Slices
Prepare
As you come to God’s Word, pray: ‘Open my eyes, Lord, that I might see wonderful things in your Word. Amen.’
Bible passage
39 ‘But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, “Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt – we don’t know what has happened to him!” 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and revelled in what their own hands had made. 42 But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:
‘“Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
for forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
43 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek
and the star of your god Rephan,
the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile” beyond Babylon.
44 ‘Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favour and asked that he might provide a dwelling-place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.
48 ‘However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
49 ‘“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
50 Has not my hand made all these things?”
Explore
How would you go about explaining human culture to an ant? There would be severe challenges. We have less ability to understand God than an ant has to understand us, but God has always found ways to communicate.
God has often used pictures and symbols that make sense to us. The tabernacle made sense to the Israelites in the desert – they needed a visual reminder of God’s presence with them. Once they settled, they needed a temple as the focus of their worship (vs 44–47).
But as Stephen spoke, the Sanhedrin members must have seen how absurd the idea of the Most High living in a man-made building was (v 48). They regarded the Temple in Jerusalem in some sense as the epicentre of God’s presence on earth. But how could anyone think of the God who made the universe being contained in four walls?
God is not contained, but he has chosen to dwell among his people. His followers are his temple. When Jesus returned to heaven, through the Holy Spirit he remained close – closer than ever before. Here is another reason the church is unstoppable.
Respond
Jesus said, ‘… I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you’ (John 14:20). Consider what that actually means. What differences does it make to how you live your life?
Deeper Bible study
‘Lord, you liberate, equip and commission your people for the continuance of your mission to make everything new.’1
In Stephen’s fourth epoch (vs 44–50), which includes the settlement in the Promised Land and the establishment of the monarchy, religious structures are mentioned for the first time.2 In referring to the Tabernacle and the Temple, Stephen is derogatory to neither. He clearly explains that the Tabernacle was made according to God’s plan. Stephen’s thesis is that God is a pilgrim God, not restricted to one place. He appeared to Abraham in heathen Mesopotamia; he was with Joseph in Egypt; he came to Moses in the desert of Midian: establishing each place as holy ground. He travelled with the Israelites through the desert in a moving tent. God’s presence cannot be localised (v 48) and no building can confine him. God has pledged a solemn covenant, so that wherever the people are, he is with them. In this way Stephen opened the door for the sharing of the gospel to the Gentiles and the world.
Do you see God as the God of the world? Paul says that in Christ there are no ethnic, financial or gender inequalities.3 But is this true in the church? I met a young Indian convert in England who said, ‘I shouldn’t have to become an Anglo-Saxon to become a Christian’. He had faced this racial discrimination. This is not new: in the early church, Judaisers insisted that Gentile converts be circumcised. We need to grow churches that are self-governed, self-supported and self-propagated.
John Dekker was a missionary to the ‘stone age’ Dani tribe of Irian Jaya in New Guinea. He shared the gospel with them and encouraged them to share it with their fellow tribespeople in their own way. The Dani church was developed as an indigenous church. This startling story of God’s working in a remote tribe is given in the book Torches of Joy.4
Pray for missionaries all over the world to teach the gospel in the local language and culture.
1 Communion Service of the Church of South India 2 Stott, The Message of Acts, p 138 3 Gal 3:28 4 John Dekker and Lois Neely, Torches of Joy, YWAM, 1999
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Nehemiah 13; Luke 10
Pray for Scripture Union
Local Mission Partner Schools Christian Worker Project in Oswestry is working to help schools address mental health issues. Please pray for Jane Webber who was due to deliver lessons in primary and secondary schools on anxiety and offer mentoring for students referred by staff.
