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"And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he
slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand."
Exodus gives us the outward appearance, Acts 7: looks upon the heart, and
moreover reveals the dispensational teaching as we shall see. Instead of thinking that
Moses cast furtive glances "this way and that way" before dealing a treacherous blow, we
must see it in the light of Isa. 59: 16:--
"And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor:
therefore His arm brought salvation . . . . ."
So also Isa. 63: 5. Stephen reveals the purpose that prompted Moses to take
vengeance upon the oppressor:--
"He supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would
deliver them: but they understood not" (Acts 7: 25).
Vengeance as well as redemption belong to the Kinsman-Redeemer of Whom Moses
was a conspicuous type.
These words prevent us from agreeing with the words of Dr. Fairbairn concerning this
act of Moses when he says:--
"It was the hasty and irregular impulse of the flesh, not the enlightened and heavenly
guidance of the Spirit, which prompted him to take the course he did."
Upon interposing between two of his brethren who were striving together next day, he
was rebuffed by their jealous words, "Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?" This
is typical of the rejection of Christ upon His first advent. It is not the failure of Moses,
but that of his people, that we are to see here. His sojourn in the land of Midian and his
marriage there must be viewed in the same light as Joseph's sojourn in Egypt and his
marriage there, the outcome of both being the deliverance and blessing of his brethren
who had hated and rejected him. That this is so we may earn from Acts 7: Joseph and
Moses are brought together by Stephen to enforce this great lesson upon the leaders of
Israel:--
"And at THE SECOND TIME Joseph was made known unto his brethren" (13).
"This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? THE
SAME did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which
appeared to him in the bush" (35).
It is clear that we have here in Exodus a foreshadowing of Israel's great rejection. The
Lord Jesus came, the time was fulfilled, but His people refused Him saying, "We will not
have this man to reign over us".
During their rejection by their brethren both Moses and Joseph marry Gentile brides.
This looks to the dispensation of the Acts during which the Church is spoken of as being
prepared as a bride, and on to the period of the second coming as given in Rev. 19: The
second time is the key thought. The reason why Israel failed to respond to Moses and to