⁴ . . . From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living. ⁵But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, even when he had no child, He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him. ⁶But God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be aliens in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. ⁷ ‘And whatever nation to which they will be in bondage I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve Me in this place.’ ⁸And He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.”

Notice the emphasis on God as the initiator in this narrative as Stephen tells it. “God had him move …,” “But He gave him …,” “He promised that He would give …,” etc.  It’s all about God. No one can refute Stephen on the foundational understanding he is laying down. If we look ahead, we can see his message is going to be spurned, not on the basis of logic or theological reasoning but because of guilt and outright rejection: “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him” (Acts 7:54).

As the story unfolds, Stephen highlights that the land of Israel was given by God. Abraham was promised it, but he didn’t receive it in his lifetime. The descendants of Abraham, namely the Jews, would possess the land—but make no mistake, it was God who gave it to them. Stephen inserts a quick survey of the four hundred years of enslavement in Egypt and notes that God was the judge of all their adversaries.

From here, Stephen refers to the covenant of circumcision and the immediate descendants of Abraham, namely his son Isaac and grandson Jacob, all foundational to everything else about the Jewish people. He emphasizes the circumcision not only of Abraham but also of Isaac and, he implies, his descendants down to Jacob’s children, who became the “twelve patriarchs” from whom all Jews are descended.

Stephen builds the case about what sets Jews apart from all others. They are united by common ancestry, through the sons of Jacob, but also through the common right of circumcision, which was the outward symbol that set them apart from all the other nations. He is building his case slowly, toward the goal of the story, namely, “[T]he Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.” Stephen’s message was moving toward conviction.

Lord, help me keep focused on Jesus Christ, the main point of Scripture.