Acts 7

Acts 7 contains an amazing message of tremendous biblical scope given by a man who was stoned to death by his countrymen for his words. Those who were dedicated in their opposition to the preaching of Jesus as the Christ accused Stephen of blasphemy against the Mosaic Law and the temple in Jerusalem. His sermon before His accusers comes in reply to the question of the High Priest, “Are these things so?” More foundational than any defense of Stephen is the question of what God’s Word says about the Law, the Temple, and the Messiah.

Stephen begins his consideration of that Word with the story of Abraham. Abraham came before Moses and the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. He is particularly associated in the Bible with something that is called “the Promise.” This promise is an indication of God’s great plan of grace that was hinted at long before Abraham, even at the time of the fall in Genesis 3. With God’s Word to Abraham beginning in Genesis 12, the enormous contours of God’s promise of blessing become more visible. Through this man, and his seed, all the people groups of the earth will be blessed. God’s promise to Abraham will ultimately be fulfilled in the greatest way in the new heavens and the new earth. The life that Abraham was to lead was a life of faith, and a life of the obedience that springs from true faith. Even the covenant sign of circumcision was a sign of life through faith, faith that the promised Seed of Abraham would come and be cut off for our sake that we might be kept in the body of God’s covenant people. The promise to Abraham was not merely the land of Israel, the temple in Jerusalem, or the ceremonial Law, but something much bigger than all of these, a solution of eternal blessing that men yearn for in their hearts.

The pathway toward laying hold of the promise God made to Abraham was through trial, even slavery in Egypt. When it might have appeared that the promises of God had failed, the Lord raised up a deliverer in Moses. This man faced opposition from the Israelites, first from two men who he tried to stop from fighting, but later from the whole nation as they travelled through the wilderness. He was rejected by his kinsman, but was approved by God as the one who would lead them out of Egypt. It was this Moses who had told the people that God would raise up a prophet like himself from among the people, a prophecy that finds its great fulfillment in the coming of Jesus Christ. Abraham, the man associated with circumcision, was looking for the coming promise. Moses, the man through whom the Law came, spoke of a prophet coming after him. Both men were eager for the day of God’s Messiah.

Though the people of Israel had circumcision and then the fuller ceremonial Law, they did not really love and worship God, but turned toward idols, and increasingly persecuted the true servants of God over many centuries. They had the tent of meeting in the wilderness, and then later the temple, but they did not truly listen to God and follow His ways. This was especially demonstrated in their treatment of the prophets that the Lord sent to them. The prophets were God’s prosecutors against His covenant people, but they were also heralds of the Promise, pointing to the coming of the Messiah, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the New Covenant gospel age, and the final blessing of the renewed heavens and earth. What did Israel do to these prophets? They persecuted them and killed them. In this they showed that they were uncircumcised in heart. They were not true lovers of the best Temple of God. Their treatment of Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, was in line with those who had come before them. They betrayed Him to Roman authorities and they murdered Him.

Stephen ends His indictment against them with these words: “You received the Law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” When they heard these words they were filled with a tremendous rage. The contrast between Stephen and His accusers was clearly visible. Their faces were distorted with hatred. Like angry beasts, grinding their teeth at him, they were ready to kill. His countenance was different. He was full of the Holy Spirit, gazing into heaven itself, and speaking of the mysteries of God as one who could see the Promise of God before Him. He saw the true Promised Land, a land better than Israel. He saw the Temple of the Holy Spirit standing at the right hand of God. He saw the Righteous One, the only Man who has ever kept the Law, the Man who died for us.

Stephen’s words were difficult words of truth, words that his murderers were unwilling to hear. They cried out with a loud voice as they rushed to kill him. His final words were words of faith, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” and words of forgiveness, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” This is the way of Christ and the cross. This is the way for a man to die at the hands of his enemies. More than that, this is the way for us to live today, calling out to God and obeying His Word with faith, hope, and love, knowing that our Redeemer is pleading for us in the present heaven.

When it appears that God’s promises have utterly failed, we should consider again the pathway of the Promise through the time of the Law and the prophets. We should see again the Christ of the cross and the resurrection, the Man who is now at the right hand of the Father. If we will do this, we may even find a way to smile at the fact that there was an angry young man that day who was watching over the garments of those who threw stones at Stephen, a man who would learn for himself what it would mean to suffer for the Name of a Savior he now hated, but would one day come to love and serve.