Acts 7:9-43
Acts 7:9-43 God is faithful
Acts 7:9-43
Recap
So remember Stephen has been accused of blasphemy against the temple, the law and Moses
He is standing before the Sanhedrin council (the same council that crucified Jesus) and giving them an account of what he’s said
He started off with Abraham and makes it clear that Abraham received his call from God before there even was a temple or a land
He talks about how God had to work in Abraham’s life before he could bring him into the land and use him
God worked through trials in his life to produce the obedience and faith we see today
It was God who was faithful — He gave them the land when they had no land — He gave him children when he had no children
Then He gave him circumcision as a sign of the covenant he and passed to his son, Isaac, and then to his son Jacob
And Jacob had 12 sons who became the fathers of the Jews
Scripture
9 “And the patriarchs (the 11 sons of Jacob), becoming envious, sold Joseph (the 12th son) into Egypt. But God was with him 10 “and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11 “Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 “But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 “And the second [time] Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. 14 “Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to [him,] seventy-five people.
Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob
God had given Joseph a dream that he would one day rule over his brothers and even his father
The brothers hated him for this and sold him into slavery
Joseph goes through many trials and is built up in his relationship with God and God gives him favor with pharaoh
Eventually there is a famine in the land and Jacob send his remaining sons out of Canaan and into Egypt to find food
They discover that Joseph is 2nd in command and thus rules over all them just as God had said
Stephen is making two points:
Joseph was a prophet, not because of anything he did but because God had chosen him
God delivered him out of all his troubles — but he still had troubles
God gave him favor and wisdom — but He did so according to His will, Jacob still was forced to dwell in a foreign land
The second point is that Stephen points out “our fathers” not as Joseph, but rather as the 11 who rejected God’s prophet
The religious elites wanted to identify themselves with Abraham, but Abraham in his completed state — not when he was disobedient
They wanted to identify themselves with the patriarchs, but the patriarchs after they’ve been reunited with Joseph in repentance
Stephen’s whole point is that Israel has a history of disobedience from its very beginning — but God was faithful
God used trials to shape them
God was the author and finisher of their faith
15 “So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. 16 “And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, [the father] of Shechem. 17 “But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt 18 “till another king arose who did not know Joseph.
God had told Abraham that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land for 400 years and then God would bring them back into the land He had promised them
So when the time drew near God raised up a pharaoh who was not friendly with the Jews
19 “This man (the new pharaoh) dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. 20 “At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. 21 “But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. 22 “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.
Moses was born and was well pleasing to God — God looked on Moses with favor, not because of anything he had done
Moses was born into this new generation and separated from his people and raised with the Egyptians
He was mighty in WORDS and deeds
23 “Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 24 “And seeing one of [them] suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 25 “For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 “And the next day he appeared to [two of] them as they were fighting, and [tried to] reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ 27 “But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 ‘Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 “Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.
It says it came into his heart: who do you think put it there?
It says to visit his brethren: this means that Moses knew he was not an Egyptians — he knew he was not of that world
He intervened into a fight between an Egyptian guard and a Jew and he kills the guard — it says: for he thought his brethren would have understood that he was come to deliver them
Deliver them from what? From slavery… The world
Moses was a prophet sent by God, just like Joseph, and he was rejected by the people he was sent to save, just like Joseph
So Moses goes off on his own, just like Abraham, just like Joseph
And God works in his circumstances to prepare him for God’s purpose
30 “And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. 31 “When Moses saw [it,] he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32 “[saying,] ‘I [am] the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. 33 ‘Then the LORD said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.
Remember, Stephen has been accused of blasphemy against the temple, but he has consistently showed that God appeared to these men when there was no temple
He appeared to Abraham is Mesopotamia, he appeared to Joseph in a dream, He appeared to Moses in the wilderness
What makes a place holy? Wherever God is is what makes it holy
So Moses takes off his shoes and honors the place where God is — it’s not in the temple…
34 “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.” ’ 35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent [to be] a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 “He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
Just like the Abraham, just like Joseph, Moses had to go through a period of trial and testing before he was used by God
But even when he had, the Jews did not accept him at first
This is the pattern Stephen is trying to establish
There is always an initial rejection to the ones God sends
This not only works in the hearts of those to whom God sends
But it works in the heart of those who are sent as well
Will you follow — even if no one else will?
Will you follow — even if your own family rejects you?
Will you follow — even if those to whom you are sent resist and say all manner of evil against you?
This is the test for anyone called of God to speak on His behalf
The religious elites wanted to identify with the prophets without having to identify with their suffering, rejection and trials
37 “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’
Now Stephen ties it back to Christ
The same Moses that you want to identify with, is the same Moses who prophesied that another prophet like him would come — Jesus
Moses foretold that another prophet would come and commanded — Him you shall hear — Him you need to listen to
38 “This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and [with] our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, 39 “whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,
Notice who he says is “our fathers” it’s not Moses… it those who rejected Moses
40 [and when they rejected God they said to aaron] “saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; [as for] this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 “And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 “Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: ‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices [during] forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 43 You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’
Stephen shows a repeated pattern of God using trials and difficulties to shape and prepare His prophets
He also shows a pattern of those to whom He sends these prophets as rejecting them
They had created gods after their own image — and God gave them up to worship them
44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 45 “which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, 46 “who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 47 “But Solomon built Him a house. 48 “However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: 49 ‘Heaven [is] My throne, And earth [is] My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what [is] the place of My rest? 50 Has My hand not made all these things?’
51 “[You] stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers [did,] so [do] you. 52 “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 “who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept [it.]” 54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with [their] teeth.
Notice: Stephen has confronted them very bluntly and they are “cut to the heart”
This cut to the heart is a reference to conviction — the Holy Spirit illuminating the truth of these words to them
We saw this same method used in Acts 2 — Peter tells them plainly:
Acts 2:36-37 (NKJV) 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” 37 Now when they heard [this,] they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men [and] brethren, what shall we do?”
Notice the same message — you crucified Him, you killed the messiah
Notice the same delivery — blunt and direct
But notice very different responses:
In Acts 2, they’re convicted and they want to know how they can be saved
In Acts 7, they’re convicted and they want to kill the messenger
Response has nothing to do with content, and it has nothing to do with delivery — it has to do with our reaction to the light
John 3:19-21 (NKJV) 19 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Two different responses to the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit
The light of the Holy Spirit is shown, illuminating the heart as to the truth of its condition
Those that love their deeds more than the truth of what’s been revealed, recoil back into the darkness hardening their heart to the truth
Those that see the truth of their standing before a Holy God come into the light
This conviction is the drawing Jesus speaks of, without which no man can come to the Father
But this conviction has a response — and that response is based on our reaction to the truth
Jesus said:
Matthew 5:3 (NKJV) “Blessed [are] the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This is the response to the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit
It is followed by:
Matthew 5:4 (NKJV) Blessed [are] those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.
The convicting work of the Holy Spirit, illuminating who we are before a Holy God destroys any notion we have that we are good — it destroys our false identity
This invokes an extreme response:
Either mourning
Or gnashing of teeth
We’ve now seen both play out in practical terms
The Pharisees here love their life
They love their position
They love their false identity — which Jesus said must be destroyed so they can be reborn to a new identity
And they would rather embrace a lie that allows them to keep their identity
Than embrace a truth that gives them a new one
And the result is they gnash their teeth at Stephen and seek to kill him
55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast [him] out of the city and stoned [him.] And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on [God] and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
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