A Wild Olive Tree In The Midst of A Vineyard!

Acts 7:2-8

2 And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, 3 and said to him, 'Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.' 4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. 5 And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession and to his descendants after him. 6 But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. 7 'And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,' said God, 'and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.' 8 Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs. NKJV

We left off in our last study at Stephen’s address to the highest court in Israel­­ – the Sanhedrin. Stephen considered them his fellow brothers in sin and the providential fathers of the covenants. Stephen implored them to listen carefully to the voice of God, as he gives the history of the covenants to this particular providence, in ethnic Israel’s history. Lord willing my goal in this study is to look back and remember the purpose of circumcision.

The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, . . .

Let’s begin with the name “The God of glory”. At this point in Israel’s history, the God of Israel had no identifiable name. His divine attributes were clearly seen in creation (Rom.1:20), and as we will see, no one in Abram’s day perceived God as the creator. Abram lived in an idolatrous land called Ur of the Chaldeans. In the land of Ur or often called Mesopotamia they worshiped the creation, specifically, the moon gods – Nannar and Ningal. This was the land in which the tower of Babel was built. The city would come together to erect towers to the moon or other various objects in the heavens as the Egyptians have done. Abraham, most likely, felt the need for more than just the worship of these inanimate objects and the imperfection and dissatisfaction from it. The term “glory” reflects the perfection of all of God’s attributes (Ps.29:3). Ps.29:3 is a reference to the Holy Spirit in the creation of the world (Gen.1:2-4). The apostle Paul stated that this mortal body must put on immortality to enter the glory of God (1Cor.15:50,53). Therefore when Stephen uses the name, the God of glory, he is saying that the God of perfection appeared to Abraham. God did not appear to him in the corrupted image of a man (Rom.1:23), but in the perfection of a personal Creator of the creation – the God of gods. God does not come to him and say, “Build Me a tower and make a name for yourself,” no, He says, “Leave your land, your family, and your gods for the glory that I will show you.”

Stephen also refers to Abraham as “our father”. This is a mutual title that both Jews and Gentiles can rejoice and unite in. Abraham was given the promise of being the father of many nations (Gen.17:4,5) and a blessing to all the families of the earth (Gen.12:3). [Rom 4:16-18 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed — God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be." NKJV ]

Stephen was a Hellenistic Jew and therefore was able to submit to the council in regards to having Abraham as a “spiritual father” of the covenants. The God of glory is now recorded as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Ex.3:6; Matt.22:32). These men are considered fathers because the covenants were passed down through them; and Stephen submitted to them as his fathers (Gen.28:13). This is where the Sanhedrin stumbled. They considered that Abraham was only the father of the Jews (Lk.3:8). They were not willing to share the God of glory with the rest of the nations for fear of persecution and loss of power. Stephen addressing the council in this way is laboring to get the Sanhedrin to identify and sympathize with the purpose of the covenants. [Rom 9:3-5 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. NKJV ]

There is a reason why Jesus commanded the apostles to preach the gospel to the Jew first and then to the Gentile (Matt.10:5,6). In the order of salvation it was to come to the Jews first (Matt.15:24), because of the special covenants in them and the condemnations from them (Rom.2:9-10). Israel, as a federal head, is an elect nation that was to be the example to the surrounding nations. When they failed to keep God’s covenants it brought them into the bondage and tyranny of those Gentile nations. In spite of the persecution, they were to remain as a witness of the covenants of God for those nations. Ethic Israel is indeed a special people for the sake and purpose of God (Jn.4:22). We cannot change that any more than we can change the mind of God. But as we study further into Acts we will see how salvation comes to the Gentiles; for in Israel’s rejection the Gentiles receive salvation. [Rom 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." NKJV ]

. . . before he dwelt in Haran, . . .

Apparently, God appeared to Abraham while he was still in Ur with Terah – Abram’s father. We know from history that Abram was going to Canaan, but at that time God had not given Abram the full revelation of where he was sending him. Somehow, Abram talked his father into leaving the land of Ur and settled in Haran where Terah died (Gen.11:31,32).

. . . and said to him, 'Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.'

It is important for us to understand this promise; because it is in regards to, not only a people group, but to a particular land. God called Abram out of a pagan territory to a place where his descendants would be able to worship the God of glory and establish a nation in a peculiar land. Abram, at this point, did not know where that land was. All Abram had been given was the command to leave the gods and country of the Chaldeans and follow the voice and promise of God. In the same way, we as Christians are to leave everything and follow Jesus Christ (Jn.10:27;Mt.8:22;16:24). This is a picture of God calling a sinner out of his slavery to the idols of this world into the light of God’s grace and the glory of His kingdom (1Thess.2:12). This promise has a special connection to the land, not just to the people that God will bless. If we skip over this fact we will miss the purposes of Israel, the covenants, and therefore the salvation of the Gentiles. [Rom 11:16-22 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. NKJV ]

Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.

Stephen is readdressing the purpose of the land to the Sanhedrin. Israel, in these days, was living in the land that God had promised Abraham. Stephen is reestablishing and reaffirming the covenant God made with the fathers of Israel. To summarize, Abraham was called out of an unrighteous land, to establish a righteous land, by the hand of God. This is a key to our future, because when Israel fails to fulfill their part of the covenant, Jews and Gentiles find the need for an eternal dwelling made by God (2Pet.3:13). The atonement of Christ was not just for the people of God in all nations, but even more specifically for the land of Israel.

Num. 35:33-34

So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. Therefore do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.'" NKJV

There has been much blood that was spilled to defile the land of Israel. Jesus Himself accused Israel of shedding the blood of the prophets sent to her (Lk.13:34). And Jesus Christ Himself was also crucified outside of the city. But the very blood that was shed by them was ordained of God to atone for the land and the people (Dt.21:8). [Dt. 32:43 "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people." NKJV ] Therefore the covenant of promise is not only for His people scattered throughout the world, but for the land that has been given to the house of Israel and of Judah.

Jer 31:31-37

"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name): "If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the Lord, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever." Thus says the Lord: "If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the Lord. NKJV

The most important thing to take from this prophesy at this point is what God promised about the houses of Israel as “a nation”, not as a church. This new covenant applies to them in a different way than it does to the Gentile nations. This covenant says, in the days that He “confirms” it, that the laws of creation for the sun, the moon, and the stars will not depart from Him if Israel would cease to be a nation. This is not a covenant referring to the new heavens and a new earth; because Peter said, that this present world will be destroyed by fire in the Day of the Lord (2Pet.3:10-12). Therefore this can only be referring to the millennial reign of Christ in the earth at His second coming making the Old Covenant obsolete (Heb. 8:7-13; Rev.20). This covenant is in regards to time, not an eternal kingdom. We know this because in the eternal kingdom there will be no need for the sun, the moon, or the stars; for Jesus Christ will be its light (Rev.21:23). This is by the divine and sovereign decree of the Father of glory (Eph.1:17). Therefore, Stephen is reaching out to his brethren with the compassion and understanding of Jesus Christ. Stephen was for them and not against them. However, he needed to tear down their false ideologies of the covenants and their intent. Their intent was to save both Jew and Gentile, for in Abraham all the nations are called, but in Israel salvation is fulfilled. Therefore we worship the God of glory and the Father of lights who does not change or hide in the darkness of sin, but has shown His glory into the hearts of His people in the face of Jesus Christ – the King of the Jews, by whom Gentiles are made members of the Commonwealth of Israel. [Eph 2:11-13 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh — who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands — that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. NKJV ]

And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession and to his descendants after him.

What Abraham was not able to inherit in the flesh, will be able to inherit at the resurrection of the just, which will be raised to power with Christ at the second coming (Rev.19-20). This is a perpetual promise to His descendants until those creation ordinances depart from the Lord’s decree in the destruction of the world at the end of time. And all who call upon the name of the Father and Lord of glory will have a part in the first resurrection and the second death will have no power over them (Rev.20).

But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years.

But before the children of Abraham would inherit this land they would have to earn it through sufferings and the oppression of evil. While it was a free gift to be called out of sin, it was going to cost them to remain in the tower that God has built (Lk.14:28). The purpose of this was to prepare them for the glory and weight that they were to carry (Gal.6:2). In this way Jesus carried it all. It was Jesus who suffered at the cross for sinners and earned our right to heaven; but even now, like the children of Abraham, we suffer as slaves and are oppressed at the hands of evil men. Christians are often the most suppressed in the land, and they have to labor twice as hard to get their message out (1Cor.15:10).

'And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,' said God, 'and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.'

But here in lies the good news for the children of Abraham and all his descendants. God will bring every act into judgment (Ecc.11:9). Egypt or anyone who sins against God and His people will be judged. And just as Israel was then able to be separated unto God, His sheep will be separated unto Him at the last day when God will separate His sheep from the goats. [Matt 25:32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. NKJV ] This is the purpose of the millennial period, as Christ rules the nations with a rod of iron, the gospel of His grace will be unhindered to reach every tribe and nation. Therefore we pray for his kingdom to come to rule in our hearts and in the entire world. Christ will separate His sheep from the goats one by one until the final rebellion (Rev.20).

Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.

And the sign of this covenant was circumcision. This was an illustrative covenant to show how Abraham was separated from an unrighteous land unto a holy land by the hand of God. Therefore the children of Israel, confirmed by the fathers, were to practice this until the fulfillment of Christ being cut off from His people unto the glories of His throne, that God earned with His own right hand (Dan.9:26; 1Pet.3:22).

What is our application? Have you cut off all the sin that keeps you from the presence of Jesus Christ in your life? Have you put off your former lifestyle and put on Jesus Christ?

Col 3:8-11 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. NKJV