Southern Christian University

Acts Class Session #05

James A. Turner

Hello students. When our time was up last week, we were studying from Acts chapter seven, reading Stephen’s speech before the Sanhedrin. I called attention last time that in my Bible the head note says, Stephen's defense, but actually Stephen is not making any defense. I think he knew what they were going to do with him. That Sanhedrin court was the same court that had violated many of the rules of the court. It had purposely condemned Jesus to death for no proper cause, and Stephen knew that they were going to do the same thing to him. And what he does, he briefly reviews the history of the people of Israel from the call of Abraham up until the present, and shows that they have a consistent pattern of rejecting the leaders that God had set forth for them, that they had rejected Joseph, and that they had rejected Moses, that they had rejected many of the Old Testament prophets and had killed many of the Old Testament prophets, and then concluded by condemning the court. And saying, "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: As your fathers did, so do ye."

When our Class Session was up we counted Acts 7:9 as our beginning place for this Class Session, but I have decided to discuss the four hundred years of bondage as mentioned in Acts 7:6 which refers back to Genesis 15:13. There are other Old Testament references which speak of it as four hundred years. Evidently in the passages where it is spoken of as four hundred years, the writers must be rounding off to the nearest number. Many Bible students have concluded that Israel was in Egypt for four hundred years or for four hundred and forty years as given in Exodus 12:40, “The time that the people of Israel dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.” Clark’s Commentary says that the Samaritan text reads, --- “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel and of their fathers, which they sojourned in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt was 430 years.”

Turn to Galatians chapter three, beginning with verse fifteen, "Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be a man's covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one made it void, or addeth thereto." God had made a covenant with Abraham, that if he would leave his country and his kindred and go into the land that he would show him that he would make him great, and through his seed all nations or all families of the earth would be blessed. Verse sixteen, "Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed, he saith not unto seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." So Christ was the fulfillment of the promise of Genesis 12:3, that through the seed of Abraham all nations of the earth would be blessed, and that Christ would make a way of salvation for all men.

Galatians 3:17, "And this I say, a covenant, confirmed beforehand of God, the law, which came four hundred and thirty years after, doth not disannul, so as to make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise." Note that Abraham was seventy-five when he went into the land of Canaan, in Genesis 11:27-12:7, and he was a hundred years old when Isaac was born, (Genesis 17:24, 18:10, and 21:1-2). Isaac was sixty when Jacob and Esau were born, and Jacob was a hundred and thirty when he went down to Egypt. And I did not put that reference down. I thought I had that reference about Isaac was sixty when those twins were born. Well, we will take time to find that reference. That reference will be in chapter twenty-five, I believe. Please write down that reference about Isaac being sixty when the twins were born. Genesis 25:26, "And afterward his brother came forth, and his hand had taken hold of Esau's heel: So his name was called Jacob." Remember they were twins, and Esau came first. "Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them." And then Jacob was a hundred and thirty years old when he went down to Egypt, Genesis 47:9-10. So what does this mean? Galatians 3:16-18, Paul says that the law, speaking of the Old Testament law, given to the people of Israel on mount Sinai, after they came out of Egyptian bondage, and that was four hundred and thirty years from the promise that God made to Abraham until the giving of the law. And Abraham had been in Canaan for twenty-five years when Isaac was born. And Isaac was sixty years old when Jacob was born, and Jacob was a hundred and thirty years old when he went to Egypt. So we had twenty-five years for Abraham being in the land before Isaac was born. And then Isaac was sixty years old when Jacob and Esau were born, plus he was a hundred and thirty years old when he went to Egypt. And so put those together, twenty-five and sixty and a hundred and thirty equals two hundred and fifteen years that they were in the land of Canaan before they went to Egypt. And then they must have been in the land of Egypt for two hundred and fifteen years when God brought them out under the leadership of Moses, so two hundred and fifteen years in the land of Canaan and two hundred and fifteen years in the land of Egypt and God brought them out. I hope that will help you in thinking about the time in the Old Testament passages and all that is involved in that.

Let us turn back now to Acts 7:9, “And the patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt: And God was with him." Stephen is giving a very brief account. Actually he is briefing from Genesis chapter thirty-seven through chapter fifty of Genesis, the last of Genesis. The patriarchs moved with jealousy against Joseph, and sold him into Egypt, and God was with him. But why were those brothers of Joseph so jealous and why did they sell him into bondage? They were jealous of him, because he was a better boy than they were, and number two, Jacob had shown favoritism toward him and had made him a coat of many colors, and they saw that and they despised him. Joseph also had a dream that when they were out in the fields gathering the sheaves, and his sheaves stood up and their sheaves bowed to him. They interpreted that as meaning that, are you saying to us that the day is coming when we will bow down to you? Well, they finally did. When they went down to Egypt the second time, they bowed to him before he made himself known to them. And so they sold him into Egypt. When he was seventeen years of age, his father sent him to see how the brothers were doing herding the flocks. They saw him coming afar off, and they said, here comes this dreamer. They decided that they would kill him, but Reuben talked them out of that, and got them to put him in a pit. He was planning to come back and get him out of the pit, but the Midianites and Ishmaelites came along, carrying their trading products to Egypt, and they sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver.

Genesis 37:19 reads, “they said one to another, here comes the dreamer. Come, now, let us kill him, and throw him into one of the pits. And we shall say a wild beast had devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” So those were mean, hateful brothers, but God used those mean brothers to get Joseph down to Egypt to look out for all of Jacob's household when the famine came on. So a long story, chapters thirty-seven through fifty, that is briefed here in a few verses. But God was with Joseph, verse ten, "And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt."

The Midianites and Ishmaelites carried him down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh bought him. And we read that Joseph was good looking and handsome. Potiphar's wife cast her lustful eyes on him and wanted him to lie with her. And she repeatedly tried to tempt him and get him to lie with her. And finally one day when the men were out of the house, she took hold of his coat and was going to try to pull him on the bed with her, but he left the coat in her hand and fled. She told her husband that he had come in to rape her, and that led to his being put in prison. He was a good man in prison. It was not long before he was put in charge of the prison. So you see how God was with him. He interpreted the dream of the butler and the baker. He asked the butler to remember me before Pharaoh, but he forgot all about it, or made out like he did, until Pharaoh dreamed the dreams about the seven fat cows that came up out of the water and then seven lean, ugly cows came up after them, and the seven lean and ugly cows devoured the fat cows. Then he saw a stalk of corn that had seven good ears, and then he saw a stalk with lean ears that ate up the seven fat ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and his dream troubled him. He called in the wise men and magicians of Egypt, and they could not interpret the dream. Finally the butler said I remember, and he told Pharaoh that Joseph could interpret his dreams. So Joseph was called in. Joseph told Pharaoh that the dreams were one, that there would be seven years of plenty, and then seven years of famine, and that the food needed to be stored up during the seven years of good crop years for the seven years of famine. And Pharaoh said, we do not have any one wise as you, and that will be your job. So Joseph was made the prime minister of Egypt when he was thirty years of age. And he stored up the food during those seven years of plenty. And then it was sometime after that that the brothers went down for the first time to get food. But I better move on. I would like to review the whole story, but you probably know the story. It is very interesting, and if you do not, please turn back and read those chapters.

Acts 7:11, "Now there came a famine over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction: And our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent forth our fathers the first time." When those brothers went to Egypt to get grain Joseph made out like that they were spies, that they had come to spy out the land. They did not recognize him, but he recognized them, and spoke to them through an interpreter, and asked appropriate questions to learn about his father and Benjamin to see if they were still living. He told them that they could not see his face the next time unless they brought that younger son, with them. Jacob did not want to send him, but they told him, he has strictly charged us that we should not see his face unless we carried Benjamin. I believe it was Judah, the one that said, that vowed to his father that he would see to it that Benjamin was not left behind. Well, the second time when they went down, Joseph had them to prepare a meal for them. When they left he put his cup in Benjamin's sack, and then he sent his steward after them to ask the question, “Wherefore have you rewarded evil for good,” and they all went back and bowed down to him. And it was after that, that he could not restrain himself any longer. He made himself known to his brethren. He sent wagons for them to bring everything to -- all of their possessions and all their whole household to Egypt (Genesis 44:2-45:28). Verse fourteen, "And Joseph sent and called to him Jacob his father, and all of his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls." Now, that reading is different from the reading in Genesis 46:26-27. I would suggest that you write down in the margin by verse fourteen, Genesis 46:26-27, because there is a difference in the reading. You know how some people are just ready to count every little difference a contradiction, but there is no contradiction, and I will tell you what probably the solution to the matter is after we read the reference. Reading from Genesis 46:26-27, "All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his offspring, not including Jacob's sons wives, were sixty-six persons in all. And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob, that came into the house of Egypt were seventy." And so you see that verse twenty-seven is counting Joseph and his wife and his two sons to make the seventy. So the difference would be as stated there in verse twenty-six, there were sixty-six persons in all, but not including Jacob's sons' wives. Well, Joseph's wife is counted, and that would leave the wives of the eleven other brothers, if all of them were married, and there were probably just five wives that were living. It looks like from the Old Testament scriptures that the women back there did not usually live as long as the men. So probably just five of those eleven brothers’ wives were living when they went to Egypt (Acts 7:14). "And Joseph sent and called to him Jacob his father, and all of his kindred threescore and fifteen souls." That would be seventy-five, see, instead of seventy. "And Jacob went down into Egypt and he died himself and our fathers. And they carried him over to Sychem, and laid him in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver of the sons of Hamor of Shechem." Jacob was a hundred and thirty when he went to Egypt, (Genesis 47:9) and he lived seventeen years in Egypt. And when he died, from Genesis chapter fifty, we read that Joseph had him embalmed after the manner of Egyptians, which took forty days, and they mourned for him thirty more days, making seventy days (Genesis 50:1-3). And then after that, Joseph told Pharaoh how that his father had had him to promise that he would not bury him in Egypt, but would carry him and bury him in his burying place in the land of Canaan. And Pharaoh was glad for Joseph to do that. Reading from Genesis chapter fifty, picking up with verse six, "And Pharaoh answered, Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear." And so Joseph went up to bury his father: “And with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as the house of Joseph, and his brothers, and his father's household: Only their children, and their flocks, and their herds, were left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. And when they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a great and sorrowful lamentation: And he made a mourning for his father seven days. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians." So all of the leading elders of the land, went with Joseph and his brothers to bury his father. And they gave him a state funeral.

Back to Acts 7:15, "And Jacob went down unto Egypt, and he died, himself, and our fathers." And when Joseph died, remember he made them promise that they would carry his bones back when they went back to the land of Canaan. Joseph, of course, believed in the promises of God, that God would deliver them from Egypt as he had promised (Genesis 15:13-14). Acts 7:16, "and they were carried over unto Schechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a price in silver of the sons of Hamor of Schechem. But as the time of the promise drew nigh, which God vouchsafed unto Abraham." And I think that would be referring to Genesis 46:3, when Jacob was going down to Egypt, he worshipped, and God told him not to be afraid, to go to Egypt, and that he would make of him a great nation while he was in the land of Egypt. Reading from Genesis46:1 ff, "So Israel took his journey and all that he had, and came to Beersheba." And that is the southern extreme of the land of Canaan. "And offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. Then he said, I am God, I am God the God of your Father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt; for I will make of you a great nation. I will go down with you to Egypt; and I will also bring you up again: And Joseph's hand shall close your eyes." And so it was God's promise that he would make a great nation of the people of Israel, just seventy-five souls when they went down to Egypt. But God said, while you're there, I will make a great nation of you. So in that two hundred and fifteen year period, God fulfilled the promise. And so we see the fulfillment there, verse seventeen. "But as the time of the promise drew nigh, which God vouchsafed unto Abraham, the people of Israel grew and multiplied in Egypt." See, they multiplied, so that there would be the fulfillment of that promise. "Till there arose another king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph." It is thought that the so-called shepherd kings were in power when Jacob went down to Egypt. They were given the land of Goshen because they had their flocks and their herds, and the shepherds were despised by the Egyptians (Genesis 46:31-34). But evidently the Egyptians were back in power, as stated here, that there arose another Pharaoh who knew not Joseph. Acts 17:18, "Till there arose another king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. The same dealt craftily with our race, and ill treated our fathers, that they should cast out their babes, to the end that they might not live."

Now, he is moving into the book of Exodus. The people were multiplying so fast, that this Pharaoh was afraid that they would become too powerful and might join themselves to an enemy and deliver themselves, and they would no longer have them as slaves. So he first gave the commandment to the midwives that they kill all the male babies, but the midwives feared God, and they did not do it. They said that the Hebrew women were livelier than the Egyptian women, and the babies were born before they got there. With the people having to work so hard they must have been more lively, but those midwives feared God. And then he commanded that all of the boy babies were to be cast into the Nile River. "So the same dealt craftily with our race, and ill treated our fathers, that they should cast out their babies, to the end that they might not live. At which season Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and he was nourished three months in his father's house. And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son." You remember how that his mother made a basket of bulrushes, and put him down at the place where Pharaoh's daughter came to bathe. His sister Miriam was watching from a distance, and when she saw that Pharaoh's daughter had compassion on the child, she went to her and asked if she would like for her to go and get a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. Pharaoh's daughter did, and she went, of course, and got her mother. So that's what this has reference to. "And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son." And then after he was weaned, he was carried to Pharaoh's daughter, and he was counted then legally as Pharaoh's daughter.

Acts 7:22 indicates that Moses was trained to be the next Pharaoh of Egypt. "And Moses was instructed in all of the wisdom of Egyptians, and he was mighty in words and in works." He was already prepared to be the next Pharaoh of Egypt if he wanted to be. But as stated in Hebrews chapter eleven, he chose rather to “suffer ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” We will read that reference in a minute. Acts 7:23, "But when he was well nigh, forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, smiting the Egyptian: And he supposed that his brethren understood that God by his hand was giving them deliverance: But they understood not." Now notice that when Moses was forty years of age, he took it upon himself to try to lead his people, but they rejected him. And then after forty more years of wilderness training when he was much better prepared, God called him to go down and to deliver his people. And he gave every excuse that he could give. "And the day following, he appeared unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one another? But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me, as thou killest the Egyptian yesterday? And Moses fled at this saying, and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons. And when forty years were fulfilled." That would be Exodus chapter three that we are ready to read about here. Note that Stephen divides the life of Moses into three forty-year periods. Verse twenty-two, he is forty years old when he made the choice, and then verse thirty, forty years latter, God appeared to him in the burning bush and wanted him to go and lead his people. You will do well to highlight the latter part of verse twenty-three and then part of verse thirty, and then part of verse thirty-six. He was leading the people then for forty more years. This reference is the only one that divides Moses’ life up into the three forty year periods. "And when forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai in a flame of fire in a bush. And when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: As he drew near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord. I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not behold. And the Lord said unto him, Loose the shoes from thy feet: For the place whereon thou standeth is holy ground." Who is this person that speaks to Moses as recorded there in verse thirty-three? "And the Lord said unto him, Loose these shoes from thy feet: For the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." I think surely that person is Christ. In I Corinthians chapter ten, Paul talks about, he said, "I would not have ye ignorant my brethren, concerning our fathers, that they were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual food, and did all drink of the same spiritual Rock: For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: And that Rock was Christ." So Christ was with the children of Israel in their journey to Canaan, and it was Christ that spoke to Moses at the burning bush. In the Revelation, John, on two different occasions was going to worship an angel, but each time he was told not to that they were just fellow servants of God, and you remember that when Cornelius bowed down to the apostle Peter, Peter told him to stand up, for I also am a man, and here Moses is told to pull his shoes off of his feet, for the “place whereon ye stand is holy ground.” So he is told to worship. In the fifth chapter of the book of Joshua, Christ appeared to Joshua before the taking of Jericho. "Joshua was by Jericho: He lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold a man stood before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him." Joshua must have been a brave man. "Are you for us or you for our adversaries? And he said no, but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped. And said to him, what dost my Lord bid his servant? And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, pull off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place where you stand is holy." So Moses is told to worship there in Exodus chapter three, and here Joshua is told to worship. It would have to be a divine person. So put that with I Corinthians ten, and would not the person in Exodus three and Joshua five be Christ?

Okay. Where did we get to? Verse thirty-three, And remember that forty years prior to that, he took it upon himself to try to lead the people of Israel, but they had refused him. And then after forty more years of wilderness training, he was much better prepared to lead them, and he gives every excuse that he can think of as to why he is not qualified to lead them. And that may be true of some today, that they want a place of leadership that they are not prepared for, and then in later years when they are well-prepared, they may try to say, I am not the man. . "And the Lord said unto him, Loose thy shoes from thy feet: For the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I am come down to deliver them. And now come, and I will send thee unto Egypt. This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge?" That was back forty years prior, see. "Who made thee a ruler and a judge? Him hath God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the hand of the angel that appeared to him in the bush. This man led them forth." Acts 7:36, "This man led them forth as they wrought wonders and signs in Egypt." That is talking about the ten plagues, and then their deliverance from Egypt, and their wandering in the wildness because of their rebellion. "And in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years." You remember how God parted the Red sea with the strong east wind, the waters were congealed, and they stood up like a wall on each side of the people of Israel as they passed through on dry ground. When they passed over the waters came together again and drowned the Egyptian army. "This is that Moses, who said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me." Notice that that quotation is from Deuteronomy 18:15. Do you remember that Peter used that reference in his second gospel sermon, in Acts three, and referred it to Christ? And so here Stephen is doing the same thing.

Acts 7:37, "This is that Moses, who said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall God raise up to you from among your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness. With the angel that spake to him in mount Sinai, and with our fathers. Who received living oracles to give unto us: To whom our fathers would not be obedient." See how that he continues to show the disobedience of the people of Israel. "But thrust him from them and turned back unto their hearts to Egypt, saying unto Aaron, Make us gods that shall go before us: For as this Moses, who led us forth out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him." That is Exodus chapter thirty-two. When God called Moses up on the mountain to give him the Ten Commandments and other things, they went away into calf idolatry. They had learned to worship calves in Egypt. They wanted Aaron to make them gods to go before them, and Aaron knew what they wanted, and he had them to bring their gold rings, and he melted the gold and made them a golden calf. They had worshipped their golden calf and had risen up to play when Moses came down from the mountain; he and Joshua heard all the noise. When Moses learned what had happened, he threw down the two tables of stone and broke them. Verse forty-one, "And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. But God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets." And this reference is from Amos chapter five, beginning with verse twenty-five. "Did ye offer unto me slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? Yea ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of the god of Chiun the figures, which ye made to worship them: And I will carry you away beyond Babylon." And I believe that meant that they would be carried into Assyria. "Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness."

Acts 7:44, "Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he appointed, who spake unto Moses, that he should make it according to the figure that he had seen." We read about God giving Moses a pattern for the tabernacle and the holy vessels, while they were encamped at Mount Sinai for nearly a year, and they made the tabernacle and all the holy vessels during that period of time as given in Exodus chapters twenty five through forty. In Hebrews8:1-5, it is spoken of as a pattern of the “true tabernacle.” Reading from chapter eight, beginning with verse one of the book of Hebrews, "Now in the things which we are saying the chief point is this: We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." The first compartment of the tabernacle was a type of the church, and the second was a type of heaven. "For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices: Wherefore it was necessary that this high priest also have somewhat to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing that there are those who offer the gifts according to the law." Most of the Jewish people were still trying to worship according to the Old Testament law when this Hebrews was written, but the law was fulfilled when Christ died on the cross (Colossians 2:14). "Who served that which is the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses is warned of God when he is about to make the tabernacle: For, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the mountain that I showed thee in the mount." The latter part of verse five is a quotation of Exodus 25:40. After God had given him instruction for the making of the tabernacle and the holy vessels, he told him, you make everything according to the pattern showed thee in the mount. And Moses and the people of Israel made everything according to the pattern. It was very important that they make everything according to the pattern because it prefigured the true tabernacle that was to come, the church, and the second division heaven. So back to verse forty-four, "Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he had appointed, who spake unto Moses, that he had make it according to the figure that he had spake it." So figure is used in this reference instead of pattern. "Which also our fathers in there turn brought in with Joshua when they entered on the possession of the nations, that God thrust out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David." They carried the tabernacle and the holy vessels into the land when they went into the land of Canaan, and after that period of initial conquest, they set up the tabernacle at Shiloh. God had already given them instruction that the place where he would have them set up the tabernacle would be the only rightful place for them to offer sacrifices for sin, and other sacrifices to God, and would be the only rightful place for them to go and keep the three annual feasts. And it is Joshua, I think chapter 18:1, that says that they set up the tabernacle at Shiloh.

Reading from Joshua 18:1, "And the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle there. And the land was subdued before them." So after that initial conquest of the land, they set up the tabernacle at Shiloh. For more than three hundred years, that was the place of worship for the people of Israel. And then in the days of Eli, his sons serving as priest were vile men, so the priesthood was corrupted, and the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant. The ark of the covenant gave them a lot of trouble, and finally they decided that they had better send that ark of the covenant back to the land of Israel, but it never did go back to Shiloh. I Samuel 5:1-7:1 This was the beginning of God destroying Shiloh as a place of worship. I believe it is in the book of Jeremiah, that God through Jeremiah, warning them if they did not repent that he would destroy the temple in Jerusalem, and reminded them how that he had already destroyed Shiloh as a place of worship. Jeremiah 7:12-15 All right, David found favor in the sight of the Lord Acts 7:45-46. After David became king, you remember his first attempt to carry the ark to Jerusalem, it failed because they were carrying it on an ox cart, instead of carrying it by the staves on the shoulders of two Kohathites of the tribe of Levi (Numbers 4:5-6, 4:15; II Samuel 6:1-2 But David then did his homework and found out how that the ark was to be properly carried. And the second attempt, they were successful in carrying it to Jerusalem (I Chronicles 15:1-4, 15:13-15, 16:1). And David had built a tent for the ark of the covenant. I said tabernacle, but the ark of the covenant.

Acts 7:46, "So David found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands; as saith the prophet, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is at my feet: What manner of house will ye build me? Saith the Lord: Or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?" And that is from Isaiah chapter sixty-six, beginning with verse one. And in Solomon's prayer of dedication as given in I Kings chapter eight, he called attention to the fact that God would not dwell in a temple made with his hands. He said, “the heavens cannot contain thee, much less this house that I have built.” Now Stephen comes to the conclusion and he condemns the court. Verse fifty-one, "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: As your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers." They were murderers of the Son of God. "Ye who received the law as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not." So they did not keep the law. They rejected their leaders. And Stephen said you're just like your father, you are uncircumcised in heart and ears. You go contrary to the way of the Lord in everything.

Acts 7:54, "Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and gnashed upon him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." I believe in every other reference, Christ is spoken of as being seated at the right hand of God, but in this one reference, he is standing at the right hand of God, showing that he is concerned about what is happening to this faithful servant Stephen. "And saying, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. But they cried out with aloud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord. And they cast him out of the city, and stoned him: And their witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul." And this is the Saul of Tarsus that is later referred to as Paul from Acts thirteen. "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And that is one of the seven statements that Jesus made while he was on the cross. "And he kneeled down, cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." And again that is one of the seven statements that Jesus had made while on the cross, for the Lord not to lay the sins of those who were crucifying him to their charge. "And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul was consenting unto his death." And Paul speaks of himself later as the chief of sinners because he persecuted the church of God, and tried to destroy it, I Timothy chapter one. Saul was a young man when Stephen was stoned to death, and he was consenting unto his death, and those who stoned him laid down their garments at his feet. And going back to verse fifty-eight, "They cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul."

Chapter Eight

"And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church, which was in Jerusalem. And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles." And so the disciples, except the apostles, were scattered abroad in the land of Canaan, as stated here, Judaea and Samaria, so that would be the land of Canaan. "And devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul, laid waste the church, entering into every house, and dragging men and women committing them to prison." The King James reads Saul made havoc of the church, committing both men and women to prison. "They therefore that were scattered abroad went about preaching the word. But Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed unto them the Christ." Let me emphasize again that no signs, miracles, and wonders were done by anyone except the twelve apostles until they laid their hands on those seven men that were chosen to take care of this distribution of food to the Grecian widows. we have read in Acts 6:8, "That Stephen full of grace, and power, wrought great wonders and signs among the people." And he spoke with such wisdom that they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spake, verse ten. In this reading, we have another one of those seven, and he also has miraculous powers. Acts 8:5, " And Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed unto them the Christ." Do you remember how Jesus told his apostles to tarry in Jerusalem until they received that outpouring of the Holy Spirit and received power. He said the power would come upon them when the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8), and the kingdom of God was to come with power (Mark 9:1). And so they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judaea and Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the world. So the gospel was first preached in Jerusalem, and then in Judea and now it is time to carry the gospel to Samaria, and Philip does that.

Acts 8:6, "And the multitude gave heed with one accord those things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard and saw the signs which he did. For from many of those that had unclean spirits, they came out, crying with a loud voice, and many that were palsied, and that were lame, were healed. And there was much joy in that city. But there was a certain man." In the gospel book and in the book of Acts, Luke uses that word certain several times. "But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who beforetime in the city used sorcery, and amazed the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one." In other words, he was by his sorcery or by his magic, he was fooling the people, and evidently making them think that he had some kind of divine power, and he must have profited by his magic in a big way. Verse ten, "To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is that great power of God. Which is called great." So they were ready to attribute to Simon the sorcerer miraculous power when he did not have any miraculous power, but he was a sorcerer or a magician. He must have been very good. "And they gave heed to him, because of long time he had amazed them with his sorceries." A good magician can still amaze us today. They can surely make things look like they are actually happening when they are not. Several years ago a magician made it look like he was taking down the Empire State Building. They can really pull some good ones. "But when they believed Philip's preaching, good tidings concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." So what did Philip preach to the Samaritans? He preached good tidings or good news concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Chri