David Bahn – Reflections

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Acts 7:1-16

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” ² And Stephen said:

“Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, ³ and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ ⁴ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. ⁵ Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. ⁶ And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. ⁷ ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ ⁸ And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹ “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. ¹² But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. ¹³ And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. ¹⁵ And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, ¹⁶ and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

Is it true that 1000 years is like a moment for you, God?

Yes. I exist outside of time.

That would mean that $1,000,000.00 would be like $1.00 to you. Right?

Yes…

So could I have $1,000,000.00?

Sure. Wait a moment.

Sorry, guess I’m on a bit of a joke kick here. But this does illustrate something that Stephen mentions in his defense before his accusers. He speaks about how Abraham was promised the land but did not receive even one foot of it during his lifetime. It would be 430 years before Abraham’s descendents, under the leadership of Joshua would actually step foot on the Promised Land. The promise was made during Abraham’s time, but not fulfilled until long after he had died.

It is interesting to note, furthermore, that Moses, the one who led God’s people out of Egypt those nearly 400 years later, didn’t end up taking them into the land. That was ostensibly because Moses sinned and struck the rock for water rather than speaking to it as God had commanded. I say ostensibly because I suspect that in the timelessness of God other time-bound realities had to be worked out before Israel could enter the promised land. There is a grander sweep to the arc of history than our time-bound minds easily grasp or in which our impatient hearts find peace.

There has been a seismic change in two things over the past millennia. The first is that life expectancy has greatly increased. Although people did live to old age in the past. Many did not. Whether by war or disease, famine, or drought, people were much more susceptible to the tumult of everyday life then than now. During these same millennia the rate of change has greatly increased. So while generations would live with little change (life unfolded slower back then), today we see multiple changes within generations.

I suspect that in Abraham’s day many were plodding along making the best of things, and finding joy and meaning however they could. I suspect that many in our day are trying constantly to keep up with changes in technology, politics, medicine, and morality. We may be more prone today than ever before to want quick fixes and fast answers. Yet we must wait.

I love the insight offered in Daniel 10 about this. Daniel receives a troubling vision of war and great conflict that was to come. He immediately began to pray. But no answer was quick to come. No lions’ mouths were closed or fiery furnaces were escaped. But 21 days later an angel delivers this message:

“Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. ¹³ But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.”

We may grow impatient when we hear a promise of God, believe it, and seek to receive it. We may even despair when we see no movement toward relief. But that doesn’t mean that God is uncaring, disengaged, or not at work. There is a bigger story of which we are all a part. Some have major roles. Others are supporting actors. But we are all important to God, and his great desire is that we be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

When we see not even a foot’s length of movement toward the fulfillment of God’s promises we can remember Abraham, the father of faith, and believe in the Lord. God will reckon that to us as righteousness. And that’s a very good thing.