Daily Scripture Reading Acts 7:1-21
As we go through life, we will encounter many obstacles, setbacks, indignities, and calamities. It is normal to feel sorry for ourselves and complain to God that He doesn’t give us a better life. Ultimately, we want life to be easy, prosperous, and without stress.
In today’s scripture reading, we will read a summary of the early history of Israel. The summary includes both the low point and high point of the life of Joseph. While the low point of Joseph’s life was a legitimate reason to be discouraged, God used it to prepare Joseph to perform a great act of deliverance. This teaches us to always be mindful that the difficulties of life might be good both for us and those around us.
The sixth chapter of Acts tells us Stephen performed many signs and wonders among the people, causing some Jews to oppose him and drag him before the Sanhedrin. Stephen’s adversaries induced false witnesses to testify against Stephen, accusing him of speaking against the Law and the temple.
Acts 7:1 ¶ And the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
The words “these things” refers to the accusation that Stephen had spoken against the Law and temple. Keep that in mind as we read Stephen’s defense in the following verses.
Acts 7:2 ¶ And he said, “Hear me, brothers and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
Stephen reached back into ancient Hebrew history to start his defense.
Stephen started with Abraham. Abraham was born in Mesopotamia, near the city of Ur.
Acts 7:3 and said to him, ‘LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR RELATIVES, AND COME INTO THE LAND THAT I WILL SHOW YOU.’
Acts 7:4 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.
Abraham moved from Ur to Haran. That was approximately a 600 mile / 1,000 km journey which would have taken at least three weeks. After living in Haran for some years, Abraham moved to Canaan, a journey of approximately 400 miles / 650 km which would have taken at least two weeks.
Acts 7:5 But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and He promised that HE WOULD GIVE IT TO HIM AS A POSSESSION, AND TO HIS SEED AFTER HIM, even when he had no child.
Acts 7:6 But God spoke in this way, that his SEED WOULD BE SOJOURNERS IN A FOREIGN LAND, AND THAT THEY WOULD BE ENSLAVED AND MISTREATED FOR FOUR HUNDRED YEARS.
Note the time frame of four hundred years. That will come up later.
Acts 7:7 ‘AND I MYSELF WILL JUDGE THE NATION TO WHICH THEY WILL BE ENSLAVED,’ said God, ‘AND AFTER THAT THEY WILL COME OUT AND SERVE ME IN THIS PLACE.’
If you know Old Testament history, you know this was a prediction that the Israelites would be slaves in Egypt for 400 years, and then be delivered out of slavery by Moses.
Acts 7:8 And He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham was the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac was the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
Acts 7:9 ¶ “And the patriarchs, becoming jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him,
Note the word “jealous”. Joseph had his faults, but the underlying problem that led to Joseph’s slavery was the jealousy of his brothers.
Jealousy is a common human sin. It is easy and natural to be jealous. However, we should fight the urge to be jealous because jealousy makes people do bad things. In this case, jealousy lead the patriarchs into selling their brother as a slave.
Egypt is in the lower left of the map. It was about a 250 mile / 400 km journey from Canaan to Egypt, a trek that would have taken at least 1 week.
Acts 7:10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he appointed him governor over Egypt and all his household.
Pharaoh is the one who made Joseph the governor, but it was God who was working behind the scenes orchestrating Joseph’s ascent.
Acts 7:11 ¶ “Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers could find no food.
Acts 7:12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.
Acts 7:13 And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh.
Acts 7:14 Then Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all.
Stephen was not telling this story to point out how God used the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers to save them from famine, but that is partly why this story is in the Bible.
Joseph was sold into slavery and suffered abuse. However, eventually God made him ruler over Egypt and put him into position to save his father and brothers from a famine. Furthermore, moving the Israelites to Egypt for four hundred years set the stage for the Israelites to leave Egypt and go to Mount Sinai where they received the Mosaic Law.
As we go through life, we will encounter many obstacles, setbacks, indignities, and calamities. We will experience jealousy and be the victim of jealousy. It is normal to feel sorry for ourselves and complain to God that He doesn’t give us a better life. However, our trials make us stronger people. Furthermore, many times it is the trials of life that prepare us to serve God.
When we suffer hardship and tribulation, we should be open to the possibility that God is training us and preparing us to serve Him. Perhaps God is using the obstacles of life to move us to a different place or position so that something better can happen to us or our family.
Acts 7:15 And Jacob went down to Egypt and there he and our fathers died.
Acts 7:16 And from there they were removed to Shechem and placed in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
It was approximately a 1 week journey from Egypt to the family tomb in Canaan.
Acts 7:17 ¶ “But as the time of the promise was drawing near which God had assured to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,
God had told Abraham his descendants would live in Egypt for four hundred years. The time of the promise refers to the end of the four hundred year time period.
Acts 7:18 until ANOTHER KING AROSE OVER EGYPT WHO DID NOT KNOW ABOUT JOSEPH.
Acts 7:19 It was he who deceitfully took advantage of our family and mistreated our fathers to set their infants outside so that they would not survive.
Acts 7:20 It was at this time that Moses was born, and he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home.
Acts 7:21 And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son.
As I pointed out earlier, Stephen was reciting this history of Israel as his defense against the charges against him. Tomorrow we will continue reading his defense.
Joseph was sold into slavery because his brothers were jealous of him. Slavery was certainly a sufficient reason for Joseph to feel sorry for himself and that God was against him. However, God was using the slavery to move Joseph into a position where he could save his family from famine. Furthermore, God used the famine to move the Israelites into a place from which they could eventually go to Mount Sinai and receive the Mosaic Law.
What are the bad things that have happened to you in the past that God used to mold you and prepare you for something better?
How are you a better person as a result of your past sufferings and trials?
What are the current obstacles you face in life that are discouraging and demoralizing?
How might your current tribulations be making you a better person?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”