When we last saw him, our man Stephen, having been set up by the Synagogue of the Freedmen, is hauled up before the Sanhedrin. This is their their third testimony of Jesus by the Church.
The outcome is considered horrible by most standards. We (mostly) don’t grow up saying we want to be stoned to death as our life’s ambition. Certainly the non-Christian would want to avoid such a terrible end, save perchance to rescue a loved one or something like that. Even the Christian (author included) would want to duck and run rather than stand up for our faith.
But God gives us the special grace in times like this. Operating under the power of the Holy Spirit, Stephen is given, wisdom, courage, and deep love to deliver God’s words of everlasting life. God is willing to allow martyrs in His church for His own good reasons. Some of those reasons can be multiplication; the church often grows rapidly under a time of persecution. Another is the realization that although the martyr will suffer, his reward is great in Heaven. (Matthew 5:11-12)
Don’t be complacent. Don’t be afraid. Do be close to Jesus. Do take courage.
Notes
Acts 7:1 – What things? He was accused of preaching Jesus such that it would lead to the destruction of the Temple and the dissolving of the Law. (Acts 6:13) They like many people today believed that spirituality revolved around a place and a procedure. (a church building and liturgy and works righteousness). So now he begins to dispense with the place argument
Acts 7:2 – Here is one of the classic powerful presentations of the Gospel found in the Bible (and fv):
When and where did God appear to the father of the Jews first? In a foreign (Babylon, a bad place) land.
So now he begins to dispense with the place argument Acts 7:2-19
Acts 7:3 – Follow me, says God Mat 4:19 through John 21:22
Acts 7:4 – Abraham stopped in Haran, tsk tsk, (he wasn’t supposed to…)Gen 11:31,32
Whenever we stop and park, we miss out, as we are on a pilgrimage.
Acts 7:6 – Stephen is starting to unglue their religiosity in the idea of a place, rather than a person, Jesus.
Acts 7:8 – Abraham had no inheritance in the land, rather, he was told to put the blade to the flesh. He did all this without a Temple or the Law.
Acts 7:9 – God was with Joseph in Egypt, again away from Jesrusalem and the nonexistent Temple. Joseph is a picture of Jesus in many ways. Eph 4.
Stephen is pointing out the parallel between Joseph and Jesus. At some point, the elders must have realized what Stephen was doing.
Acts 7:13 – The brothers, going down to Egypt, did not realize
Acts 7:17 – The Jews grew and multiplied from 75 to over 2 million. All this fruitful outside of the land of Egypt.
Acts 7:20 – Having shown that the place is not the issue, Stephen now goes on to destroy the myth of clinging to procedures. V Acts7:20-39
Acts 7:21 – Moses is nourished by an Egyptian. Where did they get the idea of putting Moses on a little boat (Ark)? Perhaps from a hypothetical oral tradition from the story of the flood.
Acts 7:22 – Moses, raised at the palace of Pharaoh, by the best scholars of the premier power of the time. See also Exo 15:26
Papyrus Ebers and Edwin Smith Papyrus describe are medical documents of the time. Some purported cures:
Cure for Burns:
Create a mixture of milk of a woman who has borne a male child, gum, and, ram’s hair. While administering this mixture say: Thy son Horus is burnt in the desert. Is there any water there? There is no water. I have water in my mouth and a Nile between my thighs. I have come to extinguish the fire.
Note: There is not a single medical error in the Bible.
Cure for Lesions of the Skin:
After the scab has fallen off put on it: Scribe’s excrement. Mix in fresh milk and apply as a poultice.
Cure for Cataracts:
Mix brain-of-tortoise with honey. Place on the eye and say: There is a shouting in the southern sky in darkness, There is an uproar in the northern sky, The Hall of Pillars falls into the waters. The crew of the sun god bent their oars so that the heads at his side fall into the water, Who leads hither what he finds? I lead forth what I find. I lead forth your heads. I lift up your necks. I fasten what has been cut from you in its place. I lead you forth to drive away the god of Fevers and all possible deadly arts.
Source:http://www.mysteries-in-stone.co.uk/medicine.htm
Acts 7:26 – Note the ministry of Moses left the palace and served his brothers He:
- Seeks to bring liberation (v24)
- Seeks to bring reconciliation among his people
This is another parallel of Jesus
Acts 7:27 – And Moses is rejected by his people. Another parallel.
Note that Stephen is destroying their prideful boast that they are followers of Moses.
Acts 7:29 – So, rejected by his people, he goes to the Gentiles and takes a Gentile bride.
Acts 7:34 – This is a great devotional. God would say that to us who are in oppression to some Pharaoh. And although it took 400 years to do so, it required that much time to prepare Canaan for their arrival. God gave the people of that land that 400 years to repent.
Acts 7:35 – Stephen is twisting the knife. They sought to reject Moses. It was only in his second coming that he was accepted. And don’t think this was lost on Stephen’s audience.
Acts 7:36 – The church and Israel have many parallels, and this is one of them. The Red Sea represents Baptism. And they gathered around the table and ate manna.
Acts 7:37 – Now even Moses foretells Jesus coming op cit (Acts 3:22) by Peter and John miracle references to this verse.
Acts 7:39 – Rejected: Moses and Jesus (7:27)
Acts 7:41 – Hey boys, you were so proud of Moses, you rejected him again, and made idols, gratitude to God, not.
Acts 7:42 – host of heaven – astrology
Acts 7:43 – Moloch was the god of prosperity and success. Parents would offer their children and burn them alive. Things have NOT changed.
“You want idols”, says God, “Then I will send you to the Idol City.”
Acts 7:49 – Isa 66:1
You are gonna build Me a little house? God never asked for a Temple. These Jews did not like what they were hearing.
Acts 7:50 – Isa 66:2
Acts 7:51 – The issue is not feling the Temple, but resisting the HS.
Acts 7:55 – In the beginning, he said “the God of glory…”. He now ends his message by seeing the Glory of God. The same blessing is ours also. It is a joy indeed to share your faith with others.
Acts 7:56 – This is the only time Jesus is spoken of as standing at the right hand of God, interceding for us. And to welcome Stephen in glory.
Acts 7:57 – First they gnash their teeth, and now they stop their ears. When the elders looked down, they had this ugly reaction, as opposed to Stephen, who looked up to heaven, and had an angel’s countenance. Don’t look down on people.