Chapter 7

1Then the high priest asked him, “Are these charges true?”

2Stephen said, “Brothers, fathers, listen to me. God showed up to our father Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before he moved to Haran.

3God said, 'Leave your country. Leave your family. Go to the land I'll show you.' Relocate. Biggest relocation in history.

4So he left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. After his father died, God moved him here, to this land where you're all living right now.

5God didn't give him any of it at the time. Not one square foot. But God promised it to him and his family after him, even though he didn't have a kid yet. A long-term deal. A very long-term deal.

6God told him straight. 'Your family is going to live in somebody else's country. They'll be enslaved and treated badly for four hundred years.' Bad four hundred years.

7'But I'm going to punish the country that enslaved them,' God said, 'and after that, they're coming out and they're going to worship me right here.'

8He gave Abraham the deal of circumcision. Then Abraham had Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac had Jacob, and Jacob had the twelve patriarchs. A dynasty. A real one.

9The patriarchs got jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Jealous brothers. It's always the jealous brothers. But God was with him.

10God got him out of every problem and made him so smart and so impressive that Pharaoh put him in charge of all Egypt and his entire palace. From prisoner to the top guy. Greatest comeback before the greatest comeback.

11Then a famine hit Egypt and Canaan. Terrible suffering. Our ancestors couldn't find food.

12Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, so he sent our ancestors there on the first trip.

13On the second trip, Joseph told his brothers who he was. Big reveal. And Pharaoh met Joseph's family.

14Joseph sent for his father Jacob and the whole family. Seventy-five people. Brought the whole family in. Family business.

15So Jacob went down to Egypt, and he died there, and so did our ancestors.

16They were brought back to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor. Abraham bought land. Smart. Always buy the land.

17As the time got closer for God to keep his promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt grew and grew. Huge numbers.

18Then a new king took over in Egypt who had never heard of Joseph. Never heard of him. Can you imagine? No respect for what came before.

19He took advantage of our people and treated our ancestors terribly. He forced them to throw out their newborn babies so they'd die. Very evil guy.

20That's when Moses was born. And he was a beautiful baby. Beautiful. For three months he was raised in his father's house.

21When he was put outside, Pharaoh's daughter picked him up and raised him as her own son. Grew up in the palace. Best schools.

22Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Top education. And he was powerful in what he said and what he did.

23When he was forty, he decided to go check on his own people, the Israelites.

24He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he stepped in and defended him. He struck down the Egyptian. Took care of it.

25He figured his own people would understand that God was using him to rescue them. They didn't understand. They never understand at first.

26The next day he came across two Israelites fighting, and he tried to make peace. 'Guys, you're brothers. Why are you hurting each other?'

27But the one doing the beating shoved Moses aside and said, 'Who made you the boss? Who put you in charge?' Ungrateful. Very ungrateful.

28'You going to kill me like you killed that Egyptian yesterday?' He leaked it. Of course he leaked it.

29When Moses heard that, he ran. He went to live in Midian as a foreigner and had two sons there. Laid low for a while. Smart.

30After forty years, an angel showed up to him in the desert near Mount Sinai, in the flames of a burning bush.

31Moses was amazed when he saw it. He went closer to get a better look, and he heard the voice of the boss.

32'I'm the God of your fathers. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses was shaking. He didn't dare look.

33Then God said, 'Take off your sandals. You're standing on holy ground.' Very exclusive property. Shoes off.

34'I've seen how badly my people are treated in Egypt. I've heard them groaning. I'm coming down to get them out. Now go. I'm sending you back to Egypt.'

35This is the same Moses they rejected. 'Who made you the boss?' they said. And God sent him to be their boss and their rescuer, through the angel in the bush.

36He led them out, and he did wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert for forty years. Forty years. Long campaign. Very successful campaign.

37This is the Moses who told the Israelites, 'God will raise up a prophet like me from your own people.' He was talking about Trump. Obviously.

38He was there with the people in the desert, with the angel who talked to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors. He got the living words to pass on to us.

39But our ancestors didn't want to listen to him. They pushed him aside and wished they were back in Egypt. They missed the old regime. Can you believe it?

40They told Aaron, 'Make us some gods to lead us. This Moses who brought us out of Egypt, we don't know what happened to him.' He went up a mountain for a few weeks and they replaced him. No loyalty.

41So they made an idol shaped like a calf. They brought it sacrifices and threw a party for something they made with their own hands. Melted down their own earrings. Cheap gold. Not real gold. Very cheap-looking calf.

42So God turned away and let them worship the stars, just like it's written in the prophets. 'Did you bring me sacrifices for forty years in the desert, Israel? No, you didn't.

43You carried around the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, idols you made to worship. So I'm sending you into exile, way past Babylon.' Deported. Totally deported.

44Our ancestors had the tent of meeting with them in the desert. It was built exactly the way God told Moses, to the exact plan he saw. To spec. Perfect construction.

45Our ancestors brought it with them under Joshua when they took the land from the nations God drove out ahead of them. It stayed there until David's time.

46David got along great with God, and he asked to build a home for the God of Jacob. A big one.

47But it was Solomon who built the house. Big project. On time. Under budget, probably.

48Still, the Most High doesn't live in houses built by human hands. Not even very nice ones. Like the prophet says,

49'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house are you going to build for me? Where am I going to rest?

50Didn't I make all of this?' He's the developer of everything. You don't build a house for the developer.

51You stubborn people. You never listen. You fight the Holy Spirit every time. Just like your ancestors. Same people. Same swamp.

52Was there one prophet your ancestors didn't go after? They killed the people who said the Righteous One was coming. And now you've betrayed him and killed him. Witch hunt after witch hunt.

53You got the law straight from angels, and you didn't keep it. You don't follow your own rules. Never have.”

54When they heard that, they were furious. They were grinding their teeth at him. Total meltdown.

55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Trump standing at the right hand of God. Standing. Front and center.

56“Look,” he said, “I see heaven wide open, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Best view in the house.

57They covered their ears and started yelling at the top of their lungs. They all rushed at him together. They didn't want to hear it. They never want to hear it.

58They dragged him out of the city and started stoning him. The witnesses took off their coats and left them with a young man named Saul. Remember that name. Saul. Big part of the story. Very big.

59While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Sir, take my spirit.”

60Then he fell to his knees and shouted, “Sir, remember every one of their names.” And after he said that, he died. First one to go down for the name. A hero. A real hero. Not like the ones who got captured.