It’s About God, Not Land
Solving Problems God’s Way • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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If you have your Bible, and I hope that you do, please turn with me to Acts 7. We are starting a new chapter as we continue our work through the book of Acts. We are looking at the longest sermon recorded in Acts today and for the following three weeks.
So think of this as a short series within a series because what Stephen is about to do is walk through a bird's eye view of the Old Testament promises to God's people and is going to respond to the accusations of false witnesses not by defending himself, but by looking at Biblical history.
To bring you up to speed, Stephen is a man who was chosen by the church to oversee the daily distributions to the widows at the first church in Jerusalem. He is described as being full of wisdom and the Spirit and he is out sharing the Gospel when he is forcibly taken before the council and false witnesses make some accusations against him specifically blaspheming Moses and God.
Today we are looking at Abraham and Joseph, next week then we will look at Moses, then we will examine the Tabernacle and the Temple and then we will see the results of the argument on October 4th, Lord willing.
So if you are looking closely you see that Stephen is making a Christ-centered argument that comes down on the three pillars of popular Judaism as R Kent Hughes calls them, "the land, the law, and the temple." and today we are going to see the first argument that it's about God, not the land.
Please stand with me in honor of God's Word as we read
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.
If I were to ask you right now where do you feel closest to God what would you say? Is it a certain room that holds special memories to you? Is it while you're doing something special for the Lord like a mission trip or summer camp? Is it a trail you like to walk on? Perhaps its a mountain you like to visit or a building that is special.
Stephens whole argument in our passage is that God was already present with His people centuries before there was room or a mountain or a building.
Look at verse 2
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,
The God of glory. This is a majestic title for God Almighty, isn't it? It is found here and in Psalm 29:3
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters.
It is all the fullness and every possible conception of Him being altogether all at once.
The focus of Stephen here is completely on God. Abraham is mentioned in passing, but God is the subject because it is God who appeared, God who moved Abraham, God who spoke to Abraham, God who made the covenant to Abraham. So it's not about Abraham. The focus is on God and God is mentioned as the subject ten times in verses 2-8.
But look at where Abraham was when God appeared to Abraham. It wasn't in the land of Canaan. It was in Mesopotamia and if we look at the Genesis account, Abraham is with his father Terah in the land of Ur. Ur was the site of the moon god Sin. That's the god's name, it is not related to our understanding of sin.
According to
2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.
So Abraham came from a family that worshiped other gods. In fact let's look at
31 Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.
So Ur was a major site of Sin worship, and Haran was another important center of his worship as well. And they lived there and settled there. Listen, this place Haran is a name that means road or crossroads. Terah settles there and never continues on to the promised land. But God's call to Abraham was before he even got there. It was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran. And it's not just Stephen that says this,
7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.
So God's call to Abraham took place before Abraham had ever done anything to merit the call. It wasn't because Abraham was a good man or even righteous. It was because
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Point 1 if you're taking notes on Stephen's sermon,
1. A Covenant Rooted in Grace, Not Merit
But, Abraham never inherited the land. It was promised. But look at verses 4-5
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.
Think about that because he draws the Sanhedrin in and helps them to see God's good promise has been fulfilled. They are heirs of exactly what God promised and gave and he makes it personal by stating that it's the land in which YOU are now living. But was the land really the blessing? The land was a real promise of God, but it was never the ultimate blessing. Abraham's greatest treasure was God Himself, and God blessed Abraham before he got a foot's length. Abraham never received the promised land.
For four hundred years, Abraham's family didn't own a single footprint of the land God promised them. Not Abraham. Not Isaac. Not Jacob. Not Joseph. So did God fail to keep His word? No!
Look at verse 6, God told Abraham this exact thing was coming. His offspring would be sojourners in a land that wasn't theirs, and they'd be enslaved there. This isn't a broken promise but this is a promise being kept, waiting included.
But look closely at verse 7, because something is happening here that's easy to miss. This promise was first given back in Genesis 15. God tells Abraham his people will be afflicted four hundred years, and He will judge the nation that enslaves them and then Genesis 15:14
14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
That's not how Stephen finishes it though. Stephen says, "...afterward they shall come out and worship me in this place." Where did that come from? Not from Genesis at all, it's from
12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
at the burning bush, 400 years later where God tells Moses, "you shall serve God on this mountain."
Stephen has taken two promises, given to two different men, centuries apart, and merged them into one sentence. And in doing it, he's changed one word: "this mountain" becomes "this place."
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.’
Now, why would he do that? Because even here, at the very beginning of the promise, God was showing His people that worship was never going to be chained to one location. Not to a mountain or a plot of ground and this is important because this is the thrust of the message that Stephen is sharing and it's something we'll pick back up when Stephen gets to the temple in a few weeks, but he's laying the groundwork for it all the way back here, in verse 7.
But there is a sign given too to Abraham. Verse 8 tells us it's the covenant of circumcision. Notice that the promise doesn't follow the covenant of circumcision. Abraham believed the Lord in Genesis 15. Circumcision doesn't come about until Abraham was 99 in Genesis 17. So you have grace first, then the mark of the covenant. This is how God has always worked. Grace first, then the sign of the covenant.
But what Stephen is doing here is proving that God is sovereign. He is independent of any needs. God can be worshipped anywhere. And then Stephen adds another major theme in his sermon which is that many of God's chosen deliverers are rejected. Stephen is going to first point to Joseph, sold by his own brothers but raised to rule over Egypt, and then next week to Moses, rejected as ruler and judge but sent by God as ruler and redeemer. Two deliverers, same pattern. So let's look at Joseph and the second point:
2. Sold in Jealousy, Saved by Grace
Look at verse 9
9 “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him
That word "jealous" is the same word that Luke uses when the Jewish leaders oppose the apostles in
17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy
Later on it will be used again in
45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.
and
5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.
So there's a huge pattern of jealousy that Stephen is outlining for the Sanhedrin to mirror them and show them their guilt just as Joseph's brothers, the patriarchs were. But God was with Joseph and rescued him and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh.
Joseph is what theologians call a Type. Meaning that he is an Old Testament character who pointed to Jesus. In Chrysostom's Homily XVI he says "
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 1.11: Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistle to the Romans, Homily XVI Here he seems to hint now at the type. "And the patriarchs moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt." (v. 9.) Here again, the type of Christ. Though they had no fault to find with him, and though he came on purpose to bring them their food, they thus ill-treated him.
The evil intentions of men cannot oppose or hinder God's decrees. They never can. Isn't that comfort for you and I today? In fact, often, God uses the ideas and thoughts of wicked men for good, redemptive purposes!
God was with Joseph and guided him through all his trials and blessed him and raised him to rule over every part of Egypt except over Pharaoh. So when there was famine and affliction and there was no food, Jacob, Joseph's father, sent his sons, the jealous patriarchs, to Egypt to get some food.
They didn't recognize him.
8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
Isn't that true about the Jewish people as well?
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
Which is why Stephen clarifies that
13 And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh.
the second visit. God had provided for Abraham's offspring according to His promise that He had made. He did it by using those who rejected their brother to make him their ruler.
In fact, they carried Jacob back to Canaan, not just anywhere, but to Shechem, and laid him in the tomb Abraham had bought there. It's literally a sign of remembrance. Isn't that amazing that even in death, the patriarchs didn't have anything but graves in the promised land?
But don't miss why Shechem matters. Shechem sits at the foot of Mount Gerizim, the mountain the Samaritans considered holy, where they had their own temple, completely separate from Jerusalem.
Turn ahead for a second to Acts 1:8, where Jesus tells the apostles, "you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Now look what actually happens two chapters after this one. Stephen is stoned, the church is scattered by persecution, and Acts 8:4-5 tells us Philip goes down and preaches Christ in Samaria. The very people the Sanhedrin looked down on. Stephen buries the patriarchs a few miles from Mount Gerizim, and the ink isn't even dry before God sends the gospel exactly there.
The hope of their future was not in the land they possess. It still isn't. The hope of their future is Jesus Christ.
Because everything we've seen today points forward to one Man. Abraham was an undeserving idolater whom God called by grace. God cannot be confined to a mountain or a building. Joseph was a rejected deliverer who became the salvation of the very people who rejected him. All of it points to Jesus.
Joseph's own brothers stood in front of him and didn't recognize him. John tells us the same thing happened with Jesus: "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him." Joseph was sold by jealous brothers for twenty pieces of silver. Jesus was betrayed by one of His own for thirty. Joseph was thrown into a pit, then falsely accused and thrown into prison. Jesus was falsely accused and nailed to a cross. But Joseph rose from that pit to rule over Egypt, and Jesus rose from the grave to rule over everything, and He did it to save the very people, Jew and Samaritan and Gentile alike, who rejected Him.
That's the gospel. Not that we found our way to God, but that the God of glory appeared to sinners who had no claim on Him, and rescued them anyway. So what does all this mean for you this morning?
HEAD: God wants you to know that your standing with Him doesn’t come from anything you’ve done or been born into.
Salvation never originates from where you live, what family you were born into, or what you've managed to accomplish. It comes only from what God has done.
HEART: God wants you to believe that Jesus Christ, rejected by His own so that He could save them, is risen and reigning right now, and He is fully able and willing to save you.
HAND: God wants you to do what Abraham did back in Genesis 15:6, believe.
Not perform. Not earn. Believe the Lord, the way Abraham did, and it will be counted to you as righteousness.
If you are here this morning and you have never turned from your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ, I am asking you to do that today. Not because you've cleaned yourself up enough, and not because you've found the right place or the right moment, but because the God of glory has already appeared, in Christ, to people just like you: landless, undeserving, and far from home. To believe Him is to turn from your sin and entrust yourself completely to Jesus Christ, to stop looking to yourself, your family, your morality, or anything else to make you right with God. And He is calling you to Himself right now. Would you repent and believe Him today?
