Stevens Defense of the Faith
Notes
Transcript
Stevens purpose is not to recite the history of the Jews but to establish that he is not guilty of blaspheming God, Moses, the Law, or the temple.
His accusers were however because they rejected the Messiah.
God (vv 1-16)
God (vv 1-16)
The first thing that Steven addresses is the most serious crime first.
The accusation of blasphemy.
This is a very serious charge in Israel because it is punishable by death. (this was the charge that Jesus was executed for)
Steven establishes that he believes fully in the God of Israel.
Also that the Old Covenant is not casted aside but it is fulfilled in Christianity.
Also that it was all part of Gods will.
Stevens purpose for starting out this way was to show that Christ and the Christian faith which he preached were the perfect fulfillment of the OT.
He starts out His speech by addressing the council as brothers, and fathers.
He is identifying himself as one of them and also showing respect for the elders on the council as well.
The first person that Steven names is “The God of Glory”
He is the one orchestrating all redemptive history.
This title only appears here and in Ps 29:3
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
It is the most rich and complete description of the almighty, holy sovereign God.
God Glory is the composite of all His attributes.
We see the makeup of Gods glory when we read Ex 33:18-19
18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
He traces the line of Gods sovereign will from Abraham through Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and David. To Jesus the Righteous one.
Moses (vv 17-37)
Moses (vv 17-37)
Having defended himself against the charge of blaspheming God Steven now moves to the second accusation the rejection of Moses.
In the first 16 verses he covered the period from Abraham to Joseph, from the call of Abraham to the captivity of Israel in Egypt.
Now he moves into the second great period of Israels history, from Moses to the Babylonian captivity.
He talks about the Time of Promise being fulfilled.
The Jews had grown comfortable in Egypt.
They had no design on leaving until another Ruler came to power. Ex 1:8
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
This also shows that Steven knew what he was talking about he was going down through the years of Jewish history showing Gods great and powerful plan for His people.
Steven reminds them the Moses predicted the birth of Christ.
He was referring to Deuteronomy 18:15
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
One of the most striking things about this whole trial was that they knew the scripture, these were the greatest leaders of the Jews. These were the same ones that Jesus had stood in front of but they completely missed the whole point of their story.