Acts 7

(1) Stephen Recounts Abraham’s History

The high priest asked,

“Is that really true?”

Stephen said,

“Fellow Israelites, listen to what I’m about to say. God’s splendor appeared to our forefather, Abraham, when he was still in Mesopotamia before moving to Haran. In Genesis 12:1 God told him,

 ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and go to a place that I’ll show you.’

“So Abraham left the region where the Chaldeans lived and settled in Haran. Then after his dad died, Abraham moved here, where we still live today! When Abraham first got here, God didn’t give him one square foot of property, but He promised to give the land to him and his descendants even though Abraham didn’t have any kids at that time. God said that Abraham’s descendants would be immigrants in a foreign place and that they’d be enslaved and mistreated for 400 years. In Genesis 15:13 God told Abraham,

‘I Myself will judge whatever nation enslaves them, and after that, they’ll leave and worship Me here in this place.’

“Then God established the custom of circumcision as a marker of His relationship with them. That’s why Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, at eight days old. Then Isaac went on to have a son, Jacob, who went on to have the 12 Israelite patriarchs. 

(9) Stephen Recounts How Israel got Enslaved to Egypt

“The patriarchs got jealous of Joseph and sold him to Egypt, but God was with him. God rescued him from all his challenging situations, gave him favor and wisdom in front of Pharaoh (Egypt’s leader), and made him governor over Egypt. 

“Then a famine afflicted all of Egypt and Canaan. It was absolutely miserable, and our forefathers couldn’t find any food. But Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt, so he sent our patriarchs there on their first visit. On their second visit, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and Pharaoh was informed about Joseph’s family. Then Joseph invited his dad (Jacob) and the extended family to come to him. As a result, 75 people went to Egypt. Jacob and our patriarchs eventually died there, but their bodies were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought from Hamor’s sons there. 

(17) Stephen Recounts Moses’s Backstory

“God promised Abraham that a certain moment would come, and as that moment approached, the Hebrew population increased and multiplied in Egypt. Egypt eventually got a new leader who didn’t know anything about Joseph, and he took advantage of our people, mistreated our forefathers, and put their infants out to die. That’s when Moses was born—and he was a lovely sight to God. He only spent 3 months in his parents’ house, and then was sent away. But Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son. He received a good, Egyptian education and became powerful in his words and actions. But as he got closer to age 40, he had the idea to visit his kinsmen: Israel’s descendants. When he saw one of them being treated poorly, he defended him and avenged the oppressed by striking the Egyptian with a fatal blow. He assumed that his kinsmen could see that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn’t get it. So the next day he went over to them when they were arguing with each other and tried to get them to stop fighting. He said,

‘Guys! You are related—why are you hurting each other?’

“But the aggressor pushed his victim away and said,

‘Who made you the boss over us? You’re not gonna kill me the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday, are you?’

“And at that, Moses ran away and became an immigrant in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.

(30) Stephen Recounts Burning Bush

“Then 40 years later, out in the uninhabited region of Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the fire of a burning thorn bush. When Moses saw that, he marveled at the sight of it. When he tried to get a closer look, the Ruler’s voice said,

‘I am the God of your forefathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’

“Trembling with fear, Moses didn’t dare look up. But the Ruler told him,

‘Take off your sandals, because the ground you’re standing on is sacred. I’ve seen how oppressed My people are in Egypt, heard their groans, and came down to rescue them—which is why I’m now sending you to Egypt.’

(35) Stephen Recounts Israel’s Exile

“The same Moses that Israel rejected when they said ‘Who made you our boss?’ is the Moses that God sent to be both a boss and a rescuer with the help of the angel that appeared to him in the thorn bush. Moses led Israel out, doing all kinds of unbelievable things in Egypt, the Red Sea, and the wilderness for 40 years. And that’s the same Moses who told Israel’s descendants that God would raise up another Hebrew prophet for them, just like himself. That Moses is the same guy who stayed with the Hebrew population in the wilderness along with the angel who talked to him on Mount Sinai. He was right there with our ancestors and received the living words that were then passed down to you guys. But instead of listening to Moses, our ancestors pushed him away and turned their hearts back to Egypt. They told Aaron,

‘Make gods for us who can show us where to go, because we don’t know what happened to this Moses guy who led us out of Egypt.’

“So they made an idol of a young bull, brought it a sacrifice, and celebrated their own handiwork. So God turned them away and handed them over to worship the stars and planets, just like the prophets wrote in Amos 5:25–27:

‘It wasn’t Me who you offered sacrifices to in the wilderness for 40 years, was it, Israel? You embraced the house belonging to Moloch [the Ammonite god], and you embraced the star associated with your god, Rephan. Yes, those are the statues you made to worship, so now I’ll exile you to a place that’s even further away than Babylon.’

(44) Stephen tells Priests they Killed God’s Promised One

“Our ancestors in the wilderness had God’s tent as proof, which was assembled using the blueprints that God gave directly to Moses. And then when God drove out the Canaanites under Joshua, our ancestors brought God’s tent here where it stayed until David’s era. Jacob’s God favored David and asked him to find a long-term house for Him, but Solomon ended up being the one who built Him a house. But as the prophet says in Isaiah 66:1–2, the Ultimate Being doesn’t live in houses made by human hands:

‘The heavens are My throne, and the earth is a stool I rest My feet on. What kind of house will you build for Me?’ the Existing One asks. ‘What place is there for Me to relax? Wasn’t I the one who made everything?’

“Now you guys are stubborn, and your hearts and ears aren’t open to God. You’re always resisting the Different Spirit just like your ancestors did. Can you even name a single prophet your ancestors weren’t hostile towards? They killed the people who announced that the Flawless One was coming, and now you guys betrayed and killed the One they were talking about! Messengers brought you God’s instructions, but you failed to follow them.”

(54) Stephen is Killed

After hearing that, they were cut to the heart and began snarling at him. But Stephen was full of the Different Spirit and gazed into the heavens and could see God’s splendor with Jesus standing at God’s right hand. Stephen said,

“I can see the heavens opening up with the Son of Humanity standing at God’s right hand!”

At that, the crowd erupted, covering their ears and rushing at him in unison. They quickly drove him out of the city limits and began throwing rocks at him, taking off their robes and laying them at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they kept throwing rocks at him, Stephen said,

“Master Jesus, receive my spirit!”

Then he fell to his knees and cried out,

“Master, don’t hold this mistake against them!”

And after he said that, he was put to sleep.