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November 13 - Acts 7 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Wednesday, it's the 13th of
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  November, and we are, boy, we are getting close to the end of
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  the year, aren't we? We're almost halfway through the
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  2nd last month of the year. Oh, and here we are, even at
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  this point in the year, working our way through this incredible
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  story in the book of Acts as Jesus moves these people to
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  share the good news about everything that he has done for
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  us and that church starts to grow.
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  And today's reading is quite a profound 1.
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  Today's reading is Luke's take on what Stephen said when he
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  addressed the council. Because we know that Luke
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  wouldn't have been in the room with a notepad and pencil
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  scribbling down everything Stephen said, but as he
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  represented this monologue of Stephens to the council, he
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  would have summarised all that that early church knew to be
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  true and shared the story of their faith from the very
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  beginning through to that day. So it is Luke and his best
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  attempt to, in one little speech, wrap up the entirety,
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  the whole narrative of God walking with people all the way
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  through to this point in the story.
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  So that's pretty exciting. It's a great thing for us to be
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  able to read and take this story to heart because this is the
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  story of God and our people all the way back then, all the way
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  through to Jesus, as recorded in Acts Chapter 7.
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  Then the high priest asked Stephen, are these accusations
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  true? This was Stephen's reply.
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  Brothers and fathers, listen to me.
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  Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia
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  before he settled in Haran. God told him, leave your native
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  land and your relatives and come into the land that I will show
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  you. So Abraham left the land of the
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  Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died.
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  Then God brought him here, to the land where you now live.
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  But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot
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  of land. God did promise, however, that
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  eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his
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  descendants, even though he had no children yet.
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  God also told him that his descendants would live in a
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  foreign land where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400
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  years. But I will punish the nation
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  that enslaves them, God said, And in the end they will come
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  out and worship me here in this place.
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  God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that
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  time. So when Abraham became the
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  father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the 8th day.
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  And the practise was continued when Isaac became the father of
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  Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the 12 patriarchs of
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  the Israelite nation. These patriarchs were jealous of
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  their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt.
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  But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles, and
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  God gave him favour before Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
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  God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh
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  appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge
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  for the palace. But a famine came upon Egypt and
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  Canaan. There was great misery, and our
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  ancestors ran out of food. Jacob heard that there was still
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  grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons, our ancestors, to buy
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  some. The second time they went,
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  Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were
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  introduced to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent for his father
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  Jacob and all his relatives to come to Egypt, 75 persons in
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  all. So Jacob went to Egypt.
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  He died there, as did our ancestors.
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  Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb
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  of Abraham and bought for a certain price from Hamor's sons
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  in Shechem. As the time drew near when God
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  would fulfil His promise to Abraham, the number of our
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  people in Egypt greatly increased.
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  But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing
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  about Joseph. This king exploited our people
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  and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn
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  babies so they would die. At that time, Moses was born a
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  beautiful child in God's eyes. His parents cared for him at
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  home for three months. When they had to abandon him,
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  Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son.
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  Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians and he was
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  powerful both in speech and action.
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  One day when Moses was 40 years old, he decided to visit his
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  relatives, the people of Israel. He saw an Egyptian mistreating
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  an Israelite. So Moses came to the men's
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  defence and avenged him, killing the Egyptian.
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  Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realise that
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  God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn't.
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  The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel
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  fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker.
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  Men, he said, you are brothers, why are you fighting each other?
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  But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside.
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  Who made you a ruler and judge over us?
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  He asked. Are you going to kill me as you
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  killed that Egyptian yesterday? When Moses heard that, he fled
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  the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian.
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  There his two sons were born. 40 years later, in the desert near
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  Mount Sinai, an Angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a
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  burning Bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed
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  at the sight. As he went to take a closer
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  look, the voice of the Lord called out to him.
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  I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
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  Jacob. Moses shook with terror and did
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  not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, Take
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  off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.
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  I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in
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  Egypt. I have heard their groans and
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  have come down to rescue them. Go now, for I am sending you
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  back to Egypt. So God sent back the same man
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  His people had previously rejected when they demanded, Who
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  made you a ruler and judge over us?
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  Through the Angel who appeared to him in the burning Bush.
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  God sent Moses to be their ruler and Saviour, and by means of
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  many wonders and miraculous signs he led them out of Egypt,
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  through the Red Sea and through the wilderness for 40 years.
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  Moses himself told the people of Israel, God will raise up for
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  you a prophet like me from among your own people.
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  Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God's people in
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  the wilderness, when the angels spoke to him at Mount Sinai.
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  And there Moses received life, giving words to pass on to us.
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  But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses.
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  They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt.
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  They told Aaron, make us some gods who can lead us, for we
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  don't know what has become of this Moses who brought us out of
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  Egypt. So they made an idle shaped like
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  a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this
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  thing they had made. Then God turned away from them
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  and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods.
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  In the book of the Prophet it is written.
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  Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during
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  those 40 years in the wilderness?
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  Israel. No, you carried your Pagan gods,
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  the shrine of Molech, the star of your God Rafan, and the
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  images you made to worship them. So I will send you into exile as
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  far away as Babylon. Our ancestors carried the
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  Tabernacle with them through the wilderness.
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  It was consecrated according to the plan God had shown to Moses.
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  Years later, when Joshua LED our ancestors in battle against the
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  nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was
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  taken with them into their new territory, and it stayed there
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  until the time of King David. David found favour with God and
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  asked for the privilege of building a permanent temple for
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  the God of Jacob, but it was Solomon who actually built it.
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  However, the Most High doesn't live in temples made by human
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  hands. As the prophet says, Heaven is
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  my throne and the earth is my footstool.
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  Could you build me a temple as good as that?
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  Asked the Lord. Could you build me such a
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  resting place? Didn't my hands make both heaven
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  and earth? You stubborn people, you are
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  heathen at heart and deaf to the truth.
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  Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit?
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  That's what your ancestors did, and so do you.
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  Name one prophet your ancestors didn't persecute.
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  They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the
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  righteous. 1 The Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered, you
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  deliberately disobeyed God's law, even though you received it
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  from the hands of angels. The Jewish leaders were
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  infuriated by Stephen's accusation, and they shook their
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  fists at him in rage. But Stephen, full of the Holy
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  Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God.
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  And he saw Jesus standing at the place of honour at God's right
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  hand. And he told them, look, I see
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  the heavens open, and the Son of man standing in the place of
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  honour at God's right hand. Then they put their hands over
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  their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged
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  him out of the city and began to stone him.
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  His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet
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  of a young man named Saul. As they stoned him, Stephen
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  prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
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  He fell to his knees shouting, Lord, don't charge them with
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  this sin. And with that he died.
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  Oh Jesus, long have you walked with
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  us, your people, from creation through to the patriarchs, all
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  the way through those times, all the way through to now.
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  You walk with us. And there indeed you stand, not
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  only beside us, not only resident in US in the form of
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  your Holy Spirit, but standing at the right hand of the throne
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  in heaven, where you have that position of honour.
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  For you, Jesus, are the holy One of God.
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  Holy, holy, holy is your name. And so today, just as Stephen
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  did all those years ago, we lift you up and we declare that you
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  indeed, our Lord, you are the Messiah.
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  You are the one chosen and delivered by God the Father to
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  save us from our sins and reconcile us to you.
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  We are so grateful for all you've done for us, Jesus.
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  And so we stand in awe of your greatness and we worship you and
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  pray all these things in your name.
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  Amen.