Read Acts 7:9-16
9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace. 11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our people could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
Having reminded his accusers that God first established the Israelites long before there was any particular building in which he could be worshipped or particular laws they were to follow, Stephen moves on in his quick-stop tour of the OT to Joseph. It is interesting that Stephen here says nothing of Jacob’s favouritism, nothing of Joseph’s dreams or coat but leaps straight in with: “His brothers were jealous so they sold him;” probably an allusion to the jealousy of those who had previously opposed (see 5:17). Further, his use of the all-encompassing word, “trouble,” no doubt refers to the false accusations made against him by Potiphar’s wife (cf. those made against Stephen now!) and subsequent unjust imprisonment.[1]
His general theme continues, however, as he repeatedly stresses the location of God’s next big intervention: Egypt. Moreover, there’s still no temple, still no law and as yet none of Moses’ customs!
- If you were going to give someone a quick-stop tour of the OT, which characters and stories would you include? Why? If you have time, it would be really worthwhile to actually write this out or speak it out to someone. You could even get them to do it too and compare who/what you picked out and why.
If you have a bit longer :-)
Regarding the story of Joseph in Stephen’s speech, Beverly Gaventa notes that given, “the multitude of details that might have found their way into this brief retelling, it seems peculiar that Stephen lingers over the death and burial of Jacob and his sons.”[2]
- Why do you think this is?
No comments:
Post a Comment