The chapter ended with a focus on Stephen. He spoke with great power and performed many amazing miracles and signs. He debated with a group of men from another synagogue and overwhelmed them with his teaching. Those men then sought out to destroy Stephen and had men lie about him to the religious leaders. Stephen was brought before the high council and the false accusations were presented agianst him. However, while he was being accused, it is written, "At this point everyone in the high council stared at Stephen, because his face became as bright as an angel's."
We now move on to chapter 7.
The high priests asked Stephen if the accusations being made against him were true. Stephen replied by giving them a history of God's people beginning in the time of Abraham. He called them brothers and fathers and asked them to listen to him as he recounted history to them in verses 2-50.
Stephen spoke of:
- God's appearing to Abraham and instructing him to leave his native land to go to the land He would show him
- Abraham left and moved to Haran until his father died
- God then brought him to this land they all now lived in
- In this land, God gave Abraham no inheritance at all
- Although they had no inheritance in this land, God promised that eventually all the land would be theirs
- Even though Abraham had not yet had any children God told him his descendants would live in a foreign land
- God told him his descendants would be oppressed in that land for 400 years as slaves
- God told Abraham He would punish those who held his descendants in captivity
- God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision and circumcised his son Isaac on the eighth day after his birth
- Circumcision was practiced from Isaac through all twelve of his sons who became the patriarchs of the Israelite nation
- He spoke of how Abraham's other sons were jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him as a slave to people in Egypt
- God gave Joseph great wisdom and he eventually became Pharaoh's governor over all Egypt and filled storehouses of food for the famine God warned him of
- Famine struck
- Joseph's family heard of the food in Egypt and his brothers came to buy some
- On their second visit to buy food Joseph revealed himself to his brothers
- Joseph's father Jacob, brothers, and 75 in all moved to Egypt under the care of Joseph
- Jacob and (as Stephen put it) "all our ancestors" eventually died
- As God's promise to Abraham was fulfilled, the number of their people in Egypt greatly increased
- The pharaoh who loved Joseph died and a new pharaoh took over and exploited the people
- As new babies were born they were forced to abandon them so they would die
- Moses was born during that time and was cared for by his parents until 3 months old
- Moses was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter and taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Moses became powerful in speech and action
- Moses defended an Israelite in a fight with an Egyptian by killing the Egyptian
- Moses assumed after that the Israelites would see he was sent by God to rescue them but they didn't see it that way
- Moses was again with his people and saw two Israelites fighting and tried to stop them. The wrongdoer asked Moses, "Who made you ruler and judge over us?"
- Hearing this, Moses fled and moved to a foreign land and had two sons
- 40 years later Moses encountered the burning bush and God spoke to him
- God told him He heard the groans of the people and sent Moses to rescue them and be their ruler
- Moses, the man they earlier rejected, came back and by miracles he led the Israelites out of Egypt and captivity through the Red Sea and into the wilderness for 40 years
- Moses spoke of a Prophet coming from among them
- Stephen continued, "But our ancestors refused to listen to him."
- The people went to Aaron and made idols that would lead them. They made an idol of a calf and made sacrifices to it
- God turned His back and abandoned them allowing them to serve their idols
- Their turning away from God was foretold by the prophets
- They worshipped Moleck and Rephan (the planet Saturn) which included child sacrifices by fire and sexual worship
- As a result it was foretold they would be sent into exile as far away as Babylon
- Their ancestors carried the Tabernacle with them through the wilderness
- The tabernacle was then taken into the land they were led to by Joshua
- David, who became King, asked God for permission to build Him a temple, however Solomon actually built the temple
- Prophets told that God doesn't live in temples for He made the heavens and earth and no temple could house Him
The Jewish leaders were cut deep by the truth of his accusations and became infuriated, shaking their fists at him. Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit, looked upward and saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand and he told the leaders that. They put their hands over their ears and started shouting. They rushed him and dragged him out of the city to stone him.
Those who did this took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul and then stoned him. As they stoned Stephen, he prayed God would not hold this sin against them and he died.
I would like to note a couple of things regarding chapter 7.
1. There is some discussion regarding the death and burial of Jacob and the ancestors found in verses 15 and 16. In our Bible, it seems Stephen tells us Jacob was buried at Shechem but in Genesis 49: 29 to 50:13, the Old Testament tells us Jacob and his wife Leah, Jacob's parents Isaac and Rebekah, and his grandparents Abraham and Sarah were buried in Canaan in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre.
I understand that today that cave is known as the Cave of the Patriarchs and is considered the spiritual center of the city of Hebron. This is in the West Bank in ancient Judea. It is also said Adam and Eve are buried in that cave as well as the head of Essau. What is extremely interesting is that Judaism and Islam both agree as to the location and occupants of the tomb there.
Joseph was buried first in Egypt then moved to Shechem and buried with his brothers. The cave was purchased from the sons of Hamor who was the father of Shechem. Genesis 50:26, Exodus 13:19.
I have read that it is typical in old Hebrew writing to lump comments together as Stephen did because the details of who was buried where was common knowledge at that time so a more detailed explanation was not needed.
2. Regarding chapter 7 verse 43 which is written, "No, you carried your pagan gods- the shrine of Molech, the star of Rephan and the images you made to worship them. So I will send you into exile as far away as Babylon."
We have read this verse many times but may not realize the gruesome detail of what was actually happening. Molech is spelled many ways is a word meaning "king" and is the name of an Ammonite god. The worship of both Molech and Rephan was something the Israelites learned while in captivity in Egypt.
Who were the Ammonites? (from gotquestions.org) Throughout the early history of Israel, we find references to the Ammonite people. Who were they, where did they come from, and what happened to them? The Ammonites were a Semitic people, closely related to the Israelites. Despite that relationship, they were more often counted enemies than friends.
Lot, Abraham's nephew, was the progenitor of the Ammonites. After Abraham and Lot separated (Genesis 13), Lot settled in the city of Sodom. When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness, Lot and his daughters fled to the hill country on the southern end of the Dead Sea. Probably thinking they were the only people left on the earth, Lot’s daughters got him drunk and had incestuous relations with him to produce children (Genesis 19:37-38). The older daughter had a son named Moab (“from father”), and the younger gave birth to Ben-Ammi (“son of my people”). The Ammonites, descendants of Ben-Ammi, were a nomadic people who lived in the territory of modern-day Jordan, and the name of the capital city, Amman, reflects the name of those ancient inhabitants.
It is said that they turned their back on God to worship this false god. Worship of Molech was done by the Canaanites, Phoenicians, and related peoples in North Africa.
While in the wilderness, they also worshipped Rephan. Rephan is an idol which referred to a star that is actually Saturn. The Israelites brought the star of Rephan with them when they left Egypt. The star of Rephan is the 6 pointed star we see today. It is said the star represents two pyramids interlaced. Additionally, when they built the golden calf in the wilderness it was also an idol that they and the Egyptians worshipped in Egypt.
Worship of these gods included sexual acts, sexual perversions, and even sacrificing of children.