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Tag: stephen

  • God will raise up for you a prophet

    God will raise up for you a prophet

    I HAVE COME DOWN TO RESCUE THEM

    Stephen: ‘God will raise up a Prophet like Moses’

    As he stares intently into the souls of those leaders of Jerusalem who have brought him to trial for preaching about Jesus Christ, Stephen continues to compare Jesus to Israel’s ancient fathers. He also compares these judges he faces to defiant Hebrews who rejected Moses for forty years. But what point does Stephen make about Christ when he quotes from Scripture concerning Moses saying, ‘God will raise up a Prophet from your countrymen?‘

    ACTS Stephanos

    “This Moses whom they disowned..

    • is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer
    • led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt
      • and in the Red Sea,
      • and in the wilderness for forty years.

    “This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel,

    ‘GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR COUNTRYMEN.’

    ACTS of the Apostles 7:37 NASB20 – Defense of Stephen to the Sanhedrin

    ACTS 7: of the disciple of the Apostles, Stephen

    38 Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us.

    To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us:

    Acts 7:39-40a KJV – Stephen compares Israel’s leaders to those who turned from Moses to Aaron, asking Aaron to lead them back to Egypt and their gods
    satellite view of mouth Sinai to the Jordan


    “You are to be blameless before the LORD your God.

    “For these nations, which you are going to dispossess, listen to soothsayers and diviners, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so.

    Deuteronomy 18:14 [& 13 above]

    A Word from the Source:

    Deuteronomy 18:

    congregation of the Hebrews at Mount Horeb

    “Adonai will raise up for you a prophet like me..

    ..pay attention to him, just as when you were assembled at Horev and requested Adonai your God,

    ‘Don’t let me hear the voice of Adonai my God any more, or let me see this great fire ever again; if I do, I will die!’

    Deuteronomy 18:15-16 excerpt
    Complete Jewish Bible

    אֲדֹנָי

    ăḏōnāy (H136)– an  emphatic form of אָדוֹן (H113)

    The following Scripture verses precede Stephen’s defense he quotes from Deuteronomy to leaders of the Jewish High Council of the Sanhedrin:

    Powerful Pleas of the Prophet Moses

    • ‘Lord H136 GOD, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours? – Deuteronomy 3:24
      • – Mōšê, at the time when the Lord God would allow him to see the Jordan, but would not allow Moses to cross over because of his disobedience.
    • “And I prayed to the LORD and said, ‘Lord H136 GOD, do not destroy Your people, Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand! – Deuteronomy 9:26
    • “For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord H136 of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who does not show partiality, nor take a bribe. – Deuteronomy 10:17 *[quotes from NASB20]

    Open your eyes to the full context of the scripture above from which Stephen preaches.

    Powerful pleas from Deuteronomy by Stephen

    • Why does Stephen use this Book of Moses for his defense?

    “Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.

    Deuteronomy 10:14

    Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

    for all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land— and for all the mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

    Deuteronomy 34:10-12

    • And the Lord God, who belongs to heaven and the highest heavens is the only One who can send down another Prophet like Moses to earth, a son of man,
    • The Apostles and many more disciples of Jesus had witnessed the Lord Christ Jesus taken up into heaven just a few weeks prior to that first Pentecost when Peter had preached in Solomon’s Colonnade.
      • God the Father ‘will raise up another Prophet like Moses: One Redeemer Son of God greater than Moses, as One Perfect Sacrifice for sin for those who believe — Stephen stands accused before these same men who sent the Lord Jesus – the Righteous One — to hang on a Roman Cross.
      • Moses had assured that the Father of all creation and created would ‘raise up’ such a prophet and teacher — and these disciples of the Apostles of the Messiah Jesus are His witnesses.
    portico of Solomon in Herod's temple

    Stephen has now preached Christ crucified and risen to Jerusalem for two years, prior to his trial.

    Tabernacles and Temples

    Acts 7: Stephen continues..

    golden calf in wilderness

    41 At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.

    42 Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods!

    Remember: Stephen is preaching this to Jewish leaders who idolize Herod's Temple, Israelites who have been dealing with this 'Jesus challenge' for five years now, even as the church grows dramatically even as Rome becomes increasingly impatient with their State of Judah.

    Stephen now quotes Judah’s Prophet, Amos of Tekoa, a small village just 10 miles from Jerusalem eight centuries earlier.

    “Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings
In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
You also carried Sikkuth [*] your king [*]
And Chiun, [*] your idols,
The star of your gods,
Which you made for yourselves.
Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,”
Says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.

Amos 5:25-27 NKJV - [* pagan idols including Moloch]

    In the book of the prophets it is written,

    ‘People of Isra’el, it was not to me
    that you offered slaughtered animals
    and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness!

    No, you carried the tent of Molekh
    and the star of your god Reifan [Ῥαιφάν],
    the idols you made so that you could worship them.
    Therefore, I will send you into exile beyond Bavel [Babylon].

    Acts 7:42b-43, Complete Jewish Bible
    • What is Stephen’s point in quoting Amos to the Sanhedrin?
      • (Amos 5:1 introduces Stephen’s lament to his Jewish judges:)

    Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:

    Moloch, god of Canaan

    5:24  וְיִגַּל כַּמַּיִם מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה כְּנַחַל אֵיתָֽן׃

    “But let justice roll down like waters
    And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

    Amos 5:24

    The trial and defense of Stephen before Jerusalem’s leaders of the Sanhedrin —–

    To be continued…

  • Stephen: Brothers, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

    Stephen: Brothers, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

    Solomon's portico with view of the Temple and crowds

    Simon Peter had already preached in the Temple what Stephen would say once again about Moses.

    “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers also did…

    “Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR COUNTRYMEN; TO HIM YOU SHALL LISTEN regarding everything He says to you.

    ACTS of the Apostles 3:17,22 NASB20 – The Apostle Simon Peter, addressing the Jews in the Temple.

    Stephen’s defense so far:

    Stephen also addressed his accusers respectfully as ‘brothers and fathers.’ (For these are rulers and judges of Jewish Law to the extent Roman rulers and governors will allow.)

    “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham,” Stephen had begun.

    “And He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham fathered Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob, the twelve patriarchs.

    ACTS 7:8

    He then pointed to Israel’s founding fathers as poor judges of God’s will when it came to their own brother Joseph.

    “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him,

    ACTS 7:9

    Stephen then chronicles the years when the Lord used Joseph in Egypt, with his brothers bringing Jacob to Egypt during a time of famine. So through Joseph, Israel (Jacob) and his other sons shared in the blessings enjoyed by Joseph, who had become a ruler and leader of the land for Pharaoh.

    Then Steven reminds us that their fathers were enslaved in Egypt after Joseph was forgotten.

    It had been about four hundred years, not unlike the previous four centuries Before Christ, when the word of God had not been heard in Israel until John the Baptist.

    Israel is enslaved in Egypt; Judah is captive in their own promised land by Rome.

    At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight.

    Acts of the Apostles 7:20 CSB – from Stephen’s defense before the High Priest
    Moses holding up ten Commandments

    ACTS of Stephen continued

    Moses, Ruler of God’s Law

    22 So Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.

    “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his relatives, the Israelites.

    And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended and took vengeance for the oppressed man by fatally striking the Egyptian.

    Stephen then presents the rulers of Jerusalem with the same dilemma as Moses faced:

    You MUST choose sides.

    • Where will the LORD lead you, as His ruler of a land which is not under God our Father?
    • God leads Moses away from his ‘chosen’ people for a time.

    Did YOU force the LORD’S Anointed One to flee from YOU?

    • Do YOU obey the LORD and will you faithfully remember your covenant of circumcision of promised redemption?

    A Ruler must also choose

    25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.

    Of course, the Apostles had already taught that Jerusalem’s leaders had not recognized that Jesus had come to redeem Israel from their sins, not to become their ruler and King who could expel Rome from its gates.

    Stephen continues from Scripture they all knew well:

    .. he tried to reconcile them to peace, by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers, why are you injuring each other?’

    27 But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying,

    Who made you a ruler and judge over us?

    ACTS 7:27B – Stephen quoting Exodus 2 account of Moses fleeing Egypt

    Shmot (Exodus) 2

    2:13 וַיֵּצֵא בַּיּוֹם הַשֵּׁנִי וְהִנֵּה שְׁנֵֽי־אֲנָשִׁים עִבְרִים נִצִּים וַיֹּאמֶר לָֽרָשָׁע לָמָּה תַכֶּה רֵעֶֽךָ׃

    2:14 וַיֹּאמֶר מִי שָֽׂמְךָ לְאִישׁ שַׂר וְשֹׁפֵט עָלֵינוּ הַלְהָרְגֵנִי אַתָּה אֹמֵר כַּאֲשֶׁר הָרַגְתָּ אֶת־הַמִּצְרִי וַיִּירָא מֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמַר אָכֵן נוֹדַע הַדָּבָֽר׃

    2:15 וַיִּשְׁמַע פַּרְעֹה אֶת־הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה וַיְבַקֵּשׁ לַהֲרֹג אֶת־מֹשֶׁה וַיִּבְרַח מֹשֶׁה מִפְּנֵי פַרְעֹה וַיֵּשֶׁב בְּאֶֽרֶץ־מִדְיָן וַיֵּשֶׁב עַֽל־הַבְּאֵֽר׃

    But he said, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known!” When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian…

    Exodus 2:14-15a – Challenge of Hebrew slaves to Moses when he fled to Midian for forty years

    After forty years

    .. an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush.. the voice of the Lord called out to him,

    I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.’

    ACTS 7:32A NASB- Stephen quoting Exodus 3:
    Stephen continues to quote Scripture from Shmot (Exodus) 3 ::

He likely quotes it Hebrew, even as all had memorized the Scripture, though Stephen would have conversed with the ruler of the Hebrews in the common Greek of the Roman Empire.

    Stephen Compares these Hebrew leaders to those from whom Moses fled for forty years

    Then after forty years in Midian, MOSES STEPS UPON HOLY GROUND OF THE LORD!

    Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.

    ACTS 7:32B CSB
    STEPHEN continues in the familiar Hebrew Scripture, quoting THE LORD GOD:

    .. 34 I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them; and now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

    And looking intently at one leader, the High Priest; and then a leader of the Sadducees and several leading Pharisees;

    Stephen’s shining light upon Scripture pierces some in the room who recognize the rejection of Moses by the Hebrews for forty years.

    Perhaps some recall how they too had rejected Jesus for three years as our Lord preached and healed in their Temple and many synagogues throughout Judea, Galilee and in many towns.

    “This Moses whom they disowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.

    ACTS 7:33 – Stephen’s indictment of Jerusalem’s leaders

    36 This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

    Every leader in the room recalls signs and wonders recently performed in Jerusalem, yes even at the Temple by the Apostles. They could not restrain these disciples of Jesus from preaching the Gospel, even as Peter and John had mysteriously walked out of Herod’s prison. 

    To be continued...

  • Stephen: Indictment of our Founding Fathers

    Stephen: Indictment of our Founding Fathers

    All who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face like it was the face of an angel.

    ACTS 6:15 :: Hebrew Names Version (HNV)

    Another Trial before Judah’s Ruling Fathers

    7 Now the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

    ἀρχιερεύς – archiereus 

    Let’s be clear who Jerusalem’s fathers, in charge of these trials, are:

    • A new trial now of Stephen
    • Two previous hearings or trials of Peter and John
    • And most controversial of all, their trial and crucifixion of Jesus, of whom these Jews now preach as risen from death!
    depiction of Jesus in a crowded room on trial by Caiaphas

    And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to put Him to death

    Gospel of Luke 19:40 NASB20 – Describing Jesus’ opposition by the chief priests.

    After Jesus, they next tried to discredit Peter and John

    Arrested AND Released
    Yet an angel had released Peter and John from the prison of the High Priest

    And now, Stephen

    Stephen, not one of the Twelve Disciples of Jesus, but a newly appointed disciple of the Disciples. A leading man among seven, overseeing multitudes of these ‘Christ’ followers in Jerusalem’s growing congregations – an overt challenge to the authority of its religious-political leaders responsible for their Roman ‘peace.’

    How will Stephen defend Christ before Jerusalem’s political fathers?

    Not betrayed, but like the Apostles falsely accused.

    Acts of the Apostles 7: (and here, ACTS of Stephen)

    Stephanos will reply to the Hebrew High Priest of the Sanhedrin in the common Hellenized Greek of Roman-occupied Jerusalem:

    7:2 ὁ δὲ ἔφη ἄνδρες ἀδελφοὶ καὶ πατέρες ἀκούσατε ὁ θεὸς τῆς δόξης ὤφθη τῷ πατρὶ ἡμῶν Ἀβραὰμ ὄντι ἐν τῇ Μεσοποταμίᾳ πρὶν ἢ κατοικῆσαι αὐτὸν ἐν Χαρράν

    “Hear me, brethren and fathers!

    Stephen now begins his defense with their common history, recorded in Scripture and supposedly taught by Jerusalem’s fathers, shepherds of Judah, in their synagogues. He includes himself as their Jewish brothers, born to a line of their own patriarchs.

    Abraham

    The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and He said to him,

    Leave your country and relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.

    4 Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.

    Here's Stephen's first point about the Patriarchs (ruling fathers):

    “But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land.

    ACTS 7:5a NLT – Stephen’s defense to the fathers of Jerusalem trying him for following the Messiah Jesus

    6 But God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs, and they would enslave and mistreat them for four hundred years…

    We know that Stephen is leading up to Moses leading them from Egypt (in ancient times).

    .. and so Abraham fathered Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob, the twelve patriarchs.

    ACTS 7:8b NASB
    Nothing too controversial in Steven's opening argument to these contemporary patriarchs of the Sanhedrin, right?

    Ἰωσήφ – Joseph – יוֹסֵף

    “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him..

    11 “Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers could find no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. And on the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers..

    Joseph's brothers, patriarchs of Israel DID NOT RECOGNIZR their rejected brother, whom these eleven fathers had  thought would be brought down by slavery.

    14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all.

    15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought..

    Joseph saves Israel (Jacob) and its Patriarchs (his brothers, who finally had bowed down to Joseph)
    Jerusalem's fathers (who sit in judgment of Stephen) continue to listen intently to the disciple of Jesus' Disciples they indicted for speaking against the Law. 
The innocence of an angel shines from his face as God-breathed words flow forth from his tongue.

    Stephen reveals God’s Promise through Abraham

    “But as the time of the promise which God had assured to Abraham was approaching, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt..

    Acts 7:17 NASB – Stephen’s history of the Patriarchs of Israel
    FOUR HUNDRED YEARS WILL ELAPSE (as we know) between this first part of Stephen's story about the blessings of the patriarchs and the second part of his history of slavery in Egypt.

    .. until another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.

    To be continued...
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