BIBLE STUDY LESSON 09

SERIES U --- THE EARLY CHURCH

STEPHEN’S SERMON

THE STORY THAT STEPHEN TOLD

From Acts 7:1-34

Stephen was before the council to answer the lies that been told by his enemies. When the false witnesses finished, the high priest turned to Stephen. [Are these things true?] he asked. Stephen answered the high priest with a long speech, addressed to the entire council: [Listen to me, brothers and fathers! While our ancestor Abraham was still in Mesopotamia, before he had moved to Haran, our YHVH of glory appeared to him. He told Abraham to leave his home and family and go to a land that YHVH would show him. Abraham left the land of Chaldea and went to Haran to live. Later, when Abraham’s father died, YHVH told him to go to another land, where we now live. YHVH did not give Abraham so much as a square foot of this land, but He promised that it would someday belong to him and to his descendants. When YHVH made this promise, Abraham had no children. Yet YHVH said to Abraham, ‘Your descendants will live as strangers in another land. There they will be slaves, cruelly treated for four hundred years. But I will punish the nation that made them slaves, and they will come out of that land and will worship Me in this place.’ YHVH also gave Abraham the ceremony of circumcision, as a symbol of the Covenant He had made with Abraham. Abraham circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old; then Isaac circumcised Jacob, and Jacob circumcised his own twelve sons, who became patriarchs of our nation. These sons of Jacob were very jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But YHVH was with Joseph, and took him safely through his troubles. When Joseph went before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, YHVH gave him a pleasant appearance and great wisdom, and Pharaoh was so impressed that he made Joseph governor of all Egypt, including the king’s household. But a famine came, bringing suffering to Egypt and Canaan. Jacob’s family had little to eat, so when they heard about the food in Egypt, Jacob sent his Sons there. On their second visit, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. Then Joseph sent for his father, and brought Jacob and his whole family of seventy-five to Egypt. There Jacob lived and died, as did all twelve of his sons. After their death, they were brought back to Shechem, where they were buried in the tomb which Abraham bought from the tribe of Hamor in Shechem. As the time approached for YHVH to fulfil His promise to Abraham that He would set his people free, the number of Abraham’s descendants in Egypt had greatly increased. A new king had come to Egypt, one who did not care about Joseph. He oppressed our people and forced them to put their babies out of their homes so that they would die. About that time, Moses was born, and he was a beautiful child in YHVH’s sight. For three months his family was able to hide him in their home. When he was finally put out of his home, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own child. Moses was taught the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man with a wonderful reputation. When Moses was forty, he visited his people as they worked in slavery. When he saw an Egyptian beating one of them, he killed the Egyptian. He was certain that the people of Israel would recognize that he had come to help them, but they didn’t. When Moses came back the next day, he saw two of the Israelites fighting and tried to stop them. ‘Stop!’ he said. ‘You are brothers. Why are you trying to hurt each other?’ Then the one who was at fault pushed Moses aside. ‘Who appointed you to be our ruler and judge?’ he asked. ‘Do you want to kill me too, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ When Moses heard that, he was so afraid that he ran away from Egypt and lived in the land of Midian. There he had two sons. Forty more years passed. One day an Angel of YHVH appeared to Moses in a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. When Moses saw this miracle, he was struck with awe. Coming closer to see what was happening, he heard the voice of YHVH speaking to him. ‘I am YHVH Elohiym of your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,’ the voice said. Then Moses began to tremble and dared not look further. ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground,’ YHVH Commanded. ‘I have seen the sufferings of My people in Egypt and have heard their groans, and I have come to save them. Come! I will send you to Egypt!’]

COMMENTARY

THE HIGH PRIEST

Moses, YHVH’s chosen prophet, and Aaron, the first high priest, were brothers. Together they stood in the Egyptian court and delivered YHVH’s Command to Pharaoh, {Let My people go.} But when Yeshua came to fulfil the Law of Moses, the descendants of Aaron were His fiercest enemies. The high priest of Israel arranged Yeshua’ death and imprisoned the apostles who proclaimed Moshiach’s resurrection. In the Old Testament, the high priest was the people’s representative before YHVH. The position was handed clown from father to son, and was held for a lifetime. The high priest was installed in his office with a sacred ceremony of anointment. But by New Testament times, the position of high priest had become a powerful political office. It was the highest position among the Israelite people. Because the Jewish people had no king, the high priest was their representative before Caesar, as well as YHVH. Power-hungry men tried to buy the office with money and favours. Herod the Great began the practice of choosing and appointing the man he wanted to be high priest. Under his control, the office was no longer a lifetime post. Herod replaced the high priest when he chose, keeping in office only those whose behaviour pleased him most. Because his mood changed so often, few high priests stayed in office very long during his reign. In the days of the apostles, no one remembered any longer how to mix the special oil used to anoint Israel’s high priests. The men chosen by the Romans were not anointed as they should have been; they simply put on the priestly robes and took over the duties of the high priest. The written Law required the high priest to offer the sacrifice only on the Day of Atonement. But Jewish custom expected him to take part in the temple ceremonies every Shabbat and on the Holy Days, as well. The high priest paid for the daily meal offering and also for the bullock sacrificed on the Day of Atonement. Because he might be called upon to approach YHVH at any time for the sake of the people, the high priest’s ritual purity was carefully protected. He was not permitted to publicly mourn the death of any member of his family, nor could he touch the body of a dead person. He could marry only a pure woman, and never one who had been divorced or widowed. For a full week before the Day of Atonement, he did not leave the temple for fear of being accidentally defiled or made unclean. Although his responsibilities did not allow him the freedom of the average man, the high priest enjoyed special privileges granted to no one else. He was the president of the Sanhedrin, Israel’s highest court, as well as the only man allowed to enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. When the high priest left his private home in Jerusalem and arrived at the temple, he was accompanied by three escorts. Whenever he wished, he could take part in any sacrifice. When the high priest was not busy serving, he was free to retire to his rooms in the temple. He received the first portion of those parts of the sacrifices reserved for the priests. Although Herod and the Roman rulers who came after him often removed the high priest from his office for political reasons, they could not take away the title {high priest.} Once a man had been high priest, he was always honoured as such, even though someone else had taken over the duties that the high priest was to perform.