A Study of Acts: Stephen Preaches About Joseph
Acts 7:9-16; John 4:7-26 - The story of Joseph and the story of Jesus have remarkable parallels; the importance of the temple is minimized by Stephen.
““The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. 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. On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh. Then 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 he and our fathers died. 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 NASB1995
The next part of Stephen’s sermon touches on the story of Joseph. The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. This is a slam at the high priests, who are sitting there in smug judgment of Stephen and were jealous of Jesus. The patriarchs that they so revere (the sons of Jacob) eagerly sold their young brother into slavery to the first bidder.
God was with Joseph (He didn’t need a temple for Joseph to access Him) and He rescued Joseph from all his afflictions and granted him favor and wisdoms in the sight of the Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Joseph was made governor over Egypt and was over the household of the king. As we should know from the story in Genesis, Joseph wisely advised the Pharaoh about a coming famine and recommended ways to ensure food was available.
This famine affected Jacob’s family and he sent the sons to Egypt to see if they could get grain. Joseph made himself known to his family on the second visit and an emotional family reunion occurred. The entire family was allowed to come to the area and settled in the land of Goshen. The story of Joseph is reflect in the life of Jesus, according to this commentary from Precept Austin:
Jesus and Joseph were both beloved by their fathers.
Jesus and Joseph were both Jews from Israel.
Jesus and Joseph were delivered up because of envy or jealousy (Acts 7:9;. Mk 15:10).
Both were rejected by their Jewish brethren (cf Jn 1:9-11)
Jesus was condemned to death by the testimony of false witnesses while Joseph was imprisoned because of the false accusations of Potiphar's wife.
Jesus was resurrected, freed from the "prison of death" and exalted, even as Joseph was freed from prison and exalted to high office.
Joseph was able to deliver his sinful brothers from physical death, even as Jesus provided deliverance for His sinful brethren from spiritual death.
Jesus was not recognized on His first visit by His Jewish brethren, even as Joseph was not recognized on the first visit of his brethren.
Jesus will reveal Himself and be recognized by His Jewish brethren at His Second Coming (Zech 12:10-14), even as Joseph revealed himself to his brethren on their second visit.
Apparently, there is some confusion about the statements that Stephen makes about the burial of Jacob and the patriarchs (sons). I don’t claim to understand this controversy, but Precept Austin has commentary by Gleason Archer explaining that the land that Abraham originally purchased was purchased again by Jacob:
In this entire discourse Stephen evidences a thorough knowledge of the Old Testament. How could he have been ignorant of Joshua 24:32, which indicates that the coffin of Joseph was finally laid to rest in a plot of ground that “Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor.” At first glance it looks as if we have a clear contradiction between these two statements. Yet there is a good possibility that what Jacob did when he made that purchase was to obtain once again for his family that which had originally been bought by Abraham. Quite similar is the case of the well of Beersheba. Originally that well was dug by Abraham’s workmen, and he paid for the rights to that property by offering seven lambs to Abimelech, king of Gerar (Ge. 21:27–30). But later on, owing to the nomadic habits of Abraham and his family, the property rights he had legally acquired became ignored; and the tract on which the well was located fell back into the possession of the local inhabitants. It was not until many years later that Isaac, having reopened the well to care for his livestock, found it expedient to secure the ownership by paying for it once more, rather than to assert his legal title to it by means of a range war. He therefore gave an oath of friendship and nonaggression to King Abimelech (probably a son or grandson of the same name as the Abimelech with whom Abraham had dealt many years before) and held a covenant-sealing sacrifice and banquet (Gen. 26:28–31) with him. Here then was a case where both Abraham and his descendant purchased the same ground."
Interestingly, the burial ground in what was known as Shechem (and the well that became known as Jacob’s well) were in latter-day Samaria. This narrative calls attention to this region; the people of Samaria were despised by the religious leaders. Stephen is obviously thinking about this encounter in the Gospel of John:
“There *came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore the Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” She *said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?”
Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” The woman *said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” The woman *said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”
Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 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. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” Jesus *said to her, “I who speak to you am He.””
John 4:7-26 NASB1995
Jesus first reveals himself as the Messiah to a woman of questionable integrity who was a Samaritan. I think that the mention of the burial place of Jacob by Stephen is a way of showing that the true worshippers of God must worship Him in spirit and truth regardless of their location or their tribal or group affiliation; neither the mountain in Samaria or the temple of Jerusalem will be places where they will (in the future) worship the Father.
This is obviously not popular with the council or the high priest, because it calls into question the primacy of the temple as the center of worship and the message that the Messiah is only for Jews (that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it and I think it’s valid). In my next devotional, Stephen jumps into the early story of Moses in Acts 7:17-29.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Thank you for the insight that Stephen has, even if it is subtle and requires study. The link of Jacob and his burial site in Shechem to the lowly Samaritans, where Jesus first revealed Himself as the Messiah, tells us that the worship of You in spirit and truth can happen here and now and in any location by any human. Amen!
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Precept Austin was accessed on 9/11/2024 to review commentary for Acts 7:9-16.