"Not Just A History Lesson" Acts 7:9-16

Overview

Not Just a History Lesson: Stephen's Witness in Acts 7:9–16

On trial for his life on charges of blaspheming God, Moses, and the temple, Stephen does something unexpected: instead of mounting a forward defense, he turns his accusers' attention backward—into their own family story. Picking up the narrative of the patriarchs, he says, "the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt, but God was with him" Acts 7:9. Packed into that single sentence is both the sin of God's people and the steadfastness of God toward them.

Stephen lingers on jealousy because Scripture treats it as a deadly force. Joseph was Jacob's favorite son, the firstborn of Rachel, and his brothers despised him for it—first plotting murder, then settling on selling him for silver. Proverbs warns, "Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?" Proverbs 27:4. James adds, "where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice" James 3:16. The same root drove the crucifixion itself: Pilate "perceived that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up" Matthew 27:18. Stephen's hearers, the leaders who handed Jesus over, would not have missed the parallel: their fathers rejected Joseph, and they have rejected God's chosen one again.

Yet the story does not end in betrayal. "God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions" Acts 7:9–10, giving Joseph favor in the most unlikely place—the court of a pagan Pharaoh. The same phrase, "God was with him," is later used of Jesus, who likewise found favor not among the religious establishment but among sinners and outcasts. When famine struck, the very brothers who had rejected Joseph came begging for bread, and Joseph did not lord his power over them. He embraced them, forgave them, fed them, and gathered them in. This is the pattern Stephen wants the council to see: God's people reject the one God sends, and yet God uses that rejected one to save them. From Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Joseph, the history testifies—as Psalm 105 calls Israel to do, "make known his deeds among the peoples" Psalm 105:1—that Yahweh remains faithful even when his people are not.

This is not merely ancient news. Scripture says of every believer that we too were "dead in trespasses and sins" but have been made "alive together with Christ" Ephesians 2:1–5, called to "consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" Romans 6:11. Our family history as the church is the same pattern Stephen traced: rejection answered by mercy, famine answered by provision, death answered by resurrection life. Because we know where we are—forgiven, counted righteous, alive in Christ—we can trust where we are going: united with Christ in resurrection Romans 6:5, revealed with him in glory Colossians 3:4, and with the Lord forever 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Stephen was not giving a history lesson. He was giving testimony—and so do we.

Transcript

We are working through Act still and we're in Chapter 7, looking at Stephen's sermon picking 0s

up in verse 9, but we will get there. 9s

First I want to tell you a little story. 12s

When I was in ninth grade, I walked into my American history class. 14s

First day of school sat down and Mr. Shively, the American history teacher that he was, 17s

wrote on the board, you can't know where you're going until you know where you've been. 24s

And I thought he was a genius. 32s

I was blown away. 35s

I thought this man is deep and I thought over that. 37s

You can't know where you're going until you know where you've been. 43s

You can't know where you're going until you know where you've been. 46s

As an adult, I've come across this several times, 50s

and I realize it was not Mr. Shively, 53s

who came up with this, but he shared it with me 57s

for the first time. 60s

It's all over with various authors, Richard Bach, 61s

Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Terry Pratchett, 66s

but I attributed that wisdom to Mr. Shively. 70s

So anytime I hear this quotation, 72s

I think Mr. Shively, and I give him a little gold star 76s

for being so smart, and there's a lot of truth 79s

in that statement that he wrote on my ninth grade 83s

history board. 87s

Okay, I have a question for you. 91s

How many of you? 93s

How many of you have signed up for a website such as 94s

ancestry.com? 97s

You, uh-huh, yeah, don't be shy, it's okay. 100s

It's good, it's fun. 103s

Why would we do that? 105s

Why would we do that? 107s

Because we're curious. 108s

We want to know about our family's history. 110s

We want to know about the past that has made us us, 114s

made us who we are, our parents, our grandparents, 120s

our great-grandparents, our great-great-grandparents. 125s

So we know a little bit about their story, 129s

because a little bit of their story 132s

is also a little bit of our story. 133s

And how many of us, when we get together with family, 137s

we swap those family stories. 140s

Oh, remember when? 143s

Oh, do you remember the time? 145s

My favorite was, uh, Keith's grandfather. 147s

He was a World War II vet, and, uh, and he would tell stories 150s

all the time, and every single time he'd say, 154s

now, stop me if I've told you this before. 158s

But he didn't really want to stop telling us. 162s

And the truth is, we really didn't want to stop hearing 165s

those stories, because they were a glimpse into his life, 169s

into his history, and what made him, 174s

was a big part of what makes Keith, Keith, 179s

and our children who they are. 183s

We enjoyed hearing those stories, 187s

because it gave us an appreciation for him, 189s

and for the family history that he was building. 193s

Again, I ask, why do we want to know our histories? 197s

What do we gain from looking back, 203s

instead of just charging full steam ahead? 206s

Last week, we began the trial of Stephen. 210s

He had been charged with blasphemy against God, 214s

against Moses, and against the temple. 219s

And he was on trial for his life, 222s

and instead of mounting a forward defense, 226s

he looked to the past, to the history, 230s

the family story of the Jewish people. 234s

You can't know where you're going, unless you know where you've been. 238s

Stephen began with a recounting of Abraham, 246s

the key figure of the Old Testament. 250s

The one whom God appeared and promised, 253s

not only a rich land for his descendants, 256s

but the descendants themselves, 259s

which would outnumber the stars, 262s

and this he promised Abraham and Old Man, 263s

who had no children as of yet. 267s

And Yahweh transformed Abraham's heart. 271s

And he filled it with faith, not only faith in God, 275s

the Father, but faith in the one to come, 279s

that is Jesus Christ. 281s

And Stephen told the story of Yahweh's covenant 283s

with Abraham, Abraham's child Isaac, 285s

Isaac's child Jacob, and Jacob's children, 289s

who are the patriarchs of the Hebrew people. 292s

And it's with the patriarchs that we're picking up 296s

in Stephen's sermon today. 300s

Verse nine, it says, the patriarchs, 302s

jealous of Joseph sold him into Egypt. 305s

And we have to stop here because there's a lot 310s

that's packed into this little one clause. 312s

Out of jealousy, the patriarchs that were Joseph's brothers, 315s

they sold him. 321s

And we get a good bit of Joseph's story from Stephen's sermon, 323s

but we kind of need to go back 327s

and remember why Joseph's brothers would be jealous. 329s

Abraham, as we know, was Isaac's dad. 334s

And Isaac was Jacob's dad, and Jacob was Joseph's dad. 338s

And although Joseph is not Jacob's firstborn, 345s

he is the firstborn of Jacob's wife Rachel. 348s

And that is the wife that Jacob loved. 354s

So Joseph is Jacob's 11th son, 357s

and he was Jacob's favorite. 360s

And Jacob was not shy about his favoritism. 363s

Everyone knew all of Joseph's brothers knew 367s

that he was Jacob's favorite son, 370s

and they hated him for that. 374s

It was very irritating to them. 377s

The favoritism shown and poured upon Joseph over all of them. 380s

He was the 11th son. 385s

There were plenty to favor before him, 388s

but Jacob had chosen Joseph as his favorite. 391s

And worse yet, was that Joseph started having these dreams 396s

that one day, his brothers would bow down to him, 402s

and they would serve him, 406s

but he didn't keep these dreams to himself. 407s

He shared these dreams with his brothers, 410s

and that irritated them even more, 413s

and they began to really, really hate Joseph. 416s

They're irritating teenage brother, 421s

who would lored this position in the family over them. 425s

And they were ready to murder Joseph out of their jealousy, 430s

but they ended up deciding to sell Joseph 435s

and that that would be a better route 437s

than actually murdering him. 439s

So the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph sold him into Egypt. 441s

Oh, jealousy is a very, very dangerous thing. 448s

Scripture warns us of jealousy in Proverbs 274. 451s

It says, Rath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, 456s

but who is able to stand before jealousy? 460s

James, three, 16 says, 464s

for where there is envy in selfish ambition, 466s

there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 469s

Out of the apocrypha, Wisdom, two says, 473s

through the devil's envy death entered the world. 477s

And if you look at Genesis 3, 479s

when the serpent comes and tempts Eve and Adam, 481s

he promises through his words that they will be like God, 486s

and he creates that little seat of jealousy 490s

within Eve wanting to be like God, 492s

wanting to have the same knowledge, the same power as God. 497s

In Matthew 27, it talks about the trial of Jesus 503s

with pilot and pilot said to the people, 508s

whom do you want me to release for you, 512s

Jesus Barabas or Jesus who is called the Messiah, 514s

for he realized that it was out of jealousy 517s

that they handed him over. 522s

jealousy was a cause behind the crucifixion of Christ. 526s

jealousy was a reason for the arrest of the apostles 530s

earlier in Acts. 534s

And here, Stephen offers that it was out of jealousy 536s

that Joseph was sold into Egypt for 20 pieces of silver. 539s

Picking up again, the patriarchs, 545s

jealous of Joseph sold him into Egypt, 547s

but God was with him and rescued him 549s

from all his afflictions. 553s

And enabled him to win favor to show wisdom 554s

when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, 557s

who appointed him ruler over Egypt 560s

and over all his household. 563s

Joseph had been sold. 566s

He could have been done with the Egyptians, 567s

could have done anything they wanted to with him, 569s

but God was with him. 572s

And this means that God was protecting Joseph. 574s

God was with him in a very special way. 580s

He was working through and with and in Joseph, 584s

in a very unusual way, 589s

y'all way was with Joseph when his brothers were not. 593s

His brothers had rejected him, but God protected him 598s

and brought about favor in the most unlikely place. 603s

In the courts of the pagan Pharaoh, he found favor. 608s

The phrase God was with him is also used 614s

describing God with Jesus, protecting him, guiding him 616s

as he went about healing and doing good. 621s

And Jesus also received favor in unusual places. 624s

He did not find favor with the holy people, 630s

with the church people. 633s

He was rejected by them. 634s

Instead, those who received him gladly, openly, willingly, 637s

wantingly, they were the sinners. 641s

It was the sinners, the outcast who had found favor, 644s

or who Jesus had found favor with. 648s

In his defense, in this sermon, 653s

Stephen reminds the Jewish leaders 655s

that God had not forsaken his servant Joseph. 657s

He had protected him when his own brothers had not. 661s

And there's no mistaking this parallel 664s

of the patriarchs rejecting Joseph 667s

to the current church leadership having rejected Jesus. 670s

But even with that rejection, Joseph had a greater purpose, 676s

verse 11. 681s

Now they came a famine throughout Egypt and Cainan, 682s

and great suffering and our ancestors could find no food. 684s

But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, 689s

he sent our ancestors there on their first visit. 691s

On the second visit, Joseph made known himself to his brothers, 695s

and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. 699s

Stephen uses these words to retell of the suffering 703s

and starving that their ancestors had experienced. 706s

But there was already provision that had been pre-ordained, 710s

already established for Jacob and his family by the Lord. 716s

God had rescued Joseph from his status as slave. 720s

He gave Joseph wisdom which allowed him to find favor with Pharaoh, 726s

and the Pharaoh put Joseph over all of Egypt 731s

and his very own household. 735s

God was certainly with Joseph. 738s

And not only was God granting favor for Joseph through Pharaoh, 742s

it became clear that the Lord placed Joseph strategically 746s

in a position that would provide future care to Jacob 751s

and his family who had rejected Joseph. 755s

Consider this, Joseph was rejected by the patriarchs, 760s

yet God remained faithful to the promise 764s

that he had made to Abraham so long ago. 766s

He refused to let go of the promise 769s

that he had made, Yahweh remained faithful. 774s

He absolutely was not going to abandon Israel. 778s

And of course, Joseph's brothers didn't recognize him 782s

on that first trip to Egypt for grain. 785s

So when they returned a second time, Joseph reveals himself 788s

as the brother they had once sold into slavery. 791s

And the amazing thing is, as they groveled to him, 794s

he does not lord it over him or over them. 800s

He does not lord his power over them. 803s

He embraces them, kisses them, receives them, 806s

forgives them, feeds them, and takes them in 809s

as his family once again. 814s

Stephen points out through the history 821s

of the Hebrew people that God has historically 823s

shown his grace to Israel and remained steadfast 827s

in his efforts to reach out to the nation. 832s

Picking up in verse 14, 838s

then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob 839s

and all his relatives to come to him, 842s

75 in all. 844s

So Jacob went down to Egypt. 846s

He himself died there as well as our ancestors. 848s

And their bodies were brought back to shahem 851s

and laid in the tomb that Abraham had brought 853s

bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in shahem. 856s

So Joseph sent for his people, sent for his family 861s

to gather, to join him, and they were reunited 864s

and Joseph and his status in Israel protected Israel 867s

in his status in Egypt, protected Israel in a foreign land. 872s

Jacob, Joseph and the patriarchs all died in a foreign land. 878s

But their bodies were brought back to the land 885s

that had been promised to their people so long ago 889s

by Yahweh that land that Yahweh had told Abraham 893s

his descendants would inhabit. 899s

So in death, they were brought back to that promise 902s

and all as well that ends well, right? 908s

Right? 913s

Is that Stephen's goal here in the sermon 914s

before the council to give the happy endings 916s

of the Jewish people? 918s

Why do we like to hear our family's story? 923s

Does it really matter what our ancestors did? 927s

On a message board that I came across, 934s

there was a question asked, why is history so important 936s

to the Jewish people? 938s

And one response from someone in the Jewish community 940s

was one of the things that binds us to God 944s

is our history. 948s

Our history testifies to God's kindness, 950s

closeness, and power through the things 954s

that God has done for us. 957s

This is why on Sabbath and festivals, 959s

we repeatedly mention the Exodus and the creation. 962s

And this is why, in addition to laws, 965s

the Torah contains a brief outline of our history. 968s

The history testifies the history always testifies, 973s

starting at the beginning with Abraham 980s

carrying through to Isaac Jacob Joseph 982s

that wasn't some crazy idea that Stephen had come up 986s

with to speechify at the Jewish leaders. 990s

Stephen was speaking their language, the history, 993s

the re-telling of Israel's story 999s

was what the Jewish people had always done. 1002s

Psalm 105 begins, 1005s

oh, give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, 1007s

make known his deeds among the peoples. 1011s

Sing to him, sing praises to him, 1015s

tell of all his wondrous, wonderful works. 1018s

And it goes on recounting within the Psalm, 1023s

the history, telling of God's faithfulness to Israel, 1027s

the gospel of Matthew begins with the history 1033s

of Christ's genealogy. 1037s

Matthew uses the history and the culture 1040s

of the Jewish people to show Jesus 1043s

as the fulfillment of prophecy to those Jews 1046s

who are reading his gospel hearing his gospel. 1051s

The writer of the book of Hebrews uses the history 1056s

of the Jewish people to support the Christian faith 1059s

for Israel. 1063s

You can't know where you're going 1066s

until you know where you've been. 1068s

Where Israel had been was lost. 1072s

The patriarchs rejected God's chosen. 1076s

They ended up in famine and Joseph offered redemption 1079s

and life for them. 1083s

Where Israel had been was lost. 1085s

The Jewish people had rejected God's only son. 1091s

They ended up crucifying him 1095s

and they ended up in spiritual famine. 1097s

Yet Jesus offered redemption and life for them. 1100s

Steven Sermon was not for his own benefit. 1108s

Steven was building his case showing 1112s

the historical pattern of the lost Israelites 1115s

who rejected Yahweh, those who Yahweh sent 1119s

and the same historical pattern of God's continuous mercy 1123s

and care for his people. 1127s

As we continue with Steven Sermon in the coming weeks, 1130s

we're gonna see the same pattern play out always 1133s

with God's love triumphant over any rejection. 1137s

Or neglect that the Hebrew people may attempt. 1142s

The history mattered. 1146s

And the history still matters. 1148s

Steven Sermon, wine through the history 1151s

of the Israelites people and ends at Jesus. 1153s

Ends at Jesus all the prophecies. 1159s

All the experiences of the four fathers 1162s

were leading to Jesus because Jesus is what their history 1164s

is about. 1170s

And Jesus is what our history is about 1172s

because Jesus is what our future is about. 1177s

You can't know where you're going unless you know 1183s

where you've been. 1186s

Well, let me tell you exactly where scripture says, 1188s

you have been. 1191s

You were dead. 1194s

Dead in your trespasses and sin as Ephesians says. 1196s

But let me tell you what scripture says 1201s

or where scripture says you are. 1204s

That's our history. 1207s

Dead in sin, dead in trespasses. 1210s

We are currently saved by grace through faith 1212s

and you are alive together with Christ. 1218s

That's where we are. 1223s

In fact, Romans, I love this. 1225s

Tell us straight up, Paul tells us in Romans, 1227s

you must consider yourselves dead to sin 1230s

and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 1233s

There are no bones about it. 1237s

Paul is very direct. 1239s

You must consider yourself present tense. 1241s

Dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 1246s

In ninth grade, I really thought that Mr. Shively 1253s

had offered real enlightenment with that phrase 1255s

you don't know where you're going 1260s

until you've no unless you know where you've been. 1261s

But I think I've matured a little bit since then. 1264s

And we're gonna switch this phrase up just a little bit, 1269s

just a little bit. 1272s

Trust where you're going 1274s

because you know where you are. 1276s

You are for given. 1281s

You are counted righteous. 1285s

You are saved. 1290s

You are alive in Christ Jesus. 1294s

And if we are these things, 1300s

then we can turn right back to scripture 1303s

to see where we are going. 1305s

If we are saved, if we are counted righteous 1307s

or because we are counted righteous, 1311s

you are going to be united with Christ in resurrection. 1313s

That's from Romans. 1319s

You are going to be revealed with Him in glory. 1321s

That's from collusions. 1325s

You are going to be with the Lord forever. 1327s

That is from first, the Salonians. 1331s

When we begin reading Stephen's sermon to the council, 1335s

we may wonder why he goes all the way back. 1338s

Nearly to the beginning of time, 1342s

certainly to the beginning of the Jewish people, 1344s

as a people in covenant with Yahweh, 1349s

but Stephen didn't offer just another history lesson. 1352s

He offered a testimony of God's mercy and salvation 1356s

through Jesus Christ, which is outside any boundaries 1362s

of history, outside any boundaries of time. 1367s

He testified the history testified. 1371s

And we as the people of God also testify 1378s

along with Stephen as our brother in Christ, 1383s

we have a history, a family history, 1388s

a family of the Christian church. 1392s

And our history is founded upon carried out 1396s

through and looking forward towards life 1401s

with Jesus Christ, the Son, God, the Father, 1406s

and their holy spirit. 1412s

We don't need to look back too often 1416s

at our past lives as sinners. 1418s

We're aware that we sinned. 1422s

We're aware that we sometimes sin still. 1424s

But that's our past. 1428s

We are dead to sin, our present and our future 1429s

is life in Christ. 1434s

That is our reality, that is our history. 1437s

And that is what we testify. 1441s

Amen. 1445s