Chapter 7

What follows is another of the great speeches of the book of Acts. If you want to know how the early preachers addressed the public, here is another example: Stephen addresses his audience. Now mind you, he’s not addressing an audience of working people. He’s not talking to a bunch of fisherman, publicans, sinners. He’s not talking to the ordinary man in the street. They were all, not only Jews, but knowledgeable Jews. So he starts out by establishing the background to what has happened.

(Acts 7 KJV) "Then said the high priest, Are these things so? {2} And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, {3} And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. {4} Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.

What does this have to do with the accusations that had been made against Stephen? The first thing Stephen does is to create a context that includes Abraham. Moses was of supreme importance to his audience, but Stephen wants to remind them that the original faith antedated Moses by many years.. Our faith, he is saying to these men, goes all the way back to father Abraham. And in one sense even beyond that. But that’s where this particular form, this shape of our faith really originated.

{5} And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.

Stephen is laying the ground work for  the fact that Jesus Christ was that seed of Abraham ultimately to whom the promise was given and who would take the blessings of God to all the world, something which Israel up until this time had really never done.

{6} And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil 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.

All this is a part of the promises to Abraham. He even included a prophecy that Israel would go into captivity in Egypt, they would come back out of Egypt and they would serve God in this place. Twice now he’s talked about the land where his listeners now dwelt.

{8} And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat 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 favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. {11} Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. {12} But when Jacob heard that there was corn 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 Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem. {17} But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, {18} Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.

And who had no gratitude for the fact that Joseph had saved Egypt. This was the Pharaoh who enslaved Israel. Things got so bad under this Pharaoh that he and his people tried to kill al the male children in Israel. They were being overrun by Israelites and they didn't want these boys growing up and becoming a problem to them. It was a pretty severe method of population control.

{19} The same dealt subtly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. {20} In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding 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 for her own son.

Pharaoh’s daughter could have had no doubt that the baby was Hebrew.  But she liked the baby and she thought it was pretty so she kept it. She gave him the name Moses. He was brought up and educated as an Egyptian. Now Stephen knew that his audience was not ignorant of all this. But he is laying the groundwork for the progress of their religion from Abraham, through Moses and finally to Christ.

{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.

Now this is odd, because it suggests that Moses, from the very beginning, understood that God would deliver Israel out of Egypt by the  hand of Moses. But the important thing at this point is that Israel at that time did not understand and did not welcome their deliverer.

{26} And the next day he showed himself unto 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 neighbour 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? {29} Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. {30} And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina 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 durst 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 which is in Egypt, and I have heard their 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 which appeared to him in the bush.

Now this is a fascinating idea that Stephen is developing.  When the 2 men were fighting and he came over and tried to separate them they said "Who made you a ruler and a judge? What are you going to do, kill us like you killed the Egyptian." They rejected Moses. It was the rejected person that God sent to be a ruler and a deliver. So we need to remember that sometimes the person whom you think least likely to come to help you is the one God has sent to save you.

{36} He brought them out, after that he had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. {37} This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

Now Stephen knows that that prophet was Jesus Christ. The men he’s talking to do not know that yet.

{38} This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: {39} To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, {40} Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. {41} And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.

All the people standing around Stephen had to nod their heads at this. They had to know that every word he was saying was true. It was ingrained in them, in all their history, in all their lessons, in all their teachings. But there were implications in what Stephen was saying that was making them increasingly uncomfortable.

{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 and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? {43} Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond 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 Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; {46} Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. {47} But Solomon built him an house. {48} Howbeit 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? {51} Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

Now, Stephen is getting tough.  He has just recounted example after example after example of how their fathers resisted the Spirit of God. He sent a deliver for you but you didn’t want Him. He took you out of Egypt, you wanted to go back. He sent you a prophet, you killed the prophet. How is God  to deal with you when every time He reaches out His hand to you you bite it.

{52} Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: {53} Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. {54} When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

It is almost impossible to imagine the fury, the anger that was there. They were "cut to the heart."  But can you imagine that as they were in the process of wrestling him to the ground and dragging him out to  kill him, that they were actually biting him? It may be they were, as the NIV says, merely gnashing their teeth at him, but the anger is beyond all bounds of reason. People don't display this kind of hatred for fools. This kind of hatred only arises when people feel threatened in their innermost being.

{55} But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly 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. {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.

We will hear much more about this young man.

 {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."

And so Stephen became the first man to die for the faith since Jesus. He wasn’t an apostle, he was only a deacon. And the power that came upon him with the Holy Spirit led directly to his death. For if he had not been empowered, if had just been another ordinary man, if he had been someone you could dismiss, he would not have been killed.

And it also leads us directly to a young man named Saul. A man whom you and I have come to know as Paul, probably one of the most powerful influences on the development of the early Christian church.

If I live to be 100 years old, I don’t think I will ever understand what it is about religion that causes men to want to kill one another. It’s not as though we’re dealing with things that affect our lives, our families, our children directly. We’re talking about killing people because they don’t believe the same thing we do.  Stephen wasn’t hurting anybody. He actually was helping a lot of people. He preached to people, he encouraged them, he healed sick people, he performed miracles. Why couldn’t they leave him alone? Why did they have to argue with him, why did they have to challenge him?

It seems so simple, when you encounter a man with a stupid religious belief, something you don’t believe and never will. You know he’s wrong. Why can't men just turn and walk away. Why not leave him alone? Why do people come to murderous hatred for one another religious ideas?

I think the answer lies in simple fear. I think it was fear in this case because God had given the early church so much power that they were a threat to the religious establishment. The Jewish leaders were afraid of this new faith. They had no idea where it would go. But of course, when sick people are being healed and when poor people are being fed and  given clothes, when all kinds of good works are gong on, what is there to be afraid of? Nothing really. Nothing except the loss of power. And I guess more people have been killed over that idea than just about anything else connected with religion. Fear. Power. Who is in control?

The motto of some religious leaders seems to be, "I’m going to save you people if I have to kill you to do it."

Poor Stephen was stoned. He was an aggressive, assertive evangelist of the Christian faith. He did a lot of good, but he made one mistake, he was right in his religious arguments one time too often.

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