Acts 7:6-8 6And God spoke in this way, that ‘his offspring will be sojourners in a foreign land and they will enslave and mistreat them four hundred years.’ 7‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after these things, they will come out and worship me in this place.’ 8And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. 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.
The next part of Stephen’s apologetic defense in verses 6-7 summarizes the fulfillment of God’s promises of descendants to Abraham and the time they were in Egypt. Stephen compresses the stories from Genesis 15:13–14 to Exodus 3:12. This period covered over 400 years, from when Jacob and his sons joined Joseph in Egypt until the exodus led by Moses. God promised Abraham that his descendants would go to a land not theirs for a period of time, and finally to the land of promise.
The time in Egypt was difficult and got worse until Abraham’s descendants were enslaved. As prophesied, God brought punishment upon Egypt through the plagues. One clear emphasis in these verses is how God fulfills his plans no matter what obstacles get in the way. Slavery in Egypt could not stop God’s plan to bless all people through Abraham. There is also a subtle warning in verse 7 that anyone who opposes God, God’s plan, or God’s people, like Egypt did, would face judgment.
Stephen may also have purposefully changed the quote of Exodus 3:12 from worshipping on the mountain to this place, which was possibly an allusion to the temple, like 6:13-14. While in Egypt, the people did not know much about the God of Abraham, with limited stories and revelation. Once they got to Mount Sinai, God gave them more revelation, particularly the laws that would guide them in their relationship with him as holy people. The status of the temple becomes more of an issue as the speech continues. God’s plan and purpose for the temple was to be a place of worship and prayer (Luke 19:46).
Verse 8 introduces the sign of the covenant of circumcision established with Abraham in Genesis 17:10-14. Every male was to be circumcised, which would serve as a reminder of God’s promises to the people. As Paul’s letter to the Galatians indicates, circumcision had become a defining quality for the Jews, distinguishing the insiders from the outsiders. A certain pride developed among the Jews, with the idea that they were the special people of God to the exclusion of Gentiles, and one of the primary indicators of this was circumcision. Paul also wrote about this issue to the Romans in 2:28-3:1. Circumcision meant nothing without love (Galatians 5:6). The Jews misunderstood one of their most precious and identifiable practices.
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