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a) A Description of the Days of the Patriarchs (Acts 7:1-19)
ACTS 7:1-8
1 The high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Get out of your land, and from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.’ 4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, God moved him into this land, where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when he still had no child. 6 God spoke in this way: that his seed would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 7 ‘I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that will they come out, and serve me in this place.’ 8 He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
Stephen stood up before the committee of inquiry of the high council. He confessed his faith in the belief of his fathers. The inquirers listened carefully to every word he said, paying attention to the subjects he stressed, desiring to find out whether the defendant was established in the Old Testament or a blasphemer against God who deserved to be immediately stoned (Leviticus 24:16).
The high priest did not register a personal complaint against Stephen. It was those who had conversed with him who charged him with blasphemy. The chief justice asked the accused briefly: “Is it true what the complainants say?”
Stephen answered with complete respect, addressing his hearers by the title “brethren and fathers”, though they had not received the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He showed that he was disposed to render due honor to the highest religious institution of the nation. He desired their attention, and begged them to listen with fatherly patience to his testimony of faith. He was not versed in Aramaic or in Hebrew, from which the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, had been translated. Stephen confirmed his faith, quoting the scriptures in accordance with this widely known translation, which differed in some expressions from the original Hebrew text, which all the judges knew by heart.
Stephen testified that the one glorious God had appeared to Abraham while he was still a heathen in Iraq, dwelling among his relatives. He had chosen him, and promised to make from him a great nation. The father of the faithful was not qualified to meet with God, for he was not more righteous than other men. It was God’s free choice that turned this fixed-land resident into a traveling Bedouin. He removed him from his land, property, and easiness of life and sent him into an unknown place, assuring him that he would guide him at all times.
Take notice of the nine verbs in our reading text, for they clarify the actual work of God. In so doing you will realize that the accounts mentioned are not of human origin, but represent the history of God´s working Himself. The living Lord is not far away from our earth or unapproachable. He intervenes in and is involved in the walk of men. He chose one man, and ordained him to be the beginning of His redemptive plan. The motive in the history of the Old Testament was not Abraham’s godliness or his prayers, but God’s redemptive will and blessings.
Abraham obeyed God in part. He left his country, but not his father or Lot, his nephew, and therefore delayed God’s purposes. After some time he reached the barren mountains of Canaan and the fertile valleys, where winter is very cold, and summer is very hot. Abraham did not find a paradise with wide lands, as in Iraq, but rocks and deserts. He wandered disturbed among these mountains, not finding any property to possess. God promised him that all the country He would show him would be his and his children’s, though he still had no child. In this manner, the one who was stripped of his land and deprived of children would learn to live in continuous expectation. This faith was accounted to him for righteousness. His trust in the hidden God throughout the long years, without visible, tangible results, made him an example to all believers.
This account intimates that faith is man’s unique answer to God’s call and choice. Did you hear the voice of God embodied in Christ? Do you believe in your spiritual inheritance, though you have not sensed any blessing, nor seen any tangible results? God, who is faithful, calls you and preserves you. You can honor Him by your persistent faith.
At last Abraham received the revelation from God that his faith in God’s promise, which was to give him a land, would not be realized during his lifetime, or even during his son’s lifetime. His descendants would continue in slavery in Egypt for four hundred long years. Think of this long period. God allowed Abraham’s descendants to fall under the yoke of slavery, which ultimately they had chosen for themselves. Nevertheless, He did not annul his promise to them.
The Holy One bound Himself to Abraham and his descendants through the covenant of circumcision. Therefore, all of Abraham’s descendants have entered into this series of blessing, for Abraham circumcised both Ishmael and Isaac in order to establish them in the promise of the covenant. God´s covenant was not based on keeping the commands of the law, but on the grace of His choice alone.
PRAYER: O holy God, we thank You for choosing us in Christ. Establish us through Your Holy Spirit in Your New Covenant, based on the blood of Your only Son. Teach us faith, confidence, and trust in You, that we may wait for the coming of Your kingdom.
QUESTION:
- What was the mystery in Abraham’s life?