Acts 037 – Partial Obedience
Acts Acts 7:1-16 • Dr. Andy Woods • January 31, 2024 • ActsActs 037
Partial Obedience
Acts 7:1-16
January 31, 2024
Dr. Andy Woods
Let’s take our Bibles this evening and open them to the seventh chapter of the Book of Acts. Having completed Acts 6 last time, we’re now moving into Acts 7. I think I’ve shared with you before that the title “The Acts of the Apostles”, which is what a lot of the study Bibles call the Book of Acts. I don’t think that’s such a great title. It’s really the “Acts of the Holy Spirit”. And it’s really not a book about the miracles that God did through the apostles. It’s really focused on two apostles: Peter and Paul. And here’s a chart showing you the part of the book of Acts where Peter is dominant, the first 12 chapters. And then Paul becomes dominant beginning in chapter 13 through the end of the book. And as Paul becomes dominant, he kind of repeats a lot of the things Peter did. So, in so doing, Luke, our author, is showing that Paul’s ministry is just as legitimate as Peter’s. And that’s a big deal to Theophilus, a Gentile who was probably reached through Paul. So, the book is really about the Acts of the Holy Spirit through Peter and Paul.
Acts 6:8-8:4 Stephen
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- Stephen’s Arrest (6:8‒7:1)
- Stephen’s Defense (Acts 7:2-53)
- Stephen’s Stoning (7:54-60)
- Third Persecution (Acts 8:1-4)
But there’s a bridge between Peter and Paul, and that’s the first deacon selected in Acts 6, a man named Stephen. His story– which is really half of chapter 6, all of chapter 7, and the after-effects in chapter 8– is sort of a bridge between those two great apostles, Peter and Paul. If you don’t have a Stephen, you don’t have a Paul, as we’ll see here in chapter 7. So that’s sort of the way to look at this material that we’re moving into now. So, we can take Stephen’s story and divide it into four. We have his arrest. We saw that last time at end of chapter 6. Then there’s his defense before the Sanhedrin. And that’s a long sermon. If you think my sermons are long, you ain’t seen nothing yet. And that sermon leads to part three, his execution, his stoning, which is going to happen at the end of chapter 7. And then part four is Stephen’s impact brought against Christendom, Christianity, the third persecution by the Jewish leadership. And that’s in chapter 8:1-4. So, the last time we were together, we saw Stephen’s arrest. And that took us right into chapter 7:1, where now Stephen is brought before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious governing body, and it says in chapter 7:1 that, The high priest said [to Stephen] “Are these things so?”
He’s been accused falsely of speaking against the temple and things of that nature. And so, he’s asked point blank in front of the Sanhedrin. He’s just been arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. “Are these things so?” Which gives Stephen an opportunity to speak to the Sanhedrin in the form of his defense, which is going to begin in verse 2, and it’s going to go all the way through verse 53. So, what you have there, beginning in verse 2 through verse 53, is a is a history lesson. It’s given by a man, Stephen, under pressure, largely off the top of his head, but it’s stunning the number of scriptures that were in his mind. And he weaves all these scriptures together, giving not a comprehensive view of Israel and her history, but giving a selective perspective. And he’s weaving all this material together to show that the nation of Israel, although they are God’s elect nation is wrong. I mean, they’re wrong with Jesus rejecting him, and they’ve been wrong most of the time is his point. And he gets to the end of his sermon, and he’s going to say the current generation is repeating that pattern. It’s not really a sermon on how to win friends and influence people, because they are so upset with him at the conclusion of this that they execute him via stoning right there on the spot. And so, his death is recorded. He’s the first martyr of the church age.
And Saul, who is presiding over his execution– and maybe I would think was there when Stephen gives this defense before the Sanhedrin, his heart is impacted by this. And we know that his heart is impacted because Saul gets very, very angry and uses this as an opportunity to really wipe out the new church. And yet I believe that the Holy Spirit is going to take that seed planted by Stephen, water it, which will lead to the conversion of Saul, who will become Paul in Acts chapter 9. And the rest of the book of Acts is about really Paul the Apostle, and he’s going to become a big deal in Christianity. If you don’t have a Saul becoming a Paul, you might as well take thirteen letters in your Bible and just tear them out. He’s a major contributor to our New Testament and the link in the chain leading to the conversion of Saul, this man named Stephen. So that’s where this sermon that we’re going to start studying here fits into the big picture. The sermon has six parts.
- (7:2-5) Abraham’s partial obedience)
- (7:6-38) Israel’s initial rejections and later acceptances
- (7:39-41) Israel’s early rebellion against Moses
- (7:42-45) Israel reinterpreted Moses’ teachings through a polytheistic framework
- (7:46-50) Neither the Tabernacle nor Temple were intended as permanent habitations of God
- (7:51-53) Current generation imitating these same rebellions
You see on the left there the verse divisions. Verses 2 through 5, he’s going to emphasize Abraham’s partial obedience. Verses 6 to 38, he’s going to get across the point that the nation of Israel gets things right the second time. They never get it right the first time. And he’s going to use the life of Joseph to prove that point and the life of Moses to prove that point. And then part three of the sermon is going to be how the nation rebelled against Moses when he was on the mountain, Mount Sinai, and he was just gone for forty days. And the nation while he was gone, led by Aaron, the high priest built a golden calf. And then part four of the sermon, verses 42 through 45, is how the nation became polytheistic, which is a total mess up because God revealed Himself as, you know— ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is one’– monotheistic. And then part five of the sermon is the nation kind of looked at the Tabernacle and then later the Solomonic temple as a good luck charm. If the temple was standing, they thought no harm could come to them. And Stephen is going to explain in verses 46 through 50 that that neither the temple nor the tabernacle was ever intended to be a permanent habitation of God. In fact, God has left that temple and He’s now indwelling His people. And then part six of the sermon, here’s the grand finale, verses 51 through 53 is the current generation, through their rejection of Jesus, or Yeshua is imitating these same rebellions. And then that in turn is going to lead to his execution, Stephen’s execution, verses 54 through verse 60. So that’s sort of the big picture. Stephen starts with Abraham because the nation of Israel started with Abraham. And Stephen’s going to make the point that Abraham was a tremendous man of God. But his obedience was sort of like a C-plus. He obeyed God most of the time, but he never completely obeyed God. And so that’s what he’s accomplishing here in verses 2 through 5.
Let’s pick it up here with verse 2 of chapter 7. Stephen now is speaking. And he said, “Hear me, brethren (fellow Jews) and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.” So, the story of the nation of Israel– and you guys are familiar with this if you’ve been tracking with us on Sunday mornings as we’re going through Genesis verse by verse. I kind of think it’s neat that the Holy Spirit would have us in both sections of the Bible at the same time. Genesis, the long story. Acts 7, sort of the Reader’s Digest account. But the story of the nation of Israel begins with the calling of Abram– his name hadn’t even been changed yet to Abraham– from the Ur of the Chaldeans, which is there in the East between the Euphrates and the Tigris, modern day Iraq. So, Abram was an idolater. He was a pagan. He was no doubt influenced by the idolatry that happened in the prior chapter at the Tower of Babel. And God sought at that point, because every other nation owing its roots to the Tower of Babel, because there was only one language, and God confounded the language, and so all the nations took with them the idolatrous system of the Tower of Babel into all their surrounding nations.
God wanted to form now a brand-new nation through which to bless the world. not the least of which is the Messiah is going to come to the world, Jesus Yeshua, through the nation of Israel. So, to form a brand-new nation independent of the universal impact of the Tower of Babel, God calls this man Abraham. You see it at the end of Genesis 11 into Genesis 12. He’s given specific promises by God. He’s told to walk by faith. God is sort of sanctifying him, separating him from his idolatrous roots. He’s to go to a land that he doesn’t even know where he’s going. But God said, I’ll lead you where you need to go. And through this process, God is giving to this man, Abraham promises. And through these promises is going to come the nation of Israel. This is Abraham there in Ur of the Chaldeans in Mesopotamia before he went to Haran. Haran is that circle up top, north. [see slide 9] And as you look at verse 2, you’ll notice the word “glory.” It says, He (Stephen) said “Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.”
So, notice that the “glory”– and this could be a reference to the Shekinah glory of God. Arnold Fruchtenbaum in his Acts commentary takes it that way, that the glory of God manifested outside the borders of Israel. Israel became– what was Canaan there on the Mediterranean Sea? The land that God was taking Abraham to later became known as Israel. And so, what you see here, right out of the gate, is the glory of God appears outside of the borders of Israel. So, this is going to fit very well with a point that Stephen is going to make in verse 48. “However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet say:” so these Jews looked at the temple as a good luck charm. And Stephen starts this sermon by saying, God doesn’t need the temple. God doesn’t need the tabernacle. God doesn’t even need the borders of Israel because he manifested His Shekinah glory to Abraham in a in a distant land, the Ur of the Chaldeans, about 350 miles or so east of Canaan. And so, what you’re going to see in this sermon is how God manifested himself, I should say, in all kinds of locations outside of Israel. He will manifest himself in Egypt to Joseph. He will manifest himself in Midian, modern day Saudi Arabia to Moses. He will manifest himself to the people of God at Mount Sinai. He manifested himself to Abraham in the Ur of the Chaldeans.
So, when Stephen gets to his final point there, verse 48, that God is not bound by a temple, he’s already sort of built up to that point by showing that God doesn’t need, you know, the temple. He doesn’t need the tabernacle. He can manifest His glory wherever he wants. And so, the fact is that God has decided to indwell His people in the church age as individual temples, which He’s doing today. Right? Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. That should come as no shock to you because God is not confined, you know, to operating according to the Jewish temple and Tabernacle. Now He did manifest himself in the temple, in the tabernacle. You know, those were beautiful things, but God is not confined to that. This is kind of an important thing to remember, because a lot of Christians have this mindset that God only works in our church. Or God only works in our country. Or God only works in my denomination or our denomination. When we start thinking that way, we’ve taken God, and we’ve really narrowed Him unnecessarily and biblically because God works anywhere He wants, any time He wants, any place He wants, through any person He wants. God doesn’t need a denomination. He doesn’t need a particular church. He doesn’t need a particular group of people. If He works through such a group, praise the Lord. But, but that’s just out of His grace and goodness. He doesn’t need anything. And so, we should never develop a mindset that God can work on this side of town, you know, but not across the railroad tracks, you know, kind of mentality.
As you go down to verse 3, God is now speaking to Abran in the Ur of the Chaldeans, “and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.'” It’s a quote there from Genesis 12:1. Separate yourself from your family. God is sanctifying Abraham. Separating him from his idolatrous past to create this new nation. So how did Abraham do following that command there, Genesis 12:1? Leave your country– he did that. And your relatives– he didn’t do that. Because who went with him? Lot went with him. And who was Lot? Lot was Abraham’s nephew. Genesis 12:1 says, Now the Lord said to Abraham, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;” But verse 4 says: So Abraham went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot was with him… I thought God said, separate yourself from your relatives. So at least Abraham’s moving in the right direction. But his obedience is really partial. I mean, God was pretty clear. Separate yourself from your family, which he didn’t do.
And then God said, go to the land that I’m showing you. Now that actually happened. He left and he went there up north to Canaan. But when you get to Genesis 12:10, it says this: Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land… Well, God never said, Go to Egypt. So I see what’s going on with Abraham. His obedience maybe is like a C plus. I mean, he went to the land God showed him and then he and then he got out of the land pretty quick and he moved down southwest to Egypt because there was a famine in the land. And Genesis 12 never tells Abraham to go to Egypt, and he should have just trusted God in the midst of the famine and stayed in Canaan. But he didn’t, and he left. And besides that, he never really separated himself completely from his family because Lot was with him. And there was someone else with him. It’s in verse 4, “Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran.” Where is, uh, Haran? Haran is up north there, the circle up top.
Acts 7:4, “Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there–“ From where? From Haran– “after his father died…” So, you get the impression that Abraham not only took a Lot with him, but he also took his dad with him.Who was Abraham’s dad? His dad was Terah. So, after the flood, Noah had three sons there with him on the ark. From those three sons the world is populated. One of those sons is named Shem, and through Shem comes Terah. Through Terah comes Abram, and then his name is changed to Abraham. And God was very clear; leave Ur of the Chaldeans. Separate yourself from your family– and here is what we’re learning as you look at verse 4, that Abraham didn’t do that. It gives you the impression that he brought his father Terah with him to Harran. And he didn’t actually leave Harran, which is up north, and then finally move into Canaan until after his father Terah had died in Harran. So, when you look at the big picture, you know Abraham does obey, but it’s certainly not a perfect obedience at all. He takes a Lot with him. He takes dad with him. When God said, don’t do that. And then he gets to the land, the promised land but he doesn’t stay there. He panics. He hits the panic button because of a famine, and he goes to Egypt.
And this is not the kind of sermon that the Sanhedrin wants to hear, because what Stephen is doing is he’s pointing out the warts in Israel’s history. So, because we believe that God made an unconditional covenant with Abraham, these missteps do not cut Israel out of the picture. You know, you would think that because Abraham didn’t do it exactly like God said, God would cut the cord with Israel’s national promises. But our system of eschatology, our study of the end, will not allow that, because we believe that when God entered into these promises with Abraham and this covenant with Abraham, it was unconditional. It was never based on Abraham’s performance because, as you can see here, his performance was somewhat incomplete. And so that’s a wonderful thing to think about because your salvation as a Christian is exactly the same. God doesn’t say, I’m going to give you salvation, but you’re on probation. Don’t mess up. Because if you mess up, I’m going to pull out the carpet from under you. Just as Abraham and the covenant that he received was unconditional salvation to us is unconditional. It was given to us as a gift. And so even when we mess things up, which we tend to do– can I get an amen on that? I just wonder if I’m talking to the right crowd here. You guys look very spiritual here on a Wednesday night. I don’t know if you guys ever have any sinful issues in your lives or disobedience. I mean, I know I do. It’s a wonderful thing to remember that Second Timothy 2:13 reminds us that If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He can’t deny himself.
So, Abraham’s partial obedience doesn’t cut Israel out of the picture any more than our partial obedience takes away our salvation. Now, if God entered this arrangement with Abraham on the basis of merit, then the replacement theologians could be right that God took away Israel’s covenant. If God entered into our salvation arrangement on the basis of our merit, then the Arminians could be right. You could be saved one day and not saved the next day. But God has decided not to deal with Abraham and not to deal with us on the basis of merit, but on the basis of grace. And yet Stephen is very good at pointing out that Abraham, for the most part obeyed, but he didn’t obey completely. And Stephen, historically, is building to the point where the current generation is doing the exact same thing. They’re not being completely obedient to God in their rejection of Jesus. This is just the first leg, if you will, in Stephen’s impromptu speech that he’s giving as he’s weaving all this Old Testament material together. He’s probably quoting here the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of Hebrew Bible completed a little under two centuries before the time of Christ. So, you have to understand that before Jesus ever took one step on planet earth, not only was there an Old Testament, but it was actually translated into Greek in what’s called the LCS. And so, when you see these capital letters, uh, most people believe Stephen is using the Greek translation of Hebrew Bible.
It continues in verse 5. It says, “he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground,” so what was Abraham promised? He was promised in Genesis 15, a track of real estate that goes all the way from the Nile in Egypt to the Euphrates River in modern day Iraq. Roughly from the Nile to the Euphrates, from modern day Egypt to modern day Iraq. That’s what Abraham was given by God unconditionally. And when Abraham was alive on the earth, how much of that property did he actually receive? Next to nothing. The only thing he really got was he purchased a burial plot. You’ll recall Genesis 23, in Hebron, I think it was. And he died in that condition, having this little, tiny burial plot for his wife. He was later buried there, but he never received everything that God promised. So that creates our doctrine of the millennial kingdom, where these promises will be realized one day. Abraham’s descendants one day on this planet, planet Earth, will have jurisdiction over that entire land. So, it says in verse 5, “But he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground and yet, even when he had no child, He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him.”
Probably a quote from Genesis 12:7 there in the Septuagint. So, it’s kind of interesting. God said, Abraham, your descendants are going to be as the stars of the sky, innumerable. They’re going to be as numerous as the dust of the earth. And they’re going to be as numerous as the sand of the seashore. I mean, think of all the sand on all of the beaches of the world. That’s what your descendants are going to be like as I’m raising this special nation, to bless the world through you. And we have a slight problem. He’s childless. All the way back in Genesis 11:30, it tells us that it says Sarai– that was the name of his wife before her name (Genesis 17) was changed to Sarah. Sarai was barren; and she had no child. And these are people that are, today, we’d call them senior citizens, seasoned citizens, whatever term you want to use. I mean, you’re dealing with people in their 80s and 90s, roughly. And she’s barren and it’s sort of like. Did I mishear what God said? And that’s why they tried to make Eliezer of Damascus– do you remember Genesis 15, their heir? And God says, no. Eliezer of Damascus in your household, Genesis 15 is not your heir. Your heir is going to come forth from your own body. And that’s why they got into the business of helping God. You know, poor God, He can’t fulfill this. This is just too big. So, they develop this plan, as you know, from Genesis 16, where Abraham would impregnate Hagar, and through Hagar this lineage would come. And the only thing Abraham did when he did that is he created a group of people that have become perennial opponents of Israel. And so, God needs no help in fulfilling His word. At the right time, Genesis 21, God gave life to Sarah’s womb, and she became pregnant with Isaac. And through Isaac came Jacob, and through Jacob came Jacob’s dozen, who became the twelve tribes. And through the twelve tribes would come these innumerable descendants.
So, the whole story of Abraham is just so wonderful because it reveals a guy who believed God. But he didn’t believe God completely. You know, poor God needs some help. Let me see if I can grease the wheels for God a little bit. Let’s recruit Eliezer of Damascus.
God says, don’t do that. It’s going to be from your own body.
Well, let me impregnate Hagar.
No, don’t do that. It’s going to be through, Sarah. Separate yourself from your family. Okay, I’ll start moving. But I’m going to take Lot and Dad with me.
Go to the land of Canaan. He did that, but he panicked. He hit the panic button and went down to Egypt. And it’s just a great story because it reminds us of ourselves and it’s an exhortation for us to continue to walk with God and try to do things His way under his power. And so, Stephen’s point right at the beginning is Israel has never been 100% obedient. They’re not being obedient right now. That shouldn’t shock you because look at what our progenitor and his obedience was like. It was it was a C plus, if that. It was good, but it wasn’t complete.
He now moves into the second part of his sermon. Verses 6 through 38, where his point is Israel gets things right the second time. And he’s using history to prove his point. Israel never gets it right the first time ever, but she gets it right the second time. And Stephen proves that point by pointing to the example of how they treated Joseph, verses 6 through 16. And if that weren’t enough, he proves his point historically by how they treated Moses, verses 17 through 38. In both cases, as you’ll see, Israel rejected God’s preeminent servant. Joseph and Moses, the first time. But the second time around they submitted to the authority of Joseph and Moses. And Stephen is just making a simple point. He says the current generation– as he’s speaking to the Sanhedrin– is doing the exact same thing right now. You’re rejecting Yeshua, Jesus, nationally. So, you’re getting it wrong. But don’t worry. At some point in the yet future, in the events of the End Times, you’ll get it right the second time. And these are people that looked at themselves as the most spiritual people in Israel, and they did not want to hear this. In fact, as he’s speaking, what they’re doing as you’ll see toward the end of this sermon is stopping their ears. They’re plugging their ears where they don’t have to listen. You know, today, if young collegians don’t like an idea, you know they can retreat to what are called these safe spaces where their presuppositions, you know, are unchallenged. So, if you’re a conservative speaker or if you’re pro-life and if you go on a campus and you present conservative or pro-life ideas, you’re accused of invading the safe space of somebody else. Somebody who’s got it all set up where they can live in a bubble world without having their assumptions or presuppositions challenged. It’s called safe spaces. And that’s kind of what’s happening here with the Sanhedrin. Stephen is invading their safe space to the point where they start to plug their ears, or they don’t have to listen to what he is saying. And then at the end of this, you’re going to see that they start screaming at him at the top of their lungs. They have no vote. It’s mob rule where they kill him right there on the spot. So, the second part of the sermon, after Abraham’s partial obedience, he goes into the fact that Israel gets it right the second time. Never the first time. And he demonstrates this from the story of Joseph, verses 6 through 16.
- (7:2-5) Abrahan’s partial obedience)
- (7:6-38) Israel’s initial rejections and later acceptances
Example of Joseph (6-16) - Example of Moses (17-38)
- (7:39-41) Israel’s early rebellion against Moses
- (7:42-45) Israel reinterpreted Moses’ teachings through a polytheistic framework
- (7:46-50) Neither the Tabernacle nor Temple were intended as permanent habitations of God
- (7:51-53) Current generation imitating these same rebellions
In verse 6, Stephen says “But God spoke to this effect that his descendants would be aliens in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.” Now that’s what God said would happen all the way back in Genesis 15:13. It says, God said to Abraham, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.” Genesis 15:16 says, “Then in the fourth generation they (Israel) will return here (Canaan), for the iniquity of the Amorite–“ that’s the Canaanites that are going to be eradicated under Joshua— “is not yet complete.” So, this is one of those prophecies that’s a short-term prophecy. As he starts the story of Joseph, he reminds the nation that God made this prediction, in the short run, that you’re going to go into a foreign land, in this case Egypt, for four hundred years, but you’re going to come out of that land and you’re kind of going to come right back here with great possessions.
And we know that that prophecy was fulfilled. It’s fulfilled in the book of Exodus. It was fulfilled in the Book of Numbers. And this is why I always recommend one of my favorite books, if you’re looking for something to study. It’s Every Prophecy of the Bible by John Walvoord. And it reads sort of like an encyclopedia. He goes through all these prophecies in the Bible that have already happened. Like this one here about being in a foreign land for four hundred years, and he shows you that they’re all literally fulfilled. And his point in writing the book is that it builds confidence that the prophecies yet to come that are still future will be fulfilled in the same way. So, we know that in Genesis 46– and we have a year for that, 1876 BC– that Jacob finally, with his sons, finally left Canaan and traveled to Egypt because he had heard that Joseph had now been elevated to second in command in Egypt. Why did Jacob leave Canaan? Genesis 38 is the answer, and we’ll be getting to Genesis 38 quickly here Sunday morning. Not this Sunday, but probably next Sunday. It’s a description of the total moral failure of the nation, because they were surrounded by these wicked Canaanites. And if God had left them in Canaan, they would have been just as morally corrupt as their neighbors. So, God had to get him out and get them incubated in a place called Goshen. Because to the Egyptians, shepherds– which is who Jacob and his sons were, they were shepherds is loathsome. You know, we don’t want anything to do with shepherds. So even though they went into polytheistic Egypt, they were sort of incubated there for a period. And so that’s one of the reasons God had to get them out of Canaan and into Egypt.
Another reason He had to get them out of Canaan into Egypt is because a famine was going to hit Canaan, and they were going to need grain during famine. And in fact, if you go down to verses 11 and 12, there’s a reference to that famine. It says, “Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers could find no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.” Another reason God had to get His nation out of Canaan is because of what Simeon and Levi did. You remember? When their sister Dinah was raped. They took vigilante justice. You know, they didn’t let the punishment fit the crime. They just wiped out everybody in Shechem. Remember that story? And when Jacob found out what Simeon and Levi had done, Jacob wasn’t happy about that.
Genesis 34:30 says, Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me odious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and my men being few in number, they will gather together against me and attack me and I will be destroyed, I and my household.” So, what you guys have done has made me an enemy amongst the Canaanites. So that’s another reason why God had to get His special nation out of Canaan. The Canaanites wanted to wipe out the Jews or the Hebrews. The Canaanites were morally detestable. And if God had left His nation there, they would have imitated the sad morality of the Canaanites. And beyond that there was a famine. So, God has to do like a moving project here. Get him out of Canaan into Goshen. And whenever God does the work, he picks a person. And the person that was selected for this was a guy named Joseph. And Joseph is going to have a lot of really bad things happen to him when he’s a teenager, and his life isn’t going to make any sense until he hits age 30. But once he hits age 30 and is providentially elevated to second in command in Egypt, he then becomes the basis by which the Hebrews finally leave Canaan and go to Egypt.
And so that’s why Stephen is rehearsing all of this. He’s moving into the Joseph story. And then you look at verse 7 and it says, “‘And whatever nation to which they will be in bondage, I myself will judge,'” So yes, God used Egypt to get His people out of Canaan, but the Egyptians abused the Jewish people, the Hebrews, and made them slaves. That means God has to judge the Egyptians even though he used the Egyptians to get His people out of Canaan. Why does God have to judge the Egyptians? Because of promises he made to Abraham. Genesis 12:3 says, “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all of the families of the earth will be blessed.” So, I’m going to bless the world through Israel, which means Satan is going to try to blot out Israel historically, which means God has to add an additional promise that whoever curses Israel will be cursed. And that is exactly what happened to the Egyptians. God took the Egyptian army in through the Red Sea crossing, and He drowned them in Exodus 14. Why did he drown them? He drowned them because they were drowning the Hebrews in the Nile, Exodus 1. See, this is very literal. It’s an in-kind curse. The one who curses you, I will curse.
In plague number ten, in the Book of Exodus, God killed the firstborn all over the land of Egypt. Any house that did not have the Passover lamb’s blood on the doorpost, their firstborn was killed. And there was groaning when plage number ten hit all over Egypt. And you ask yourself, why did God kill the firstborn all over Egypt? And the answer is Exodus 4:22, where God calls Israel His first-born son. You abuse my first-born son, I’m coming after your first born son. And it relates to a promise that God made to Abraham all the way back in Genesis 12:3. So that’s why Stephen is bringing this up. Verse 7, “‘And whatever nation to which they will be in bondage, I myself will judge,'” and then the rest of verse 7 says, “said God, ‘And after that they will come out and serve Me in this place.'” In other words, they’re going to come out of Egypt through the Exodus event. And they’re going to serve Me as My special nation. It might be a quote there from Exodus 3:12, And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be assigned to you that is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.” And God is going to accomplish all of this. He’s going to start the process through this man named Jacob.
And then you go down to verse 8 and Stephen gives more historical information. He says, “And He gave him the covenant of circumcision;” so in Genesis 17, God commanded the ritual of circumcision for the Hebrews to identify themselves as God’s special nation. Circumcised on the eighth day, all in Genesis 17. Now this is important because Abraham, whose name at that time was still Abraham, was already justified by faith. Genesis 15:6, of Abram, said: Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6, Abraham is justified by faith alone. Why is that a big deal? Because Genesis 15 comes before Genesis 17. You guys with me on that? Genesis 15, Abram is justified by faith alone. He was not justified by circumcision. Because circumcision had not been implemented yet by God. He was not justified by the Mosaic Law, because we have to wait several centuries for the Mosaic Law to come into existence. And if you just keep reading the Bible chronologically, you’ll see this. And that’s why Paul in Romans 4:9-12, uses this as an argument for justification by faith alone. His point is, God has always justified people by faith alone. Look at Abraham. Abraham was justified by faith alone in Genesis 15:6, and circumcision hadn’t even been introduced yet. So, keep this in mind because a lot of people today will tell you, you know, you’ve been justified by faith alone. That’s nice. But have you been water baptized? And so, in their thinking they think you’re justified by faith plus water baptism. You have to keep the order straight. Just like justification by faith alone preceded circumcision– justification by faith alone precedes water baptism. I mean, a person can go through their whole Christian life and never get water baptized. And if they’re justified by faith alone upon death, they’ll go right into heaven. Because God doesn’t justify people by circumcision. He doesn’t justify people by water baptism. He has one condition that He requires: faith alone in Christ alone. It’s just in our case, we’re looking backward to Jesus, His completed work. Abraham looking forward to what Jesus would do. Abraham being justified on credit.
We know what credit is, right? We’re recovering right now from the holidays. Credit gives you goodies before payment. I mean, we love credit. You get things before you have to pay. Abraham got something really great, justification by faith and faith alone, before payday. The blood of Christ. So, Abraham is looking forward. We’re looking backward. The only difference is we know the name of the Messiah: Jesus. Abraham didn’t. He was justified on the basis of credit. We are not. The payment has already been made. But this order, you know, that you see here presented by Stephen is very significant.
Continuing with verse 8, it says, “…so Abraham became the father of Isaac,” Why is that? Because God did a miracle, Genesis 21, and brought life to Sarah’s womb. God doesn’t need any help in fulfilling His word. When God said to Sarah, this is what I’m going to do, she just started laughing. Because to her, it just looked ridiculous. But God says, why did Sarah laugh? Is there anything too hard for the Lord? I mean, with God all things are– what? All things are possible. I mean, the Bible says that over and over again. So, God didn’t need their help with Eliezer of Damascus. He didn’t need their help with Hagar. In fact, the more they try to help God, the more they mess things up. You know, the more we try to help God with a spirit of religion. Some people might be thinking: Gee, I know God accepts me by faith alone, but, you know, I’m going to throw in a few good works just to help Him out. The more we have that mindset, the more we just mess up our own lives. God doesn’t need any help. What He needs are people just to believe what he says. So, it says in verse 8, “…so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day–“ why did he do that? Because that’s what God told him to do in Genesis 17, two chapters after he’d already been justified by faith alone. So, none of these people are saved by circumcision. It’s just an outward symbol of an inward reality, just like baptism is today.
The rest of verse 8 says “…and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.” Because Jacob, as we’ve studied on Sunday morning, had twelve sons. And those twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel. And through these twelve tribes of Israel would be a fulfillment of the promise that your physical descendants would be as innumerable as the dust of the earth, the sand of the seashore, and the stars of heaven. But back to Joseph, verse 9. “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt.” Joseph when he was 17– you’ll recall, Genesis 37, we studied it a couple of weeks ago– had two dreams. And the content of those dreams is he would be elevated over his brothers. Not for Joseph’s benefit, but for their benefit. Because they’re going to seek help from him in Egypt, when Joseph is 30, for help in the midst of famine. And the brothers, when they heard that dream, didn’t like it. They didn’t like him being elevated over everybody else because after all, he’s not even the firstborn. Reuben is the firstborn. You’re the eleventh born. So where do you get off, you know, with these kinds of dreams? You dreamer. And besides, Dad put a special coat on you, and we want that coat for ourselves.
So, do you see what’s happened here with Joseph? He presented himself in terms of what his role would be, and he was rejected. Down the road, thirteen years later, they’ll submit to him. You see Stephen’s point here? Israel never gets it right the first time. They get it right the second time, with Joseph, but not the first time. So, verse 9 says, “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt.” Now look at this: “Yet God was with him.” The more they tried to stop this plan from happening– and I am of the persuasion that they believed Joseph’s dreams. They just didn’t want it to materialize out of jealousy. The more they tried to stop it, the more they were greasing the wheels to put the plan in motion. I know what we’ll do. We’ll leave him for dead. We’ll sell him as a slave, eventually, ultimately into Egypt. Well, that’s exactly what God’s plan was. And then you go to verse 10 and the story of Joseph continues, and it says, “and rescued him from all of his afflictions, and granted him–“ Look at this now– “favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, King of Egypt…” It’s a summation of the elevation of Joseph, and Joseph is elevated because God gave him wisdom, as we’re going to see in Genesis, in interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams.
Now, that’s the second example of the revelation of God taking place in Egypt outside the borders of Israel. God manifested himself to Abraham outside the borders of Israel in Ur of the Chaldeans. He’s now manifesting Himself to and through Joseph outside the borders of Israel in Egypt. And so, you can see where Stephen is going with this. Verse 48, “However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands;” This tabernacle, first the tabernacle under Moses, and secondly, the Solomonic temple that you all are so proud of– God doesn’t need it. He chose to use it. But He doesn’t need it at all. In fact, Stephen’s point is, it shouldn’t be surprising to you that the Shekina glory of God left that temple and is now indwelling God’s people in the church age. All of these are historical points that are pushing us to Stephen’s conclusion.
It says at the end of verse 10, “…and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household.” Look at that. He was elevated to second in command in Egypt. Verses 11 and 12, which we’ve already read, talk about a famine in Canaan. That’s stated in Genesis 41:54. It says: and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. So there’s grain in Egypt. And so that’s the tool that is being used to remove the nation from Canaan to incubation in Egypt.
And now look at verse 13, “On the second visit…” why is there a reference to second here? It’s the Greek word deuteros, where we get the word Deuteronomy. Second law. Why is there an emphasis on second? Because this is the nation that gets it right the second time. They don’t get it right the first time. But they get it right the second time. Verse 13, “On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh.” So, Joseph made himself known to his brothers. This time around, his brothers accepted him. It’s going to be the exact same pattern with Moses. They will accept Moses the second time, verse 35. And then Joseph made his brothers known to Pharaoh. I’m just going to go up to verse 16. I’m going to stop. So hang with me. I’m going to do this fast. Verses 14 and 15. It says, “Then Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all. And Jacob went down to Egypt–“ So now we see the fulfillment of Genesis 46. The removal of the nation from Canaan to Egypt, which was God’s plan all along. Second part of verse 15, “…and there he and our fathers died.” Jacob dies in Egypt. Joseph dies in Egypt. But Joseph says, hey, when you all go back into the promised land, can you take my bones with you and bury them there? And that’s such a big deal that Joseph is now incorporated into the Hall of Faith, Hebrews 11, because he said that. All he said was, when you guys go back, take my bones with you, would you? And bury me there, not here in Egypt. And God is so impressed with that, He takes Joseph’s statement and puts him forever in the Hall of Faith. I mean, what’s the big deal with that statement? It shows that Joseph believed what God said. Four hundred years you’re going to be in Egypt, and then you’re going to come right back into this land with many possessions. A prophecy literally fulfilled. And Joseph believed it to the point where he says, make sure you bring my bones with you. Well, not if, but when you go back to Canaan. And he just believed what the Lord said. What is God really looking for at the end of the day? Just people that will believe Him. And then verse 16, “From there they removed to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.” And there the burial takes place in Shechem.
And so, what you see there is a recounting of the Joseph’s story to communicate the point that Israel gets it right the second time. Abraham’s initial obedience was a C-plus at first. And then the second part of the sermon, Israel’s initial rejections and later acceptances. Let’s start with the story of Joseph. You guys get it right the second time. And just to communicate the point more thoroughly, he’s going to make the same point from the life of Moses, verses 17 through 38. And then he’s going to get to the end of the sermon, and he says, you guys, the Sanhedrin are making the exact same error. And God never intended this temple that you’re so proud of to be permanent because God manifests Himself wherever He wants. So, if He puts His glory in a new people called the church, that that shouldn’t surprise you.
So, I hope you’re having fun with this. This is neat stuff. And if you’re a history teacher, this is a great way to sort of selectively recall history, shaping it around a purpose, which is what Stephen is doing as a deacon, all from the top of his head to a hostile group called the Sanhedrin, under pressure.