Atos 7

Atos 7

Ryle warned against it in his own context at the end of the nineteenth century: A right view of sin is the best antidote to that sensuous, ceremonial, formal kind of Christianity.… I can well believe that there is much that is attractive in this system of religion, to a certain order of minds, so long as the conscience is not fully enlightened. But when that wonderful part of our condition called conscience is really awake and alive, I find it hard to believe that a sensuous ceremonial Christianity will thoroughly satisfy us. A little child is easily quieted and amused with gaudy toys, and dolls, and rattles, so long as it is not hungry; but once let it feel the cravings of nature within, and we know that nothing will satisfy it but food. Just so it is with man in the matter of his soul. (Holiness) Thomas continues "Stephen, like Jeremiah, was facing a group of people who were convinced of their right standing and good relationship with God—a relationship based entirely on external things. They were incensed at what they considered criticism of the temple. After all, they believed their entire relationship to God was based on God’s promise to “put his name” upon the temple. Thus the Jews came to believe that association with the temple was tantamount to membership in God’s family. Stephen’s sermon was designed to show that this was never the case. True, Solomon had built the temple “for the name of the LORD” (2 Chron. 2:1). For the Jews, the temple was the only place in the world where God was “present” (in the Holy Place), and to criticize the structure by prophesying its destruction was to violate everything that was deemed sacred. Yet the author of Hebrews made the essential point that it was never the temple or the Old Testament sacrificial system that was the end in itself. Instead, it was what these Old Testament realities were types of (and thus pointed toward) that was important: the person and work of Jesus Christ (cf. Heb. 9). Thus the author of Hebrews insisted that Christ entered “not into a holy place made with hands … but into heaven itself” (Heb. 9:24). Jesus had entered the ultimate and true cosmic temple of God both as the priest who offered the sacrifice and as the sacrificial offering himself. Therefore, in the words of Chrysostom, “Jesus’ fulfillment of the Old Testament types now ‘sets the whole heaven against the temple’ in Jerusalem.”" (Reformed Expository Commentary - Acts) Related Resources: El Elyon: Most High God - Sovereign Over All Most High is frequently used to describe God in Scripture - Gen. 14:18; Ge 14:19; Ge 14:20; Ge 14:22; Nu 24:16; Dt. 32:8; 2 Sa. 22:14; Ps. 7:17; Ps. 9:2; Ps. 18:13; Ps. 21:7; Ps. 46:4; Ps. 47:2; Ps. 50:14; Ps. 57:2; Ps. 73:11; Ps. 77:10; Ps. 78:17; Ps. 78:35; Ps. 78:56; Ps. 82:6; Ps. 83:18; Ps. 87:5; Ps. 91:1; Ps. 91:9; Ps. 92:1; Ps. 97:9; Ps. 107:11; Isa. 14:14; Lam. 3:35; Lam. 3:38; Dan. 3:26; Dan. 4:2; Dan. 4:17; Dan. 4:24; Dan. 4:25; Dan. 4:32; Dan. 4:34; Dan. 5:18; Dan. 5:21; Dan. 7:25; Mk. 5:7; Lk. 1:32; Lk. 1:35; Lk. 1:76; Lk. 6:35; Lk. 8:28; Acts 7:48; Acts 16:17; Heb. 7:1 Acts 7:49 '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? (NASB: Lockman) KJV Acts 7:49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Heaven 1 Kings 22:19; Ps 11:4; Jer 23:24; Mt 5:34,35; 23:22; Rev 3:21 what kind of house Jer 7:4-11; Mal 1:11; Mt 24:2; John 4:21 Acts 7 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries GOD IS GREATER THAN THE TEMPLE HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND EARTH IS THE FOOTSTOOL OF MY FEET - This does not require much comment. God is not looking for a temple of stone, since as Creator of all things, the whole universe is His dwelling place. Remember the Sanhedrin have a terminal case of "Temple-olatry." The Sanhedrin had fallen into the same trap the Jews did in Jeremiah's day when he warned them "“Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ (Jer 7:4). So to correct (and gently rebuke) the deceptive thoughts of the Sanhedrin regarding the Temple in Jerusalem, Stephen describes God's "Transcendent Temple" - which is beyond and outside the ordinary range of human experience or understanding. Jeff Iorg paraphrases Isaiah's words "In other words, why do you think a special house will guarantee My presence?" This Old Testament passage foreshadows an important New Testament reality. God is not housed in things made by humans but in humans themselves." To the Sanhedrin (and most of the Jews), the Temple had become something like a "lucky charm." They assumed they had a lock on God, thinking "We have God on our side because we have His Temple." Sadly, they thought of Him as their possession, so instead of God possessing them, they "possessed" God (or so they thought). Stephen's quote from Isaiah 66:1 reminds us of the interchange between Jesus and the Samaritan woman who believed God could only be worshiped in a given place... The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” (THEY ARE BOTH WRONG!) 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:19-24). Elmer Towns on Isaiah 66:1 - This reference to the localized presence of God is a figurative description, since God is omnipresent, meaning He is everywhere equally present at all times. The heaven where God reigns was thought of by the Jews as “the third heaven” (see 2 Cor. 12:2) - the first heaven being the atmosphere, and the second the stratosphere or the stars. God's throne was spoken of as being in the third heaven, from whence He rules the universe. WHAT KIND OF HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD FOR ME?' says the Lord - In light of God's description of His "Transcendent Temple" how can finite man expect to be able to build a structure that would house the infinite, omnipresent God? It is unthinkable! And yet there is one "house" He desires and that is for our bodies to become His temple, by grace through faith in Christ. This is amazing in light of the truth of Isaiah 66:1. John