What does Acts 7:23 Mean?

Context Summary

Moses, we are here told, was "mighty in words;" that is, in eloquence as well as in deeds. This confirms the statement of the Jewish historian, Josephus, that in the earlier part of his career, now lost in the oblivion of history, Moses led a very successful Egyptian expedition against Ethiopia. He complains to the Lord, in Exodus 4:10, of being slow of speech, but that probably refers to the habit of long disuse amid the silence and loneliness of the desert.

It is clear that, stung by the sense of wrong, Moses at first interfered with his own right arm to deliver his people. He smote the Egyptian, and essayed to judge between his brethren. God had to bring him into the dust by repeated failure and rejection that he might become an emptied and a broken vessel. God will not give glory to man. The treasure must be held in an earthen vessel, 2 Corinthians 4:7. It is when we come to the end of ourselves that we arrive at the beginning of God. The world has ever to learn what God can do by those who are wholly emptied of self-confidence but yielded to His hand. [source]

Chapter Summary: Acts 7

¹  Stephen, permitted to answer to the accusation of blasphemy,
²  shows that Abraham worshipped God rightly, and how God chose the fathers,
²⁰  before Moses was born, and before the tabernacle and temple were built;
³⁷  that Moses himself witnessed of Christ;
⁴⁴  and that all outward ceremonies were ordained to last but for a time;
⁵¹  reprehending their rebellion, and murdering of Christ, whom the prophets foretold
⁵⁴  Whereupon they stone Stephen to death,
⁵⁹  who commends his soul to Jesus, and humbly prays for them