Acts 7:9-16. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on December 04, 2022.
Stephen is addressing the Sanhedrin in defense of the charges of blasphemy that are against him. This is no true defense before the court, unless you see Stephen making his defense to the heavenly court.
When you have a defense lawyer today, they work every angle in order to get you out of the charges. This is not what Stephen is doing. There is a time to use the law and lawyers to defend yourself. However, there are times that call for standing up and witnessing for Christ, and this is the choice Stephen makes.
Last week, we looked at Stephen reminding them of the call of Abraham, and how he responded to God. In today’s passage, Stephen moves forward to Joseph. The family of Jacob was messy. You might say that all families can be messy. You probably were not raised in a family that had children from four different wives. Stephen reminds them of God’s call upon Joseph, and how the envy of the tribal patriarchs was used to accomplish God’s will.
Let’s get into our passage.
As with Abraham, Joseph will be highlighted for his faith in God, especially in God’s promises, despite numerous difficulties.
Stephen points out that the brothers of Joseph were envious of him. The patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel were spread out in their ages. Genesis does not give the years of their births, but we know that Joseph is the eleventh son, and that the twelfth son, Benjamin, is his full brother. They were both birthed by Rachel. An interesting note, Benjamin is the only one of the boys that was born in Canaan, Bethlehem specifically.
So, what was driving this envy of Joseph by his older brothers? First, we have the issue of these four wives. Jacob only wanted to marry Rachel, but he was tricked by Laban into marrying her older sister Leah. Jacob worked for Laban for another seven years to pay the bride price for Rachel. Leah was stuck married to a man who did not want to marry her and loved her sister. This developed a rivalry between these two sisters where Leah was able to produce four sons for Jacob, and Rachel none.
This drove Rachel to deploy the “Sarah Tactic.” She gave her maidservant, Bilhah, to Jacob in order to have children by proxy. Bilhah would be considered a second-tier wife, and her children would be considered Rachel’s legally. This, of course, is not as satisfying as having children, but Rachel gets a couple of “points on the board” out of it. Leah then deploys the same tactic with her maidservant, Zilpah, who also has two children (this time considered Leah’s). Notice that Jacob is in a tight pinch. He was tricked into marrying Leah. Then, how could he say, “No,” to the love of his life who could not have children, and was sorely distressed? Also, how could he say, “No,” to Leah once he acquiesced to Rachel? Long story not quite as long, Leah births six sons for Jacob, with another two by her maidservant, Zilpah, for a total of eight. Whereas, Rachel had two sons- she died birthing the second-, with another two by her maidservant, Bilhah, for a total of four.
Such rivalry between mothers has a way of impacting the children who grow up hearing it and witnessing it.
Secondly, Jacob clearly favored Joseph over the rest of the boys. He loved him more than the others.
As if this was not enough, we are told of an incident when Joseph was seventeen. He told his dad about some bad things that his brothers were either saying or doing. The passage is quite vague as to what the “evil” was. I am sure they saw him as a tattle tale from that time forward.
Lastly, God saw the hatred of the brothers toward Joseph, and chose Joseph to save his family. Joseph received two dreams that did not take a great interpreter of dreams to interpret. Each dream depicted the brothers all bowing down to Joseph. This seems to be the last straw. The ten brothers (minus little Benjamin) lie to their father about Joseph being killed by a wild beast, when they had sold him to slave-traders on their way to Egypt. Okay, we can give Reuben a pass on this one, so the nine brothers.
Let us note that God will use the envy of these older brothers to position Joseph exactly where he needs to be in order to save his family from a famine that will come later.
God had a plan and a purpose for every one of them. However, God blessed Joseph even though it came with a lot of heartache. Stephen emphasizes that God was with Joseph and gave him favor. It sounds so spiritual and awesome. But remember, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. Imagine the sense of rejection that went deep into his heart. Imagine watching the hills as you are drug into Egypt, hoping that your father will come to rescue you. Yet, it never happened. These things stung and did not feel like the favor of God.
It started to get better when he was purchased by Potiphar. God blesses him and he is put in charge of the whole household. Then, Potiphar’s wife falsely accuses Joseph of trying to rape her. Joseph is thrown into the royal prison. There he interprets dreams for Pharoah’s baker and butler. He asks the butler to remember him when he is restored, and yet, the butler forgets about him for several more years.
Psalm 105:19 gives us an interesting commentary on this situation. “Until the time that his word came to pass, the Word of the LORD tested him.” Sometimes, we romanticize the idea of God being with us and calling us to great things. We may imagine a few things going wrong, but then they will be quickly fixed when we pray. However, the patriarchs and the prophets went through many difficult things, even though they were truly blessed and called by God.
Can we trust God? Can we believe that He is working all things to the good for us, and for others? It takes a long time, but Joseph eventually ends up as second only to Pharaoh, in charge of storing up the grain of Egypt for the coming seven years of famine. This was all because God gave Pharaoh a dream about seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. God also gave Joseph the interpretation of the dream. This greatly impressed Pharaoh.
Yes, the good times had come, but it was through much pain and sorrow. Would my faith in God survive such experience? I pray that it would, just like Joseph’s faith in God persevered to the end.
Stephen then reminds us that the famine was severe enough that it affected Jacob’s family in Canaan. Jacob then sends the ten brothers down to Egypt to buy grain, which sets up an interesting interaction.
The ten brothers do not recognize Joseph in his Egyptian garb, years later, and not expecting him to be 2nd in command of Egypt. Joseph then tests them to see if they have treated his younger brother, Benjamin, in a manner comparable to how they had treated him.
It is clear to Joseph that the brothers are sorry for their treatment of him, and have not harmed Benjamin. He reveals himself to them and has his family brought into Egypt to live without fear of the famine. Joseph would care for them.
This raises a question. Why would Jacob go into Egypt knowing that God had told Abraham that his descendants would be slaves in a foreign land? In Genesis 46:3, God tells Jacob not to be afraid to go down to Egypt. God promised to bring his offspring back to the land of Canaan and give them possession of it. Jacob was able to move to Egypt because he had learned to trust God, even when it might lead to a difficult experience.
Again, Stephen is using the history of Israel and its patriarchs to highlight the importance of faith in God, versus resisting the Holy Spirit. How important it is to surrender our lives to God. Of course, we pray for God to help us and deliver us, but we are content with any development because we know that He is always working it towards a good end. Yet, every generation of Israel had people who resisted the Holy Spirit, just as we have today.
May we hear what God is saying to His Church today, here in these united States of America. Too many Christians are resisting the leading of the Holy Spirit. We need to learn to let go of the tradition of men that we have been taught, and cling to the Word of God that we can see with our eyes, and the Spirit of God Whom we can know intimately if we seek Him with all of our heart. Let’s seek him today!