Hope Has a Name: With Bible Study Fellowshipنموونە

Israel’s Tabernacle

What makes any place holy? In verses 44 to 50, Stephen reviews God’s presence with His people. As promised, God is accessible to all who wholeheartedly seek Him in faith. Long before Stephen’s day, before the temple stood in Jerusalem, God directed Moses to build a tabernacle.

God designated the Tabernacle, a portable tent, as the place Israel would meet with Him and worship. The Tabernacle:

- journeyed through the wilderness under Moses’s rule.

- entered God’s Promised Land under Joshua’s rule.

- was marked for replacement in God’s covenant with King David.

- was replaced (as God promised) with a temple built by King Solomon.

Israel’s Temples

1 Kings and 2 Chronicles in the Bible record the building of Solomon’s temple. Around 400 years after its construction, the Babylonians captured Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and carried most of Israel’s people away in exile.

As God prophesied, the people were freed from captivity after 70 years. Large numbers of Jews returned to God’s Promised Land and rebuilt the temple and Jerusalem. Eventually, King Herod replaced the second temple with a third. It rivaled the glory of Solomon’s temple. King Herod’s temple stood in Jerusalem until AD 70.

Stephen’s accusers had charged him for speaking against this temple. In response, Stephen addresses where God truly lives—not in houses made by human hands. He quotes the prophet Isaiah who gave this message from God in Isaiah 66:1-2: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? ... Has not my hand made all these things?”

Despite all their Bible knowledge, Israel’s religious leaders had missed the temple’s purpose. It was a sign of the coming Immanuel (God with us). The temple and everything in it pointed to Jesus Christ. (1) Now the Lord Jesus Christ—the real temple​​—had come.

Israel’s God

In verses 51 to 53, Stephen shows his storytelling is truth-telling as a prophet. He transforms from the accused to the messenger of God’s conviction. Stephen speaks plainly without exaggeration. He addresses his accusers’ guilt and sin: “You are just like your ancestors.” Three charges follow.

- You always resist the Holy Spirit.

- You persecute and kill God’s prophets—even the Righteous One.

- You have disobeyed the law of Moses.

Worse than their ancestors, “You have betrayed and murdered him.” Most of the men judging Stephen (if not all) had pronounced Jesus worthy of death.

How gracious God is! As you read, hear Stephen speak with loving boldness. He knows these men might not have another opportunity to repent and believe in Jesus. (2) How often do you or others assume God will give other chances? But Scripture warns, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” And “today is the day of salvation.”

If you have not yet repented of old ways through faith in Jesus Christ, will you do so right now? As believers, are you complacent about sharing the hope of Jesus with people around you? Stephen loved his accusers enough to tell the true story of hope in the Messiah Jesus Christ—even at the cost of his own life.

Questions

9. Trace out how God has dwelled with His people from the Exodus until today. Consider Paul’s related teaching in his speech in Athens. (See Acts 17:24-27 in the insights below). What do you discover about this topic that prompts thanksgiving and praise? Pause and speak or write down your prayer to God.

INSIGHTS: Acts 17:24-27: “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” Personal responses will vary.

10. Acts 3:13-21 records a portion of Peter’s speech to a Jewish crowd. (Read verses in insights below.) Compare Peter’s words to Stephen’s. What similarities get your attention, and why?

INSIGHTS: Acts 3:13-21 – “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. … Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.” Personal observations will vary.

11. Reviewing Stephen’s speech, what connections between the Old Testament history and Jesus’s life and work are most surprising to you?

Related Verse

1 Temple: Exodus 25-31; Hebrews 9

2: Today: Psalm 95:7-8; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 4:7