Stephen’s Testimony – Part III
TRANSLATION
(36) (Stephen continued his testimony before the Sanhedrin.) “Moses led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness. (37) This same Moses told the children of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people.’ (38) He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him at mount Sinai, and with our ancestors. He received living words (from God) to give to us, (39) but our ancestors refused to obey him. They rejected him and, in their hearts, turned back to Egypt. (40) They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods that will go before us. As for this fellow, Moses, who led us out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ (41) That was the time when they fashioned an idol in the form of a calf, brought sacrifices to it, and reveled in what their own hands had made. (42) God turned away from them and gave them over to serve the sun, moon, and stars. This agrees with what was written in the prophets, ‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings for forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel? (43) You have taken up the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore, I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
(44) “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant with them in the wilderness, fashioned as God had directed Moses according to the pattern he had seen. (45) After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David (46) who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. (47) But it was Solomon who built a house for him. (48) However, the Most High does not live in houses built with hands as the prophet has said, (49) ‘“Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me?” says the Lord, “Or where will my resting place be? (50) Has not my hand made all these things?”’
(51) “You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your ancestors. Always resisting the Holy Spirit, you are doing just what your ancestors did. (52) Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who prophesied the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him, (53) you who received the Law that was given by angels but have not obeyed it.”
OBSERVATIONS
Stephen concluded his testimony before the Sanhedrin with a resounding condemnation. By its four repetitions, the name, “Moses,” stood out in this final segment (vss. 35, 37, 40, & 44). Other repetitions included “rejected” (vss. 35 & 39) along with the synonyms “refused” (vs. 39) and “resist” (vs. 51), “ruler” (twice in vs. 35), “Egypt” (four times in vss. 36, 39, & 40), “wilderness” (vss. 36 & 38), “(y)our ancestors” (six times in vss. 38, 39, 44, 45, 51, & 52), “sacrifices” (vss. 41 & 42), & “tabernacle” (three times in vs. 43, 44, & 45), “land” (twice in vss. 45), and “house(s)” (also three times in vss. 47, 48, & 49).
OUTLINE
I. Stephen recounted Israel’s record of constantly resisting God’s will. (35-43)
II. Stephen described the inadequacy of worshiping the eternal God in a man-made structure. (44-50)
III. Stephen charged the Jewish leaders with killing the Righteous One just as their ancestors had killed the prophets. (51-53)
IDEA STATEMENT
By rejecting Jesus, the prophet which Moses had prophesied God would send to Israel, and resisting the Holy Spirit, the Jewish leaders had killed the Righteous One, their Messiah.
APPLICATION
With three words each beginning with the same English letter, “rejected, refused, and resist,” Stephen brought his testimony to a climax and sealed his fate as the first martyr of the newly founded church. First, Stephen recalled how the Israelites had twice rejected Moses, first in Egypt and then later after their deliverance in the wilderness (vss. 36 & 39), foreshadowing how the Jewish leadership would reject Jesus. The Israelites had likewise refused to obey the Word of God passed on to them through Moses just as they were refusing to obey the truth proclaimed by Jesus (vs. 39). Finally, just like their ancestors, the Jews of the present generation were guilty of the one sin that would condemn them to an eternity apart from God: “You always resist the Holy Spirit” (vs. 51). Such resistance was the reason why so many prophets throughout Israel’s history had been persecuted and killed. Stephen’s execution would mark him as the latest in a long line of martyrs.