Day 35 — Stephen's Defense: The Temple (Acts 7:44-50) | May 30

Stephen addressed the charge that hurt most: that he'd spoken against the temple. He honored its history, tracing the tabernacle from Moses through Solomon. Then he quoted Isaiah, letting God speak: 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me?' Stephen called the temple what it was: made with hands. The phrase Jews used for pagan idols. When a symbol of God's presence gets treated as the source of God's presence, something has gone wrong. The temple was always meant to point somewhere, never to be the destination. God met Abraham before there was a promised land. God was with Joseph before there was a tabernacle. The story was always bigger than the setting.