Through My Bible Year 03 – May 31

Acts 7:1-43

Act 7

Stefan defends himself

¹ Then the high priest asked, “Are these things true?”

² Stephen said, “Listen, gentlemen, brothers and fathers! The glorious God appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran. ³ God said to him, ‘Leave your land and your relatives and come to the land that I will show you.’ ⁽¹⁾

⁴ “Then he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God transferred him from there to this country where you are now living.

⁵ “He gave him no inheritance in this land, not even enough to set foot on it. But God promised to give it to him and his descendants as an inheritance ⁽²⁾ After that, ⁽³⁾ However Abraham still had no children. ⁶ God revealed his descendants ⁽⁴⁾ They will live like strangers in a foreign land, and will be enslaved and abused for four hundred years. ⁷ God continued, ‘I will judge that nation that they will serve as slaves, and then they will go away and serve Me in this place.’ ⁽⁵⁾

⁸ “Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and he was circumcised on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of twelve patriarchs.

Stefan defends himself

⁹ “The patriarchs were jealous and sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him. ¹⁰ God saved him from all his troubles and granted him grace and wisdom before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and his entire palace.

¹¹ “There was a famine throughout Egypt and Canaan, causing great suffering, and our ancestors did not get food. ¹² But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors to Egypt for the first time. ¹³ On his second journey, Joseph told his brothers about himself, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent word and called his father Jacob and all his relatives, that is, seventy-five men in all. ¹⁵ Jacob went to Egypt, and died there with our ancestors. ¹⁶ Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in a tomb that Abraham had purchased from the sons of Hamor in Shechem with a sum of silver.

¹⁷ “As the time approached, God spoke about his promise ⁽⁶⁾ The population of Egypt increased under Abraham. ¹⁸ This continued until another king who knew nothing about Joseph became ruler of Egypt. ¹⁹ He cunningly took advantage of our people, and he mistreated our fathers and forced them to get rid of their children so that they could not survive. ⁽⁷⁾

Stefan defends himself

²⁰ “At that time, Moses was born, and God was gracious to him. He was cared for in his father’s house for three months. ²¹ After he was put out, ⁽⁸⁾ Pharaoh’s daughter took him in and raised him like her own son. ²² Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was powerful in his words and actions.

²³ “But when he was forty years old, it came to his mind to meet his brothers, the children of Israel. ²⁴ When he saw one of them being abused, he defended him and took revenge on the oppressed man by killing the Egyptian. ²⁵ He thought that his brothers would understand that God was delivering them with His own hand, but they did not. ²⁶ The next day, he came across two of them while they were fighting, and he tried to resolve them. He said, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you hurting each other?’ ²⁷ But the one who was harming his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me like you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ^{(9) 29} At this comment, Moses fled and lived in exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

³⁰ “After forty years had passed, an angel of the Lord ⁽¹⁰⁾ He appeared in the flames of a burning bush in the forest of Mount Sinai. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was amazed at what he saw. As he went closer to see, the voice of the Lord said, ³² ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of ⁽¹¹⁾ Jacob. ⁽¹²⁾ Moses trembled and did not dare to look. ³³ Then the Lord said to him, Take off your shoes from off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴ I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to save them. Now come, I will send you to Egypt.’ ⁽¹³⁾

³⁵ “This is the same Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ This is the one whom God sent to be the ruler and savior, with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ This is the same one who worked wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years, and brought the people out. ³⁷ This is the same Moses who said to the people of Israel, O God ⁽¹⁴⁾ I will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’ ^{(15) 38} This is the same one who was in the meeting with the angel in the wilderness who spoke to him and to our fathers on Mount Sinai. They’ve got vibrant messages to give us, ³⁹ But our ancestors refused to obey his orders. Instead they pushed him away and turned back to Egypt in their hearts. ⁴⁰ They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. This Moses who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what happened to him. ^{(16) 41} That’s when they made a calf, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.

⁴² “But God turned away, and gave them over to worship the heavenly bodies, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: