“Then said the high priest, Are these things so? And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, He removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. And He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet He promised that He would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child” (Acts 7:1-5).
Stephen, accused by “false witnesses” (Acts 6:13), was before the Jewish council. He began his speech with God: he spoke of the “God of Glory,” the God who is not only glorious in Himself, but is also the Author of glory, just as He is “of life” (Acts 3:15). Abraham, the father of the Jewish race, was called by the God of glory to appear in a far away land full of idols, as Joshua said to the children of Israel:
“Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods” (Josh. 24:2). Abraham was not a better man than the rest, but God had pity on him and appeared to him. Abraham’s heart was conquered: he left behind the idols “to serve the living and true God” (as they did in Thessalonica millenniums later — See 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).
The supreme calling separated Abraham from his “land,” “relations” and his “father’s” house (Gen. 12:1). To separate oneself from one’s people is difficult; from relations, even more difficult; but to separate oneself from the paternal home is the most difficult of all. But the God of glory called Abraham, and he obeyed.
“Oh my soul! God calls you,
Oh, do not fail to turn to Him!
With His powerful hand
He will open the way for you.
He has broken the chain,
You have been saved from Egypt;
Set free from punishment
With God you will walk.”
“And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve Me in this place. And He gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs. And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house” (Acts 7:6-10).
In Genesis 37, we note the envy in the hearts of the fathers of the nation of Israel (perfect examples of the Jews that killed the true “Joseph,” the Lord Jesus). We also note how God marvelously worked and made Pharaoh raise Joseph up to the highest place, putting him as “governor over Egypt.”
“Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph’s kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls” (Acts 7:11-14).
In Genesis 42-44, Joseph’s treatment of his brothers (in order to bring them to repentance) is mentioned.
“So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem” (Acts 7:15-16). Stephen did not say anything about the “faith” of Jacob and his children in Egypt, the only thing noted in Hebrews 11 is that “By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff” (Heb. 11:21). What a pity that a believer would arrive at the end of his life before doing anything that God recognized as proceeding from faith!
“Joseph ... gave commandment concerning his bones” (Heb. 11:22), because he knew that God was going to take his people out of Egypt and he wanted his bones to be buried in the promised land.
In passing, note that there is a contradiction in some texts that unbelievers have attacked — trying to demonstrate that the Bible is not the Word of God. Having said that, the original text of the Bible, whether the Hebrew or Aramaic in the Old Testament, or the Greek of the New Testament, was divinely inspired and was absolutely perfect — all the way down to the “jots” and “tittles” (See Matt. 5:18; John 10:35; 2 Tim. 3:16).
Abraham did not buy the grave in Shechem, but rather the cave in Machpela in front of Mamre, from Ephron, the Hittite (see Gen. 23:14-20). Jacob bought a “parcel of a field ... at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father” (Gen. 33:19). Jacob was buried in the cave in Machpela (see Gen. 50:13); but, “the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem” (Josh. 24:32).
Now then, eliminating the name “Abraham” (which some mistaken copyist probably put in), there is no contradiction. The passage, with a little bit of clarification, reads like this: “and so Jacob descended to Egypt, where he died [and was buried by Joseph in the cave in Machpela]. Later his descendants, the fathers of Israel, died and were moved to Shechem [where Joseph was buried]; and put in the grave that [Jacob bought with money from the sons of Hamor of Shechem]” (referring to Acts 7:15-16).
“But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months: And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son” (Acts 7:17-21).
No one can hinder or undo the plans of God; the very daughter of the Pharaoh that wanted to kill all of the Hebrew children rescued Moses and raised him as her own son!
“And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday? Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons” (Acts 7:22-29).
The Lord Jesus was “mighty in [1] word and [2] deed” (Luke 24:19). Moses “was mighty in [1] words and in [2] deeds.” To fulfill God’s pending purpose, “all the wisdom of the Egyptians” that Moses possessed had no value. So, the Lord permitted that Moses would have to flee from the palace of the Egyptian Pharaoh and live in the desert for forty more years — learning necessary lessons in the school of God. However, Stephen pointed out to the council that the man God chose to be the liberator of the children of Israel in those days was rejected by those same people — just as Christ was rejected by the Jews.
“And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have seen, I have seen the affliction of My people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt” (Acts 7: 30-34).
Moses, during the first forty years of his life, learned how to be someone in Pharaoh’s royal palace. However, God arranged for him to spend the subsequent forty years in the desert learning to be nothing. We are nothing and it is a healthy lesson that we must learn. “Christ is all,” “Apart from Me ye can do nothing” (Col.3:11; John 15:5).
The bush that was burning, and was not consumed, puts us in mind of the nation of Israel and the terrible tests that it had to pass through — and has yet to pass through. But, just as the bush was not consumed, Israel will not be destroyed: “And so all Israel shall be saved [not every person, but all the twelve tribes] as it is written: there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (Rom. 11:26).
The Lord told Moses that He was “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Who would ever have thought that the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead would be hidden in this saying? But, many years later, the Lord Jesus said, “Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him” (Luke 20:37-38).
The Lord took pity on His people in Egypt and told Moses, “I have come to set them free.” This puts us in mind of the Lord Jesus’ descent from heaven to save us — Gentile sinners — from our misery and sin: “I am that bread of life ... .This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:48-51).
“This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? 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. He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years” (Acts 7:35-36). The redeemer of Israel in Egypt, Moses, was rejected by the Israelites; just as the Messiah of Israel, Jesus Christ, was rejected by the Jews. This was the main point in Stephen’s speech — he was building the shameful history of Israel up to this climax.
“This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to Me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon” (Acts 7:37-43).
Stephen made them remember that — during their march toward Canaan — their ancestors had returned to Egypt in their hearts and worshipped a golden calf. Not only that, but they also carried the idols of the surrounding pagan nations with them through the desert. This accusation was written in Amos (5:25-27) when the Lord announced that He was going to bring His captive people away from the promised land.
“Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built Him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool: what house will ye build Me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of My rest? Hath not My hand made all these things?” (Acts 7:44-50).
Stephen continued his speech, speaking of the place of worship that existed among the children of Israel — first the tabernacle in the desert, and later the magnificent temple built by Solomon; emphasizing the fact that the most high God does not dwell in “temples made with human hands” as the prophet Isaiah had written (see Isa. 66:1-2).
“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth” (Acts 7:51-54).
Stephen, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, culminated his speech with this short summary of the enmity of the Jews against Jehovah their God. The same enmity that first worked in their fathers when they killed the prophets and which reached its highest point of iniquity when their children killed the Messiah of Israel. There was no repentance in either the parents or the children.
“But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55-56). Stephen, close to martyrdom, was given the privilege of seeing the heavens opened so that he could see Jesus, the man glorified at the right hand of God, and could give eyewitness to this majestic fact.
We mention in passing that in the New Testament we read no less than four times about the heavens being opened, and the object is always Jesus, the Son of God: two times on earth and two times in heaven. First, when he submitted himself to be baptized: “And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:16-17). The second chronological place was the martyrdom of Stephen, and the third place was in Revelation 19:11: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war.” There is no doubt who this refers to! To the “King of kings and Lord of lords” that is going to descend from heaven to judge the world! Later, the fourth time we read about the heavens opened: “And He saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man” (John 1:51). In the cases of the baptism of Jesus, the martyrdom of Stephen, and the exit of the Lord Jesus from heaven as the great Conqueror of evil, the heavens were opened momentarily. But, when the “Son of Man,” Jesus, reigns with the angels serving Him, it appears that the heavens will be permanently opened. There will be a blessed and intimate communion between the heavens and the earth, between the New Jerusalem, the heavenly dwelling place of the church, and the world beneath the feet of Christ. “I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness ... And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth” (Hosea 2:20-21).
“Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7:57-60).
This is how the first martyr of the church, which we have mentioned in Scripture, died. What a glorious death Stephen had, giving eye-witness to Christ, his Savior, lifted up to the highest place and glorified at the right hand of God! And what a kind intention the Lord must have cherished in that moment while He watched everything and noticed the “young man ... whose name was Saul.” He was the number one enemy of the Christians and — without knowing it — of his Lord! The Lord was going to reveal Himself to this young man and pardon him from his sins!
Note that Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He was going “to be with Christ, which is far better” (Phil. 1:23). Later, after asking for forgiveness for his murders, “he fell asleep.” Sleep refers only to the believer’s body, never the spirit: “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth” (John 11:11).
The Lord Jesus, crucified, prayed like this: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Stephen prayed, with the same pardoning spirit: “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” Every action of Christians towards their enemies — and with their brothers as well — should be made with the same spirit. Is not that true?
“His love is more than tongue can tell,
His love is more than tongue can tell,
The love that Jesus had for me
Is more than tongue can tell!”