71 Then the Chief Priest said, "What do you have to say for yourself?" 2 Stephen replied, "Friends, fathers, and brothers, the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before the move to Haran, 3 and told him, 'Leave your country and family and go to the land I'll show you.' 4 "So he left the country of the Chaldees and moved to Haran. After the death of his father, he immigrated to this country where you now live, 5 but God gave him nothing, not so much as a foothold. He did promise to give the country to him and his son later on, even though Abraham had no son at the time. 6 God let him know that his offspring would move to an alien country where they would be enslaved and brutalized for four hundred years. 7 'But,' God said, 'I will step in and take care of those slaveholders and bring my people out so they can worship me in this place.' 8 "Then he made a covenant with him and signed it in Abraham's flesh by circumcision. When Abraham had his son Isaac, within eight days he reproduced the sign of circumcision in him. Isaac became father of Jacob, and Jacob father of twelve 'fathers,' each faithfully passing on the covenant sign. 9 "But then those 'fathers,' burning up with jealousy, sent Joseph off to Egypt as a slave. God was right there with him, though - 10 he not only rescued him from all his troubles but brought him to the attention of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He was so impressed with Joseph that he put him in charge of the whole country, including his own personal affairs. 11 "Later a famine descended on that entire region, stretching from Egypt to Canaan, bringing terrific hardship. Our hungry fathers looked high and low for food, but the cupboard was bare. 12 Jacob heard there was food in Egypt and sent our fathers to scout it out. 13 Having confirmed the report, they went back to Egypt a second time to get food. On that visit, Joseph revealed his true identity to his brothers and introduced the Jacob family to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and everyone else in the family, seventy-five in all. 15 That's how the Jacob family got to Egypt. 16 They were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb for which Abraham paid a good price to the sons of Hamor.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Acts 7:1-16
Commentary on Acts 7:1-16
(Read Acts 7:1-16)
Stephen was charged as a blasphemer of God, and an apostate from the church; therefore he shows that he is a son of Abraham, and values himself on it. The slow steps by which the promise made to Abraham advanced toward performance, plainly show that it had a spiritual meaning, and that the land intended was the heavenly. God owned Joseph in his troubles, and was with him by the power of his Spirit, both on his own mind by giving him comfort, and on those he was concerned with, by giving him favour in their eyes. Stephen reminds the Jews of their mean beginning as a check to priding themselves in the glories of that nation. Likewise of the wickedness of the patriarchs of their tribes, in envying their brother Joseph; and the same spirit was still working in them toward Christ and his ministers. The faith of the patriarchs, in desiring to be buried in the land of Canaan, plainly showed they had regard to the heavenly country. It is well to recur to the first rise of usages, or sentiments, which have been perverted. Would we know the nature and effects of justifying faith, we should study the character of the father of the faithful. His calling shows the power and freeness of Divine grace, and the nature of conversion. Here also we see that outward forms and distinctions are as nothing, compared with separation from the world, and devotedness to God.