And the high priest said, "Is this so?" And Stephen said: "Brethren and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopota'mia, before he lived in Haran, and He said to him, 'Depart from your land and from your kindred and go into the land which I will show you.' Then he departed from the land of the Chalde'ans, and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living; yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him in possession and to his posterity after him, though he had no child. And God spoke to this effect, that his posterity would be aliens in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and ill-treat them four hundred years. 'But I will judge the nation which they serve,' said God, 'and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.'
In a Nutshell
This is the transcript of what Stephen said as his defence before the Sanhedrin. He starts with Abram in Ur of Chaldees.
Questions
Why start with Abram? What was Stephen trying to explain?
Luke has already told us that the accusations against Stephen were lies: "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God" and, "This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us." On the face of it, they appear carefully constructed accusations. The perceived threat ran deep. Stephen, and the apostles, would also know that these were similar to the lying accusations brought against Jesus, and they would also recall that Jesus had indeed spoken about the destruction of the temple. Once it was by allusion to his own body (Mk 14:58; John 2:19) in the face of the murderous schemes being hatched by those who opposed to Him. The other time was in relation to a disciple's observations about the beauty of the temple. In both cases Jesus replied to such comments by revealing how God's ongoing care for His people, and their task in His creation, continues despite the evil that is thrown at them. Those who believed God would only relate to His people through a man-made building had become thoroughly confused. It was to that deep-seated spiritual confusion that Stephen directed his comments. What is written here of his defence before the Sanhedrin shows Stephen had a thorough understanding of God's purposes, of God's covenant promises.
Stephen was chosen and commissioned by the apostles to ensure that the gentile widows would receive their share of the food distribution. He understood that Hebrew widows had no priority or preference within the new community. And so, as we read elsewhere in the New Testament, the story of how Abram became Abraham is given to remind those tempted by a sense of their superiority that God Almighty is no respecter of persons. When God called Abraham he was Abram and no Hebrew. The custom of circumcision came when Hagar's son Ishmael was thirteen, a while before Isaac, the child of Sarah, was born. There were no Hebrews or Jews when God called Abram, a long time before Israel and a long time before Moses.