God's Penthouse Acts 7 (Aug 25)

Read Acts 7 before you continue.

Read it online here: Acts 7

Listen online here: Acts 7 Audio

Where is God supposed to live now?

I wonder what the religious leaders thought as they saw the temple, God’s villa being torn down in AD 70? His front porch burned. His grass being trampled by the Gentile Romans. Did they think back to Stephen’s speech about temples and God’s home and what Stephen said about it? Did they ask that question,

“Where is God going to live now?”

It had been taught by the Jewish rabbis that God’s planet was holy, but it worked in a concentric circle. Kind of like the toy that little kids play with. 5 colored plastic rings, one slightly smaller than the other are stacked on top of each other. The higher you stack, the smaller the circle. Until you get to the smallest circle. The biggest ring was the outer gentile world. But you geographically worked the circles until you got to Judea ( a little holier), Jerusalem (a lot holier), then the temple (really holy), and then the you get to the the Holy of Holies within the temple. A small room with a curtain in front of it where only the most sinless priest could enter. It was the holiest room on the planet.

Because that was God’s penthouse.

Now, to the story of Stephen. Here is that formula again. Someone in the church made the Jewish religious leaders angry - this time it is Stephen in 6:8. They arrest and bring him before the Sanhedrin. He preaches. Then, they let him go…or at least that’s the way it is supposed to work out.

Stephen is brought in at verse 6:13 because once again, they have accused one of Christ’s followers of stirring up an uprising. They accuse Stephen of preaching that he would continue Jesus’ ministry of destroying both the law, and the temple – God’s place of dwelling (Mark 14:57-58). There are so many ways Stephen could have responded in 7:1. As he begins to respond, he doesn’t try to defend his position regarding the temple. Instead, he reminds them that God cannot live in their little temple.

Stephen’s sermon is big, bulky and would require an intermission, so we will do a quick scan.

V1-8 The point of this section is that God spoke to and made a promise to Abraham WITHOUT a temple.

V9-16 Joseph – once again, though subtly, no temple is mentioned in God’s conduct with Israel. He deals directly with his people.

V17-43 – Review of the story of Moses. No temple.

V44-45 – Then, Stephen makes a significant statement which we cannot overlook. God used the tent of witness as an avenue to speak to God’s people. But still, no temple. It would seem that God is free to use whatever mode of communication to speak to his people.

V46-53.

And this is where Stephen takes it to his listeners. He shows them that first, Solomon made the temple. But more so, this didn’t mean the temple could house God. Read that powerful statement in 7:49:

49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?

I wonder what the Jewish leaders thought in 70 AD when they saw God’s house crumble?

Sometimes I put God in places that I think he should exist. For me, it is in my plans. I squeeze God into a plan of mine, and then I’m devastated when the plan crumbles. And when that fails I ask, where is God?

God is not in a temple.

God is not in a plan.

God is not in a church service.

God is not in financial provision.

God is not in peace.

God is not in anything because He cannot be contained by anything. God is everywhere. He walked with Abraham and Joseph and Moses ever before there was a temple. Though God is not in the box I need him to be, He is at my side.

God is with me.

We like buildings and boxes and intellectual boundaries. The infinite God cannot be contained by the finite.

God is with me.

More so, we are on a pilgrimage. Just as God's people were, we, the people of Jesus, are a group of gypsies continually moving through life. And as we move, we are blessed that God isn’t in a penthouse at the temple.

God is with me.

Think if Abraham, Joseph and Moses had to wait for the temple to encounter God. Think if I had to wait until Sunday morning to encounter God?

God is with me.

We even think that God will bail Stephen out at the end of this chapter as he bailed Peter out several times before. Right? That’s the formula, that's the box that we like God to be in. He bails everyone else out, why not Stephen? Unfortunately, God allows one who has a “face like an angel” (6:15) to be brutally murdered by enraged priests and religious leaders. I imagine, I hope that Stephen carried that same message as rocks broke ribs and blood poured from his eyes. He didn’t need temples, or perfect plans or even happy endings to THIS life. I am confident that as Stephen crumbled to the ground, this thought was in his mind.

God is with me.

(BTW – some of you may wonder where I get some of these crazy notions. Know that my craziness is shared by others. Besides prayer and my own study, I got the idea that Stephen was arguing against the temple from The New American Commentary: Acts by John B. Polhill. Check it out. It’s an exegetical and theological work).