Acts 7:54-59 Live a Peaceful Life!

Acts 7:54-59  When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.  But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."  At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.  Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.  While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”   When he had said this, he fell asleep.

In Judaism, blaspheming the name of God is speaking irreverently about God, the Temple or even Moses and the law.  Such an act is punishable by stoning.   Then the Lord said to Moses: Take the blasphemer outside the camp.  All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.  Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible; anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death.  The entire assembly must stone them.  Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.  (Leviticus 24:13-16)  Because the Sanhedrin had murder in their hearts, they brought forth liars who would claim that Stephen said blasphemous words about God and Moses.  Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”  (Acts 6:11)  The Lord Jesus was lied about too, but the liars' accounts were not convincing, for they did not hold together as being truthful.  People also lied about Paul desecrating the Temple and blaspheming God and Moses by teaching that the law and circumcision were not necessary to be right with God.  Even though lying is a detestable sin in both the New Covenant and Old Covenant, worthy of hell fire, lying is prevalent in human affairs.  Jeremiah equates lying with adultery, of being unfaithful in words, deceiving people for personal reasons.  "For they are all adulterers— a pack of treacherous liars.  My people bend their tongues like bows to shoot out lies.  They refuse to stand up for the truth.  They only go from bad to worse.  They do not know me,” says the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:2-3)  As Jeremiah says, liars do not know the God of integrity, his holiness and perfection.  In the above focus, we see Stephen’s accusers looking for reasons to kill this apostate believer in Jesus Christ as the Messiah.  As with Stephen's accusers, the elite of the Jewish community sought reasons to kill Jesus.  Also Paul was lied about by people who wanted to kill him.  In these situations, lying is pivotal in the accusations against Stephen, Jesus, and Paul.  Lying displays the devil's, nature; he is the father of all lies.  When he (the devil) lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  (John 8:44)  Demons use lying to deceive people; Eve fell for the serpent's deceptive words.  In Stephen’s case, the Sanhedrin is justifying their actions of stoning Stephen based on lies.  For them, judgment must be meted out on Stephen because he is a blasphemer.  They justify their actions of stoning Stephen by knowing they are following the commandment of God.  Saul, as he observed this scene, must have thought the stoning was justified for the killers put their outer garments at this feet.  He probably went away from that scene believing what he saw was a justifiable execution according to the law of Moses.  Later we see Saul going from city to city, dragging men and women back to Jerusalem either to be killed or to be forced to recant their belief in Jesus as the Messiah.  For him, Stephen’s stoning was a necessary act to squash this apostasy of Jesus being the Messiah.  Probably, the Sanhedrin also believed this stoning was legitimate and necessary to quell apostasy.  Earlier many of them had heard Jesus  affirm the question, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”  Jesus’ answer made it necessary to kill him.  ”The high priest tore his clothes.  “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked.  “You have heard the blasphemy.   What do you think?  ”They all condemned him as worthy of death.  (Mark 14:61-64)

As with the case of executing Jesus, the Sanhedrin was killing an innocent man; their indictment against Stephen was based on lies.  They were violating the cardinal commandment: You shall not murder.  Jesus addresses the commandment of not killing by examining the content of a man’s heart before that dastardly act.  Murder as with adultery foments in an evil heart.  God always judges the heart, its intentions, its darkness.  Men judge from the outside, but God judges the heart.  Jesus knows that this murderous darkness in men and women's souls begins with unjustifiable anger.  “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’   But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.  Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court.   And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.  (Matthew 5:21-22). During Jesus’ three years of ministry, Jesus knew the leading priests and teachers of the law were against him and his teaching.  He knew they were angry about him winning over the allegiance of the people to him; they were jealous of his large following.  Jesus was teaching about God’s grace and mercy.  To find favor with God, the priests were advocating following rigidly the law, along with their own man-made regulations.  Their position of honor and prestige in the Jewish community was being threatened by Jesus’ teachings.  Their anger against Jesus eventually turned to thoughts of murdering him.  Before restoring a man’s shriveled hand before their eyes, Jesus addresses their negative attitude about doing good on the Sabbath:  Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath.  ”Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”  So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.  But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.  (Matthew  12:12-14)  We see their anger toward Jesus transformed into murdering him.  Jesus is now consider a blasphemer because He is violating a regulation given by God to Moses.  Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy  (Exodus 20:8), a day that should be absent of any activity, a day of complete rest.  Stephen, who is carrying on the message of Jesus Christ in the Jewish community, is seen as a cohort of this blasphemer: Jesus Christ.  Therefore, Stephen also deserves the sentence of death.  People lie about him to allow the Sanhedrin to justify him being stoned.  But in carrying out their sentence of death, a more intense, wicked emotion comes to the surface. They were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.  They covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.  The devil's hatred of God manifested in them.  They did not want to hear the words of righteousness, so they covered their ears and yelled at the top of their voices.  The devil and his cohorts do not want to hear about God’s plan of redemption.  As with Jesus, they were thinking that stopping Stephen’s voice would give them victory over the mysterious plan of God to save all people from destruction.  The pit of hell was planned for them, not for people.  

         In Stephen’s face and words, we see the love of God for all people, even those who hated him and let the devil use them as his agents.  The devil is a liar, a fountain of lies; he will never quit lying to people about God and his righteousness.  Stephen is before the Sanhedrin because of lies told about him.  Jesus knew where these lies originated and that his followers would carry out the purposes of the devil.  You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires.  He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.  (John 8:44)   Stephen has been indicted by lies.  Now as a result of those lies, Stephen will be stoned.  As his face and words reveal, he is an adopted son in the household of God; he will portray his Father even in death.  The Father is perfect, righteous, never ending.  Stephen will die with the Father’s will on his life.  As Jesus commanded, Love your neighbor as yourself.  But He tells us that the Father goes well beyond just loving the neighbor; He loves those who hate him.  Stephen epitomizes this love at the very end of his life: Lord, do not hold this sin against them.  God does not want anyone to perish.  Stephen does not want these people full of hatred to face the final punishment of God.  He wants their lives to be spared.  Jesus talks about this love.   “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.  He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?  Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?  Do not even pagans do that?   Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.  (Matthew 5:44-48)  Perfection is emulating the Father’s love.  Normally people write this verse out of their lives, having no intention to loving their enemies.  But God has come to us in the form of Jesus Christ to restore all people to their Creator.  As Christians we are to reconcile people to God, not push them away or condemn them for not being faithful and obedient to the Creator.  We are to express God’s love for all people.  We see this in Stephen’s last words on earth just as we see this in Jesus’ last words: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  (Luke 23:34)  We are to carry the message of God’s love to the whole world, first starting in our own families, then to our neighbors, to our communities, to our nation, and to the world.  If we do not, we are aberrant Christians, doing our own thing and not God’s will.  Paul gives Timothy, his young minister, the purpose and focus for living for Christ.  I urge, then, first of all, that PETITIONS, PRAYERS, INTERCESSION AND THANKSGIVING BE MADE FOR ALL PEOPLE--for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  (1 Timothy 2:1-4)  We see Stephen petitioning God not to hold this sin of murder against them.  We see Jesus telling his Father to forgive his killers.  We know Moses and Paul told God they would sacrifice their place with him for eternity for the salvation of those who wanted to kill them.  Are we better than these people when we are openly willing not to forgive our enemies?  Let us keep in touch with the Spirit of God, keep in step with him, loving all humans God created the best we can with the enduring love of God, our Father.  May this love rise up in each of us today to dispel Satan’s lies and advance the Good News.         

 

 

 

Acts 7:44-53 Be a Light in the Darkness!

Acts 7:44-53  “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness.  It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.  After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them.  It remained in the land until the time of David, who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.  But it was Solomon who built a house for him.  “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands.  As the prophet says:“ ‘Heaven is my throne,and the earth is my footstool.  What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord.  Or where will my resting place be?  Has not my hand made all these things?’  “You stiff-necked people!  Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised.  You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!  Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?  They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One.  And now you have betrayed and murdered him— you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”  

Stephen, by reviewing the history of the Jewish people before the murderous Sanhedrin, exposes them to the truth that the children of Israel have mostly existed in a state of rebellion to God.  Even though chosen as God’s own people because of Abraham’s faith in God’s words and promises, they lived lives of waywardness to the Creator.  Sadly, after being set free from the yoke of slavery to the god of Egypt, Pharaoh, they longed for their old ways of living in Egypt, serving idols, created out of the imaginations of men.  In their wilderness journey, God revealed to them his absolute holiness and perfection, giving them laws and regulations to follow.  They saw God manifesting himself through smoke and fire on Mount Sinai.  This God, whom they would war against most of their existence, chose them to inherit a land of milk and honey.  This land would be one of peace and harmony if they followed God’s dictates, obeying his commandments and regulations.  However, in the wilderness and in the Promised Land the yoke of slavery to other gods lay heavily on their shoulders.  They ignored the God who revealed himself on Mount Sinai.  Instead of following religiously the commandments and holy regulations, they sought the authority of demonic gods, even sacrificing their own children to appease these wicked spirits.  The slavery of darkness discovered in Egypt controlled their minds, choosing the turmoil of rebellion rather than the harmony of obedience.  Nevertheless, God never left them without a way out of their sin.  He provided a holy sanctuary, a place where their leaders could meet with God.  This tabernacle had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.  God’s voice emanated from this Tent of Meetings, later from the Temple that King Solomon built.  The Israelites could always find God there through their intermediaries, the priests.  This place was one of holiness, so it had to be built with perfect dimensions, for it reflected God’s sanctuary of perfection in heaven.  They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.  This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”  (Hebrews 8:5)  Stephen reminds the Sanhedrin that the tabernacle and the Temple are symbolic of God being with mankind.  However, God’s presence is not restricted to earthly structures, for as the prophet prophesied about God, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.  What kind of house will you build for me?  Steven says, He is not contained in tents or buildings, for He is an omnipresent Spirit.  This wonderful God of mercy and goodness, you leaders of Israel have neglected to serve honestly.  Instead, you burden the people with regulations and rules to cater to your own selfish interest.  Jesus castigated the priests and the teachers of the law for misusing their position of deference for their own benefit.  And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?  For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’  But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it.  Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.  You hypocrites!  Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you.“  ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’”  (Matthew 15:1-9)  Jesus knew they diverted funds that should go to the parents to benefit their own coffers.  He called them hypocrites.  Now Stephen exposes the evil intentions of those who are standing around him; their willingness to kill an innocent man.

Steven incites the ire of the Sanhedrin by exposing their hearts in his discourse.  For their pretensions of being holy and righteous hide the wickedness in their hearts.  But this condition of hypocrisy has often been prevalent in the religious leadership of the Jews.  They make a show of righteousness without good intentions.  Jesus categorizes them as  hypocrites.  In Stephen's review of the history of the children of Israel in the wilderness and in the promised land, he emphasizes the sinfulness of all the Israelites and their fleshly hearts.  Paul describes such hearts.  The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.  (Galatians 5:19-21)  Of course, fleshly hearts do not pertain only to the chosen people, they are an endemic part of people everywhere.  The Jews' experience points out clearly that even if God treats humans well, revealing his powers and wonders to them above all other people in the world, the fallen nature of Adam will eventually manifest itself in rebellion to God’s authority.  This Adamic nature is a deep-rooted characteristic of mankind.  Jesus said for people to love their enemies, be perfect as God is perfect.  This is a challenge that supersedes the will of men and women.  This kind of unity is divine and not found much in the nature of people.  Jesus is especially harsh with the priests and teachers of the law, for they go around with broad phylacteries and long robes, displaying outwardly their holiness and goodness.  But their sanctimonious attire and actions belie their hearts' intentions of murdering Jesus.  Jesus says of them, For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.  These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”  (Matthew 15:19-20)  Jesus knows the hearts of those who oppose him as the Messiah.  They wish him dead.  Stephen also knows their hearts: they wish him to die too.  In fact, they will carry out their murderous intentions shortly after Stephen's conclusive remarks about their wicked nature.  Stephen addresses their hearts now, not their outward appearances.  You stiff-necked people!  Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised.  You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!  Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?  They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One.  No matter how holy they appear, their hearts are desperately wicked.  They are just as evil as their ancestors who tried to quash God’s words to them, coming to them from the prophets’ lips.  Jesus also recognizes this spirit of theirs, of attempting to kill the voice of God, to divert the plan of God of redeeming the world to himself.  “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.  And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.  Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!"  (Matthew 23:29-32)  Now Jesus is saying, Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!  KILL THE WORD OF GOD

As John states, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  (John 1:1-5)  The devil's intentions were from the beginning to disrupt the harmony between God and man.  Eve’s decision destroyed that harmony.  From that time on, the world has been in rebellion against God and has reaped the products of disharmony with God: discord, violence and chaos.  Millions have been killed for self-willed reasons.  Jesus was sent to the world to unite people in a right relationship to a holy and perfect God.  As John reveals, this catalyst of light was rejected even by his own people.  The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  (John 1:9-11)   The majority of his own people chose their heritage as descendants of Abraham over him as the redeeming Messiah.  However, as Paul relates, the Jews were no better than the Gentiles if they lived with uncircumcised hearts, hearts predisposed to selfish and sinful behavior.  Stephen in uncovering the hearts of his foes says, you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”   Their hardened souls could not accept the fact that God had sent the Messiah Jesus to rescue them from their state of waywardness to the Creator.  They were meant for redemption, not judgment.  They were meant to be children of God, not foes to God and his goodness.  However, the Jewish people crucified Jesus.  They killed the Son of God, rejecting his divinity and God’s purpose for his life.  They abused and killed the One Isaiah prophesied about, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.  (Isaiah 9:6-7)  Stephen would give his life for the ONE about whom Isaiah prophesied.  For Stephen, physical existence did not hold the answers of eternal life.  He had found life, REAL LIFE, ABUNDANT LIFE in Jesus Christ the Lord, his Messiah.  He was willing to give his physical life for real life as a child of the living God.  Praise God that we can live as God’s children today if we have called upon the name of Jesus.   

    

 

 

 

 

  

 

Acts 7:36-43 Give Thanks!

Acts 7:36-43  He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.“  This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.  ’He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.  “But our ancestors refused to obey him.  Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.  They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us.  As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!  ’That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf.  They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.  But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars.  This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:“ ‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?  You have taken up the tabernacle of Mole and the star of your god Rephan the idols you made to worship.  Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon.

Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, but he could not lead the Israelites out of the darkness of their souls.  Stephen tells these leaders of Israel who intend to murder him that their souls are full of darkness.  No miracle from God in the desert, no physical phenomenon, no prophet could disperse the darkness that presided in the souls of these former captives of Pharaoh.  As they journeyed through the wilderness, they carried the Egyptian gods in their satchels.  They were constantly looking for a chance to rebel against Moses and Aaron who were following the God who delivered them out of Egypt.   As with Adam and Eve in their disastrous decision to be the designer of their own lives, the children of Israel also wished to carve out their own way in life.  They made images of gods they desired to follow, gods of war, fertility, prosperity, safety, and so on.  This desire led them to serve idols founded on their own wayward imaginations.  These idols were made of wood, stone, gold and silver.  They were silent gods, unresponsive gods, gods demanding horrendous sacrifices from them, even their firstborn.  Their little ones were burned on altars or cooked in the searing hands of idols like Molech.  Yes, Moses by the hand of God led the Israelites out of Egypt, but their souls were still laden with Egypt’s abomination of idol worship.  They rejected him (Moses) and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.  Make us gods who will go before us.   They (Aaron) made an idol in the form of a calf.  They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.  Even though the Israelites saw with their own eyes the plagues that God placed on Egypt, they still desired gods who would allow them to be as their hearts desired: wicked.  They chose to serve Ashtaroth, a deity that would supposedly bring many children into families, and also make them successful in war.  They worshipped Rephan, an astrological god, who supposedly would guide their lives, giving them blessings and direction.  They bowed before the idol of Baal, a supreme god who demanded them to sacrifice their children, insuring them peaceful and happy lives.  These gods the Israelites desired to follow rather than serve the only God who made the heavens and the earth.  By constructing their own gods to follow, they attempted to fulfill Satan’s words.  The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”  “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.  “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  (Genesis 3:2-5)  But rather than living as God exists in peace and harmony, humans slid into a caldron of darkness, violence, and chaos.  Eventually a flood of destruction terminated this existence, except for Noah and his family.  Stephen recounts that the ancient Jews' lack of fidelity to God and their concomitant adulterous behavior, getting in bed with false gods, revealed to his present murderous foes that their hearts have not changed.  They are still rebellious to God’s authority.   Estranged from him, they intend to violate one of the Ten Commandments, murdering an innocent man.  

Moses delivering the chosen people out of Egypt is analogous to the creation story.  God’s chosen work, humans, his masterpiece that he called "very good,” would go astray.  He had prepared a land of milk and honey for them, the Garden of Eden, but instead of abiding in peace and harmony with God, they chose independence from God.  In choosing another way to live, the idols of self-indulgence crafted from their own imaginations became their gods.  We see them in the promised land cloaked with worshipping these no-gods. In Judges we see idol altars, shrines and memorials on every hill, under every tree, and at every crossroad.  The people of Israel were impacted by the degrading behavior of the wicked people who God intended for them to destroy.  They picked up many evil behaviors from these wicked people, even as with the Ammonites, sacrificing their firstborn to Molech.  In the history of Judea and Israel, many wicked kings ruled the land of Canaan.  They did evil in the sight of the Lord, conditioning their people to follow after the gods of the formerly displaced inhabitants of Canaan, but a remnant of these people always existed with the Israelites.  In king Manasseh’s reign, evil flourished.  Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.  His mother’s name was Hephzibah.  And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.  For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal.  He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.  Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My Name.”  In both courtyards of the house of the LORD, he built altars to all the host of heaven.  He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists.  He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.  (2 King 21:1-7)  Stephen is telling his Jewish enemies that their hearts never changed from their waywardness in the wilderness to their inhabitation of the promised land.  Their hearts’ allegiance was to their idols, their gods, not to the One who delivered them out of slavery.  This new beginning and this new insight of the God who made them, given to Moses on the Mount of Sinai, did not alter their love affair of other gods and of their own evil choices in their lives.  But God would eventually bring a final judgment of dispersion from the land of milk and honey because of the hardness of their hearts.  I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon.  God harshly treated the Israelites many times to drive them away from their adulterous affairs with other gods.  Both Israel, made up of ten tribes, and Judea, made up of only two tribes, were eventually dispersed from Canaan because of their lust of other gods.  The prophet Ezekiel describes God’s judgment against his chosen people who were given a start to a new life in the promised land.  I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.  Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will slay your people in front of your idols.  I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars.  Wherever you live, the towns will be laid waste and the high places demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and devastated, your idols smashed and ruined, your incense altars broken down, and what you have made wiped out.  Your people will fall slain among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.  (Ezekiel 6:1-7)  As with all people from the beginning of time, humans chose gods to satisfy their own wicked nature.  Even under horrendous judgment from God’s throne, the chosen people would not change; eventually they were dispersed from Canaan.  Stephen is now facing angry men who in a few years will feel the heavy hand of Rome on their land, experiencing the diaspora from Israel.  God’s judgment of his wayward loved ones is an ongoing experience.  The Lord disciplines the one he loves.  (Hebrews 12:6)

Stephen is a man who knows God through the love of Jesus Christ in his life.  He is filled with the Holy Spirit, so when he recounts the history of the Jews, the Holy Spirit is giving him the words to say to these rebellious foes.  Their hearts are touched so much that they cannot contain their anger.  His words expose the sickness of their hearts.  They know they are just like their wayward ancestors.  They know their religion is based on rituals and ceremonies, not emanating from the heart.  Their allegiance to God is based on heritage, not on a relationship to God in an intimate way.  Now Stephen’s words reveal the darkness in their souls and lives.  But Stephen is serving the source of light, life itself personified: Jesus Christ.  Jesus said, I am the light of the world; I do only what the Father God tells me.  All light and all life originates in the hands of God. The children of Abraham, even though chosen, even though experiencing God’s mighty hand of deliverance from their captivity in Egypt, served their own desires, depicted in the gods they chose to worship.  Now, as Stephen faces his adversaries, they no longer serve idols, for that practice stopped as the Israelites came back into their home land, but they still served themselves, and they were still in need of repentance.  John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus, but his message to the Israelites was to repent, repent of their self-willed lives, of their lack of caring for the poor and the disadvantaged, of their coldness to God.  Stephen is facing the leaders of the Jewish community, the Sanhedrin.  John the Baptist castigated them, calling them a brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.  And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’  I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.  The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.  (Matthew 3:7-10).  Rather than produce the fruit of righteousness and goodness, they murder Stephen, setting the stage for their eventual demise, carried out by the Roman government.  The priesthood would disappear and the time of the rabbis would become the source of spirituality in the dispersed Jews in foreign lands.  Stephen’s narrative about the children of Israel illustrates that the Jew’s waywardness in serving God with their whole hearts and minds is the quintessential example of all mankind.  No matter how wonderfully God treated them, no matter how many miracles were performed before their eyes, their instinctive desire was to serve themselves, first through idol worship and later in their self-indulgent lifestyles.  They were designed to be God’s chosen people, qualified in every way to be children in his household, but instead the history of the Jews depicts a wayward people, a recalcitrant people, unwilling to come under the dictates of God's law and its regulations.  Even if Moses were standing in place of Stephen, they still would raise their arms to slay the mighty prophet Moses.  But as Paul states: A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.  Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.  (Romans 2:28-29)  We who are around this breakfast table seek the praises of God and not of men, for we have been circumcised by the hand of God through the work of Christ on the cross, carried out by the power of the Holy Spirit in us.  Let us give thanks for the mighty power of God at work in our lives.  Amen.    

 

Acts 7:20-36 Hear the Good News!

Acts 7:20-36  At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.  For three months he was cared for by his family.  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.  When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the 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?  Are you thinking of killing 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.  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 get a closer look, he heard the Lord say:  ‘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, for 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 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 performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.

In defending himself before the Sanhedrin, against the false accusations presented to them, Stephen speaks blasphemous words against Moses and against God.  (Acts 6:11)  He alleges that the children of Israel have always been rebellious, living unto themselves and not under God’s canopy of love.  In the wilderness, they opposed Moses’ leadership often, even threatening to stone him a couple of times.  Many times they expressed a desire to return to Egypt, even though they were slaves there.  Now because of false accusations, Stephen is on trial before the most religious men in Jerusalem.  These religious elite claim Abraham as their father.  However, Jesus in addressing these same religious leaders told them that their father is really the devil, not God.  I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”  “Abraham is our father,” they answered.  “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did.  As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.  Abraham did not do such things.  (John 8:38-40)  Stephen knows these leaders live with uncircumcised hearts.  They live by following rules and regulations of the law, but their hearts are far from God.  Jesus characterizes these leaders' inner thoughts and desires as rotten bones, decaying within them even as they walk through the communities of Israel.  Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.  (Matthew 23:27-28)  Now these same religious hypocrites are brazenly accusing Stephen of denigrating God and his servant Moses.  However, in their own lives, they lack true fidelity to the God of grace, mercy and love.  If they would have lived in Moses’ time, they would have been just as unfaithful to Moses as their ancestors, not willing to follow God’s plan for their lives.  These leaders' hearts were as uncircumcised as their forefathers'.  Before God introduced himself to Moses, Moses was uncircumcised in the flesh.  The Lord introduced himself to Moses from a burning bush and then called him to deliver the Jewish slaves from the hands of Pharaoh.  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 get a closer look, he heard the Lord say:  ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Later, Moses experienced circumcision, not only in the flesh but also in his spirit.  God would lead him not through regulations and commandments but by his own voice.  Moses was imbued with power; his words would be wondrously implemented by the Lord.  God placed several plagues on Egypt, causing Pharaoh to finally release the Israelites from their slavery.  The Israelites fled Egypt carrying much booty from the land of their former captors.  The Egyptians were glad to see them leave their land.  The Israelites were glad at first for their freedom, but soon realized they were traversing a very hostile environment.  This caused them to complain to Moses because he led them into such a stark environment, a place of little water and not enough food.  The prospect of surviving in such a wilderness very long was not good for them.  Their uncircumcised hearts still belonged to their idols; therefore, they could not envision what God had planned for them, a destination in a land of milk and honey.   Now Stephen was faced with the same lack of vision in the Sanhedrin’s heart.  They were blind to God’s mission of delivering them permanently from a temporary physical life to an eternal existence by the works of Jesus.  They could not picture themselves in heaven without obeying all the laws and regulations laid down on Mount Sinai.  They served God through rituals, commandments and regulations.  However, God was revealing to them a God of mercy, grace and love through a born again man: Stephen.  Stephen’s life demonstrated power, love and wisdom.  His life revealed a freedom that the religious elite abhorred.  They were still in the Holy Place in the Tabernacle where men service God, not in the Holy of Holies where God services men.  Through Christ’s death on the cross, the curtain between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies had been torn from top to bottom.  Christ, the Lord God, performed the final and complete work of pleasing the Father God by dying on the cross for all men and women.  For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.  (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)  But because of a veil of unbelief on these men before Stephen, they could not see the truth of the new covenant that they might have an intimate relationship with God, the Holy of Holies is available to them.  But as with their ancestors in the wilderness, they could not comprehend what Moses was really doing in the Tent of Meeting, nor understand his closeness to the God of all creation.  So, when Moses came out of the Tent of Meeting, Moses had to put a veil over his face, for the Israelites' unbelief in knowing God in a personal way was beyond their understanding.  Moses when he possessed an uncircumcised heart was warned when he approached the burning bush. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.  No man can approach God with an uncircumcised heart or he will face eternal judgment.  

Moses led the Israelites for 40 years.  He led a people who had little vision of a promised land.  They still carried their own gods in their satchels.  They reluctantly followed the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  When they first arrived at the promised land, they refused to go in—not only refusing, but threatening to stone Abraham, Aaron, Caleb and Joshua.  Because of uncircumcised hearts, they had no vision of taking Canaan, the land of milk and honey.  They had seen all kinds of miracles in the wilderness; they had seen the plagues that God had put on the Egyptians, but their hearts were still cold towards the Creator who chose them out of all the people on the earth as his own.  The veil to the plan of God for their salvation was fixed on their faces.  Now Stephen is addressing men who still have veils on their faces to the eternal plan of redemption.  The new covenant had been introduced to them through the life of Jesus Christ.  He had done more miracles and wonders than any man from the beginning of time.  God verified who Jesus was through the miraculous works that Jesus performed.  But most of the Sanhedrin wore the veil of avoidance to Jesus' amazing life.  They really did not see or hear the Good News that Jesus introduced to them.  They did not accept that Jesus was THE WAY to eternal life.  For them, Jesus was but a hindrance to their position of authority in the Jewish community.  Paul likened them to their ancestors in Moses’ time.   We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away.  But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read.  It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.  Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.  But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  (2 Corinthians 3:13-16)  Stephen now faces the prospect of being put to death because of these people who have a veil over their hearts.  They saw Stephen and all other Christians as a threat to Judaism.  For them, these apostates must be killed or persuaded to recant their belief in Jesus as the Savior of all mankind.  These apostates carried the aroma of death to their way of serving God.  If the Jewish people grasped this new idea of Jesus being the way to God, their position of deference would be gone, and the Temple would no longer be essential in honoring God.  Stephen, because of the infilling of the Holy Spirit, knew the hearts of these religious leaders who were confronting him.  He understood he was an aroma of death to them.  To the religious leaders he was an aroma of death, but to those who know Jesus brings life, he is a sweet aroma.  The old covenant would be replaced by the new covenant of life through faith in the Son of God.  This eternal Son came to the world through the womb of Mary.  For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.  (Isaiah 9:6-7)  This Good News of salvation through Christ would eventually be heard around the world, but Stephen would experience physical death at the hands of the uncircumcised in heart and mind.  May we rejoice that our hearts and minds have been made holy and pure unto the Lord that we might rejoice in Christ our Savior.