1-2. “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.”
Ever since Adam sought excuse for his sin—“the woman whom Thou gavest to be with me” (Gen. 3:1212And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. (Genesis 3:12))—man has been defending his sin. So, though well knowing that the charges against Stephen were lies, the high priest expected the accused to defend his innocence. Such a course would have given credence to the false charges and made the wicked religious leaders appear to be desirous of the truth.
But dear Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, begins to talk about God rather than himself. What a lesson! Let us ever speak well of Christ, while never seeking to defend ourselves before the world.
3-5. “And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, 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.”
The Jews were clinging to a place and customs (Acts 6:13-1413And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: 14For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. (Acts 6:13‑14)) but lacked faith, without which it is impossible to please God. Stephen, guided by the Holy Spirit, takes them back to Abraham, in whom they also boasted, showing that he moved by faith, not by sight.
6-7. “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.”
It should have touched these hard-hearted religious leaders’ consciences that they, too, were now in bondage (to the Romans), and like their fathers in Egypt, they, too, needed deliverance.
The place (Jerusalem, the temple and the nation) of which they were so proud was not now where they by faith served Jehovah, but a place of pride to them (John 2:1616And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. (John 2:16)). How sad when Christianity—that which in the reality of faith brings a soul to the place of nearness to God in Christ—becomes only a source of faithless, fleshly, religious pride of heart.
8-9. “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.”
Though they might take pride in their heritage as having Abraham for their father (John 8:5353Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? (John 8:53)), the Spirit of God was using Stephen to exercise their conscience about their fathers’ rejection—due to envy and unbelief—of God’s deliverer.
These same fleshly feelings may cause believers today to reject one of God’s servants, sent in grace to help them, because they are passing through difficulties or so that the difficulties may not have to be experienced.
10. “And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.”
It should have been apparent to these hard-hearted religious leaders that if God were with Joseph (see verse 9) in blessing and raising him to a place of prominence in Egypt, He could not have been with the patriarchs who sold him into slavery.
Was Jehovah with them now in their false accusations against Stephen? How sad for a person to take a stand in direct opposition to the mind of God.
11. “Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.”
Jehovah’s promise to bless Jacob was unconditional, but the patriarchs were going to be passed through a time of reaping the consequences of their wicked treatment of Joseph, before they could enjoy the promised blessing of God.
12-14. “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.”
If those religious leaders had listened with ears of faith, they too would have heard the blessed, life-giving message: There is corn in Egypt. But to receive that blessing, they must humble themselves, admitting their guilt in betraying their Joseph—delivering the Messiah to be crucified by the Romans. The time is yet future when He will be made known to a repentant nation of Israel.
15-17. “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. But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt.”
The one part of this world that Abraham seems to have owned was a place to bury his dead (Gen. 23:44I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. (Genesis 23:4)). He “looked for a city . . . whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:1010For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:10)). May it be so with us. The time when we shall be caught up to be forever with the Lord draws nigh. He has promised mansions in the Father’s house for those who trust Him. Faith does not fear that the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation, as did these unbelieving Jews, for we belong to a better country (Heb. 11:1616But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:16)).
18-19. “Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. The same dealt subtilely with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.”
Satan is ever the same in his hatred of Christ and those redeemed by His precious blood. He uses every means at his disposal to bring Christian parents into such cruel slavery and bondage in this present evil world that they cannot display the energy of prayer or the courage of faith in the preserving of their beloved children. His most successful means are often very subtle—hidden under an attractive and harmless-appearing surface. But this wicked angel of light has one object—spiritual devastation, often achieved through the destruction (moral more than physical) of believers’ children.
Ed.