Request your free, three-month trial to Tabletalk magazine. You’ll receive the print issue monthly and gain immediate digital access to decades of archives. This trial is risk-free. No credit card required.
Try Tabletalk NowAlready receive Tabletalk magazine every month?
Verify your email address to gain unlimited access.
Acts 7:9–10
“The patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.”
Continuing to narrate the history of old covenant Israel in response to charges of blasphemy, Stephen in today’s passage moves to the next major event in salvation history in his speech to the Sanhedrin. Having reminded the Jewish ruling council of God’s grace in giving the covenant of circumcision to Abraham and his descendants, Stephen briefly summarizes the life of the patriarch Joseph. In Acts 7:9–10, Stephen refers to Joseph’s brothers’ selling him into Egyptian slavery and God’s rescue of Joseph to put him in charge of Egypt as Pharaoh’s right-hand man.
Stephen gives the essence of the history that Moses recorded in Genesis 37–41. Thirteen years elapsed between Joseph’s being sold into slavery and his becoming the leader of Egypt. Moses writes that at two key points in the story, when Joseph was a slave in Potiphar’s house and when he was in prison, God was with Joseph (Gen. 39:2, 21), and Stephen makes sure to mention the Lord’s presence with the patriarch throughout his travails. Remembering that God was with Joseph is instructive for us, because Joseph suffered much—family betrayal, slavery, false accusations of sexual assault, imprisonment—and so the Lord’s presence with him was not always evident. But God promises to be with His children. He was with Joseph, and He is with us even when our circumstances might seem to say otherwise. In his commentary, John Calvin reminds us that God’s presence with His people is such that sometimes He remains hidden to our perception for a time. Yet that does not make His presence any less real.
The inclusion of Joseph’s story in the retelling of Israel’s history echoes certain recurring themes in Israel’s story. First, the opposition of the brothers of Joseph is an example of old covenant Israel’s continual resistance to God and His appointed messengers and servants. By opposing Stephen and ultimately by opposing Jesus, the Sanhedrin was simply repeating the mistakes of their forefathers. The Jewish officials, not Stephen or Jesus, were truly guilty of blasphemy. Furthermore, God’s presence with Joseph outside Canaan demonstrates that the Lord is not inextricably tied to the temple and Israel’s ownership of the promised land. Therefore, Jesus’ teaching on the absence of these things did not constitute blasphemy. Joseph cried out to God while he was far away from the promised land, and the Lord heard his cry in Egypt.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
We are to walk by faith and not by sight, recognizing that God is present with us even when our circumstances might indicate otherwise. The Lord is always with His people, even when they are suffering. Let us trust that He will work things together for our good even if in the present we cannot discern how He will do so (Rom. 8:28).
For further study
- Genesis 28:15
- Isaiah 43:1–7
- John 14:18
- Hebrews 13:5
The bible in a year
- Deuteronomy 17–19
- Mark 14:10–31