The Start of the Covenant through Abraham

Acts 7:1-8, Psalm 105:7-15, Genesis 15, Genesis 18:1-21

Stephen is a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. He speaks boldly to the very people who are threatening his life. Here, Stephen gives the longest sermon in the book of Acts. The overall theme is God’s faithfulness to Israel throughout the story of the Old Testament. The Covenant started with Abraham, even when he and his wife Sarah doubted God’s promise of a lineage that numbered as the sands of the earth. Sarah was so doubtful she laughed at God and his promise! But God, being the One True God, was merciful and fulfilled his promise to them both, bringing their son Isaac into the world. God never forgets his covenant with Abraham, which is then passed down to David to be fulfilled in Christ. Stephen is wise to start his sermon in this way. He begins with the patriarch of the Jewish faith, pointing to the faithlessness of the same couple with whom God made the covenant. He shows that God has been doubted since the very beginning -- so much so that Sarah was impatient for God to fulfill his promise of a son and sent her servant to provide one for Abraham. Sarah’s doubt caused hurt, resentment, bitterness and highlights that the human condition of fear and grasp of control leads to disaster and destruction. God’s timing is perfect and glorious. We do not get to dictate how God will fulfill his promises. 

Stephen uses the very word and knowledge of the Pharisees to point out the continued unfaithfulness of God’s people today. The Pharisees were waiting for their version of Christ, and when Jesus did not fulfill that picture, they rejected him. Just the way Sarah refused God’s son’s timing and forced her servant, Hagar, to produce Ishmael for Abraham. Church, we must trust and, in doing so, surrender the picture of how we think God is going to move in our lives. We must trust that God swears by himself to keep his word, and we know that his word is true because of the gospel that was put on display for us. 

Where are you clinging to your picture of God’s call on your life? 

Where do you need to surrender to where God is calling you to be sent?