Stephen's Trial - Part 1

Though we have seen Peter deliver multiple sermons, and we know Paul could get longwinded, Stephen is actually the one who gave the longest speech on record. Nearly all 60 verses of chapter seven are Stephen’s words (verses 2-53, 56, 59-60, to be precise). As a friend often says about scripture, “There is much meat on the bone, and we don’t want to leave any behind.”

I aim to present you with three giant drumsticks representing Stephen’s sermon. We will take big bites together on Sunday, but you must chew on it during the week to digest and benefit from it.

Passage

Acts 7:1–16 ESV

1 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. 7 ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. 9 “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. 15 And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, 16 and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

Outline

I - Events of Abraham

II - Events of Joseph

Throughout Stephen’s sermon, he references parts of Israel’s history, and in doing so, he builds two bridges and rotates through three rhythms. We will see it today, and we will see it in the coming weeks as we work our way through his monologue.

BRIDGES

1. Savior bridge. God’s leaders from history point to Christ.

2. Resistor Bridge. The opposition to God’s leaders points to Stephen’s accusers.

RHYTHMS

1. God acts and provides wherever his people are.

2. The Israelites are prone to reject God’s established leaders.

3. God is in control of historical events.

Keep in mind that Stephen was accused of two major sins: Blaspheming Moses and God, and this was done primarily through speaking against the Temple and the Law (paired with its customs). As we work through his defense, I want you to put yourself in the position of his accusers. Pretend you are the one hurling accusations at him… You are seated among the Sanhedrin… you are the one who is trying to uphold the correct view of God and His law. Then, as we go along, try and follow Stephen’s logic and see if his defense would persuade you.

I - Events of Abraham

Off to a good start

Remember how Stephen had a good reputation and followed Peter’s advice (that he would eventually write down) to honor Jesus as holy… be ready to give a defense for the hope that is in you… and do it with gentleness and respect? We see that very clearly in the way he begins his discussion. He doesn’t point a finger and accuse his accusers. He doesn’t spew vitriol the way it was thrown at him. He addresses the Council by saying, “Brothers & fathers.” He opened up with an acknowledgment of their unity in the Jewish faith/culture and their leadership (fathers likely referring to their leadership positions and not their status as literal fathers over their families). The guy just had class.

The God of Glory

Once he addressed the Council, he opened his monologue by speaking about the God of glory. Indeed, this description of the one true God would have delighted everyone. God’s glory was of utmost importance to everyone present, and speaking of it would likely have summoned a host of miraculous deeds to mind. But this was also likely a reference to Psalm 29, which is the only other place in scripture where this term is used, and it is a majestic Psalm that ascribes great power, honor, and glory to the God of Israel:

Psalm 29 (ESV)

A Psalm of David.

1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!” 10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. 11 May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!

Remember, Stephen was accused of blaspheming God, so he wisely began his talk by accurately referencing and portraying the God they said he was blaspheming. Hopefully, now, he has positively captured their attention.

From here, Stephen will launch into a historical overview, from Genesis to Isaiah, applying to the present-day leaders. What we are about to witness is Stephen’s wisdom in full form. He brilliantly lays out his case succinctly and accurately without once mentioning himself. Because, again, he wasn’t concerned about his well-being but about the proclamation of the gospel.

The Call of Abraham

And he begins with the Father of the Faith: Abraham. Stephen launches into a summary of God’s promises and covenant with Abraham. These events were the inception of the nation of Israel.

First, God called Abraham from Ur and Haran to a land promised to him. At the moment of the call, Abraham didn’t know where he was going. This was an incredible act of faith on his part, trusting in a sovereign God. The initiation of God’s covenant people happened outside of Jerusalem because God acts and provides wherever his people are. He doesn’t just operate in the Holy Land. That is easy to see here since the Israelites were not yet given the promised land, but the truthfulness of the idea begins here.

The first leader displayed the proper standard of faith

Eventually, the promised land would be given to the Israelites, but Abraham was not given a single foot’s length of that land. He had no inheritance or land there. Rather, it was for future generations that God promised Abraham would produce, despite the reality that he had no offspring at the time. The nation that would bear God’s name was planted in the fertile soil of faith in a sovereign God who controls human history. There were genuine barriers to the promises of God. There was a far-off land to possess and an entire nation of people that didn’t yet exist and would seemingly never exist due to Abraham and Sarah’s barrenness in their old age, and yet, Abraham never wavered in his faith.

That faith would be stretched as God predicted 400 years of mistreatment for Abraham’s descendants in a foreign land before they would enter into the Promised Land. Isn’t it interesting that God would establish and plan blessings and suffering? Before this came to pass, God knew it, ordained it, and planned it for a purpose. He would be the great deliverer of His people and ultimate judge over their oppressors. Upon their deliverance, God would give them their promised inheritance and be worshiped as they enter into that promise. It foreshadows what this same God would do thousands of years later through the incarnation of Jesus and die on the cross for the sins of his new covenant people.

God’s covenant of circumcision

That was the promise given to Abraham, and it was sealed through the covenant of circumcision. This was the outward sign that every Jewish male belonged to God. Even though Abraham had a son - Ishmael - through Hagar (Sarah’s servant), the promised son would be conceived through the covenant of circumcision. This was yet another sign that despite human shortcomings, God was in control of the future of His people.

And the child born after the covenant of circumcision was Isaac, who was also circumcised according to the custom God established. Isaac was the father of Jacob, and from Jacob came the 12 Patriarchs (or tribes of Israel). This covenant will come up again, so be sure to tuck it away in the back of your mind.

What does it mean?

Now that Stephen has given an accurate historical account of Abraham, you might be asking yourself, “Okay, that is great, but what does it mean?”

1. First, Stephen shows the religious leaders that he is not blaspheming God.

It is clear from Abraham’s story that God was in control and directing Abraham (spiritually and logistically), establishing a covenant with him, supernaturally giving him offspring, establishing an inheritance to his offspring after a period of hardship, and judging their oppressors. Stephen was faithful to the scriptures and his representation of God, and even quoted three passages in this first section (v. 3, 6, & 7).

2. Secondly, he showed them God works anywhere.

Through Abraham’s story, Stephen explains how God is not confined or obligated to operate from a single building or city like the temple in Jerusalem. He is with his people wherever they are.

3. Thirdly, Abraham’s faith is set as the standard.

Through Abraham’s display of faith in God’s plan and provisions, Stephen establishes the standard of faith for God’s chosen leader and sets up an expectation for those under their authority.

Unfortunately, as we will soon see, it all goes downhill from here.

II - Events of Joseph

The next key leader highlighted in Stephen’s broad overview is Joseph. This is very interesting because a lot could be said of Isaac and Jacob… especially Jacob, since he was the son of promise, despite being the second born after Esau. There is a lot Stephen could have extrapolated from the lives of these two men, but instead, he highlights Joseph, beginning with his betrayal.

The Jew’s betrayal mirrors Joseph’s betrayal

Joseph had a dream that his family was bowing down before him. This vision showed that God had chosen Joseph as a leader among his brothers, even though he was one of the youngest. At that time, it was the firstborn who carried the blessing, inheritance, and mantle of leadership for the family.

Well, Joseph’s brothers did like that proposal. So, they plotted to get rid of him. They threw him in a well and plotted his murder until one brother spoke up and persuaded them to sell Joseph into slavery instead, then faked his death. This is a foundational point for Stephen’s case. This is the first example among many to come of how Israel is prone to reject God’s established leader, and it started with the Patriarchs. If Abraham was the foundation for the nation of Israel, then the 12 sons of Jacob are the first building blocks. God established one from among the 12, and the other 11 rebelled.

And Stephen wisely used a man from Israel’s history who most foreshadowed Jesus himself. I won’t go into all the details here, but it is a fascinating study to see how the life of Joseph parallels the life of Jesus; from betrayal, to false accusations, to being the savior of his people, Joseph’s life was a prelude to Jesus (for more, see https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/erik-raymond/wonderful-similarities-joseph-jesus/). And that is where we will see Stephen hang his hat: Jesus is the Messiah they rejected and the sovereign God his accusers claim to defend.

Stephen begins building a bridge to Jesus. Do you do that in your conversations with others? I had a friend who recently told me about meeting a guy for the first time, and he got a bit frustrated at himself because he wanted to be the first one to turn the conversation to Jesus, but the other guy beat him to it! Are you building bridges to Jesus?

God exalted his chosen leader

But, though Joseph was betrayed, God’s favor was over him. Instead of abandoning him to a life of slavery or imprisonment, God established him as ruler over Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. God is with his people wherever they are.

When the foreseen famine hit the land, Jacob told Joseph’s brothers to go to Egypt for food, or else they would die of hunger. They had a need they could not fulfill. The famine was so severe that they had no food to sustain them. So, they went twice.

During their second, Joseph revealed himself to them and wept with them. All 75 relatives, including his father Jacob, were brought to Egypt and provided for. Joseph’s actions literally saved them despite their sins against him. Actually, it was because of their sins against him. As Joseph famously said:

Genesis 50:20 ESV

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Despite the sin and rebellion of the Patriarchs, God was in control of Joseph’s circumstances. He cared for his people in a foreign land.

Stephen then finishes this sermon section with Jacob’s death and likely all of the Patriarchs, who were taken back to the tomb in Shechem that Abraham bought. They could pass away in peace and be gathered with their fathers. This ends the section of the founding fathers.

What does it mean?

This section of the sermon highlights our three rhythms:

1. God acts and provides wherever his people are.

Joseph was betrayed in their homeland but was brought to power in Egypt, where he served as a savior and deliverer for his people.

2. The Israelites are prone to reject God’s established leaders.

This is pointed out by how Joseph’s brothers despised him for his vision, plotted his murder, and sold him into slavery. They rejected the vision God had given him, which was paramount to rejecting God himself. This will be the first of many that Stephen will point to, eventually culminating into an inditement against his accusers in like manner.

3. God is in control of historical events.

God was with Joseph during his betrayal. God poured out his favor and wisdom so that he became a leader in Egypt. God used Joseph to save his people from starvation. God used evil, sinful actions for his purposes. And God allowed Joseph, his father, and his brothers to die in peace.

Conclusion

We need to see the two bridges that are in full view here.

1. Jesus is the Messiah… God with us… the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, whose blood removes our sin and guilt. We must place our faith in Him. Abraham had faith in God’s provision, and it was credited to him as righteousness. It works the same way for you today, though we see clearly what, or rather who, God’s provision is. Jesus. Abraham modeled it for us at the inception of the Jewish faith, and Stephen declared it to his accusers. Jesus is God’s plan of redemption.

2. We are prone to fight against God. Stephen is laying down the foundation for his case, turning the tables on the opposition. Israel had a habit of rejecting God’s anointed leaders, and they were doing this by rejecting Jesus. Two thousand years later, that hasn’t changed. The good news of Jesus’ salvation is open to Jews and Gentiles, and we are all prone to take shelter in our sinful nature and fight against God.

If you don’t know Jesus, take the bridge that leads to Him.

If you do know him, be the one to build that bridge for others.

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