What does Acts 7:20 mean?
Jews from Egypt, Libya, and modern-day Asia Minor have accused the Jewish Jesus-follower Stephen of disrespecting Moses, among other things (Acts 6:11–14). Using the story of Israel's history, Stephen is putting each of these things in proper perspective. In the Jews' minds, Moses is almost synonymous with the law he received from God on Mount Sinai. To blaspheme Moses is to reject his law, and to reject his law invites the threat of exile. In Acts 7:20–22, Stephen shows how little Moses had to do with his own qualifications.The word translated "beautiful" means well-bred and refined. God chose Moses at his birth, when the baby certainly had nothing to do with how the world perceived him. At the time, by law of the pharaoh, his parents should have surrendered him to be thrown into the Nile. Instead, they hid him from their Egyptian oppressors (Exodus 2:1–2).
In the following verses, Stephen will remind his audience how the pharaoh's daughter rescued and raised Moses, and had him trained by Egyptian scholars. Then, Stephen will point out how Moses murdered an Egyptian and ran away to Midian to hide in fear (Acts 7:29). It is true that God chose Moses, and Moses became one of the greatest Jews in history. But it is because of God's work, not Moses'. And anyone who reveres Moses more than God misses the point of Moses' life.
Acts 7:17–22 continues Stephen's defense against charges that he speaks against Moses, the Mosaic law, and the temple (Acts 6:11–14). In this part, he subtly shows that God's work is not confined to a building, city, or even nation. God used a hostile foreign government to prepare the greatest prophet of the Old Testament and the bringer of the Law that made the Israelites a nation. Solomon admitted during the dedication of the temple that even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain God, much less a building made by human hands (2 Chronicles 6:18). The truth is, neither can a single nation, or even the world.
Stephen is a Greek-speaking Jewish Christian and one of the first deacons in the church in Jerusalem (Acts 6:1–7). He's also a skilled apologist and has been debating Jews from outside Judea about the proper place of the Mosaic law and the temple (Acts 6:8–15). His opponents cannot counter his arguments so they resort to lies. They tell the Sanhedrin that Stephen wants to destroy the temple and repeal the Mosaic law. Stephen counters that his accusers don't respect Moses or the Law, and the temple isn't necessary to worship God. This enrages the mob, and Stephen is stoned, becoming the first Christian martyr.
