Stephen was on trial for his life (Acts 6:12). But he was not concerned to defend himself; instead he wanted to explain who Jesus is - His arrival on earth was the apex of God's salvation plan. So Stephen described God's long-term planning starting with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; then Moses and the wilderness experience, the tabernacle and the temple.
Stephen was giving the 'speech of his life' at his trial, accused of blasphemy. It was because Stephen spoke positively about Jesus that false witnesses invented evidence to support the charge (Acts 6:11-7:1). But the Holy Spirit enabled Stephen to show how God's power was greater than human anger. So Stephen reminded them of Joseph, the eleventh of Jacob's twelve sons.
At Stephen's trial, he made no attempt to defend himself against false witnesses (Acts 6:12-7:53). His accusers were locked into their own little ideas about their own religious power-base. They could not see the truth of Isaiah 55:8-9, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Stephen did not need to defend himself at his trial. His job was to proclaim that God always keeps His Word. The Sanhedrin court claimed to believe in God's promises, so Stephen reminded them of the way in which God fulfilled His promise in their national history - preparing them to hear that Jesus was God's promised 'Righteous One', even though they had rejected Him (Acts 7:52-53). It was their opportunity to repent and choose to follow Jesus.
Moses was the awed hero of Israel. The religious accusers at Stephen's trial considered Moses as God's holy law-giver: he could do no wrong. Stephen was charged with 'changing the customs Moses handed down' (Acts 6:14). But they had forgotten the history of this man who God saved from infanticide … the man God chose to lead His people out of Egypt. He was a murderer (Exodus 2:11-12).
Somebody said that, "The main lesson of history is that we do not learn the lessons of history!" Stephen, on trial for blasphemy against Moses and God (Acts 6:11), reminded his accusers of Moses' personal history – born under foreign rule, saved from infanticide, educated as a prince in Egypt, murdered an Egyptian, lost the confidence of his own people and fled for his life from Pharaoh's wrath, becoming a shepherd in Sinai, marrying the daughter of a pagan priest … and all by the age of 40 (
Part of Stephen's trial was focussed on how he had spoken against Moses (Acts 6:11-14), so Stephen used the Bible's account to show that Moses was no more welcome than Jesus. When Moses, as a prince in Egypt, was trying to bring peace between two Israelites, they said that he had no authority to do so (Exodus 2:14). And yet, 40 years later and under God's commission, he led God's people out of slavery.
In these verses, Stephen, who was accused of blaspheming against Moses, quickly walked his accusers through almost 1000 years of Israel's history of rejecting God's Word and His servants. Stephen began with Moses whose authority was challenged many times in the wilderness journey, starting with the exodus experience in leaving slavery (Exodus 14:10-16). He ended up describing the Israelites' captivity in Babylon.
In an attempt to stop Stephen speaking about Jesus, he had been accused of supporting Jesus in wanting the temple to be destroyed. What Jesus actually said was, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." But He was speaking of His own body (John 2:18-22). However, the charge gave Stephen the opportunity to talk about where God really lives.
Stephen was on trial for his life (Acts 7:1-53), but he was more concerned about the reputation of Jesus and the eternal lives of his accusers. The Council of the Sanhedrin had previously sentenced Jesus to death, and had also warned Peter and John to stop talking about Jesus. They now sat in judgement over Stephen, but he knew that Jesus would sit in judgement over them.
