Act 7:1 And the high priest said, Tell me then if you thus hold these things?
Act 7:2 And he said, Men, brothers, and fathers, listen! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, being in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran,
Act 7:3 and said to him, "Go out from your land and from your kindred," "and come into a land which I will show to you." Gen. 12:1
Act 7:4 Then going out from the land of the Chaldeans, he lived in Haran. And after his father died, God moved him from there into this land in which you now live.
Act 7:5 And He did not give to him an inheritance in it, not even a foot breadth. And He promised to give it to him for a possession and to his seed after him, there being no child to him. Gen. 17:8
Act 7:6 And God spoke thus, that his seed would be an alien in another land, and they would enslave it and oppress it four hundred years. See Gen. 15:13
Act 7:7 And God said, I will judge the nation to which you will be in bondage." And, After these things they will come out and will serve Me in this place. Gen. 15:14; Ex. 3:12
Act 7:8 And He gave to him a covenant of circumcision; and so he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.
Act 7:9 And being jealous of Joseph, the patriarchs sold him into Egypt. But God was with him,
Act 7:10 and plucked him out from all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh appointed him to be ruling over Egypt and all his household.
Act 7:11 But a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. And our fathers did not find food.
Act 7:12 But hearing grain was in Egypt, Jacob sent our fathers out first.
Act 7:13 And at the second time, Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's race became known to Pharaoh.
Act 7:14 And sending, Joseph called his father Jacob and all his kindred, "seventy five" "souls" "in all ". Gen. 46:27
Act 7:15 And Jacob went down into Egypt and expired, he and our fathers.
Act 7:16 And they were moved into Shechem, and were put in the tomb which Abraham bought for a price of silver from the sons of Hamor of Shechem.
Act 7:17 But as the time of the promise drew near, which God swore to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,
Act 7:18 until "another king rose up" "who did not know Joseph." Ex. 1:8
Act 7:19 Dealing slyly with our race, this one oppressed our fathers, causing their infants to be exposed so as not to be kept alive.
Act 7:20 In which time Moses was born and was beautiful to God; who was reared three months in his father's house.
Act 7:21 And he being exposed, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and reared him for a son to her.
Act 7:22 And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of Egyptians and was powerful in words and in works.
Act 7:23 And when a period of forty years was fulfilled to him, it arose in his heart to look upon his brothers, the sons of Israel.
Act 7:24 And seeing one being wronged, he defended him, and he avenged the one getting the worse, striking the Egyptian.
Act 7:25 And he thought his brothers would understand that God would give them deliverance by his hand. But they did not understand.
Act 7:26 And on the following day he appeared to them while fighting. And he urged them to peace, saying, Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong one another?
Act 7:27 But the one wronging the neighbor thrust him away, saying, "Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us?
Act 7:28 Do you not want to do away with me in the way you did away with the Egyptian yesterday?" Ex. 2:14
Act 7:29 "And Moses fled" at this word. "And he became an alien in Midian land," where he fathered two sons. Exodus 2:15-22
Act 7:30 And forty years being fulfilled to him, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.
Act 7:31 And seeing, Moses marveled at the sight. And he coming up to look, a voice of the Lord came to him:
Act 7:32 "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Ex. 3:6, 15 But becoming trembly, Moses did not dare to look.
Act 7:33 And the Lord said to him, "Loosen the sandal from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.
Act 7:34 I surely saw the affliction of My people in Egypt, and I have heard their groan, and I came down to pluck them out. And now, come, I will send you to" Egypt. Ex. 3:5, 7, 8a, 10a
Act 7:35 This Moses, whom they denied, saying, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge, this one God has sent as ruler and redeemer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the Bush.
Act 7:36 This one led them out, having worked wonders and miraculous signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea, and forty years in the wilderness.
Act 7:37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, "The Lord your God will raise up a Prophet to you" "from your brothers, One like me." You shall hear Him. Deut. 18:15
Act 7:38 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him in Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living Words to give to us,
Act 7:39 to whom our fathers did not desire to be subject, but thrust him away, and turned their hearts back to Egypt,
Act 7:40 saying to Aaron, "Make for us gods which will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him." Ex. 32:1
Act 7:41 And they made a calf in those days, and led a sacrifice up to the idol, and made merry in the works of their hands.
Act 7:42 But God turned and gave them over to serve the host of the heaven, as it has been written in the book of the Prophets: "Did you bring slain beasts and sacrifices to Me forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
Act 7:43 And you took up the tent of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, the figures which you made" "in order to worship them. And I will remove you beyond" Babylon. Amos 5:25-27
Act 7:44 The tabernacle of the testimony was among our fathers in the wilderness, as He who spoke to Moses commanded to make it according to the pattern which he had seen,
Act 7:45 which also was brought in, our fathers having received with Joshua, in the taking of possession of the nations, whom God drove out from the face of our fathers, until the days of David,
Act 7:46 who found favor before God and asked to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob;
Act 7:47 but Solomon built Him a house.
Act 7:48 But the Most High does not dwell in temples made by hand, as the prophet says,
Act 7:49 "Heaven is My throne, and the earth a footstool of My feet; what house will you build Me," "says the Lord," "or what the place of My rest?"
Act 7:50 "Did not My hands make all these things?" Isa. 66:1, 2
Act 7:51 Oh stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and in the ears! You always fell against the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, you also did.
Act 7:52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those before proclaiming concerning the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become betrayers and murderers,
Act 7:53 who received the Law by the disposition of angels and did not keep it.
Act 7:54 And hearing these things, they were cut to their hearts and gnashed the teeth on him.
Act 7:55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, looking intently into the heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right of God.
Act 7:56 And he said, Behold, I see the heavens having been opened, and the Son of man standing at the right of God!
Act 7:57 And crying out with a loud voice, they held their ears and rushed on him with one passion.
Act 7:58 And throwing him outside the city, they stoned him. And the witnesses put off their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul.
Act 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, invoking and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Act 7:60 And placing the knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not make stand this sin to them. And having said this, he fell asleep.
THE GOSPEL’S ULTIMATE PRICE
Verses 1-53: Stephen recounts Jewish history and parallels the historical rejection of God to what is currently happening.
1. How do the following people in Stephen’s sermon add weight to his message?
a. Abraham ... verses 5, 6: Abraham was given the promises, yet he did not inherit the land himself. Abraham was an integral figure to the religion of the day. They were his ancestors and thus inheritors of the promises. During this period they became a clan.
b. Joseph ... verse 9: Joseph was the lynchpin to their future survival. He gained royal status which ensured the safety, protection and growth of their race. During this period they became a nation.
c. Moses ... verses 24-29, 35, 39-40: Moses became the deliverer for the nation, freeing them from oppression. During this period, they rejected God and eventually grew to trust God. They were delivered to the land promised to them through Abraham.
d. David/Solomon ... verses 46-47: During this period they became an influence on the region. They enjoyed peace, became powerful and eventually rejected God and His prophets.
2. Why does Stephen recount history that these men should know already? As is always the case, all they have to hold on to is their history. The claim of belonging to God is founded in their recorded history. By this time most of them thought they were singularly God's people. These icons were their proof.
Verses 54-60: The crowd is worked up into a killing frenzy. They take Stephen out and stone him to death. Stephen sees the glory of God and Jesus and tells the crowd. As they are killing Stephen he asks God not to hold it against them. Stephen asks Jesus to take his soul. Those people throwing stones leave their outer garments with Saul.
3. What has happened here? My first inclination is murder. But to those who did this, they felt righteous in this. The same rationale they used to kill Jesus is still very much alive.
a. What would drive men to do this? In their own minds, there was no redemption from the reality of being a murderer and that of the Christ! It was just too much to hold in their minds. The words were exploding in their heads. So much so that they had to PHYSICALLY cover their ears. They simply could not hear any more.
NOTE: Stephen's reply in (60) "Lord, do not lay this sin to their charge" is very reminiscent of Jesus in Luke 23 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." These men were so in tuned to their spirit and understood that the greater good was more important than immediate justice.
Act 8:1 And Saul was consenting to his death. And in that day there was a great persecution on the church at Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Act 8:2 And devout men buried Stephen and made a great mourning over him.
Act 8:3 But Saul ravaged the church, entering into every house. And dragging men and women, he delivered them up to prison.
Chapter 8 Verses 1-3: The stoning of Stephen and introduction of Saul ramps up the level of persecution the authorities make against the Chruch.
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