9“The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, 10and rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household. 11Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers could find no food. 12But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh. 14Then Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all.”
Stephen’s inspired summary of the history of Israel proves unapologetically theological. His selection of key times and events was not intended to be a mere recitation of facts, but to build toward his ultimate charge:
“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the 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.” (Acts 7:51–53)
Stephen correlates the jealousy of Jacob’s sons against their brother Joseph with what the religious leaders had fomented against Jesus. Many have considered Joseph to be a type of Christ, in that he was rejected by his “brethren” yet was without any recorded sin in his life. Yet in their rejection of him was the salvation of Abraham’s descendants. “God was with him,” and he won favor with Pharaoh, who saw him and desired to use his wisdom. All these parallel the life of Jesus, who grew in wisdom and “the grace of God was upon Him” (Luke 2:40).
We see in this passage a veiled analogy for the second coming of our Lord. When the brothers first met Joseph they didn’t recognize him, but he revealed himself fully upon their second visit. When Jesus returns the second time, there will be no mistaking Him. And in the end, all of Israel will be saved, just as in the days of Joseph.
The story is patterned in the life of the early believers, and Stephen would be the first to experience the ultimate rejection: execution at the hands of his own Jewish brethren. And so also is the rejection of many Christians today at the hands of their families, neighbors, and governments. Yet the Word of God keeps spreading; God keeps raising up those who proclaim the message of salvation from God in the person of Jesus Christ.
Lord, thank You for those who have sacrificed for the message of salvation.
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