Stephen narrated a long history relating to God's grand vision to reaffirm his position that both the Law and the temple would be done away with. He recounted where the ancestors of Israel had come from, the purpose of their call, what God expected of their ancestors, their rebellion against God and the consequences to come upon the new generation of Israelites. This is what Stephen began to say: "Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran, and said to them “Get out of your country and from your relatives and come to the land I will show you” (Acts 7:1-3).

In short, the ancestors of Israel migrated from Mesopotamia, the land between the two rivers Euphrates and Tigris, which is largely occupied by modern Iraq. Given the Mesopotamian background of the Israelites, many biblical studies have focused on understanding Mesopotamian history and religion; and their influence on Israelite religion and culture. These anthropological studies have focused on what was happening in Mesopotamia and why God called Abraham and his family out of the land of the Chaldeans. Interest in Mesopotamia also stems from the fact that it was the cradle of human civilization. The Mesopotamians invented the wheel. They built the first temples (ziggurats). They invented writing on clay tablets. Indeed, the Mesopotamians have the earliest records of human history. Much of the diverse creation stories emerged from Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia was a fertile land and attracted many ancient peoples to fight for a place in the region (Gen. 11:2). Many great civilizations have conquered and occupied parts of Mesopotamia before. They include the Sumerians, the Akkadians, the Assyrians and the Babylonians. Later, Babylon the Great became the spiritual and cultural center of Mesopotamia. Therefore Mesopotamia had great influence on global religion and culture.

The Mesopotamians were polytheistic. The great flood occurred in Mesopotamia. But the Mesopotamians gave their own interpretation of the flood event as found in the legendary Epic of Gilgamesh. They also had their own versions of creation stories with variations among the ancient Near Eastern countries. They built their temples, with their own elaborate systems of pagan worship. Indeed Mesopotamian mythological traditions obscured knowledge of the true God.

But God revealed Himself to Abram while he was still in Mesopotamia. It is apparent that with the isolation of Abram from Mesopotamia, the God of the Israelites was going to prepare and set him and his descendants on a spiritual war path against Mesopotamian mythological traditions, described by Isaiah as “superstitions from the East” (Isaiah 2:6); and aimed to eventually destroy her traditions and influence on global secular culture (Jer. 50 & 51). The prophetic victory song of Rev. 18:2: “Babylon the great has fallen!” reflects the accomplishment of this divine vision!

Therefore in God’s grand vision, He was going to grant the Israelites a new understanding of Mesopotamian historical experiences such as Noah's flood event; and a new religion altogether. According to Stephen, as part of this, God gave their ancestors the tabernacle made according to the pattern in heaven as a symbol of God’s presence with the Israelites (Acts 7:44). In it, they kept the Ark of the Covenant. But their ancestors rebelled against God, made a graven image – the golden calf, and worshiped it according to the traditions of their fathers (Acts 7:39-43). This defeats God's grand scheme. And this provoked God to anger; and He destroyed the golden calf.

Then came also David, who proposed to build a temple for God. But worshiping of gods in temples was also a contemporary religious tradition of the ancient Near East. God was therefore displeased with David’s proposal because like the golden calf, it defeats the purpose for which He called their ancestors from Mesopotamia. God therefore queried, (paraphrased): “Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. How can you contain me in a temple built with hands?” But because David found favour with God, He permitted his son Solomon to build the temple. In many other ways, God dealt with the Israelites under such principles of the world (Gal. 4:3) and utlized them as foundational concepts to teach spiritual truths whilst ameliorating them to give the Israelites a gospel taste. Given the background that the temple contradicts God's purpose for calling their ancestors from Mesopotamia, Stephen proved to the contending Jews that, in time to come, the temple would suffer the same fate as the golden calf. This revelation by Stephen about the fall of the temple is what the Jews could not take; and they stoned him. In sum, the narrative of Stephen points to a new religious order that opposes Mesopotamian mythological traditions.