Can you hear the voice of the Lord or are you too busy focusing on created things?
Stephen makes it plain that the people of Israel had rejected
the Lord. The Jewish people had made the
temple and their history the focus of their worship. The Lord was supposed to be the focus of
their worship. The Jewish leaders had
turned the worship of the One true God into the worship of the temple
itself.
Our salvation does not rest in a church; rather, it resides
in the Lord who is Lord of all!
The Lord was the one who had revealed himself to Joseph who
had been rejected by his brothers. The
Lord had revealed himself to Moses and Moses was rejected by his brothers. The Lord had revealed His Word to the
prophets and the prophets were rejected by their brothers. When the Lord Himself came, the people of Israel had
rejected the Lord Himself.
The response of the people of Israel to the Word of the Lord had
always been to worship foreign gods made of created things.
The person who brings heaven and earth together was the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord does not live in
temples made with hands; rather, heaven is his throne and earth is his
footstool.
Because the people of Israel failed to worship the Lord,
Stephen calls them out saying, “51 “You stiff-necked
and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your
fathers did, so do you.” The Jewish leaders had rejected the Lord.
The ending of Acts 7 is powerful as heaven opens up and
Stephen sees the Lord sitting at the right hand of God. As the Lord had revealed himself to Joseph,
Moses and the prophets, the Lord had revealed himself to Stephen.
The response of the people of Israel was predictable as they
began to pick up stones and stone him to death.
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