THE LIFTED VEIL.
Then said the High Priest, after the manner of the formal procedure,
"Are these things so?"
And Stephen, looking about on the seventy men before whom he stood, the
heads and leaders of that forlorn remnant of the chosen people, desolate
because of their rebellion against the God who had borne with them so
long and patiently, was moved to bring again the wonderful promises of
Jehovah to their minds. So plain did it all appear to him, filled as he
was with that spirit of light which the Lord had vouchsafed according to
his word, and which he had also promised to pour out freely upon all
men. A glorious hope was stirring in his breast as he looked from one
to the other of the stern faces before him. Hatred indeed and stubborn
self-satisfaction he saw written thereon, but what could stand before
the all-powerful spirit of truth? What if it should be granted him to
mightily convince these men; to see, perchance, some such glorious
exhibition of God's grace as had been manifested at Pentecost.
"Men, brethren and fathers, hearken!" he began, and at the sound of that
inspired voice every eye was fastened upon him. "The God of glory
appeared unto our father Abraham and said unto him: 'Get thee out of thy
land and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show
thee.' Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans and dwelt in
Haran; and from thence, when his father was dead, God removed him into
this land, wherein ye now dwell. He gave him no inheritance in it, not
even so much as to set his foot upon; but he promised that he would give
it to him and to the generations after him, when as yet he had no child.
"And God spake thus unto him, 'Thy children shall sojourn in a strange
land, and they shall be enslaved and evil entreated for the space of
four hundred years. But the nation which hath persecuted them I will
judge; I, Jehovah, have declared it. And after that shall thy children
come forth out of bondage and they shall serve me in this place.' And
he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham after that
Isaac was born, circumcised him on the eighth day. And to Isaac in due
time was born Jacob; Jacob also had twelve sons, whom we call the
patriarchs. And the patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph
their brother, sold him into Egypt. Nevertheless God was with him, and
delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom
before Pharaoh, King of Egypt, insomuch that Pharaoh made him governor
over all the land.
"Now there came a mighty famine, which extended throughout all Egypt and
Canaan, and the people were wasted by it. Our fathers also had no food,
but Jacob, hearing that there was corn in Egypt, sent forth his sons to
fetch some. And when that was consumed which they brought, they went
again the second time; and Joseph made himself known unto his brethren,
and he brought them into the presence of Pharaoh. After that, Joseph
sent for Jacob his father, and for all his kindred, numbering in all
three score and fifteen souls. They went therefore into the land of
Egypt, and Jacob died there, and in due time the patriarchs, our
fathers, also; and they were buried in Shechem, in the land which
Abraham had bought for a burial place.
"But as the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had given unto
Abraham, the people grew and multiplied, till there arose another king
over Egypt which knew not Joseph.
"The new king dealt deceitfully with our nation, wickedly compelling our
fathers that they should cast out their babes to die. At this time
Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of God. Three months
was he nourished in his father's house, and when he was cast out,
Pharaoh's daughter rescued him and brought him up as her own son. So
Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he became
mighty in word and deed.
"Now when he was well nigh forty years of age, it came into his heart to
visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them
suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed,
smiting the Egyptian that he died--supposing that his brethren would
understand how that God by his hand was giving them deliverance; but
they understood not. And the day following he came again upon two of
them at strife, and urged them to be at peace, saying:--
"'Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one another?'
"But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, 'Who made
thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wouldst thou kill me, as thou didst
kill the Egyptian yesterday?'
"And Moses fled at this saying, and became an exile in the land of
Midian. Here he took to himself a wife, and two sons were born to him.
And when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him as he wandered
one day in the wilderness of Sinai; and the angel was as a burning flame
of fire in a bush of the mountain--the bush burned, yet was not
consumed. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight; and as he drew
near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord, saying:
"'I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of
Jacob.'
"Then Moses trembled, and hid his face, and the Lord said unto him:
"'Loose the shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is
holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are
in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I am come down to deliver
them. Now come, I will send thee into Egypt.'
"So it came to pass that this very Moses, whom the people of Israel had
refused, saying, 'Who made thee a ruler and a judge?' God sent to be
both a ruler and a deliverer, by the hand of the angel which appeared to
him in the bush. And this man, Moses, led the Israelites forth, working
great signs and wonders in Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the
wilderness, for the space of forty years.
"This is that Moses which said unto the children of Israel, 'A prophet
shall God raise up unto you from among your brethren like unto me.'
This is that Moses that was with the people in the wilderness, with the
angel which spake to him in the Mount of Sinai, who also received the
law at the hands of the living God to give unto us. But our fathers
refused him their obedience, and thrust him away from them, turning back
in their hearts unto Egypt and saying unto Aaron:
"'Make us gods which shall go before us, for as for this Moses, which
led us forth out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of
him.' Then made they for themselves a golden calf, and brought a
sacrifice unto the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.
"But God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is
written in the book of the prophets:
"'Did ye offer unto me slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the
wilderness, O house of Israel? And afterward ye took up the tabernacle
of Moloch, and the star of the god Rephan, the figures which ye made to
worship them. I will carry you away beyond Babylon.'
"Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness,
according to the covenant of God unto Moses, who fashioned it like unto
the figure that was revealed unto him. This tabernacle also our fathers
brought into the promised land, when they entered it with Joshua, God
thrusting out the heathen nations from before their faces, and in it
they worshipped unto the days of David, who, finding favor in the sight
of God, asked that he might build a habitation for the God of Jacob.
And Solomon, his son, built a temple. Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not
in houses made with hands; as saith the prophet--
"'The heaven is my throne,
And the earth the footstool of my feet;
What manner of house will ye build me? saith the Lord,
Or what is the place of my rest?
Did not my hands make all things?'"
Here the speaker paused and looked about upon the faces of his audience;
some were sneering outright, others whispering to their neighbors, while
others still regarded him with looks of malignant hatred. Not one of
all the seventy had apprehended his meaning, he thought bitterly. Not
one cared for his words. Of what use to continue the sublime
retrospect. A wave of fiery indignation swept away the last remnant of
fear, and in a voice ringing with inspired passion, he burst out:
"Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! Ye do always
resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the
prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed them which
showed before of the coming of the Righteous One, of whom ye have now
become the betrayers and murderers. Ye who received the law as it was
ordained by angels and kept it not!"
For an instant there was a breathless silence, that mighty arrow tipped
with a living fire had found lodgment in every heart. Then a low,
murderous hiss ran about the circle. With one accord the assembly rose
to their feet, but some invisible power held them back.
Stephen, the despised follower of the crucified Nazarene, was looking up
steadfastly. Angels had lifted for him the dark veil of mortality; the
hall of judgment and the faces of his infuriated judges faded from
before his eyes; he saw instead the unspeakable glories of the New
Jerusalem, God enthroned amid innumerable companies of angels, and Jesus
standing with outstretched hands to receive him. In an ecstasy of joy
he cried out:
"Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the
right hand of God!"
Only a glimpse, but what mattered it now to him that the dark flood of
hatred had broken loose and was sweeping him away with wild tumult
towards certain death. He did not see the infuriated mob of his
executioners; he scarce realized that he was being dragged through the
streets followed by a yelling multitude, roused from their apathy by the
familiar scent of blood.
"Beyond the gates--it is the law!"
"This is the place--here are stones in abundance! Quick! or the
Nazarenes will be to the rescue."
"Let the witnesses cast the first stones--it is the law!"
"Well thrown, Esek! Again--here is a larger one! Now the other,
quickly!"
But the other witness, with face as white as that of the dying man, had
broken through the circle and fled away shrieking towards the city--"My
God! my God! they are killing him!"
"Let be, the law is fulfilled. Quick, or he will yet be rescued--the
mob is increasing. What is that he is saying?" For the victim,
blood-stained, faltering, had dragged himself to his knees.
"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
A shower of stones and fierce yells; he is sinking, but again he speaks.
Saul can hear it, for he stands near, guarding the garments of them that
are fulfilling the law. They can all hear, for he cries in a loud
voice, that his murderers may remember it afterward for the comfort of
their guilty souls:
"Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." And when he had said this, he
fell asleep.