“‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’”
Acts 7:7 (NLT)
Stephen gives us more insight about Abraham in Acts 7 and highlights what Abraham really had when he obeyed God—only a promise. Abraham didn’t own a footprint in the land he was promised, nor did he have a child, yet God told him that the land of Israel would belong to his descendants. The beginning of that promise sounds rough: his bloodline would be taken to a foreign place, turned into slaves, and oppressed for 400 years.
But God also promises he will punish the nation that enslaves them, and he makes the purpose of deliverance clear: they will come out and worship him in the place Abraham was promised. Stephen’s giving the highlight reel, and it’s interesting what he leaves out. There’s redemption in the oppression—Israel plunders Egypt, receives silver and gold and clothing—but possessions and gifts are not the point, so Stephen doesn’t spotlight them.
Those possessions are like the giftings of Holy Spirit—real evidence that God is with us—but we can’t glorify the gifting over the Giver. I wonder if the high council Stephen is speaking to is tripped up on the fruit, the benefits, and the signs of following God instead of serving and worshiping God, which this verse shows is the point. We must not celebrate the gifting over the Giver, but that doesn’t mean we erase the giftings from the story—we just put them in the right order.
If our focus is to serve and worship God—since he sent his Son to die on a cross, gave us eternal life, and told us to go make disciples—what excuses are holding us up? I pray I’ll be drawn back to the main things today: to trust the promise, not worry about the oppression or the length of time, and obey what he says. Focus on the Gifter, not the gifting.