Acts 7:44-53

"Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen. "And having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David. "And David found favor in God's sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. "But it was Solomon who built a house for Him. "However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says: `HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND EARTH IS THE FOOTSTOOL OF MY FEET; WHAT KIND OF HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD FOR ME?' says the Lord; `OR WHAT PLACE IS THERE FOR MY REPOSE? `WAS IT NOT MY HAND WHICH MADE ALL THESE THINGS?'

 

"You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. "Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it."

 

Stephen had already described Moses as the God-ordained deliverer of Israel who pointed to another prophet like himself – and whom the Israelites had repeatedly rejected throughout his ministry.

 

Now Stephen described the tabernacle and temple as something the Israelites had been given by God, directed to build according to His pattern. And he noted how God’s favored one, David, had wanted to build a house for God. But he also noted that even Solomon, the one who built the house, understood that the temple could not possibly be God’s actual dwelling place. God was way too glorious for the temple to serve as His true house, and glorifying the temple as God’s house actually made God seem less glorious than He truly was.

 

So Stephen has set forth his teachings on Moses and the law, and also on the temple. His teachings are in line with the truths set forth in the Old Testament. With his teachings justified, he turns now to his attackers. He points out their resistance to the Holy Spirit – a resistance that is clear because they are offended by what Stephen teaches about Moses and the temple even though Stephen is simply passing on the Holy Spirit’s teachings. They are persecuting one of God’s messengers. And they have killed the Christ Himself. They have rightly received the law, but they have not rightly kept it. All of this proves that they are actually opposed to the God they claim to serve – and Stephen points it out!

 

Father, please make me this bold – as bold as Stephen. Help me also to be discerning – not to take every challenge of my teachings as a challenge against God and too quickly declare God’s judgment against people who are actually my heavenly brothers and sisters. But when need be, help me to understand that those who resist God’s teachings – especially with false accusations and trials – have put themselves in the line of those who persecuted the prophets. Help me to understand their great need for salvation, and to try to give them the most accurate diagnosis I can of their relationship with God – hoping that they will repent and seek God’s forgiveness.