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| Source 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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