- Acts 7:16-20
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- Acts 7:16 (KJB)
- And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that
Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of
Sychem.
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- Upon the death of Jacob, his body was taken from Egypt and was buried in
the sepulchre that Abraham purchased. Jacob was mourned for 70 days.
(Gen 49:29-30 KJV) And he charged them, and
said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers
in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, {30}
In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before
Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron
the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.
The eleven brothers were not buried in Machpelah but were buried in a place
where Jacob had purchased from the children of Hamor who was Shechem’s
father. (Gen 33:18-19 KJV) And Jacob
came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan,
when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city. {19}
And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the
hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of
money. When Joseph’s bones were brought out of
Egypt at the time of the exodus, he too was buried in Shechem. It no doubt
was the same sepulchre where his other eleven brothers were buried.
(Josh 24:32 KJV) And the bones of Joseph, which
the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a
parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of
Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of
the children of Joseph.
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- Acts 7:17 (KJB)
- But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to
Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
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- (Gen 15:13-14 KJV) And he said unto Abram,
Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is
not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred
years; {14} And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I
judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
God had told Abraham that his seed would be strangers in
a country which was not theirs. They were to be afflicted with hard bondage
for four hundred years but God would judge that nation and upon their exit,
they would also be given the spoils of that country as the victors. As
Israel was now a very large nation, the time of the freeing of the people
was close as well as the judgment of that nation.
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- Acts 7:18 (KJB)
- Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.
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- We are not sure when the first king arose who placed the Israelites in
bondage. Since this would have been way before the exodus, the year that
this king enslaved them is lost in history. This Pharaoh in view in this
verse did not know anything about Joseph or how he helped save Egypt from
starvation and subsequent annihilation. This Pharaoh would have been
Tuthmosis II who ruled from 1518-1504 B.C. It was in 1507 B.C that Moses was
born. The Pharaoh of the exodus would have been Amenhotep II who reigned
from 1453-1419 B.C. The exodus had taken place in 1447 B.C.
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- Acts 7:19 (KJB)
- The same dealt subtly with our kindred, and evil entreated our
fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might
not live.
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- Dealt subtly - Dealt deceitfully
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- This pharaoh had used trickery to victimize Israel as he had slave
drivers over them to force them to work harder. He also victimized them by
the way he gave some of his orders in an underhanded way especially to the
midwives to have them kill all the baby boys. He probably promised them
rewards for their hard work but all they got was more slavery. In fact, this
verse tells us of one method they used to try and kill all the male babies.
It states they were “cast out” which meant the babies were thrown into the
Nile so Crocodiles would kill them or they were left in open areas where
wild animals frequented so they would kill the babies. This method of
killing unwanted infants was also employed by the Romans where they too
would place unwanted infants where there were many wild animals. In 2,000
years, has man really progressed as today we have abortion which kills more
babies than the ancients did with these two methods.
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- Acts 7:20 (KJB)
- In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and
nourished up in his father's house three months:
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- Fair - Beautiful, pleasing, or elegant
- Nourished - Brought up or reared
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- It was during the time of the slaughter of the male infants that Moses
was born. He was raised up in his father’s house three months. Moses must
have been an exceedingly beautiful child when he was yet a baby. The Greek
text states that he was beautiful to God since he was going to be the one
God used to lead Israel out of bondage. Moses was also saved so in that
aspect too he was beautiful to God. The parents of Moses were very sensitive
to the will of God and that is why he was kept hidden for three months.
While many baby boys were being slaughtered, Moses was protected by God
because of the future service that he would perform.
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