Acts Chapter 7 Verses 1-60

In Acts chapter 7 Stephen gives his answer to the false accusations and trumped up charges made against him before the high priest and the council.  He recounts the history of the Lord’s dealings with the children of Israel.  In this review of the history of the Lord’s dealings with the children of Israel, he points out the manifest grace of God and manifest blessings of God toward the children of Israel.  Those blessings he recounted are listed below:

1.  “The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee.  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.  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.  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.  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. 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.”  On the basis of God’s covenant with Abraham the nation of Israel was born.

2.  “And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, 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.  Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.  But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.  And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh.  Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, 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.”  The Lord through Joseph delivered the children of Israel from the famine that was in the land and thus saved them from starvation.

3.  “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. 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, 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.  Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.  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.  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.  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.  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. 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:”  The Lord raised up Moses to deliver the children of Israel out from under Egyptian bondage and to give them the lively oracles.

4.  “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.  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; Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.  But Solomon built him an house.”  The Lord blessed Israel to have the tabernacle in which to worship God in the wilderness and the Lord also gave them the temple to worship God at the hands of Solomon. 

In addition to the blessings Stephen recounted he also pointed out the faithful servants of the Lord including Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, and Solomon who all exhibited faith in the service of God.  Now one might think that with all the blessings of God toward Israel and the examples of the faithful servants of God that the children of Israel would have reacted to be faithful to the service of God.  However, as we list below that with each blessing above came great disobedience and rebellion by the children of Israel:

1.  “And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,”

2.  “For he (Moses) supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.  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?  But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?  Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?”

3.  “To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, 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.  And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.  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?  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.”

Next, Stephen laid the true charge against the high priest, the council and those who were persecuting the Lord’s church: “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.  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: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.”  This is like the charge that Peter laid to the devout men and women who had gathered at the day of Pentecost.  These to whom Peter spoke were pricked in their hearts and repented and were baptized and pressed into the church kingdom of God here on earth as the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.  However, those to whom Stephen spoke had a different reaction: “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.”  Those who were pricked in their hearts on the day of Pentecost were truly devoted to serve God, whereas, the high priest, the council, and those leaders of the people who were cut to the heart were only devoted to their own selfish self interest to maintain their own power and control over the people.  They would not willingly let anything get in the way of their own wicked designs, even if it meant they would murder a godly disciple of the Lord. 

Stephen in giving his defense was being led by the Holy Spirit and was filled with the Spirit.  After he gave his defense his next action was: “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, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.”  What a glorious sight Stephen was permitted to see!  The Lord no doubt was pleased with Stephen’s defense. 

Next, these exceedingly wicked men reacted: “Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 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.  And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.  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.” From this we make the following observations:

1.  Those wicked men were willing to commit murder against a godly man of God who plainly told them the truth.

2.  We are introduced to a young man named Saul, who while not helping to stone Stephen to death was in agreement with their actions.  This Saul would become the worse persecutor of the church until the Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus. 

3.  The love of God was manifest by Stephen even in his dying breath as cried with a loud voice: “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.”