SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/21/2017
12:08 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The
Temple”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 7:44-53
Message
of the verses: We will begin by
looking at verse 48b-50 “as the prophet says: 49 ’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? 50 ’WAS IT NOT MY HAND
WHICH MADE ALL THESE THINGS?’” This is a
quotation from Isaiah 66:1. Stephen is
reinforcing his point by quoting this section of Isaiah. We know that he was not guilty of blaspheming
the temple. What exactly was the temple anyway? John MacArthur writes that “The temple was
the symbol of God’s presence, not the prison of His essence.” This is exactly what Stephen is saying when
he quotes from the prophet Isaiah. As
usual in the case of the “religious Jews” they got it wrong.
When you read the early chapters of
the book of Romans you see something similar from what Stephen as he is
building his case to show that the Jewish leaders do not understand that Jesus
Christ is the Messiah and why it was necessary for Him to come to planet
earth. He continues to build his case
and so we can probably be sure that the tension was building in the room where
he was speaking.
“51 "You men who are
stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears” is what Stephen says in the
first part of verse 51, and the wondering is over for those in the room as far
as what point Stephen was going to make.
Stephen gives a devastating indictment:
They were just like their fathers in the days of Joseph, Moses, and
David. He calls them “stiff-necked” or
it could be obstinate as he echoes God’s evaluation of the forefathers (Exodus
32:9; 33:5). John MacArthur writes that “The
term pictures a person who defiantly refuses to bow before the Lord. Because they prided themselves on their
physical circumcision and ritual behavior, Stephen’s description of them as ‘uncircumcised
in heart and ears’ was especially pointed.
Their sin had never been forgiven.
They were as unclean before God as uncircumcised Gentiles. That was the ultimate condemnation.”
“are always resisting the Holy
Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. 52 “Which one of the prophets
did your fathers not persecute? (49b-52a)” Because they resisted the Holy
Spirit made the guilty of doing exactly what their fathers did. Their fathers rejected Joseph, Moses, and the
tabernacle presence, and so they rejected the Messiah. When Stephen says “which
one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute” he is actually echoing
words that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke:
“47 “Woe
to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who
killed them. 48 “So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers;
because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 "For
this reason also the wisdom of God said, ’I will send to them prophets and
apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed
since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from
the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar
and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this
generation’ (Luke 11:47-51).”
“They killed those who had
previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers
you have now become; 53 you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet
did not keep it."” We will look at
these verses as we conclude this section of Acts chapter seven in our next SD.
Answer
to yesterday’s Bible question: “The Word
of God.” (Hebrews 11:3).
Today’s
Bible question: “How old was Jesus when
He began His public ministry?”
Answer
in our next SD.
11/21/2017
12:36 PM
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