Hard Heads, Stiff Necks and Stone Hearts

Some of the words spoken by Stephen:

Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.-Acts 7:44-53***Isaac was born to 100-year-old Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and 90-year old Sarah (Sarai). When Isaac was 40 years old, he was married to Rebekah, Abraham and Sarah's grandniece. Fraternal twin sons Esau (Edom) and Jacob  (Israel) were born to 60-year-old Isaac and Rebekah. In Padan Aram, Haran, Jacob was married to Leah and Rachel, the daughters of Rebekah's brother Laban the Syrian (Aramean). Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and daughter Dinah were born to Jacob and Leah. Dan and Naphtali were born to Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. Gad and Asher were born to Jacob and Zilpah, Leah;s maidservant. Joseph was the 1st son born to Jacob and Rachel. During Jacob's 20th year in Haran, he began journeying home to Canaan with his family, servants, animals, and possessions. Near Bethlehem, Benjamin was born to Jacob and Rachel, and Rachel died. Joseph was 17 years old when his brothers sold him to merchants traveling to Egypt and led Jacob to believe that Joseph was killed by a wild beast, and Joseph was 130 years old when Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, proclaimed him second-in-command. Jacob was 130 years old when he moved with his family from Canaan to Egypt. In Egypt, Jacob proclaimed Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons born to Joseph and his wife Asenath, to be his own sons, and the tribe of Joseph became the tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Ephraim. Sometime after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt, and Jacob's family buried his body in Canaan, and 110-year-old Joseph and his siblings were dead, their descendants the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt.

When a group of Israelite believers made complaints against another group of Israelite believers, Matthias and the 11 disciples who had been most constantly with Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, initiated a plan. They suggested that 7 men of integrity and full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom be selected to handle the charitable duties pertaining to each group's widows, thus ending the dispute. Stephen was among those selected, and he came to be known for the wonders and miracles the Lord worked through him. The actions of Stephen's enemies caused Stephen to be put in front of the council of the Sanhedrin, the high court of the Israelites (Hebrews/Jews), the descendants of Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and Sarah (Sarai), Isaac and Rebekah, and Isaac and Rebekah's youngest fraternal twin son Jacob (Israel). The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that false testimony was given. After the high priest asked Stephen about the charges, Stephen recounted the history of the Israelites. During some of Stephen's response, Stephen compared the behavior of everyone gathered to the behavior of some of the Israelite ancestors who had either harmed or killed prophets of the Lord God. Moreover, Stephen spoke of the crowd's participation in the betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus the Christ.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 18:1-10, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-8:4

Reference Scriptures
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.-Exodus 25:1-2...And let the make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.-Exodus 25:8-9 

Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD remaineth under curtains.-1 Chronicles 17:1

Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.-2 Chronicles 3:1

Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.-Isaiah 66:1-2

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