Acts 7:20-53 | Obstinate or Obedient?Sample

Yesterday we looked at the accusation that Stephen (plus the early Christians) was speaking against Moses. Today, we look at the second part. “This man never stops speaking against this holy place…” and that “this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place” (Acts 6:13-14).

That place is the Temple.

When God gave Moses the Law at Sinai, it included detailed instructions for how to build the Tabernacle - a giant tent where God would camp with His people. This would later become a permanent Temple structure once they settled in the Promised Land. Hebrews 8 tells this Temple was to be a copy and shadow of God’s Dwelling Place in Heaven (Heb 8:5). It was the place where Heaven and Earth would intersect. A place where God would come down to be with His people. A place that gave a glimpse of the God On High. It would become the key focal point and identity marker for the people of Israel. To speak against the Temple was akin to rejecting God Himself.

And yet, Stephen reminds them: “The Most High does not live in houses made by human hands.” He quotes the very words of Solomon at the dedication of the Temple!

While Stephen rejects the accusation of criticizing Moses, he does not deny that he is attacking the Temple, at least the Temple Complex as it came to exist in his day. Stephen says that Israel lost their way. Because a Greater Presence of God, a Greater Intersection between Heaven and Earth, a Greater Glimpse of God On High, has come among us in Jesus. By clinging to the Temple over Jesus instead, they’ve become obstinate. The Temple was a pointer but now doesn’t hold a shadow to Him.