly understand the Torah the more the jerger to truly understand Messiah and that's why it's such a shame today that people are ignorant of Torah truth of prophetic revelation because when you're ignorant of those things you are not going to have a proper perspective for identifying Messiah and recognizing who he is and his character his work and what he's coming back to do and what must happen to bring him back all these things are foundational well Shalom from Israel until next week when we press on into the book of Acts and we conclude chapter 7 well we hope you will benefit from today's message and share it with others please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of love Israel org again to find out more about us please visit our website love Israel dot o-r-g there you will find articles in numerous other lectures by Baruch these teachings are in video form may download them or watch them in streaming video until next week may the Lord bless you in our Messiah Yeshua that is Jesus as you walk with Him Shalom from Israel [Music]

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Length: 46min 14sec (2774 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 07 2018