It’s not surprising there’s so much hatred expressed against the nation of Israel today, because it’s in Israel’s long history that our greatest weakness as humans is exposed.
This is made clear in the story of Stephen in Acts 6. In Acts 6:8, Stephen is described as “a man full of God’s grace and power” – the obvious proof of which was his “great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.” But in verses 9-10 he’s up against “members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen” who want to “argue” with him, but they didn’t stand a chance “against his wisdom in the Spirit by which he spoke.”
So just like their ancestor Jacob, the Freedmen resorted to cunning. In verses 11-14 they “secretly persuaded” people to say Stephen was speaking blasphemy, and even “producing false witnesses” to testify against him. And even though “Stephen’s face was like the face of an angel” in court (15) they still pursued their devious plot to get rid of him.
And here’s the point, because in answer to the charges against him, Stephen tells the story of Israel in Acts Chapter 7 – how God stuck to his Covenant with Abraham in amazing ways, made Joseph “ruler over Egypt,” did all sorts of “wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the desert.” Stephen also slips in a few home truths about Israel’s rotten behaviour – how “the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph” and “sold him as a slave into Egypt,” and how “our fathers refused to obey him” when God sent Moses to rescue Israel out of Egypt, and how they made their own gods to lead them instead.
Stephen’s point being, that God had been faithful to Israel but Israel was always digging in its heels and opposing him, just like the Freedmen were now opposing Stephen, even when it was obvious that “the Spirit” was with him. So God tells it like it is through Stephen in Acts 7:51: “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears. You are just like your fathers.” How? “You always resist the Holy Spirit,” and that, in a nutshell, is the history of Israel.
The lesson of Israel’s history being Hebrews 3:12, that “none of us go the Israel route of refusing to trust and rely on God, and turning our backs on him.” But we also learn from Israel “What a struggle it is to trust God”….(next blog)
Buck To Basics 