wilderness forty years.
“This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’ ”
More than a mere recitation, this history lesson clearly was headed toward a meaningful conclusion. Stephen, Mark decided, had become a gifted teacher and preacher.
“This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
“And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:
“‘ Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, images which you made to worship; and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’
“Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built Him a house.
“However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
“‘ Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the Lord, or what is the place of My rest? Has My hand not made all these things?’ ”
Suddenly the mild-mannered Stephen stared at his listeners and appeared stern. “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears!” he said. “You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”
It became clear that those listening were sorely offended. They gnashed their teeth and shook their fists at Stephen. But his countenance appeared angelic again as he gazed into the sky. “Look!” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
The crowd covered their ears, then charged him, grabbing him and dragging him out of the city. Mark and Barnabas could only run along behind in terror as the men slung off their cloaks and left them at the feet of a young man among them and found stones to throw.
“Beware that man,” Barnabas said, pointing out the one watching the cloaks. “We were classmates under Gamaliel. His name is Saul, and he is a brilliant scholar and a hater of Christians.”
The mob hurled their rocks at Stephen as he was calling out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” As he was driven to his knees by the blows, he cried with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And soon he was dead.
ELEVEN
M ark stared, speechless and terrified, at the still form of the beloved Stephen. Was this to become the price for being a bold follower of Jesus? Mark could not imagine fear as great as the day he saw the Master Himself put to death in the most gruesome Roman way. But to see an acquaintance, a beloved coworker, stoned to death before his very eyes, allowed him a glimpse of the fear Peter must have felt when Jesus was arrested.
As Mark and his cousin stole away in silence, Barnabas pointed at Saul, who
“This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’ ”
More than a mere recitation, this history lesson clearly was headed toward a meaningful conclusion. Stephen, Mark decided, had become a gifted teacher and preacher.
“This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
“And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:
“‘ Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, images which you made to worship; and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’
“Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built Him a house.
“However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
“‘ Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the Lord, or what is the place of My rest? Has My hand not made all these things?’ ”
Suddenly the mild-mannered Stephen stared at his listeners and appeared stern. “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears!” he said. “You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”
It became clear that those listening were sorely offended. They gnashed their teeth and shook their fists at Stephen. But his countenance appeared angelic again as he gazed into the sky. “Look!” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
The crowd covered their ears, then charged him, grabbing him and dragging him out of the city. Mark and Barnabas could only run along behind in terror as the men slung off their cloaks and left them at the feet of a young man among them and found stones to throw.
“Beware that man,” Barnabas said, pointing out the one watching the cloaks. “We were classmates under Gamaliel. His name is Saul, and he is a brilliant scholar and a hater of Christians.”
The mob hurled their rocks at Stephen as he was calling out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” As he was driven to his knees by the blows, he cried with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And soon he was dead.
ELEVEN
M ark stared, speechless and terrified, at the still form of the beloved Stephen. Was this to become the price for being a bold follower of Jesus? Mark could not imagine fear as great as the day he saw the Master Himself put to death in the most gruesome Roman way. But to see an acquaintance, a beloved coworker, stoned to death before his very eyes, allowed him a glimpse of the fear Peter must have felt when Jesus was arrested.
As Mark and his cousin stole away in silence, Barnabas pointed at Saul, who
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