<p>7:25 <i>And h<em>e supposed that his brothers understood</em></i>- &quot;Supposed&quot; translates <em>nomizo</em>, connected to the noun <em>nomos</em>, 'law'. The Law of Moses ought to have brought Israel to perceive the Lord Jesus as their Saviour; but for whatever reason, they failed to make that connection.</p><p><em>That God by his hand </em><i>was giving them deliverance</i>- Moses' hand. But God had told Moses at the bush: &quot;I will stretch out <em>My hand</em>, and smite Egypt....&quot; . Moses had yet to learn the meaning of God manifestation through men; Stephen is bringing out the weakness of the fathers, even Moses.</p><p><em>But they understood not</em>- Another phrase of Stephen's that stuck in Paul's mind to the end of his days; for on arrival in Rome he lamented that the Jews &quot;understood not&quot; (Acts 28:26 s.w.). Stephen's speech is a superb example of powerful preaching that left ideas and words in the minds of his hearers that remained for decades afterwards. The Lord had many times lamented that Israel &quot;understood not&quot;; we can therefore infer that Israel could have accepted Moses' deliverance the first time. But they thrust him away from them, and there was a 40 year hiatus in the plan of Israel's redemption. This was reflected in Israel's rejection of the Lord Jesus and then the possibility arising around AD70 for them to accept Him again. It seems from the New Testament that the apostles clearly hoped for that; but again they refused the possibility, and another, longer hiatus has been interposed.</p>