A Year in Luke/ActsНамуна

The passage for the seventh day of our devotions this week is Psalm 136. In this Psalm, the history of Israel is retold with the refrain: “his steadfast love endures forever” between each line. When Stephen stands before the council, he also recites sections of the great story of Israel’s history. He emphasizes God’s agency in Israel’s story, along with the role of those who were willing to go against the flow to be one of God’s image bearers. “The speech contrasts intransigent human power and institutions, such as those before whom Stephen is tried, with the activity of the living God through those who dynamically follow him, such as Stephen.” (p236, Keener, Acts) After the themes of Abraham’s call, the land, covenants, Joseph’s wisdom, exodus, and idol worship, Stephen focuses on the Temple. He uses the fact that God, the creator of all, can never be contained in a building of human origin to land his punch-line: they have not kept the law they have received.

Throughout Israel’s history, God had acted through those often misunderstood or marginalized. It is out of love for Israel, not rebellion that Stephen confronts the Council. He stands in a long line of faithful prophets and receives a similar response to many of them.