A STUDY GUIDE ACTS 7:1-19
1. A Study Guide
a) A study guide of Acts of the Apostles. It is intended to be expository — to explain and bring out the meaning of the original text. You may use this for your personal bible study or even group bible study.
2. Acts 7:1-19
a) The verses describe Stephen’s narrative of Israel’s history from Abraham to Moses.
#1) Acts 7:1-4
7 The high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And he said, “Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.
i) Are these things so? Stephen, one of the seven men appointed as deacons, has been arrested. He stands accused before the Sanhedrin. False witnesses say he has blasphemed against God and Moses, and preached that Jesus the Nazarene would destroy the temple and change the laws and customs that Moses taught (Acts 6:8-14).
ii) Our father Abraham. About 2000 years before Christ, God called Abram out of Ur where he lived in the land of the Chaldeans near the Persian Gulf. Abram moved and settled in Haran, at the other end of the Euphrates river. However, God led him down to Canaan, east of the Mediterranean Sea where the river Jordan flows.
iii) This land where you now dwell. God promised that Abram’s descendants would possess that land. Stephen begins his speech with the story of Abraham because it is common ground upon which to build his case that whilst God always keeps his promises, those who have the promises don't always believe and obey God as Abraham did.
#2) Acts 7:5-7
5 But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, even when he had no child, He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6 But God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be aliens in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 7 ‘And whatever nation to which they will be in bondage I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve Me in this place.’
i) And after that... The promises of God are not always about what will happen today or tomorrow. They take a distant view. Abraham, at the time God made the promises, did not even have a child. His wife Sarah was “barren”. Nevertheless God is faithful. Abraham did have descendants. Although they dwelt for generations in Egypt as slaves, they did come to possess the promised land. And here were the Sanhedrin, the descendants of Abraham, in that very land where Abraham sojourned at God’s command. Yes, God is faithful.
#3) Acts 7:8
8 And He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
i) God gave Abraham the covenant. The covenant of circumcision was given to Abraham long before the covenant of Mount Sinai was given through Moses. Stephen mentions this to show that Abraham was under a covenant from God and was faithful to it.
ii) Circumcision. It is the removal of the foreskin from the penis. This is normally done when the baby is eight days old. Female circumcision was never required or approved by God.
iii) The twelve fathers. Jacob, also named Israel, was Abraham’s grandson through Isaac. Jacob fathered twelve sons who became the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. The twelve sons and their mothers are listed in Genesis 35:23-26. Note that the names of the tribal territories apportioned in the promised land do not match exactly with the twelve sons of Jacob. That's because the sons of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) gained separate territories, whilst the Levites had no single territory as such, but were allotted various towns.
#4) Acts 7:9-13
9 “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household.
11 “Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers could find no food. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh.
i) Moved by jealousy. The fathers, meaning Joseph’s brothers, were not only moved against Joseph but against God. Their treachery, born of jealousy, is the first hint that Stephen gives of the main point he makes: God is faithful to his promises, but the very heirs to them often rebel against his cause. This isn't because God has left them disposed toward evil or denied them the ability to be faithful like Abraham. Therefore they are deserving of condemnation.
ii) God saved Joseph. The adventures of Joseph in Egypt demonstrate the truths that God is faithful and that people can be faithful to him. God looked after Joseph through many tribulations, and Joseph chose to bear his afflictions and be faithful and righteous. Joseph’s story is told in Genesis 37-50
iii) Grain in Egypt. There was grain in Egypt because God, in his good providence, blessed Joseph who was faithful to him. On the other hand there was no grain in the promised land where Joseph’s unfaithful brothers were (Genesis 42:3-7). Such irony! They had to go down to Egypt, the land of their ancestors’ enslavement, to buy grain. Canaan, the land that their descendants have been promised, is barren of providence because of their unfaithfulness.
#5) Acts 7:14-16
14 Then Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all. 15 And Jacob went down to Egypt and there he and our fathers died. 16 From there they were removed to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
i) Joseph’s great heart. How easy it would have been for Joseph to take revenge on his brothers. Instead he forgives all, and invites them to dwell in the land of Egypt with him. Joseph is a figure of Christ who is willing to forgive all who rebel against him and to grant them a place with him where he reigns.
ii) Seventy-five persons. Moses gives a figure of seventy. Fortunately Moses clarifies exactly whom he is counting: sixty-six children and grandchildren of Jacob; Jacob himself; Joseph already in Egypt; and Joseph’s two sons. Moses also mentions that he excludes from his count any wives of Jacob’s sons (Genesis 46:26-27). Stephen, on the other hand, counts “Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five souls” whom Joseph invited to live in Egypt. We would therefore expect it to be a different number, or the same by coincidence only. It would include the wives whom Moses excludes, and exclude Joseph and his two sons whom Moses includes.
iii) Tomb in Shechem. Abraham, in an act of faith, had purchased a burial site in Canaan. Abraham was then a stranger in that land, but he knew it was the promised land. He believed God’s promise that his numerous descendants would one day possess the land of Canaan. Abraham ensured that they would find their ancestors already buried there. This burial site was in Hebron, and purchased from the sons of Heth (Genesis 23).
iv) Stephen, however, speaks of another tomb that Abraham had purchased in Shechem from the sons of Hamor. We read that Jacob purchased a piece of land at Shechem from the sons of Hamor (Genesis 33:18-20). It is assumed that Stephen made a mistake or an early copyist made an error, putting “Abraham” instead of “Jacob”. Why not assume instead that Abraham had purchased a burial place in Shechem just as he had done in Hebron, and that Jacob many years later pitched his tent at the site in Shechem, and while there purchased another piece of land from the same family?
#6) Acts 7:17-19
17 “But as the time of the promise was approaching which God had assured to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, 18 until there arose another king over Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. 19 It was he who took shrewd advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers so that they would expose their infants and they would not survive.
i) Generations later. Stephen has spoken of faithful Abraham and faithful Joseph. Now he moves on to speak of faithful Moses. These verses mark a transition in time and fortune, but not in the principles Stephen wishes to press upon the Sanhedrin.
a) A study guide of Acts of the Apostles. It is intended to be expository — to explain and bring out the meaning of the original text. You may use this for your personal bible study or even group bible study.
2. Acts 7:1-19
a) The verses describe Stephen’s narrative of Israel’s history from Abraham to Moses.
#1) Acts 7:1-4
7 The high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And he said, “Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.
i) Are these things so? Stephen, one of the seven men appointed as deacons, has been arrested. He stands accused before the Sanhedrin. False witnesses say he has blasphemed against God and Moses, and preached that Jesus the Nazarene would destroy the temple and change the laws and customs that Moses taught (Acts 6:8-14).
ii) Our father Abraham. About 2000 years before Christ, God called Abram out of Ur where he lived in the land of the Chaldeans near the Persian Gulf. Abram moved and settled in Haran, at the other end of the Euphrates river. However, God led him down to Canaan, east of the Mediterranean Sea where the river Jordan flows.
iii) This land where you now dwell. God promised that Abram’s descendants would possess that land. Stephen begins his speech with the story of Abraham because it is common ground upon which to build his case that whilst God always keeps his promises, those who have the promises don't always believe and obey God as Abraham did.
#2) Acts 7:5-7
5 But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, even when he had no child, He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6 But God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be aliens in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 7 ‘And whatever nation to which they will be in bondage I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve Me in this place.’
i) And after that... The promises of God are not always about what will happen today or tomorrow. They take a distant view. Abraham, at the time God made the promises, did not even have a child. His wife Sarah was “barren”. Nevertheless God is faithful. Abraham did have descendants. Although they dwelt for generations in Egypt as slaves, they did come to possess the promised land. And here were the Sanhedrin, the descendants of Abraham, in that very land where Abraham sojourned at God’s command. Yes, God is faithful.
#3) Acts 7:8
8 And He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
i) God gave Abraham the covenant. The covenant of circumcision was given to Abraham long before the covenant of Mount Sinai was given through Moses. Stephen mentions this to show that Abraham was under a covenant from God and was faithful to it.
ii) Circumcision. It is the removal of the foreskin from the penis. This is normally done when the baby is eight days old. Female circumcision was never required or approved by God.
iii) The twelve fathers. Jacob, also named Israel, was Abraham’s grandson through Isaac. Jacob fathered twelve sons who became the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. The twelve sons and their mothers are listed in Genesis 35:23-26. Note that the names of the tribal territories apportioned in the promised land do not match exactly with the twelve sons of Jacob. That's because the sons of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) gained separate territories, whilst the Levites had no single territory as such, but were allotted various towns.
#4) Acts 7:9-13
9 “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household.
11 “Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers could find no food. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh.
i) Moved by jealousy. The fathers, meaning Joseph’s brothers, were not only moved against Joseph but against God. Their treachery, born of jealousy, is the first hint that Stephen gives of the main point he makes: God is faithful to his promises, but the very heirs to them often rebel against his cause. This isn't because God has left them disposed toward evil or denied them the ability to be faithful like Abraham. Therefore they are deserving of condemnation.
ii) God saved Joseph. The adventures of Joseph in Egypt demonstrate the truths that God is faithful and that people can be faithful to him. God looked after Joseph through many tribulations, and Joseph chose to bear his afflictions and be faithful and righteous. Joseph’s story is told in Genesis 37-50
iii) Grain in Egypt. There was grain in Egypt because God, in his good providence, blessed Joseph who was faithful to him. On the other hand there was no grain in the promised land where Joseph’s unfaithful brothers were (Genesis 42:3-7). Such irony! They had to go down to Egypt, the land of their ancestors’ enslavement, to buy grain. Canaan, the land that their descendants have been promised, is barren of providence because of their unfaithfulness.
#5) Acts 7:14-16
14 Then Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all. 15 And Jacob went down to Egypt and there he and our fathers died. 16 From there they were removed to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
i) Joseph’s great heart. How easy it would have been for Joseph to take revenge on his brothers. Instead he forgives all, and invites them to dwell in the land of Egypt with him. Joseph is a figure of Christ who is willing to forgive all who rebel against him and to grant them a place with him where he reigns.
ii) Seventy-five persons. Moses gives a figure of seventy. Fortunately Moses clarifies exactly whom he is counting: sixty-six children and grandchildren of Jacob; Jacob himself; Joseph already in Egypt; and Joseph’s two sons. Moses also mentions that he excludes from his count any wives of Jacob’s sons (Genesis 46:26-27). Stephen, on the other hand, counts “Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five souls” whom Joseph invited to live in Egypt. We would therefore expect it to be a different number, or the same by coincidence only. It would include the wives whom Moses excludes, and exclude Joseph and his two sons whom Moses includes.
iii) Tomb in Shechem. Abraham, in an act of faith, had purchased a burial site in Canaan. Abraham was then a stranger in that land, but he knew it was the promised land. He believed God’s promise that his numerous descendants would one day possess the land of Canaan. Abraham ensured that they would find their ancestors already buried there. This burial site was in Hebron, and purchased from the sons of Heth (Genesis 23).
iv) Stephen, however, speaks of another tomb that Abraham had purchased in Shechem from the sons of Hamor. We read that Jacob purchased a piece of land at Shechem from the sons of Hamor (Genesis 33:18-20). It is assumed that Stephen made a mistake or an early copyist made an error, putting “Abraham” instead of “Jacob”. Why not assume instead that Abraham had purchased a burial place in Shechem just as he had done in Hebron, and that Jacob many years later pitched his tent at the site in Shechem, and while there purchased another piece of land from the same family?
#6) Acts 7:17-19
17 “But as the time of the promise was approaching which God had assured to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, 18 until there arose another king over Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. 19 It was he who took shrewd advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers so that they would expose their infants and they would not survive.
i) Generations later. Stephen has spoken of faithful Abraham and faithful Joseph. Now he moves on to speak of faithful Moses. These verses mark a transition in time and fortune, but not in the principles Stephen wishes to press upon the Sanhedrin.
Comments
Post a Comment