“Who made thee a ruler and a judge?”
The full verse · Acts 7:35 · KJV
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Asked by
Israel: the Israelites in Egypt, who refused Moses with this question as Stephen retells it to the council (Acts 7:35; compare Acts 7:27)
Asked to
Moses: the Hebrew whom his people refused, but whom God later sent from the burning bush as ruler and deliverer (Acts 7:30-35)
The Scene
Defending himself before the council, Stephen retells how God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and sent him back to Egypt, the same Moses his people had refused (Acts 7:30-35).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionStephen repeats the old question to set up a contrast. The people asked who made Moses a ruler; Stephen answers that God did. Barnes says Stephen "introduces and dwells upon this refusal in order, perhaps, to remind them that this had been the character of their nation." In Acts 7:27 a single man asked the question, but here Stephen says "they refused," treating it as the people's response, just as he said earlier that "they understood not" (Acts 7:25). He is preparing the council for his conclusion: "as your fathers did, so do ye" (Acts 7:51).
The Response
What Scripture recordsStephen answers in the same sentence: "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" (Acts 7:35). He goes on: Moses "brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs" (Acts 7:36), and he foretold, "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me" (Acts 7:37). Yet even after all this, "our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them" (Acts 7:39).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsThe word "deliverer" is lutroten in Greek, which the ESV translates "redeemer." Barnes explains, "It properly means one who redeems a captive or a prisoner by paying a 'price' or 'ransom,'" though here it is used more broadly of deliverance.
"The angel which appeared to him in the bush" refers to Exodus 3:2, where "the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush." From the bush God said, "I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people" (Exodus 3:10).
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThis question shows a pattern in God's ways: the one people refuse may be the very one God sends. Stephen sets "whom they refused" right beside "the same did God send." Moses' authority did not come from the people's approval but from God's call at the bush.
Matthew Henry sees Stephen's purpose here. By this example, Henry says, Stephen would intimate to the council that "this Jesus whom they now refused, as their fathers did Moses," God has raised up as Prince and Saviour. Gill says Moses "was an eminent type of the Messiah." Stephen makes the link through Moses' own promise of "a prophet... like unto me" (Acts 7:37) and through his final charge that his hearers betrayed and murdered "the Just One" (Acts 7:52).
Look Closer
Why does Stephen repeat this question in his speech?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord, who have You sent into my life whose words I have been slow to receive, and how would You have me listen?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Israel judged Moses by what they saw that day, not by God's call. What shapes how quickly you accept or dismiss the people God places around you?
- Tell about a time you came to value someone you had first misjudged.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
People's approval does not decide whom God will use. Moses was refused by his own people, yet "the same did God send" (Acts 7:35). If you have been dismissed or overlooked, that is not the final word on your life.
The question also turns back on us. Stephen's hearers were repeating their fathers' pattern (Acts 7:51-52). Be careful how quickly you push away someone whose message is uncomfortable.
This does not mean that being rejected proves someone is sent by God. What made Moses a ruler was God's call at the bush, not the people's refusal (Acts 7:30-35).
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?”
“Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?”
“Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?”
“Have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?”