Acts 7: 1-36, Stephen's Sermon, Part 1

Stephen has been called to account before the religious leaders of Jerusalem. 

Acts 7:1
Then the high priest asked him, "Are these charges true?"

The priests will let Stephen speak.

Acts 7:2-8
To this he replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. `Leave your country and your people,' God said, `and go to the land I will show you.' So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. God spoke to him in this way: `Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,' God said, `and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.'  

Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

Stephen has the audacity to explain the basics of Jewish history to the priests.  He attempts to show them that Jesus is the continuation of God's work in the people of Israel.

The call to Abraham, quoted in verse 3 is from Genesis 12:1. The promise to Abraham, quoted in verse 7, is from Genesis 15:13-14.

Acts 7:9-17
"Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace. Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our fathers could not find food. When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit. On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph's family. After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 

"Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died. Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money. As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased.

All of this is history that Stephen's listeners know well.  Presumably Stephen is both reminding them of God's covenant with Abraham and also proving that he, Stephen, is a bona fide Jew, one who respects and follows that covenant.

Acts 7:18-22
"Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt. He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die. At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father's house. When he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

NIV footnotes on verse 20: "No ordinary child" is also translated "fair in the sight of God".

Acts 7:23-29
"When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian.  Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.

"The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, `Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?'

 "But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, `Who made you ruler and judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?'  

"When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons."

Stephen points out that Moses was a savior to the Jewish people but he was not recognized by them at that time!  Just like Jesus.

The quote in verse 28 is from  Exodus 2:14.

Acts 7:30-36
"After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord's voice: `I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.'  Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

 "Then the Lord said to him, `Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground.  I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.' 

"This is the same Moses whom they had rejected with the words, `Who made you ruler and judge?' He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out of Egypt and did wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in  the desert.

Stephen is making his Jewish credentials clear, before he moves on to telling the story of the Messiah, who (like Moses in his day) is a savior to the people of Israel.

The quote in verse 32 is from Exodus 3:6. The quote in verse 34 is from, the same passage, covering parts of Exodus 3:5-10.

The last half of chapter 7 will describe the priests' reaction to Stephen's speech.