Stephen continues speaking: 17 “Finally, the time came for God to do what he had promised Abraham. By then the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18 But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt, one who didn’t know Joseph, 19 and he dealt treacherously with our people. He oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw their newborn babies out into the fields so they would die.
20 It was at that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family. 21 When they had to abandon him and placed him outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. 23 And when he was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 Seeing one of them being abused, he defended the oppressed man, avenging him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t. 26 The next day, Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers, why do you want to hurt each other?’ 27 But the man who was mistreating the other, pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born. 30 Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the LORD called out to him, 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I've seen how my people are mistreated in Egypt. I've heard their groaning and have come to rescue them. So now I'm sending you to Egypt.' 35 So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior. 36 And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’” (If the Lord was crucified in 30 A.D./C.E. fiery judgment/burning bush came 40 years later - just thinking out loud. ‘Smaller’ pond ripple/fulfillment.. full pond ripple pending..? “No one knows the when except the Father”. Hosea 6:2?)
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Very Brief Outline of Acts:
Jesus returns to where he was with the Father before his advent/visit (his brief first one).
The Holy Spirit/Presence of God is poured out on the believers who were in Jerusalem on the late Spring holy day of Pentecost. Peter speaks, there are 3000 new believers that day.
The good news message spreads, Peter is invited and goes to a Roman’s house and all believe. The first record of non Hebrew believers (besides likely some on Pentecost).
Persecution breaks out.. jail. stoning. Pharisee Saul leads the persecution, but on his way to Damascus with papers for arrests, Jesus makes himself seen but is so bright Paul falls to the ground and is blinded. After two days he is healed and is a believer, and soon is called Paul. He wrote many (to most) of the New Testament letters, but spent a few years (it seems to me) exclusively listening to the Lord. He established many ‘churches’ in what’s called three missionary journeys, and met and worked with Mark and Luke, and quite a few others. (Luke wrote this Book of Acts.) His fourth journey is to Rome to trial as a prisoner. There’s a shipwreck on the way.. He wrote many of his letters while in prison and under ‘house’ arrest.
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