The Trial Of Stephen, Part 5

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.