SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/12/2017 7:48 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 God
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 7:1-16
Message of the
verses: Before we copy sixteen
verses I think it best, because we are going to take a few days to get through
this section that I will put the verses onto the SD as we look at them. We ended up our last SD by stating that it
was not the purpose of Stephen to recite OT history, but to prove that he is
not guilty of blaspheming against God, Moses, the law, or the temple, so we
begin to look at what he has to say about God to convince his accusers that he
did not blaspheme against God, which is the most serious of the crimes against
him.
Stephen will establish that he believes fully in the God
of Israel, and then go on to show that the Old Covenant is not abrogated but is
fulfilled in Christianity which is God’s will.
Let us begin by looking at verse one:
“1 The high priest said, "Are these things so?’” The high priest was probably Caiaphas as he
was in office until 36 A. D. The question that Caiaphas was asking was how do
you plead against the charges against you?
John MacArthur writes that “Stephen’s reply does not appear at first
glance to be a direct answer to that question.
Richard Longenecker comments,
‘The defense of Stephen
before the Sanhedrin is hardly a defense in the sense of an explanation or
apology calculated to win an acquittal.
Rather, it is a proclamation of the Christian message in terms of the
popular Judaism of the day and an indictment of the Jewish leaders for their
failure to recognize Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah or to appreciate the
salvation provided in him.’
“Stephen uses a lengthy
historical summation to make his case.
His style of reply had its roots in such Old Testament passages as
Nehemiah 9:5ff. Psalm 78, 105, 106. His
purpose was to show that Christ and the Christian faith which he preached were
the perfect fulfillment of the Old Testament.
He traces the line of God’s sovereign will from Abraham through Isaac,
Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and David to our Lord—‘the Righteous One’ (v. 52).”
“2 And he 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, (Acts 7:2).” Notice
that Stephen calls his accusers “brethren” which shows his solidarity with them;
after all they were all from the seed of Abraham. He then gives respect to them by calling them
fathers after all these were the leaders of Israel at that time. Next Stephen mentions first in name is “The
God of Glory.” God is the One who is
orchestrating all redemptive history.
You may want to take a moment to think about that one, for what Stephen
was saying that it was the God of glory, the God of the Israelites, the One
true God, who is in total control of redemption for after all God sent His Son
into the world to become sin for us, the One who knew no sin, in order that we,
the sinners can receive His righteousness necessary to have eternal life. The God of Glory only appears here and in
Psalm 29:3 “The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; The God of glory
thunders, The LORD is over many waters.”
MacArthur adds that “It is the most rich, complete description of the
almighty, holy, sovereign God, since His glory is the composite of all His
attributes (cf. Ex. 33:18-19).” “18 Then
Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" 19 And He said, "I Myself will make all My
goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you;
and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on
whom I will show compassion.’” Next
after opening with the God of glory Stephen moves onto “our father Abraham,”
and Abraham is the father of faith and also of God’s people. Stephen was establishing his belief in the
Sovereignty of the God of Abraham and he was also acknowledging the fatherhood
of Abraham over the people of Israel.
What he was doing was testifying that he was neither a blasphemer of God
nor was he a traitor to his people, and what this amounted to was a “not guilty
plea.”
I would like to finish up this second verse before I end
this SD, and so we will go on to look at what Stephen next said next which is “Abraham
was when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.” What Stephen is describing is the call of
Abraham which is described in Genesis 11:31 and also Genesis 12:1-4: “31 Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son
of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife;
and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land
of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there.” “1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth
from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the
land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will
bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I
will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in
you all the families of the earth will be blessed." 4 So Abram went forth
as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was
seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” MacArthur writes “Stephen places his call
while he still lived in that city ‘before he lived in Haran.” Stephen was fully controlled by the Holy
Spirit so what he is saying is correct.
These facts harmonize with other Scripture. Abraham lived in Ur God called him to go to the
promise land even before it was called that.
I remember my study of Genesis and Dr. Wiersbe stated that he felt that
it was possible that Abraham stayed in Haran until his father died, which could
have met that he had not fulfilled God’s will perfectly, but after his father
died he then came to the Promised Land.
F. F. Bruce states that “Evidently, God originally called Abraham in Ur
(Gen. 15:7; Neh. 9:7), then repeated that call in Haran. Both ancient writers Philo and Josephus gave
that obvious interpretation.”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Matthew.”
Today’s Bible
question: “What was placed in the Holy
Place in the Tabernacle?”
Answer in our next SD.
11/12/2017 8:34 PM
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