The
high priest said, “Are these things so?” He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Get out of your land, and from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.’ Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, God moved him into this land, where you are now living.
Acts 7:1-4
Acts 6 [8.] Stephen, full of faith and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. But some of those who were of the synagogue called “The Libertines”, and of the Cyrenians, of the Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia arose, disputing with Stephen. They weren’t able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and came against him and seized him, and brought him in to the council, and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” All who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face like it was the face of an angel.
Acts 7 [1.] The high priest said, “Are these things so?”
Acts 7 [2.] He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Get out of your land, and from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.’ Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, God moved him into this land, where you are now living.
Acts 7 [5.] He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his offspring after him, when he still had no child. God spoke in this way: that his offspring would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. ‘I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that will they come out, and serve me in this place.’ He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
Meaning:
Stephen stood before the council accused of speaking against the temple and the law (Acts 6:13-14). The high priest gave him the chance to answer. Stephen’s reply is the longest speech in Acts. It does not defend him point by point; instead it retells Israel’s history to show that God has always been at work beyond one place, and that Israel has often rejected the leaders God sent. It begins with Abraham.
- “Are these things so?”
The high priest’s question was a formal invitation to respond to the charges, much like the question put to Jesus at his own trial: “Have you no answer? What is it which these testify against you?” (Mark 14:60). The high priest at this time was probably Caiaphas, who had presided over the trial of Jesus.
- “Brothers and fathers, listen”
Stephen addresses the council respectfully, as fellow Israelites and elders. He speaks of “our father Abraham,” claiming the same heritage as his accusers. He is not attacking Israel’s story; he is telling it, and drawing out its meaning.
- “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia”
This opening is significant. The charge against Stephen concerned “this holy place.” Stephen reminds the council that God first revealed himself to Abraham not in the temple, not even in the Promised Land, but in Mesopotamia, a land of idols. The title “God of glory” recalls the psalm in which “The God of glory thunders” (Psalm 29:3). The glory of God is not confined to one building.
- “Get out of your land, and from your relatives”
Stephen quotes God’s call from Genesis 12:1: “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.” Genesis records this call when Abram was in Haran, but Stephen places God’s first appearance earlier, in Ur. Genesis itself supports this: God said, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees” (Genesis 15:7), and Nehemiah praises God who “brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees” (Nehemiah 9:7).
- “when his father was dead, God moved him into this land”
Genesis tells of the family’s stay in Haran and Terah’s death there (Genesis 11:31-32). Its figures have raised a question, since Terah could have been alive when Abram left; interpreters suggest that Abram was not the eldest son, or follow other ancient readings. Stephen’s point, however, is clear: God led Abraham step by step until he brought him “into this land, where you are now living.”
The Significance of Acts 7:1-4
- God takes the initiative
Abraham did not find God; the God of glory appeared to him. Salvation always begins with God’s call. Hebrews says, “By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance” (Hebrews 11:8).
- God is not limited to one place
Stephen’s accusers treated the temple as the place where God must be found. Stephen shows from their own history that God met their father Abraham far from Jerusalem. The same God meets people today wherever they call on him.
Cross-References:
Genesis 12:1: "Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you." The call Stephen quotes.
Genesis 11:31-32: "They went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there." The journey to Haran.
Hebrews 11:8: "By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed" Abraham’s obedient faith.
Conclusion: When the high priest asked whether the charges were true, Stephen began his defense with Abraham, to whom the God of glory appeared in Mesopotamia, far from the temple and the land. God called him out and led him, step by step, into Canaan. The opening of the speech shows that God takes the initiative in calling his people and that his presence is not bound to one holy place.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible