Week 42 Acts
Stephen’s historical synopsis of the OT comes in Acts 7 (too late for me to benefit since I finished the OT seven weeks ago). But it’s a tidy condensation to look at in retrospect.
Stephen gave the account because he was on trial for his life. His opponents were a group of men from the Synagogue of the Freedmen (whatever exactly that was and whoever exactly they were) and they called Stephen to account.
Anyway 52 of chapter seven’s 60 verses are Stephen’s OT-summary. It’s a good bird’s-eye view. I recognize a lot of the events and stories. There’s at least a dozen quotes straight from the OT and the rest is accurate reporting (as far as I can see Stephen isn’t fictionalizing).
But one thing – a subtle thing – that Stephen emphasized in his narrative was Israel’s track-record of rejecting the Lord’s representatives. Stephen doesn’t beat the Freedmen over the head with it. But – for example – he does tell about the brother’s rejection of Joseph (near the beginning). And the people’s rejection of Moses (in the middle). And Israel’s systematic persecution and murder of the prophets (near the end). Finally Stephen goes out on a very thin limb and says that his audience followed suit. They had rejected and killed the Righteous One.
Stephen’s story of the OT was a helpful review for me.
But there was more to it than what I saw at first. And what I didn’t see at first is what got Stephen killed.