Acts Chapter 7 Part 1

Shalom and welcome to via hafte yes Ryan a Hebrew phrase which means you shall love Israel we hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher dr. Baruch shares his expose Ettore teaching from the Bible dr. Baruch is the senior lecturer at the Zahra Avraham Institute based in Israel although all courses are taught in Hebrew at the Institute dr. Baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in English to find out more about our work in Israel please visit us on the web at love Israel you are G that's one word love Israel Oh our G now here's Baruch with today's lesson we are going to be looking at an account over the next three weeks of words that Stefano's or stephen said before the sanhedrin and we left off last week with false accusations being made against Stephen and I want you to see how the scripture that we read earlier tonight is so important look again if you would to Psalm 112 and notice what it says in verse 7 miss Mariah an evil report an evil rumor one that hears something that is bad news about themselves and what does david says and david was slandered in his life but notice what he says here lo Lehrer that is he will not fear he will not give that a place or priority in his life he is not going to respond to what he hears and act in a way that is outside God's character outside of God's will for him what's he going to do he is going to establish his heart now that phrase is so important having a lave mahone a corrected heart and how do we find that corrected heart well notice how we ended our scripture reading but to obey I don't I that he trusts in the Lord that he has assurance or confidence in the Lord so when you have confidence in the Lord you're not going to to be fearful of these evil rumors these evil slanderous statements about you what are you going to do well exactly what Stephen does in this passage and that is that he testifies of God's faithfulness throughout the generation so look with me as I said to the book of Acts and chapter 7 the book of Acts chapter 7 so we concluded last week chapter 6 as I said with these false accusations that's Stephen that he spoke against God he spoke against the Torah he wanted to change things all this was lies deceit and the high priest notice where we begin verse 1 chapter 7 verse 1 and the high priest said if therefore these things have now what it means here it's an idiom in the Greek language the high priest is saying is if these things are Sochi if they have have a basis and he's asking a question we could translate it are these things true now the word truth doesn't appear there but that's the implication the high priest says are these things thus look at the second half of verse 1 what it says here is that this one referring to P Steven he spoke and notice what he says men brethren and fathers now he's speaking here about men or people in general then he says brothers and I believe he's speaking to those believers who are also there and then he says father's and that is a very respectful way of respecting or referring to the sanhedrin so he begins to speak in a very respectful way acknowledging the people of Israel the believers from within Israel and also the leadership of Israel when he says father's so he says men brothers and fathers you have heard the god of glory had appeared to our father Abraham being in Mesopotamia now the first thing that he goes back to is Avraham and that's significant because Avraham was this one and what does he say here that God appeared to him now there's a Torah portion and the Torah portion is called vieira and it means and he appeared who appeared the Lord and God appeared to Avraham and this is a very key passage that Avraham is going to begin to act in a very significant a very powerful way recognizing and here's the key recognizing God's Authority in his life God's provision God's purposes and it all comes about with this birth of Isaac and we'll come back to this but but God is moving in Avraham's life now when God appeared to him we need to realize something and that is that this in this context Yitzhak had not been born and I'll show you that in a moment but look here the god of glory now that expression if you trace it through yes god is glorious and where is that glorious going to be manifest as well the glory is going to be manifested in the kingdom so when we look at this speech that Stefano's is going to share or is beginning to share he is a kingdom context he is going to provide the history for bringing the people to the realization that God has sent the King into the world but they rejected him so look again you have heard that the god of glory appeared to our father however huh and notice what he says our Father the first thing that he wants to point out is that he's not establishing some different religion he's not speaking against the Torah he's making his argument he's sharing his confession what he trusted and the first place he goes to is the Torah and to Avraham that patriarch of the Jewish faith so he says the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham being in Mesopotamia now that is a reference to galoot exile Avraham was not where God wanted him to be but this appearing this manifestation of the god of glory to Abraham was to redirect him to where God would happen to be and let me suggest to you to safety that it is very important that we are sensitive to God's redirection in our life where he wants to position us sometimes that's physically sometimes that's a mindset and sometimes that is a call he wants to redirect how we're living our life what we are emphasizing the passion the priorities of our life so everything changed in Abraham's life when God appeared to him so God appeared to him in Mesopotamia look now to to the second part of verse 2 before he dwelt in Canaan now Canaan that word is related to promise now the word cannon in Hebrew that's how it's pronounced when you look at it it has to do with a verb that this word is is derived from meaning submissiveness so all of this is coming we see it's the land of promise but it's also the land of submissiveness it's only when we submit then are we going to have a hope of receiving the promises of God look now to verse 3 and he said to him go forth or come out and the Hebrew we could go back to Genesis chapter 12 and look at the phrase lacnic ah go forth you are to move and this is what this word speaks up coming out so go forth from your land and from your your kinsmen from your family from your your family and come into the land which to you I will show now it's very important there is a particle here in the Greek language and what's important about this particle is that it is a grammatical indicator it points out the subjunctive and why is that important because it is the the mood of possibility or the mood of of condition so God wants to do something in our homes life but it's conditional God wants to show him the land where he's supposed to dwell this transformation this change that God wants to bring about this redirection but it's conditional punt Avraham responding so here again we need to ask ourselves am I willing to respond am i desiring to make changes in my life let me tell you if you are not then God is not gonna do much in your life you are going to know the fresh creation of the Holy Spirit you are not going to be experiencing the the Dynomax anointing and that word dynamite comes from a Greek word powerful anointing of the Spirit of God in your life so Aafrin was called to move away from the place that he was dwelling and move away from his family and he says come into the land which I will show or I should show you meaning this condition and therefore look at verse 4 then coming out of the land of the Chaldeans and this coming out in this passage there is four times this this prefix it can stand alone this this preposition we could say would be a better grammatical term the word ech sometimes it's a prefix attached to a verb sometimes it stands alone but it's out out out meaning God wants to bring the people out and realize that you may be in a position where God the first thing that he wants to do and he's not gonna do much of anything else until you come out of where you are and here again that might be a location that might be a mentality that might be a sinful behavior that you are living within it might be a philosophy of life whatever it might be so a wise person a person that wants to experience God a person wants to be used by God this person is going to be open and desiring for God to bring him or her out of their current situation into a new a holy a sanctified reality so we read in verse 4 then coming out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelling he dwelt in Kanade middle verse four and thus and this means basically and then as an outcome of this and then after his father's death and we have a very unique word now this is a word which means and some context it would be to emigrate it would be to go from where one is into the Land of Israel to make alia but this word speaks about a change in heritage in this context so what did he do well it says and after his father's death he you might say removed him or brought him or emigrated him into this land into which you now are dwelling so he's speaking about God moving revealing truth to Avraham and it's odd because after his father's death he was was what emigrated and the point is after Abraham's father's death God redirected him he removed him where into the land where he says you and we could put that we are dwelling now at this time verse five and it was not given to him he did not give to him an inheritance in it not even a foot hole a place for his foot now this seems very very problematic Avram came he immigrated to the land of Canaan that is the land of Israel but he didn't receive an inheritance at first he didn't have a foothold in the land meaning he did not make a place his habitation we'll talk about why in him but what did he do well keep reading and it was proclaimed to him that he was going to what it says that he was going to serve how that he was going to be excuse me given a a possession yes that's the best way to translate it that he was going to give a possession in it so he didn't receive it at first didn't have a foot hole but God had said to him he promised him that he was going to have a possession of it and not just him also to his seed after him and at this time and this is what I meant earlier at this time there was not to him children so God made all of these promises and before he had a foothold a personal habitation God said that he was going to give him a possession and to his seed after him but none of this was a reality and all was going to be brought about in the future now why is he saying that there is a future Avraham had a future expectation so let me pause for a moment and ask you a very very important question and that is do you have a future a anticipation of a future inheritance and what I'm referring to and it shouldn't surprise you what I'm gonna say a kingdom inheritance you say well I don't have that today that's true you're not in a possessor of it but you will be and the question is and this would made Avraham so special so faithful he lived even though he had none of God's promises he lived as though he did his life was established based upon these promises he was pursuing them in obedient responses to these things that God would put for him so look now to verse 6 and God spoke thus that there would be to him a seed that his seed would be literally a seed of his would be a sojourner in a foreign land now here again what he said was that the people his offspring was going to be a sojourner in a foreign land now what does that speak to was gonna tell us this is going to come about because of disobedience Avraham was faithful but a future generation was not going to be and what's he referring to here well he goes on not only are they going to be a sojourn in a foreign land but keep reading in verse 6 and that they would be enslaved and they would be mistreated literally that word is the word for being treated evil Lee opposed to what God would have and someone would read that and say well how can that be how can someone be treated in opposition to what God would have for them and the answer is when that person behaves disobediently God doesn't want that but because God has put in both natural laws and spiritual laws and when we violate those natural laws there's going to be consequences for example you you run off a cliff there's a natural law gravity God's the creator of all these laws you're gonna fall to your death at the cliff is deep enough likewise you violate God's truth and there's going to be an outcome a punishment a an adverse experience God doesn't want you to have that but because you violated that you're going to experience it so you're not going to experience what God wills for you you're going to experience when he doesn't want you but because he's true to his laws who is his nature he's going to respond God does not make us robots to do his will we have to make godly decisions that's why we have his word that's why we have the Holy Spirit so that we can do that but look at what the scripture is referring to us so they are going to be a sojourner in a foreign land they are going to be enslaved made slaves and they're going to be mistreated for four hundred years all this is supported in the Torah literally four hundred and thirty years but one place it says four hundred the others four hundred and thirty that's not a conflict one is general and one is very specific and the nation which is going to enslave the nation that they were enslaved it says God is speaking and God says I will judge now what nation are they going to sojourn in what nation are it's going to treat them poorly well the answer is Egypt and because Egypt even though God is using Egypt God is not rewarding Egypt for that behavior and therefore he's going to judge event that's what the scripture says here he is going to judge them verse verse seven at the end and after these things he says they will will go forth and they will worship so all of what they go through is to bring about a transformation a change that God is going to bring them forth they're coming out that is speaking of the Exodus they are going to come forth and what are they going to do they are going to worship me God is speaking in this place what place where this is being said in Jerusalem in the holy city and the city that God's name is going to dwell within so stefanos here he's giving a history of the Jewish people he is stating in a very clear way these slanderous remarks that you said let me tell you I'm gonna tell you what the Torah says that's what Steven implies that he is a person that is aware of the Torah and one that knows the Torah and Liz bases his faith upon with the Torah says so notice how this coming forth this redemption is for the purpose of worshiping God in this place now keep reading verse verse eight and what's mentioned and he gave to him this is going back to offer him so we have some prophecy that God gives the offer huh and now he's good to go back to where we were earlier on in the book of Genesis Genesis chapter 17 specifically and he gave to him a covenant of circumcision now today I would say that most believers most that are part of Christianity don't realize the message of circumcision we're in the book of Acts this is the book that describes that early congregation of the redeemed the ecclesia what we call the church and notice what he says here he emphasizes this covenant of circumcision the word covenant is important because it speaks of relationship and it speaks of expectations let me say them another way it speaks of promise so what is the covenant of circumcision well through this relationship with God based upon the words that God gave to Abraham what's going to be the outcome circumcision what's circumcision I hope you know it is the death of the flesh not to live according to that evil that carnal inclination but to live a sanctified life set apart for the purposes of God by the Word of God through the power of God that is through the person of the Holy Spirit so he gave to him the covenant of circumcision and thus it says he beget Isaac and he circumcised him on the eighth day now this is the second time that circumcision is mentioned and here we have that that statement that it's on the 8th day 8 speaks about a new beginning 8 speaks about a king debate speaks about a redemptive number so this covenant of circumcision this death of the flesh if it it is preparation for experiencing Redemption experiencing the kingdom when we walk in a redemptive manner we're not living in the flesh but we're living in the spirit matter is a connection between Redemption and the Holy Spirit and we've already learned earlier on let's go back and I want to give you that citation if you go back to the middle or towards end of verse 7 we have that that they went forth and worshiped me this going forth is a redemptive word and what's the purpose of it worship worship is when we live and behave by means of the spirit sin is when we live in the flesh so circumcision the death of the flesh and or that we might live a redemptive worshipful way and we express that 8 that is that kingdom number we express the kingdom can you continue on and verse 8 and Isaac Jacob now the implication is that isaac begat jacob and jacob the twelve patriarchs now look at verse 9 and the patriarchs notice what they did they were envious now who were they envious of well the scripture says Joseph what were they envious about now many people they'll say that tunic of stripes and that's what it is piscine many people say many colours well it doesn't have to be many colors doesn't say anything about colors it says a coat of of stripes passing let me point out to you that this was simply to show a uniqueness of Joseph now Jacob he might have understood that we know that he loved Joseph in a unique way what was that different than the rest not really but because the text of the Torah follows up by saying that Joseph was the son of his old age what does that mean he wasn't working full-time his other sons they were managing things and Jacob had an opportunity love to give to invest in the life of Joseph and he gave Joseph this this tunic of stripes but you know what really brought about contempt among those brothers who's being called here the patriarchs I'll tell you what brought it about and that is those dreams that he had God was speaking to him Joseph was given revelation that he wanted to share and what happens his brothers rejected that revelation they weren't interested in the things of God and knows what it says and they they sold sold him that's implication into Egypt and God was with him now when we look at this construction in the the Greek language it stands out there's two primary conjunctions in the Greek language one is Chi the other is de tie shows a normal continuation I went to the refrigerator and I open up the door and I took out food and I ate it that word Chi is and and it just shows a continuation I went there I open I took out I ate and so forth I've mentioned to you that this word day almost every week I tell you that it shows a contrast it shows a difference so we look at this text and at first glance and whenever we just look at the scripture at first glance we usually err I know I do we read and they sold him into Egypt so he was sold to Egypt and God was with him I would expect it say but God was with him but it didn't and now what this is his show is this that what Joseph went through even though it was wrong it was sinful for his brothers to do that God used it he didn't call us it he wasn't surprised by it but God did not cause the brothers to do that but God used it in order to deepen his relationship with Joseph knowing that when he went through in Egypt this other slander this mistreatment this these years a decade or more in hard labor prison all of this would prepare him for the tests so it says look at the end of verse nine and God was with him now verse 10 and God delivered him from all of his ellipses that is all of his tribulation all of his trials and gave him a notice it was because of these trials now could Joseph get it another way yes he could God does not need or desires to use hard things to give us but sometimes that school of hard knocks what we go through we learn a lot from and it says that he God gave to him Grace and wisdom before in the sight of Pharaoh the king of Egypt so all of this that transpired it was all to prepare Joseph to come before Pharaoh and to show to demonstrate in the sight of Pharaoh this grace and this this wisdom grace is for the will of God his covenant promises to be made a reality that's what God supplies so it can be the outcome and wisdom is a discernment in action it's just not a discernment but it's when you discern it and you follow it up in proper behavior well read on and verse 10 and he appointed him that is the king of Egypt Baro he appointed him leader over Egypt and over his whole house what do we see here we see how Pharaoh trusted Joseph now he was able this is Pharaoh was able to CERN something unique unique about Joseph that he was trustworthy and therefore he appointed him as leader over all of Egypt and over all of his household verse 11 now this was providential because a famine was coming and a famine shows God's displeasure he was displeased with Egypt because of idolatry he was displeased with with Jacob's family because of a lack of faithfulness a rebellious a a desire to reject God's revelation through the dreams that he gave Joseph so look now to verse 11 and came a famine in all of Egypt and Canaan and Great Tribulation that's the second time that that word tribulation is there now if you're a good student of the New Testament you know the word ellipsis is a word that's also used in regard to the last days and Joseph what he went through prepared him that he might live in a discernible way meaning people could see his uniqueness see the success that he was able to to receive and demonstrate because of what he went through the wisdom and the grace that he had received so look again it says there was a famine in all of the land of Egypt and Canaan and great affliction and there was not found food or sustenance or provision by the fathers literally the fathers did not find sustenance verse 12 but Jacob hurt now Jacobs the leader and he hurt we see so many times that things begin to move good in a person's life or in a people's life because they heard this was revelation you say well it was just that he heard that there was food in Egypt but this was part of God's plan in order to do what God said was going to happen that this people would soldier in a foreign land and that they were going to be mistreated all of this all of this is prophesied and now we see it coming about so there was not found for the patriarchs for the fathers and his sustenance but Jacob heard being seed or grain or corn in Egypt and what did he do he sent forth out now that's literally that word many of you know the word Stello is to send the word Apple is to send forth you know the word apostle apostle is the English enunciation of the word Apostolou which means to send forth an apostle is one who is sent forth but this has a second preposition to or prefix it's a preposition but its function as a prefix here and that second prefix is a word F out so here this out refers to exa the patriarchs they were disobedient in rejecting Joseph so what's gonna happen they're gonna go out of the land but this is not and many foolish individuals who are replacement theologians who believes that God has turned his back on Israel that the promises in the Covenant are no longer in effect for the Jewish people the sons of daughters of Jacob they think that here you go they broke covenant with God they acted in faithlessness and God put them into exile that's true and he said he was going to do so for four hundred years why four hundred for the number four whether it's four or four hundred or four thousand relates to the world God did this for the benefits of the world why do I say that because when the children of Israel came back and by the way that says a lot God didn't leave them in Egypt God brought them forth as a a fulfillment of what he promised to do to the patriarchs not because they deserved it but because of his word his call and his covenant promises that the patriarchs responded true in obedience I'm talking about Avram and its and Yaakov so it is so wrong to think that God when the people are in Excel that's it he always brings him back he brought them out of Egypt he brought them babble babble on and God is bringing them out of the nations that countries all the countries today back to the land we are living in significant time so Jacob heard that there was grain or corn in Egypt what did he do he sent forth out the fathers our fathers first so he sent them out first the father's to go to Egypt and we know why to buy grainier there was grain there and notice what it says and Joseph sent and he called his father Jacob now Jacob he was called to Joseph and what was for the purpose of that well the purpose of that was to show almost a type of resurrection Jacob thought that Joseph was dead but now he's alive many of the rabbinical commentators speak of this same type of imagery in regard to in the book of Hebrews does as well by the way when when Avraham considered figuratively that that God raised Isaac from the dead because he was supposed to kill him Avraham had already come to conclusion Isaac is dead and he only had to carry it out God interrupted that and that was a type and we talked about that in our studies of Hebrews chapter 11 it was a figurative of a resurrection and the same thing is being said here Jacob believed Joseph was dead but now we find look again we find that that Joseph sent to call and there's another prefix with to call with meaning I'll call to be with him and notice what it says as he did so he called his father Jacob and all of his relatives 75 SOLAS now next week we're running out of time deceived him were to come back to the last few verses next week but I want to point out that many people and we're going to see a few illustrations why they look at Stephens speech and they say you know what Stephen said is it's not accurate according to the Torah for example he has a number 75 but if you look in the book of Genesis it speaks about 70 so why does the Torah say 70 and in the New Covenant 75 that's an error well you have to remember something there are two traditions of the Torah meaning two primary textual main you scripts for the Torah one is called the Masoretic text the other is the scrolls that they found at the Dead Sea the Dead Sea scrolls and what we learn and I've shared this with you many times before when we look at the Dead Sea Scrolls we find that they are in closer agreement with the Septuagint the Greek translation and because the New Testament was written in Greek they quote the Septuagint it's not an error it's a different tradition in the manuscript and we know why that is if you are a good student of the Septuagint you will realize that in speaking about about the group that came out of Egypt there is a debate when we look at the Septuagint or the Dead Sea Scrolls they have the number 75 why well not only were there two sons of Joseph born in Egypt we normally speak of of Manesh a in a frame but the Masoretic excuse me the Dead Sea scrolls and the Septuagint says there was actually nine seven additional ones well the Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls they take out Jacob and Joseph because they were already there so that's two so they take camp them out of the number 70 that means you have 68 and then you add these seven additional ones because the Masoretic text does include Ephraim and Menashe so it's not an error there's two major traditions and if we're honest the Dead Sea Scrolls which the Septuagint is based upon is a better tradition a better manuscript when I say tradition I'm talking about a manuscript family we have two major families of manuscripts the Masoretic which was done in the seventh century AD and the Dead Sea scroll were done around the time of Messiah his birth so obviously texts from 700 years earlier would be better so it's not an air it's not a mistake here Stefano's when he's speaking he is simply speaking based upon the Hebrew manuscript that he had which was used from which was used for the Septuagint the Greek translation he was quoting that it's not an air so that's why we have the number 75 in the visuals now look at verse 15 and Jacob went down to Egypt and there he died and also the father's now I'm gonna stop with that in verse 15 because we're going to get into another issue that is going to take more or additional time and that is dealing with what the critics say is another mistake and the issue is what are we talking about I want to give you kind of the foundation of that make a summary statement and then we'll end the study when we look at what's said here the key person is Joseph now when we talk about a plot of land that Avraham bought we usually refer to and it's found in the book of Genesis going to Genesis chapter 23 when Avraham bought from the the sons of of het where he bought the Murata Mikayla the Cave of the patriarchs where Avraham Yitzhak and Yakov Sarah rifki and also Leia are buried so those three pairs by the word by the way the word Machpelah comes from word multiplying or to double something so it's the Cave of the multiples the Cave of the doubles referring to a couple Abram and Sarah Isaac and Rebecca and Jacob and Leia we know that Rahel is buried near Beth left him Bethlehem but in this passage who takes the forefront who's been at the center Joseph Joseph is not born in Barrie excuse me Joseph is not buried and have room he's buried in shut him and presumably this wouldn't be hard to understand when they brought Joseph bones as he commanded to the land they buried him in Shechem and there's no disagreement about that and would it be hard to to believe that the other patriarchs not referring to Avram Isaac and Jacob but referring to his brothers and the others they were buried in Shechem and Shechem has to do with a very very important I do and that is God's dwelling and we see here in this passage of scripture that Shechem is going to take the forefront not have room well I'll give more information about that when we begin our study next week as we continue on in the book of Acts and chapter 7 until next week may God richly bless you Shalom from Israel well we hope you will benefit from today's message and share it with others please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of love Israel org again to find out more about us please visit our website love Israel not bow RG there you will find articles in numerous other lectures by Baruch these teachings are in video form may download them or watch them in streaming video until next week may the Lord bless you in our Messiah Yeshua that is Jesus as you walk with Him Shalom from Israel [Music]

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Keywords: Bible & Teaching, Creation, Israel, Missions & Ministry, Religion, Spiritual Growth, Education

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Length: 46min 27sec (2787 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 01 2018