1 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. 5 And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6 But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. 7 ‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ 8 Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.
Commentary
Vs. 1 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
With the false and slanderous charges now laid against Stephen before the assembled council (see Acts 6:8-15), the high priest now asks him for his defense, to which chapter seven will now entail. However, this will not be a defense of Stephens person, for Stephen had done or said nothing that needed to be defended, rather it will be Stephen’s “defense” of God’s preordained and predetermined Plan and Will in bringing forth His only begotten Son Jesus Christ through the nation which He chose, i.e., Israel to bring eternal redemption and salvation to everyone who believes in Him.
Vs. 2-3 2 And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’
And so, Stephen begins with the election of Abraham; saying: “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ Thus, the first step in The God of Glories Redemption plans began to unfold when He called and chose Abraham telling him to leave his native land and sever his family ties there, and come to a land which he would show him. Now in addressing God of their fathers as the God of glory Stephen is making it clear that He is referring too the One True Sovereign God whose glory, reign, and power surpasses all others.
Vs. 4-5 4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. 5 And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him.
And so, Abraham being obedient to the call of God left the land of Chaldeans and first dwelt in Haran (Heb. 11:31-32). Then after his father’s death, Abraham was moved by God into the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:1-6). And though Abraham had no child, God Promised him that his and descendants would inherit this land (Gen. 12:7; 13:14-17; 15:18-20; 17:8; 26:3), even though at that time he had received no inheritance from God, not even enough to set his foot on (vs. 5), God’s Word concerning him had a future for him, and the nation that was to be brought forth through him.
Vs. 6-8 6 But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. 7 ‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ 8 Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.
Having recalled how God called Abraham, Stephen now recalls how God also foretold Abraham that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land (i.e., Egypt), and that they would be brought into slavery and be oppressed by them for four hundred years before God would judge the Egyptians, before bringing them out (Gen. 15:12-16) and returning them now as His nation to the land given to Abraham by God. Now the reason given for this “delay” of four hundred years before doing so is stated as: “But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” Gen. 15:16 Thus in recalling all of this Stephen now also recalls how God gave to Abraham and his descendants after him the covenant of circumcision, (Gen. 17) and how Abraham when Isaac was born circumcised him on the eighth day (Gen. 21:1-7), and then Isaac begot Jacob and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs, i.e., Jacobs twelve sons’ are the fathers of the tribes of Israel which bear their names, while their descendants make up the twelve tribes of Israel, for Jacobs name was changed by God to Israel (Gen. 32:28). This then is the first part of Stephens address to the council, covering the main points of the founding of the Hebrew people and nation in which there is very much history, and through which God’s salvation has come in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ, which Israel rejected for themselves and so, in leading up to that point there is still much more history that Stephen will recall which we will see in the next blog entry.
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.
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