Acts 7

Stephen’s Sermon

7“Is this true?” ^tthe high priest asked.

²“Brothers and fathers,” he said, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, ^u3and said to him:

Get out of your country

and away from your relatives,

and come to the land

that I will show you. ^vw

⁴“Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land you now live in. ^x5He didn’t give him an inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, but He promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, ^yeven though he was childless. ⁶God spoke in this way:

His descendants would be strangers

in a foreign country,

and they would enslave

and oppress them 400 years.

⁷I will judge the nation

that they will serve as slaves, God said.

After this, they will come out

and worship Me in this place. ^za

⁸Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision. After this, he fathered Isaac and circumcised ^bhim on the eighth day; Isaac did the same with Jacob, and Jacob with the 12 patriarchs. ^c

The Patriarchs in Egypt

⁹“The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him ^d10and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household. ^e11Then a famine and great suffering came over all of Egypt and Canaan, ^fand our ancestors could find no food. ¹²When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors the first time. ¹³The second time, Joseph was revealed to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴Joseph then invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, 75 people in all, ^g15and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there, ^h16were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. ⁱ

Moses, a Rejected Savior

¹⁷“As the time was drawing near to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egypt ^j18until a different king who did not know Joseph ruled over Egypt. ^k19He dealt deceitfully with our race and oppressed our ancestors by making them leave their infants outside, so they wouldn’t survive. ^lm20At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. He was cared for in his father’s home three months, ²¹and when he was left outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and raised him as her own son. ⁿ²²So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions. ^o

²³“As he was approaching the age of 40, he decided ^pto visit his brothers, the Israelites. ²⁴When he saw one of them being mistreated, he came to his rescue and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵He assumed his brothers would understand that God would give them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. ²⁶The next day he showed up while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’ ^q

²⁷“But the one who was mistreating his neighbor pushed him ^raway, saying:

Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸Do you want to kill me, the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday? ^st

²⁹“At this disclosure, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons. ^u30After 40 years had passed, an angel ^vappeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. ³¹When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he was approaching to look at it, the voice of the Lord came: ³²I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. ^wxSo Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.

³³“Then the Lord said to him:

Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴I have observed the oppression of My people in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to rescue them. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt. ^yz

³⁵“This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge? ^a—this one God sent as a ruler and a redeemer by means of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ^b36This man led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, ^cat the Red Sea, and in the wilderness 40 years. ^d

Israel’s Rebellion against God

³⁷“This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, God ^ewill raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your brothers. ^fg38He is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors. ^hHe received living oracles to give to us. ⁱ³⁹Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him, but pushed him away, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. ^j40They told Aaron:

Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him. ^kl

⁴¹They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made. ^m42Then God turned away ⁿand gave them up to worship ^othe host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

House of Israel, did you bring Me offerings and sacrifices

40 years in the wilderness?

⁴³No, you took up the tent of Moloch ^p

and the star of your god Rephan, ^q

the images that you made to worship.

So I will deport you beyond Babylon! ^rs

God’s Real Tabernacle

⁴⁴“Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. ^t45Our ancestors in turn received it and with Joshua brought it in when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers, ^uuntil the days of David. ⁴⁶He found favor in God’s sight and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God ^vof Jacob. ^w47But it was Solomon who built Him a house. ^x48However, the Most High does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands, as the prophet says: ^y

⁴⁹Heaven is My throne,

and earth My footstool.

What sort of house will you build for Me?

says the Lord,

or what is My resting place?

⁵⁰Did not My hand make all these things? ^za

Resisting the Holy Spirit

⁵¹“You stiff-necked ^bpeople with uncircumcised hearts and ears! ^cYou are always resisting the Holy Spirit; as your ancestors did, so do you. ⁵²Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? ^dThey even killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers ^eyou have now become. ⁵³You received the law under the direction of angels ^fand yet have not kept it.”

The First Christian Martyr

⁵⁴When they heard these things, they were enraged in their hearts ^gand gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵But Stephen, filled by the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw God’s glory, with ^hJesus standing at the right hand of God, ⁱand he said, ⁵⁶“Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” ^j

⁵⁷Then they screamed at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him. ⁵⁸They threw him out of the city and began to stone ^khim. And the witnesses laid their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. ^l59They were stoning Stephen as he called out: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” ^m60Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ⁿ“Lord, do not charge them with this sin!” And saying this, he fell asleep. ^o