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Acts 7:1-16
“The
God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham”. Stephen’s devotion to God was unsurpassed by any of his accusers. To him, He is the God of glory, the glorious God, who is full of majesty, splendour and magnificence. He used the title, “the God of glory” which appears in only one other place in the Old Testament to show his indisputable reverence for God, “the most High” (Acts 7:48). The charge of blasphemy against him was baseless; he regarded the most High God as worthy of honour, adoration, majesty, exaltation, praise, worship, obedience and submission. The Jews also referred to Abraham as their father and took much pride in being the children of “our father Abraham”. So Stephen affirmed that he was not a stranger to “our father Abraham” (Acts 7:2), neither was he a foreigner in Israel (Acts 7:19). And he was not ignorant of the history of God’s chosen people. He caught everyone’s attention as he began his defence from God’s call to Abraham. His intention was not just to narrate history. He was leading them to contrast their disobedience with Abraham’s obedience, their unbelief with Abraham’s faith, their self-centredness with Abraham’s sacrifice, their superficiality with Abraham’s spirituality, their rigid temple worship with Abraham’s moveable altar of worship, their religion of hatred, violence and murder with Abraham’s religion of love towards Lot and others, their attachment to the law with Abraham’s attachment to the Lord (John 8:37-44,56-58; Matthew 3:9,10). God called Abraham and he responded immediately. Though the Jews claimed to be Abraham’s seed, they did not respond to God as he did. The Word of God reveals Abraham as believing (Genesis 15:6), obedient (Genesis 22:18; 26:5), walking with God (Genesis 24:40; 17:1), faithful (Nehemiah 9:7,8), friend with God (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8), circumcised in heart and ears (Romans 2:28,29; Acts 7:51), affirming the saving power of Scripture (Luke 16:29-31), rejoicing to see the day of Christ (John 8:56), being justified and righteous (Romans 4:1-3; Galatians 3:6-9) believing in the resurrection of the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19); they did not.
God
promised that He would give Abraham an inheritance of land for possession, “when as yet he had no child”. He believed God for the earthly possession, yet his “affection was set on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1,2). “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country,… for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:9,10). “And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city” (Hebrews 11:15,16). Recalling the history of Abraham, “our father” should have drawn his hearers to a thoughtful consideration of their standing with God. Hearing Stephen and reading the records concerning Abraham, “the father of us all” (Romans 4:16) should lead us to a re-examination of our faith in God and our faithfulness to God. The land in which Abraham dwelt was his temporary residence. Even his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs, a land of bondage for 400 years, before moving into the Promised Land. Abraham and …believers among his descendants “having seen (the promises) afar off, were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13). May the Lord bless you as you listen to the Bible Study this week. May He increase our faith to inherit the blessings promised to the seeds of Abraham in Jesus’ name! I am of the Seed of Abraham! Are you? Have a blessed day! -Charity
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