The Trial of Stephen, Part 5
Acts 7:36–41 NKJV
He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
“This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’
“This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
We continue our study this morning of Stephen’s answer to the charges the Sanhedrin had brought against him. He was on trial for his life for being a faithful witness to Jesus Christ. He was accused of forsaking the traditions of the elders and claiming that Jesus would destroy the Temple in Jerusalem. both of these charges were sacrilege to the Jewish leaders. There is some truth to the accusations. Jesus did attack many of the traditions of Jerusalem, especially those which set aside the Law which the LORD delivered unto Moses, and through him, the people. For example, they said they would not be culpable for breaking an oath if they swore an oath by the Temple, so long as they did not swear by the gold of the Temple (Matthew 23:16). Jesus castigates the Jews for this by saying it was the Temple which made the gold holy. To make an oath by the Temple was to make an oath before the one whose Presence rested in that Temple. We could also remember how Jesus attacked their practice of corban. Jesus also on several occasions prophesied the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple which would result from the Jewish nation’s rejection of Him.
What Stephen goes on to prove is that Jesus was true to both the letter and spirit of the Law and that it was the Jews who were unfaithful to the Covenant the LORD had made with them in the wilderness. As God, the Son, it is He who made the covenant with Moses at Sinai. Stephen’s use of the tabernacle in the wilderness is also important. The presence of God is where the Temple is. It is not restricted to a building made with human hands. The tabernacle was taken up when the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night and followed after the LORD, only stopping when Israel was to rest.
This morning’s text tells us of all the wonders the LORD had performed for Moses and the Children of Israel, the forefathers of Stephen and the Sanhedrin which he was addressing. These signs and wonders were performed over the space of forty years. The Sanhedrin all agreed that this had happened. Stephen also mentions the oracles in which God spoke directly to Israel. Sometimes God spoke directly to Moses, but at the mount, God spoke directly to the people who were so terrified that they asked Yahweh to speak indirectly from then on through Moses (Exodus 19). Was the results of all these things a kindling of faith? The sad truth is related that they did not believe and asked Aaron to make a golden calf for them and to return to Egypt. We can see that Stephen is making comparison to the forefathers’ rejection of Yahweh in the wilderness and their stubborn refusal to believe on Jesus whom the LORD had sent to them. As God had certified Moses through oracles, signs and wonders, He had anointed Jesus of Nazareth who spoke more fully the oracles of God as well as performing many signs and wonders which they had witnessed. The sad truth is that they had done just as their forefathers had done. Their forefathers had tried to kill Moses on several occasions, the very Moses their descendants claimed to revere. Now their descendants had put Jesus to death, who had performed even greater works than Moses.
One of the oracles which God gave through Moses is in the Book of Deuteronomy and is quoted by Stephen here. God was going to raise up another prophet like him who was to be obeyed. anyone who disobeyed was to be cut off from Israel. Stephen tells the Sanhedrin that Jesus is that prophet. The implication is that by rejecting Jesus, they are rejecting their covenant relationship to Israel. No one can reject Jesus and remain an Israelite. This has enormous implications. But this theology did not originate with Stephen. In John 8, Jesus tells the Jews who were rejecting Him that Abraham was not their father, but rather the devil. The Old Testament prophet, Hosea, also agrees when he laments that they are not all Israel who say they are Israel. Paul reminds us that if one does not believe and obey the gospel from the circumcision that their circumcision shall be considered uncircumcision. In John 15, Jesus says the unbelievers will be cut off from the vine. one simply cannot reject Jesus and remain an Israelite. Paul, in Romans says that they unbelieving Jews were cut off from the olive tree. they are no longer a part of Israel. Paul does say that they are not without hope. If they believe they can be grafted back in.
We can look back to the practice of water baptism initiated by John the Baptist as illustrating this principle. Baptism had been practiced and performed on converts to Judaism in addition to circumcision. Before baptism, the baptized was not a part of Israel. Now they are Jews. when Jews came from Jerusalem to Gilgal to be baptized by John, they came to Gilgal on the Jordan, near where the Children of Israel under Joshua crossed over the Jordan into Israel. The Book of Joshua relates that the male children who were born in the wilderness had not been circumcised. In other words, they had disobeyed the direct commandment of God given to Abraham that all males, including slaves, were to be circumcised on the eighth day. Any male child who was not circumcised was to be cut off from Israel. So, it was necessary for Joshua to make amends and circumcised these male children before they went to war against the Canaanites. Until these were circumcised, they were not Israel. At Gilgal, the reproach was rolled away.
The Jews who came to John the Baptist were already circumcised. Why did they need to be baptized as though they were pagans? We learn in Christianity that it was that they may have been circumcised in body, but not in heart. Being a part of the covenant community of Israel was a matter of faith and obedience and not some physical act. In the Christian understanding of Israel, baptism as entrance to the covenant has done away with circumcision. Only males could be circumcised, but men and women could be baptized.
By bringing up the Golden Calf, we must understand this in light of the charge that Stephen like Jesus had preached that the Temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed. The Temple was, indeed, a magnificent work adorned in marble and gold. It was the work of man’s hands. It is true that God had commanded Israel to erect the Tabernacle in the wilderness and blessed certain men to construct it and the Ark of the covenant. Inside this Ark was a pot of manna, the rod that budded, and later the snake on a pole which Moses made at the command of God as the means of saving those who had been bitten by the fiery serpents. The Old Testament tells us that later on, they worshiped this bronze serpent as a god, and it had to be destroyed. They rejoiced in the work of man’s hands. God also commanded the Temple to be built by Solomon and later rebuilt in the time of Zerubbabel. But God did not command the massive renovation by Herod who was not even a Jew. true, the Temple was a wonder of the world. The disciples were much impressed. But Jesus was not and told them that not one stone would be left upon another.
Much of the traditions of the Jews were also the construction of the minds of men. It is true that they at least tried to base their faith upon Scripture. But they rejoiced more in what they added to Scripture that Scripture itself. Stephen had also been accused of laying aside their traditions and should die for that offense also. But Stephen in his defense proves that it is Jesus, Stephen, and the Christians who are true to the Scripture and its promises.
The teaching of the church is that it is the new and living Temple of God. It is the Temple not made by human hands. In the wilderness, God commanded that the Tabernacle be pitched in the midst of His people. The special presence of the God who is everywhere was specially experienced by Israel. This was a portable Temple of God which went where Israel went. The Temple of Solomon as well as the second Temple was static. People had to come to Jerusalem, But when the fullness of time came, we read that the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. He was the moving presence of God in the midst of His people. Instead of the presence of God being hid in a sequestered room in the static temple, Jesus walked among us. Jesus referred Himself to be the Temple (John 2). A further development came after the resurrection and the sending of the Spirit. The Church is the body of Christ wherever it gathers, and the presence of God is wherever two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus. Therefore, the static Temple in Jerusalem became irrelevant. when the veil of the Temple was torn at Jesus’ death, it revealed an empty room, there was no longer an Ark of the Covenant. The emptiness of the room is metaphoric for the emptiness of Judaism. Unfortunately, the Sanhedrin, the guarders of Jerusalem and the Temple made by hands did not understand and fiercely defended the idol which they had made. It would cost Stephen his earthly life.
Stephen, like Jesus, was very critical of Judaism. But the question that needs to be brought up is whether the Christian Church has done any better. We have built massive cathedrals which awe the onlookers. They see the pomp and splendor of church magistrates. We have come up with our own religious system which is based somewhat on Scripture, but is mixed with our own traditions which we hold to be sacrosanct. We have burnt the iconoclasts at the stake, and otherwise rejected, tortured, and mocked them for daring to cleanse the Temple of God. The Reformers pointed out the evils of Roman Catholicism, but even Protestant denominations have their own skeletons in the closet. It is easy to judge the faults of others. But what about our own idols of mind and hands?
what I have said this morning can sound quite discouraging, If our hope was based upon our works, we would be lost. If salvation depended upon the perfect understanding of doctrine, we would be lost also. Just think of all the theological controversies which have split the Church. Now, I am not saying that works or laboring for sound doctrine is unimportant. But it is God who works in us by the Spirit. So, whatever good works are done are done by God in us. We are saved by grace. We can see the deadliness of theological errors, just from looking at the errors of Palestinian Judaism of Jesus’ day as well as in the corrupt practices in Christianity such as indulgences. While we strive after holiness of heart and mind, let us always be mindful that we stand by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves.
