And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
This call stands in Stephen's final testimony in defense answering the charges against him before the council, spoken under the direction of the Holy Spirit before a hostile and resisting audience, whose occasion, time, and place are important for understanding its full significance. It was delivered in a clear, thrilling voice that rang through the council hall and held the assembly spell-bound. The saying recounts God's call to Abraham to leave his country and his kindred and to come into a land that God would show him. Abraham's faith claimed the promised land even though he owned no part of it. With this call Stephen begins rehearsing the history of the chosen people starting with Abraham and tracing down from generation to generation through all the national records to Solomon, taking up the most impressive points to vindicate his cause.
In this way the saying is part of preaching Christ from the Old Testament scriptures beginning with Moses and the prophets. The address shows thorough knowledge of the Jewish economy and of its spiritual interpretation now made manifest through Christ. His course gives inspired proof regarding the mission, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ and clearly proves the identity of Jesus with the Messiah through the testimony of Moses and the prophets. It shows that it was the voice of Christ which spoke through the prophets and patriarchs from the days of Adam.
This call stands in Stephen's final testimony in defense answering the charges against him before the council, spoken under the direction of the Holy Spirit before a hostile and resisting audience, whose occasion, time, and place are important for understanding its full significance. It was delivered in a clear, thrilling voice that rang through the council hall and held the assembly spell-bound. The saying recounts God's call to Abraham to leave his country and his kindred and to come into a land that God would show him. Abraham's faith claimed the promised land even though he owned no part of it. With this call Stephen begins rehearsing the history of the chosen people starting with Abraham and tracing down from generation to generation through all the national records to Solomon, taking up the most impressive points to vindicate his cause.
In this way the saying is part of preaching Christ from the Old Testament scriptures beginning with Moses and the prophets. The address shows thorough knowledge of the Jewish economy and of its spiritual interpretation now made manifest through Christ. His course gives inspired proof regarding the mission, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ and clearly proves the identity of Jesus with the Messiah through the testimony of Moses and the prophets. It shows that it was the voice of Christ which spoke through the prophets and patriarchs from the days of Adam.