History of the Jewish People from
Abraham to Christ
In Acts chapter 7, Stephen, one of Jesus'
disciples, gave an account of the history of the
Jewish people from the time of Abraham until
shortly after the ascension of Christ. The account
is reproduced below (headings and dates have been
added for clarity):
And
the high priest said (to Stephen), "Are these things
so?" Acts 7:1 (NAS)
The Call of Abraham
(approximately 2090
B.C.)
And
he said, "Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of
glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in
Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to
him, 'Depart from your country and your relatives,
and come into the land that I will show you.' "Then
he departed from the land of the Chaldeans, and
settled in Haran. And from there, after his father
died, God removed him into this country in which you
are now living. Acts7:2-4 (NAS)
The Covenant with Abraham
(approximately 2090 to 2070
B.C.)
"And
He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of
ground; and yet, even when he had no child, He
promised that He would give it to him as a
possession, and to his offspring after him. "But God
spoke to this effect, that his offspring would be
aliens in a foreign land, and that they would be
enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.
"'And whatever nation to which they shall be in
bondage I Myself will judge,' said God, 'and after
that they will come out and serve Me in this place.'
"And He gave him the covenant of circumcision; Acts
7:5-8 (NAS)
Isaac, Jacob (Israel) and the 12 Sons or Tribes
of Israel
(approximately 2070
B.C. to
1890 B.C.)
"and
so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and
circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became
the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve
patriarchs. Acts 7:8 (NAS)
Joseph, the Son of Jacob & the move to Egypt
(approximately 1890
B.C. to
1870 B.C. )
"And
the patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him
into Egypt. And yet God was with him, and 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. "Now a famine came over all Egypt and
Canaan, and great affliction with it; and our
fathers could find no food. "But when Jacob heard
that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers
there the first time. "And on the second visit
Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and
Joseph's family was disclosed to Pharaoh. "And
Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and
all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five
persons in all. "And Jacob went down to Egypt and
there passed away, he and our fathers. "And from
there they were removed to Shechem, and laid in the
tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money
from the sons of Hamor in Shechem." Acts 7:9-16
(NAS)
Children of Israel Enslaved in Egypt
(approximately 1850 to 1450
B.C.)
"But
as the time of the promise was approaching which God
had assured to Abraham, the people increased and
multiplied in Egypt, until there arose another king
over Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. "It was he
who took shrewd advantage of our race, and
mistreated our fathers so that they would expose
their infants and they would not survive. Acts
7:17-19 (NAS)
God brings up Moses
(approximately 1530 to 1450
B.C.)
"And
it was at this time that Moses was born; and he was
lovely in the sight of God; and he was nurtured
three months in his father's home. "And after he had
been exposed, Pharaoh's daughter took him away, and
nurtured him as her own son. "And Moses was educated
in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a
man of power in words and deeds. "But when he was
approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to
visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. "And when he
saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended
him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking
down the Egyptian. "And he supposed that his
brethren understood that God was granting them
deliverance through him; but they did not
understand. "And on the following day he appeared to
them as they were fighting together, and he tried to
reconcile them in peace, saying, 'Men, you are
brethren, why do you injure one another?' "But the
one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away,
saying, 'Who made you a ruler and judge over us?
'You do not mean to kill me as you killed the
Egyptian yesterday, do you?' "And at this remark
Moses fled, and became an alien in the land of
Midian, where he became the father of two sons."
Acts 7:20-29 (NAS)
The Exodus from Egypt and the 40 years in the
Wilderness
(approximately 1450 to 1400
B.C.)
"And
after forty years had passed, an angel appeared to
him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame
of a burning thorn bush. "And when Moses saw it, he
began to marvel at the sight; and as he approached
to look more closely, there came the voice of the
Lord: 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.' And Moses shook with
fear and would not venture to look. "But the Lord
said to him, 'Take off the sandals from your feet,
for the place on which you are standing is holy
ground. 'I have certainly seen the oppression of My
people in Egypt, and have heard their groans, and I
have come down to deliver them; come now, and I will
send you to Egypt.' "This Moses whom they disowned,
saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?' is the
one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer
with the help of the angel who appeared to him in
the thorn bush. "This man led them out, performing
wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the
Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. "This
is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, 'God
shall raise up for you a prophet like me from your
brethren.' Acts 7:30-37 (NAS)
The Law of Moses and the Rebellion of the
Israelites
(approximately 1450-1400
B.C.)
"This
is the one who was in the congregation in the
wilderness together with the angel who was speaking
to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers;
and he received living oracles to pass on to you.
"And our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to
him, but repudiated him and in their hearts turned
back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, 'Make for us gods
who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out
of the land of Egypt-- we do not know what happened
to him.' "And at that time they made a calf and
brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing
in the works of their hands. Acts 7:38-41 (NAS)
The Israelites, the Tabernacle (Tent), and the
False gods
(approximately 1450 to 1000
B.C.)
"But
God turned away and delivered them up to serve the
host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the
prophets, 'It was not to Me that you offered victims
and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was
it, O house of Israel? 'You also took along the
tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha,
the images which you made to worship them. I also
will remove you beyond Babylon.' "Our fathers had
the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just
as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it
according to the pattern which he had seen. "And
having received it in their turn, our fathers
brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the
nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until
the time of David. Acts 7:42-45 (NAS)
David, Solomon and the Building of the Temple
(approximately 1000 to 960
B.C.)
"And
David found favor in God's sight, and asked that he
might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.
"But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.
"However, the Most High does not dwell in houses
made by human hands; as the prophet says: 'Heaven is
My throne, and earth is the footstool of My feet;
what kind of house will you build for me?' says the
Lord; 'or what place is there for My repose? 'Was it
not My hand which made all these things?' Acts
7:46-50 (NAS)
The Prophets of God Persecuted by the Children
of Israel, then Jesus was Crucified
(Prophets approximately 900
B.C. to 400
B.C., Jesus was crucified in
approximately
A.D. 30)
"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? And
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 (NAS)
The Jews React to Stephen's Message:
Stephen Proclaims that Christ is Risen from the Dead
(Note: this was a few years
after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into
heaven, or approximately 32-37
A.D.)
"Now
when they heard this, they were cut to the quick,
and they began gnashing their teeth at him. But
being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently
into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus
standing at the right hand of God; and he said,
"Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of
Man standing at the right hand of God. But they
cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears,
and they rushed upon him with one impulse. And when
they had driven him out of the city, they began
stoning him, and the witnesses laid aside their
robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And
they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the
Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" And
falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud
voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!"
And having said this, he fell asleep." Acts 7:54-60
(NAS)
Note: Dates provided courtesy of "The Daily
Bible" with Commentary by F. LaGard Smith,
Harvest House Publishers, Eugene Oregon, 1984.
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