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After writing down the LORD’s covenant law, Moses commands the Levites to place the scrolls of the law next to the ark of the covenant so that it may serve as a witness against Israel in the LORD’s presence when they fall into idolatry.

The LORD summoned Moses and Joshua to the tent of meeting in order to commission Joshua as Israel’s new leader. He also asked them to write a song that will serve as a witness against Israel when they turn from the LORD to other gods and break God’s covenant.

Moses then instructed the priests and the elders of Israel to perform a covenant renewal ceremony every seven years. They were to read the law in front of all of Israel in their hearing

In the presence of all the Israelites, Moses presented Joshua as his successor and commands him to be strong and courageous because the LORD promised to be with him and support him.

Moses addressed all Israel to tell them that his time leading them was coming to an end and that Joshua would succeed him and lead them into the Promised Land. He encouraged them to be strong and courageous because the Suzerain God (the LORD) will accompany them and will not fail them.

While Edom will be crushed by God’s judgment on the day of the LORD, Israel and Judah will be restored.

Obadiah announces the day of the LORD, the time when God will intervene in human affairs to judge the nations. Edom’s judgment serves as an illustration of the judgments that will fall on all the nations that rebel against God.

The LORD will judge Edom because she gloated over the destruction of Judah and actively engaged in her destruction.

The LORD declares that He will destroy the wise men of Edom. Every citizen of Edom will be slaughtered.

The LORD will use foreign nations to pillage Edom’s resources and remove her from her land.

Though Edom prides herself in her great wealth and impregnable rocky highlands, the LORD will bring her down and cut her off forever.

The prophet Obadiah receives God’s revelation in a vision. In this message, God announces the defeat of Edom and calls the nations to arise to fight against her.

Stephen concludes his sermon by turning his focus on the Sanhedrin. They are just like the sinful Israelites who kept rejecting their deliverers, rejecting the will of God, and worshipping idols instead. Stephen compares them to the Israelites from the past who killed the prophets for prophesying about the Messiah. And when Jesus the Messiah came, they killed him too. The Sanhedrin proves Stephen’s point and stones him to death. He has a vision of Heaven, and asks God to forgive the men stoning him. A young pharisee named Saul is present for this episode and approves of the execution. This is Luke’s first introduction of the man who will become the Apostle Paul.

Stephen changes subjects to the Temple, because he has been accused of being an enemy of the Temple. He describes the history of the tabernacle, designed by God to reflect Heaven, which eventually became the Temple in Jerusalem. But Stephen points out that God is not contained to the Temple. God is God; His throne is Heaven. He is above all things. He made all things. The man-made Temple is not the point. It’s our hearts He desires.

Moses, who was rejected by his people, returned to Egypt as a deliverer. He performed wonders and signs to show God’s power in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness. He prophesied that God would send a second prophet like him, which was Jesus. Moses received the Law from God on Mt. Sinai, while the Hebrews made a golden calf to worship down in the camp. This was the pattern of Israel. God sent them a savior, they rejected the savior, and worshipped false gods.

Stephen continues his sermon recounting the history of his people. The time of the Hebrews’ bondage had come. A Pharaoh rose to power and feared these people, so he enslaved them. Moses, a Hebrew raised in the Egyptian court, tried to help the Hebrews when he saw an Egyptian abusing them. He killed the Egyptian in defense of the Hebrews. But the Hebrews rejected Moses, so he fled east to Midian and started a family there. God appeared to Moses in the form of an angel standing in a burning thorn bush. God reveals Himself as the God of the patriarchs of the Hebrews: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The time has come to rescue the Hebrews from their slavery in Egypt.

Stephen teaches how Joseph, the son of Jacob, was sold into slavery by his brothers. Joseph rose to power in Egypt, stored food for a coming famine, and was able to help his family who had rejected him. Jacob and his household moved to Egypt to be with Joseph.

The Sanhedrin asks Stephen if he is an enemy against the Temple and Moses. He begins his defense by teaching the history of Israel to the Jewish leaders. God appeared to Abraham and told him to go to a land which He would give him. God told Abraham that before his descendants would inherit the land, they would be enslaved for 400 years. As commanded, Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Amos predicts a widespread famine and drought that will plague the nation Israel. It will not be a famine of food or thirst for water, but rather a starvation for hearing the words of the LORD.

Amos now warns the Israelite merchants and businessmen of God’s impending judgment, which will result in widespread lamentation. Israel’s joyous festivals and songs will be replaced by mourning, and there will be sorrow, grief, and pain as when a family mourns for an only son.