1 The high priest, who was probably Caiaphas, asks Stephen a question which he would probably like to take back, "If these things are true, tell me?" Or, "Does the witness have these things correct?" Our modern day judge would say, "Do you plead guilty, or not guilty?" Stephen's rebuttal was rather lengthy; he gives a detailed or rapid survey of the history of Israel from Abraham to the building of the temple. Stephen's speech is commonly called his defense, or apology. It is rather a defense of pure Christianity as God's appointed way of worship (Bruce, p. 141). Even though Stephen, a Greek-speaking Jew, uses not the Hebrew text but the Septuagint translation, his quotations are accurate and well chosen. He knows Scripture well, and he has an uncanny ability to interpret its message (Kistemaker, p. 244).
2 - 5 Stephen addressed the council and all who are in the courtroom. He probably quotes from memory some of the Septuagint (the Old Testament in Greek), beginning with Genesis 12:1 - 3, "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee; and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless them that bless thee, and course them that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Stephen says the "God of glory" appeared to Abraham; the Jews call that hashshekena - the light or visible splendor amid which Jehovah revealed Himself; the symbol of His presence. Abraham obeyed Jehovah God; however, he took with him his father, Terah, who later died in Haran. He made his journey into Canaan where God promised him, Genesis 12:7, "Unto thy seed will I give this land;..." The promise of the land of Canaan was not to Abraham directly but to his children; Abraham (according to Hebrews 11:9, 10), "...sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." It is well to notice that at this time Abraham did not as yet have a child. Children were a part of the promise.
6 And God spoke in this way, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and ill-treat them four hundred years. 7 And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God; and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place. 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob; and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs. 9 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt; but God was with him, 10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
6, 7 Stephen stated that Abraham was a sojourner (paroikon) or a foreigner in the land of Canaan; furthermore, his seed would sojourn in a strange land under bondage (doulosousin) or as slaves for four hundred years (Genesis 15:13, 14). Of course since we have the completed Bible, we know this land of bondage was Egypt. Jehovah God would judge (krino) Egypt as a revenge for Israel's maltreatment (kakosousin) or oppression. Following their Egyptian sojourn, Abraham's descendants will return to Canaan land and possess it four generations after Abraham (Genesis 15:16). The family of Israelites grew until at the exodus some commentators estimate the number at one and one-half million, others estimate three and one-half million left Egypt for the Promised Land.
8 Although Abraham saw the land of promise, he was not privileged to own any of the land. Genesis 15; 17, 18 says, "And it came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces (of a sacrifice). In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt (Wadi-el Arish) unto the great river Euphrates:..." Jehovah God made an unconditional covenant with Abraham and sealed it with a sign of circumcision; this rite was to be practiced on Abraham's sons, whenever he had some. When Isaac was in his eighth day, Abraham circumcised him. This circumcision (peritomes) was the 'cutting around of the prepuce of the male reproductive organ.' This rite was practiced throughout the days of Old Testament and New Testament, and is still practiced today, as a sign that that male is an orthodox Jew.
9, 10 Stephen continues his history of Israel, but he now moves to the patriarchs; Joseph's brothers profited for themselves (apedonto, with middle voice) from his sale. They were moved with envy (zelosantes) or jealousy and sold Joseph to the merchantmen; however, Jehovah God was always with him. Had Joseph not been sold and finally ended up in Egypt, the family might have starved to death in a famine that gripped the land of Canaan. In Egypt Joseph suffered at the hands of the Potiphar and his officers (Genesis 39:7 - 20); however, God saw to it that he was elevated to a high post in the Egyptian government. Jehovah God manipulates historical events; He is sovereign and uses the events in history to advance His purposes for His people. 11 Now there came a famine over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction; and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. 14 Then sent Joseph, and called his father, Jacob, to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. 15 So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he and our fathers, 16 and were carried over into Shechem, and laid in the sepulcher that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. 17 But when the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18 Till another king arose, who knew not Joseph. 19 The same dealt craftily with our kindred, and ill-treated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.
11 - 14 When a famine broke out in that part of the world, God led the sons of Jacob into Egypt searching for sustenance. When Jacob heard that there was grain (sitia) in Egypt, he sent his ten sons to bring back grain for themselves, their flocks and herds. (Sitia is the diminutive of sitos and means grain; that is, wheat or barley, not our maize or Indian corn). Joseph, who had been endued with divine wisdom, had been made governor of Egypt. It was he who made plans for the future by storing enough grain to supply the needs of the country of Egypt and some grain to spare. When his brothers came to Egypt to buy grain, he was the very one who supplied their needs. After some time, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and invited them and their father, Jacob, to make the journey to Egypt (Genesis 42:1 - 46:34). Stephen quoting from the Septuagint which counts some grandchildren of Joseph and so makes it seventy-five whereas Genesis 46:26 has sixty-six, and then the next verse makes it seventy including Jacob and Joseph who had his two sons.
15 - 19 As time passed Jacob the patriarch and all his children died in Egypt; however, they were not buried in Egypt, but rather in the land God had promised to their children as their inheritance. They were buried in the land of Canaan which indicates that they all died in faith (Hebrews 11:13). Before Jacob's death he pronounced a prophetic blessing upon all his sons (Genesis 49:1 - 33). Of great significance was his blessing upon Judah who was the ancestor of the Messiah (8 - 12). In the land of Egypt the children of Jacob grew (euxesen) or increased and multiplied (eplethuntha) or abounded. "God moved in keeping with natural law to bring about the fulfillment of His prophecy. His method was a population explosion among the Israelis in Egypt" (Yeager, IX, p. 379). In the meantime another king or pharaoh, probably a new dynasty after the shepherd kings (Hyksos) had been expelled from Egypt, arose who did not know Joseph. Upon observation the king decided that the Israelites were about to become a threat to Egypt's welfare; he dealt subtilly (katasophisamenos) using fraud or deceit. They were growing so rapidly he felt that his country would one day be in jeopardy. As a solution to the problem of Israel's population growth, he devised a plan of forced labor and a plan to destroy all the male children (compulsory infanticide); however, the Israelite mid-wives fought back and the plan failed. 20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceedingly fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months; 21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him as her own son. 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. 23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian. 25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them; but they understood not. 26 And the next day he showed himself to them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? 27 But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?
20 - 23 Jehovah God raised up a deliverer in the person of Moses, who was miraculously kept from the scourge of infanticide; he was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, and grew up in Pharaoh's castle. Tradition has it that the daughter groomed Moses for the throne since the pharaoh had no son, and Moses lived a lifestyle befitting a prince. He grew to manhood and was educated in the best of Egypt's schools; it is not unreasonable to think that Moses was learned in science, astronomy, medicine and mathematics. He became great and powerful (dunatos) in words (logois) and deeds (ergois); Luke wrote the same of our Lord in his Gospel (24:19). At the age of forty he felt a compulsion to deliver his people from Egyptian bondage. Of course the public viewed Moses as the grandson of the pharaoh.
24 - 28 When Moses desired to know how his people were fairing, he found discontent and strife. His good intentions were misunderstood after he had killed an Egyptian bully who was beating Moses' fellow Israelite. The very next day Moses intervened between two of his fellow Israelites. He was rebuked by his fellowman and was asked who made him a ruler and a judge. When his murder of the Egyptian was known publicly, Moses had to flee for his life to northwest Arabia (the land of Midian which lays to the east of the Gulf of Akaba).
29 Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begot two sons. 30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight; and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him. 32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers; the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and dared not behold. 33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet; for the place where thou standest is holy ground. 34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard them groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. 35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? The same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
29 - 31 Moses fled to Midian and tended sheep for his father-in-law, Jethro. There he married and fathered two sons (Exodus 2:14 - 22). Stephen passes over these forty years very rapidly. In Midian he was visited an angel of Jehovah God near Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb. A desert bush was aflame with fire (literally, 'in the flame of fire of a bush') but the fire did not consume the bush. Moses' curiosity got the best of him, and he approached the bush. As he drew nigh, God spoke to him out of the burning bush.
32, 33 As God appeared to Moses in a burning bush, He commanded him to go back to Egypt and lead His people out of bondage. When Moses inquired who it was speaking to him, Jehovah God said, "I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Upon hearing these awesome words Moses trembled (entromos) or quaked; he was terrified and awestruck. Here is Jehovah God introducing Himself, the thrice-holy God; a God Who was and is; He is the eternal, self-existing One, the Creator, the great I AM dwelling in the timeless present, not moving from past to future but gathering all the tenses of time into one embracing present. "The Lord introduced Himself in terms of the covenant making God Who had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that, though their children would be enslaved by the Egyptians, He would bring them out and give them the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession" (Yeager, IX, 396). God commanded Moses to remove his shoes for he was standing on holy ground. The removal of Moses' shoes was a mark of reverence in the Divine Presence.
34, 35 Luke uses an Hebraism here, God says, "Seeing, I saw..." Jehovah God had clearly seen the affliction of His people in Egypt; He had heard of their affliction (kakosin) or abuse, and their groaning (stenagmou) or sighs. He would deliver (exelesthai) or rescue them, and He had chosen Moses as His human deliverer. Jehovah God wanted Moses to go back to Egypt and do what he had tried on his own to do forty years ago. This very man who tried in his own power to be the deliverer would not be the deliverer under God's power. And what a mighty power He is! Moses left his father-in-law, Jethro, and took his wife and two sons and returned to Egypt. When he arrived in Egypt, he was met with scepticism by his people. He had to persuade them that God had really chosen him to lead His people out of bondage.
36 Not until he had performed many miracles did his people believe him. After many plagues against the Egyptian, they very reluctantly permitted the Israelites to leave Egypt. Only when God miraculously divided the Red Sea, did the people leave the land of Egypt. But because of disobedience, God caused them to wander forty years in the wilderness of Sinai. Moses was forty years old when he tried on his own to deliver his people from bondage. For forty years he spent time in the desert as God prepared him for the task. Then he spent forty years in the wilderness as he led a rebellious people through the desert on their way to the Promised Land that God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He was permitted to lead the people out of Egypt, but because of his disobedience, he was not able to lead them into the Promised Land.
37 Stephen strictly identifies Moses as that one or this one in verse 35 and here in verse 37. He was the man whom God sent to deliver Israel from bondage, the one with whom God performed all the miracles in Egypt and led them through the Red Sea. He is the one to whom Stephen is referring. It was he who said that God would raise up a prophet from the Israelite nation like himself. He is quoting from Deuteronomy 18:15 which reads, "the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me..." Moses may have been speaking of Joshua in the immediate future, but he referred to Jesus prophetically. "Moses was predicting the Messiah as a prophet like himself who is no other than Jesus so that these Pharisees are in reality opposing Moses" (Robertson, p. 91). The Joshua, which means 'Yahweh is the Savior,' to whom Moses refers becomes a type of Jesus Christ. It is ironic that Israel rejected Moses, the deliverer from Egypt, Joshua the deliverer from the tribes of Canaan, and Jesus the Deliverer-Savior of the world.
38 - 40 Moses is the one who gathered the children of Israel as a church, assembly of "called-out ones" or congregation (Deuteronomy 18:16; Psalm 22:22); the Hebrew word was (qahal), but the Septuagint translates it ekklesia. Of course this assembly did not have the same concept as the New Testament church. The authentic "church" is a New Testament organization and a separate entity in God's eternal purpose. Moses led them to Mount Sinai, and they were given the law or lively oracles (logia). Moses was the recipient (edexato) of God's law given to Israel; it was the message of life. "God had offered to carry Israel on the wings of His grace, as the eagle carried her young (Exodus 19:4). There their forefathers, unmindful of the wickedness of their hearts and their inability to keep God's moral law, had rashly promised, 'All that the Lord hath spoken we will do' (Exodus 19:8)...Stephen had shown that a covenant keeping God has sprinkled the pages of Jewish history with evidences of His faithfulness, and the Jews have cluttered the same pages with evidences of their infidelity" (Yeager, IX, 406). The Israelite fathers yearned after the fleshpots of Egypt and even the gods of the Egyptians.
No sooner had they experienced the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea, they were ready to rebel against Moses and return to the "flesh pots of Egypt" (Exodus 16:3). Furthermore, in their hearts and minds they returned to Egypt. And while Moses was on the mountain receiving the law, Aaron led the rebellious congregation to make gods to go before (proporeusontai) them. Just because Moses did not return immediately from the mountain, they began to distrust him.
41 Apparently from a mold brought out of Egypt, they melted gold and made the image of a calf (emoschopoiesan, a combination of two words moschos - a bullock or heifer and poieo - to make- Exodus 32:2 - 4) and offered sacrifices to it and rejoiced at the idol (eidolo) or the image of a heathen god their hands had made (Exodus 32:2 - 25). The Egyptians worshiped the bull Apis at Memphis as the symbol of Osiris (the sun). The heathen worship the god through the image or idol. These actions were done while Moses was in the mountain receiving Israel's law.
Had the Israelites forgotten everything Jehovah God had done for them - all the miracles performed in Egypt - the crossing of the Red Sea - the daily manna and the provision of drinking water - the cloud shielding them from the hot Arabian sun - the pillar of fire protecting them at night? How were all these accounted for without Jehovah God; did their heathen gods do such for them?
42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts an sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? 43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Molech, and the star of your god, Rephan, figures which ye made to worship; and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
42, 43 When Jehovah God saw what Aaron and the Israelites had done, He turned them over and permitted them to do their heart's desire. When He gave them up, they slew beasts and worshiped the hosts of heaven (heavenly bodies). Stephen quotes from the book of the minor prophets (Hosea to Malachi then then bound up into one book) Amos 5:25, 26, "Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel: but ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chium, your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves." Amos seems to put forth a question expecting a negative answer, "Did ye offer unto me slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?" The form of the question implies the answer "No." Stephen has just emphasized the unfaithfulness of Israel in worshiping the golden calf, and his point is that the idolatry which the prophets condemned could be traced right back to the wilderness period (Bruce, p. 154).
God turned them over to their own evil hearts and they worshiped the sun, the moon and stars. Jeremiah (7:18; 8:2) says of Israel "...the children gathered wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger...and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshiped..." The heads of the household involved the entire family - the children gathered the wood, the father kindled the fire, and the mother kneaded the dough and baked the cakes as sacrifices. Can you imagine as they ate the manna from heaven and enjoyed God's Shekinah glory, they were worshiping idols and things their God had created. "The full-blown worship of the host of heaven, the planetary powers, to which Jerusalem gave itself over in the later years of the monarchy was the fruition of that earlier idolatry in the wilderness" (Bruce, p. 153). For the worship of the host of heaven see Deuteronomy 17:3; II Kings 17:16; 21:3; II Chronicles 33:3, 5; Jeremiah 8:2; 19:13.
Stephen says that Israel erected a tabernacle (skenen) or tent to Moloch who was an idol god of the Ammonites to which human victims, particularly young children, were offered in live sacrifices. Moloch was an ox-headed image with arms outstretched in which children were placed, the children writhing from the heat of the metal, rolled off and into the flames beneath. They played loud music and beat drums to drown out the cries and screams of their infants as they were sacrificed to heathen gods. Besides children animals were offered (sheep, goats, bulls, and even horses). They made a star (astron), from which we get our word astronomy, of their god, Rephan. Rephan is the Coptic name of Saturn to which the Egyptians, Arabs and Phoenicians gave worship; Amos (5:26) calls Rephan by the Arabic name, Chiun. During a religious reformation under good king Josiah, the idols of Moloch and Rephan (II Kings 23) were destroyed. Jehovah announced to Israel that He would carry them away into Babylon.
44 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; 45 which also our fathers that came after brought in with Joshua into the possession of the nations, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David, 46 who found favor before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
44 - 46 The Israelite nation was given a tabernacle (of witness) in the wilderness which was overshadowed by God's Shekinah glory - a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The tabernacle in the wilderness was a reminder of the goodness of Jehovah God. Moses had received the pattern (tupon) for the tabernacle while on Mount Sinai; the plan the earthly tabernacle. The word tupon comes from the word tupos meaning to strike, to smite, or the print of a blow; the figure formed by a blow or impression like our type - a model or example. Furthermore, God manifested Himself in the daily manna from heaven, the quail sent into the camp and the water from the rock; all during the forty years in the wilderness the Israelites shoes resisted the desert sand and did not wear out. When the Israelites entered Canaan, Joshua led them as God opened up the Jordan River. He drove out (exosen) or displaced the inhabitants and helped them to defeat the enemy under the judges and into the kingdom age under Saul, David and Solomon.
Only after David had put down his enemies, did he have a desire to build a permanent house of Jehovah God - a Temple. David longed to build a nobler dwelling-place for the Ark of the Covenant. He had been dwelling in a palace, paneled in ceder-wood, and the curtained tent within which the ark abode must have weighed heavily on his mind. The psalm of David (132: 2 - 5) expresses his feelings:
"How he swore unto the Lord,
and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob;
Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house,
Nor go up into my bed;
I will not give sleep to mine eyes,
Or slumber to mine eyelids,
Until I find out a place for the Lord,
An habitation for the Mighty God of Jacob."
In his defense Stephen has now brought his audience all the way from the day that God called Abraham in Mesopotamia, to Haran, to Bethel, in and out of Egypt, through the wilderness, into Canaan and to the establishment of David upon his throne (Acts 7:2 - 45) (Yeager, IX, p. 418).
47 But Solomon built him an house. 48 Nevertheless, the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as saith the prophet. 49 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? 50 Hath not my hand made all these things?
47 David, a man after God's own heart, desired to build a Temple patterned after the tabernacle in the wilderness. Because David was a man of war and had shed much blood, Jehovah God only permitted him to gather the materials for the Temple. It was David's son, Solomon, who was permitted to build the Temple. "Although God was angry with His people of their idolatry, as He had been with their parents and grandparents in the wilderness, he was bound by His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob not to destroy them. Of course at one time Moses had to intercede for his people lest God wipe them off the face of the earth" (Yeager, IX, p. 420).
48 - 50 Jehovah God cannot be confined to a local house of worship; He is the great Creator and His whole creation cannot contain Him. Solomon himself confessed that no temple made with hands could house the God of Heaven. In his prayer of dedication Solomon said, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built! Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God..." (I Kings 8:27,28). The gods of the heathen might be accommodated in material shrines, but not so God Most High...But to those who imagine that they can localize the Presence of God, His scornful question comes, 'What is the place of my rest?' Do they think they can make God 'stay put' - imprison Him in a golden cage" (Bruce, pp. 159, 160). It is doubtful that Jehovah God was impressed with the Temple, but He must have appreciated it and was pleased with Solomon's efforts. Stephen quotes from Isaiah (66:1,2) which reads, "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?" Rest (katapauseos) or a place where God may dwell. The same word is used eight times in Hebrews 3 and 4 and refers to the rest of salvation which results from trust in the finished work of Christ, our Savior. After all Jehovah God is Creator of all things, and He can be worshiped anywhere as the woman at Jacob's well learned (John 4).
51 Stephen used some strong words here. He calls his hearers stiff-necked (sklerotracheloi) stubborn or obstinate (Exodus 33:3,5; 34:9). The next strong word is uncircumcised (aperitmetoi), see also Jeremiah 3:4; 6:10; Ezekiel 44:7, 9; metaphorically he means not subject to God's covenant and moral law or unclean in the eyes of God's law. Stephen may as well have called them Gentiles. Those of Stephen's generation followed in the footsteps of their forefathers; they were always resisting (antipiptete) or falling against the working of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 23:29 - 37). Although the Sanhedrin were descendants of Abraham, they were acting like pagans. Paul wrote later in Romans 2:28,29, "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."
Phillips insists that there are three ways the Holy Spirit can be opposed. The saved can grieve the Holy Spirit; they can quench the Holy Spirit. Only those who are unsaved can resist the Holy Spirit (p. 141). Luke writes that the Court resisted the Holy Spirit; they fell against the working of the Holy Spirit.
52, 53 The question Stephen asks is a challenge to the Court, "Name one prophet whom your forefathers did not persecute?" Furthermore, the prophets who wrote and spoke of the coming (eleuseos) or the advent of the Just One (the Lord Jesus Christ) whom they murdered. And the Court has joined their forefathers and have been betrayers (prodotai) or traitors and murderers (psoneis) or man-killers. Even Abraham and David, whom they held in high esteem, spoke of the Messiah-Deliverer. Israel's infidelity began when Joseph was sold by his brothers and has continued unto the present time. The present generation even killed the Messiah Who was the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant. Their forefathers received under disposition (diatagas) superintendence of angels the Mosaic Law and have not kept it. Jehovah God had come and written the Law with His Own finger, and angels were His witnesses as He gave it to Moses and the children of Israel. Yet the forefathers did not respect or obey the law. "The Just One, Whom the law prefigured and Who said that He came not to destroy but to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17) kept the law so perfectly that they killed Him" (Yeager, IX, p. 434).
54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 and said, Behold I see the heavens opened, and the son of man standing on the right hand of God.
54 Did Stephen get to conclude his message, or did he intend to give a direct appeal for his hearers to repent; that we do not know. Truly his message had reached the heart, and the Holy Spirit had done His work. The Word of God had cut to the heart (dieprionto) or sawn their hearts in two in the most irritating and mangling torture of their consciences and passions. The congregation of the Apostle Peter had acted the same way only a few days before (Acts 5:33). Their reaction was to gnash (ebruchon) bite or grind together their teeth like raving maniacs or like a pack of hungry, snarling wolves. Teeth grinding is an evidence of great emotional disturbance and is a symptom of insanity.
55, 56 Stephen, however, under the power of the Holy Spirit gazed into heaven and saw the divine glory and Jesus at God's right hand, the place of honor. The fact that Jesus was standing (estota) may have indicated that Jesus was applauding, cheering him on and welcoming Stephen into heaven. Stephen had been God's faithful witness, and now he was rewarded by a view of heaven just before arriving there. Stephen further related to the Court what he saw; behold (Look!) heaven was opened (dienoigmenous), parted or opened thoroughly and the Son of man was at God's right hand. Here Jesus was in heaven testifying that He (the Just One) had been resurrected and had ascended back to the Father. The Jewish Establishment had been made to understand that the Son of God Whom they had crucified; God had exalted His Son to a position next to Him. They had failed to frustrate God's plan of redemption; His eternal purpose had been fulfilled in spite of their efforts to thwart God's plan. "Stephen had been confessing Christ before men, and now he sees Christ confessing His servant before God. The proper posture for a witness is the standing posture. Stephen, condemned by an earthly court, appeals for vindication to a heavenly court, and his vindicator in that supreme court is Jesus, who stands at God's right hand as Stephen's advocate, his 'paraclete'" (Bruce, p. 168).
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 and cast him out of the city, and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
57, 58 The Jews' teeth gnashing was now joined by a loud outraged cry; furthermore, they placed their hands to their ears - not wanting to hear any more from God's prophet. They violently rushed (ormesan) upon him. It is pointed out that the same word (ormesen) is the word used in Matthew 8:32,33 of the swine out of which the devils were cast. The mob bodily carried him, half-dragging and half-pushing, out of the city of Jerusalem not wanting to profane the city with his blood (Leviticus 24:14 - 16). There outside the city walls they began to stone him to death. They removed their outer garments so they were not hampered with their long flowing robes as they picked up large stones and threw them into the pit. Their outer garments were laid, for safekeeping, at a young man's feet whose name was Saul.
"The drop from the stoning place was twice the height of a man. One of the witnesses pushes the criminal from behind, so that he falls face downward. He is then turned over on his back. If he die from this fall, that is sufficient. If not, the second witness takes the stone and drops it on his heart. If this cause death that is sufficient; if not, he is stoned by all the congregation of Israel" (Bruce , pp. 170, 171 quoting from Sanhedrin vi. 1 - 4).
59 The mob began to stone Stephen (58) and continued to stone him (59) as he called upon God and prayed with urgency, to receive his spirit now. He kneeled down with his back to his persecutors, and his prayer was, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit..." and then "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." "Lay not this sin (steses is ingressive) to their charge" may also be translated, "do not enter this sin on the books against them" (Yeager, IX, p. 441). On his knees amid the flying stones, Stephen made his last appeal to the heavenly court - not this time for his own vindication but for mercy toward his executioners. Although he was helpless before of torturers, he knew that his spirit was in good hands. Before he was finally battered into silence and death, they heard him call aloud, "Lord, do not put this sin to their account." Stephen fell asleep (ekoiethe) in death; it is great to know that death is like a sleep from which the Christian awakes in the arms of Jesus. Stephen became the first recorded Christian martyr, but it is known from history that many followed him. Down through the centuries and even in our day some are paying the supreme penalty for the preaching of the same Gospel that Stephen preached.
Stephen was so much like his Lord both in life and in death. "Jesus was filled with the Spirit, so was Stephen. Jesus was full of grace, so was Stephen. Jesus boldly confronted the religious establishment of his day, so did Stephen. Jesus was convicted by lying witnesses, so was Stephen. Jesus had a mock trial, so did Stephen. Both were accused of blasphemy. Both died outside the city and were buried by sympathizers...Both prayed for the salvation of their executioners. Was there ever a man more like Jesus?" (MacArthur, p. 226). Stephen, however, died a martyr's death (he died for the cause of Christianity); Jesus our Savior did not die a martyr's death. Christ Jesus died as our Redeemer; redeeming us from sin that would have condemned our souls eternally!
8:1a And Saul was consenting unto his death.
1a It is unfortunate that the chapter is divided like it is. It is felt by some that the first sentence in chapter eight should go with chapter seven. Saul of Tarsus, who had stood by as Stephen had been stoned was consenting (suneudokon) agreeing to or having pleasure in Stephen's death. Doubtless, Saul could not have prevented Stephen's death, but he seems to have taken pleasure in the death of God's saint. Saul later joined the Court and officials in trying to stamp out the Christian movement as can be seen in Acts 9:1,2. Apparently as he viewed Stephen's stoning, the Holy Spirit imprinted Stephen's demeanor and expression upon Saul's mind. He stated later, "And when the blood of thy martyr, Stephen, was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him" (Acts 22:20). Saul did not participate in the stoning but felt that he shared in the guilt. Charles H. Spurgeon wrote, "Let dying Stephen be cheered by the hope of young Saul's salvation. Let wicked young Saul repent of his wrong to Stephen" (Biblical Illustrator, Acts I, p. 625).