Acts of the Apostles (17)
Introduction
We have already looked at the overall theme of Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin, which is that God’s presence is not locked in a box somewhere. He is not a freeze-dried god, and not contained or bounded by anything that we might say, do, or think. Wherever God is, that place is holy. Whenever God is in fellowship with someone, that person is holy, that person is a saint. The filthiest dungeon could be holy ground, and a saint chained to the wall of that dungeon could be someone of whom the world was not worthy (Heb. 11: 38).
The Text
“And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran [Haran] . . .” (Acts 7:2).
Summary of the Text
Stephen begins by saying that God appeared to Abraham before he dwelt in Haran, while Genesis says that it was Terah, Abraham’s father, who left Ur for Haran (Gen. 11:31). But we shouldn’t be quick in assuming mistakes (Neh. 9:7-8).
Now Stephen is a man of genuine faith, and so he understands the nature of true glory. He begins his speech by referring to God as the God of glory. But worldings don’t really understand the nature of glory. Stephen is using a true Temple measure, which means that he responds to the presence and blessing of God, wherever or however that presence and blessing manifests.
Worldlings select an arbitrary indicator, and then evaluate everything by that. They get stuck. For some it is posh velvet clothing in marble palaces, and for others is a vow of poverty and self-degradation—one or the other. But look at the men that Stephen cites. Look at Moses—a prince of Egypt and a shepherd of Midian. Or look at Abraham—a nomadic chieftain and father of nations. Or then there is Joseph—degraded slave and prisoner and before becoming second only to Pharaoh. We see the same understanding in faith’s great hall of fame in Hebrews 11. Some faithful servants subdued kingdoms and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance (Heb. 11: 32-40). Men of faith have preached in great cathedrals and have been on the run, preaching in mountain meadows, and sometimes it has been the same men. And we see the same thing with the Lord Jesus. How was He glorified? He was glorified on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:2), and He was glorified on the cross, when He drew all men to Himself (John 12: 23-24). Glory does not have just one manifestation.
400 Years?
Our point here is not to veer into a math class, but rather to illustrate our understanding of the infallible nature of the Scriptures. God’s Word contains absolutely no errors. That said, Stephen says this: “And God spake on this wise, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years” (Acts 7:6). He does this on the strength of Gen. 15:13, which says that Israel will serve in a strange land and will also be “afflicted” for 400 years. But then we are also told that the time was 430 years—Ex 12:40-41 (“sojourning”) and Gal. 3:16-17 (the law came 430 years after the promise). So which is it? A simple solution might be to say that the 400-year passages are just an example of a biblical rounding down. This is possible, but I think too simple.
A better solution would be to say that it is a simple difference of start dates. A better solution is to start the “affliction” of Israel with Ishmael’s taunting of Isaac, which occurred 430 years before the Exodus. But Ex. 12:40 appears to say that Israel “lived in Egypt” for 430 years. But Israel includes the father of Israel, Abraham, who also sojourned in Egypt . . . 430 years before the Exodus. A few fun facts, if you want to chase them: Isaac was still alive when Joseph was sold into Egypt. Moses was born just over 60 years after Joseph died. We know the Exodus was in 1446 B.C. (1 Kings 6:1), which makes Amenhotep II the Pharaoh of the Exodus.
The Land of Midian
Constantine’s mother, Helena, was the one who settled on a site in the Sinai Peninsula as being the biblical Sinai. But this actually cannot be right. Mount Sinai and Mount Horeb are two different names for the same mountain, and Paul clearly states that this mountain was in Arabia (Gal. 4:25). The Sinai Peninsula was actually part of Egypt, and you don’t flee from Egypt . . . to Egypt. “Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.” (Acts 7:29). Mt. Sinai is there in Midian (v. 30). Moses saw the burning bush there in Midian, on holy ground, and it was the place to which he brought the Israelites later. Elijah fled there, and it is quite possibly where Saul of Tarsus went after his conversion (Gal. 1:17). This makes the Sea of Akaba the place of the Red Sea crossing.
The Hebrew Midwives
Stephen simply assumes the wickedness of Pharaoh. “The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live” (Acts 7:19). He also tells the story of Amram and Jochebed, Moses’ parents. As it happened Jochebed was also Amram’s aunt. Concerning this same time, Moses tells us the story of the Hebrew midwives, who disobeyed Pharaoh’s unrighteous decree, and who moreover lied to him about it. What did God do with them? He rewarded them handsomely (Ex. 1:15-21). So if the Gestapo are after the Jews in your attic, it is your Christian responsibility to lie through your teeth about it.
A Remembered Covenant
Notice that God remembers His people. In Stephen’s version, it is the “affliction of my people.” “I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt” (Acts 7:34). But this involves more than God simply seeing a people who are suffering. No, God is a covenant-keeping God. “And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob” (Exodus 2:24). So the Mosiac covenant is clearly an administration of the covenant of grace, and this includes the giving of the law at Sinai.
Theophanies
In the Old Testament, appearances of the Lord, called theophanies, are frequently described in terms of the angel of the Lord. It is no different here.
“And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush” (Acts 7:30), but then the angel said, “I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold” (Acts 7:32). “This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us” (Acts 7:38). “Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it” (Acts 7:53). And Paul connects the giving of the law to angels as well (Gal. 3:19).
The Ultimate Theophany
To close this discussion, we are going to need to look ahead just a few verses. When Stephen was on the point of being stoned, he looked into Heaven, and he saw two things. First, he saw the glory of God. Remember that this is how he began his speech (“the God of glory appeared”) and remember what we said about glory earlier. The God of glory appeared to Abraham, and the God of glory appeared also to Stephen. Not only did the curators of the Mosaic legacy kill another Moses, so also did the curators of the Abrahamic legacy kill another Abraham. It is the way of the world.
And Stephen also saw the Lord Jesus, standing at the right hand of the Father (Acts 7:55)—Christ being the ultimate and final theophany of Scripture. This is why we look to Him, and to Him alone.