CHAPTER 7

(A.D. 33)

STEPHENS DEFENSE

¹Then said the High Priest, Are these things so? (This was asked concerning the charges!)

²And he said (Stephen), Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken (addresses and is meant to address the religious hierarchy of Israel); The God of Glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran (doesnt tell us exactly what this appearance was, whether visible or that the Lord may have used someone else to deliver the Message; the exact place in that land was Ur of the Chaldees [Gen. 15:7]),

³And said unto him, Get thee out of your country (pertained to a land of idol worship), and from your kindred (in effect, says they were idol-worshippers as well), and come into the land which I shall show you (refers to the land of Canaan).

⁴Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran (about 700 miles north of Ur of the Chaldees; he stayed there approximately two or three years): and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein you now dwell (the Land of Canaan).

⁵And He (God) gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on (means that Abraham personally never owned any of the Land of Canaan, except the Cave of Machpelah, which was used for a burial place for he and Sarah [Gen. 23]): yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him (refers to the seed of Isaac, not Ishmael [Gen. 17:19]), when as yet he had no child (for all of this to be done, Abraham and Sarah must have an heir, which they ultimately did have in Isaac).

⁶And God spoke on this wise (concerns the Prophecy given to Abraham by the Lord respecting the future of his seed), That his seed should sojourn in a strange land (Egypt); and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years (the whole length of the Dispensation of Promise [Abraham to Moses] was 430 years [Ex. 12:40; Gal. 3:14-17];the 400 years of Gen. 15:13 and Acts 7:6 are tobe reckoned from the confirmation of Isaac as the seed when Ishmael was cast out [Gen. 21:12; Gal. 4:30]; this was five years after the birth of Isaac).

⁷And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God (speaks of Egypt [Ex. 1:1-14; 31]): and after that shall they come forth, and serve Me in this place (the Children of Israel were delivered from Egyptian bondage and given the Promised Land, which Stephen refers to as this place).

⁸And He (God) gave him (Abraham) the Covenant of Circumcision (refers to the Abrahamic Covenant of Gen. 12:1-3; 17:9-27, and not the Mosaic Covenant which continued Circumcision, but did not originate it): and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the Twelve Patriarchs (speaks of his sons as the Twelve Heads of the Tribes of Israel, and who came under the same Covenant of Circumcision).

⁹And the Patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt (they were jealous of him, in that he was chosen by his father Jacob to inherit the Birthright [I Chron. 5:1-2]): but God was with him (men rule, but God overrules!),

¹⁰And delivered him out of all his afflictions (does not say there were no afflictions, but that the Lord delivered Joseph out of every snare set for him by Satan), 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 (portrays, for a change, a wise ruler!).

¹¹Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Canaan (refers to the seven year famine), and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance (all of this was orchestrated purposely by the Lord, in order that His Plan be carried out respecting the nation of Israel).

¹²But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first (he sent his sons).

¹³And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren (refers to their second trip to Egypt with Joseph testing them [Gen. 45:1-28]); and Josephs kindred was made known unto Pharaoh (they were introduced to Pharaoh, with Joseph seeking permission for his family to come into Egypt).

¹⁴Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him(this is symbolic of the Second Coming, when Israel will finally come to Jesus), and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls (seventy-five souls; Stephen was including the five sons of Manasseh and Ephraim; Gen. 46:27 and Deut. 10:22 mention seventy people who went into Egypt, but did not include these five).

¹⁵So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers (while his life and Ministry were in Egypt, his heart was in Canaan),

¹⁶And 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 (refers to Shechem [Gen. 23:6-20; 33:19; 47:30; 49:29; 50:5; Ex. 13; 19; Josh. 24:32]; this was in Canaan).

¹⁷But when the time of the Promise drew near (Gods timing is just as important as His Promise), which God had sworn to Abraham (the Promise of God concerned the Land of Canaan being given to the Children of Israel), the people (Israelites) grew and multiplied in Egypt,

¹⁸Till another king arose (another Pharaoh), which knew not Joseph (means that this new Pharaoh had no regard for Egypts past respecting Joseph, and consequently had no regard for Josephs people, the Israelites!).

¹⁹The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers (proclaimed such being allowed by the Lord, and for purpose and reason; had they been treated kindly by this Pharaoh, they would not have desired to leave Egypt), so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live (speaks of the demand ordered by Pharaoh that all the boy babies of the Israelites be killed when they were born).

²⁰In which time Moses was born (presents another step in the Plan of God for Israels deliverance), and was exceeding fair (describes the appearance of the child), and nourished up in his fathers house three months (pertained to the time he was hidden by his parents, in order that he not be killed as was demanded by Pharaoh of all newly-born baby boys):

²¹And when he was cast out (speaks of the time when he could not be hidden any longer), Pharaohs daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son (again, this was orchestrated by the Lord).

²²And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians (highly educated), and was mighty in words and in deeds (Josephus says that Moses ultimately became a General in the Egyptian Army, and defeated the Ethiopians).

²³And when he was full forty years old (pertains to the years Moses spent in Pharaohs Court), it came into his heart to visit his brethren the Children of Israel (before now it seems that he had not been too occupied with the plight of his brethren).

²⁴And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him(the Holy Spirit begins to move Moses in this direction), and avenged him who was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian (Moses had the right motive, but this was the wrong way):

²⁵For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them (the sentence structure here tells us that the Lord was definitely dealing with Moses about the deliverance of the Children of Israel; however, the people were not ready and neither was Moses!): but they understood not.

²⁶And the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again (these two Israelites were angry with each other), saying, Sirs, you are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? (This will bring forth an answer he was not anticipating.)

²⁷But he who did his neighbour wrong thrust him (Moses) away (plainly proclaims the man rejecting the leadership of Moses), saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? (As stated, neither Moses nor the people were yet ready for deliverance.)

²⁸Will you kill me, as you did the Egyptian yesterday? (Evidently, Moses did not realize that his killing of the Egyptian was known; however, he had been seen!)

²⁹Then fled Moses at that saying (Moses was soon to find out that Pharaoh also knew and was angry, so he fled Egypt [Ex. 2:14-15]), and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons (their names were Gershom and Eliezer [Ex. 2:22; 18:3-4]).

³⁰And when forty years were expired (it only took a very short time to get Moses out of Egypt, but forty years to get Egypt out of Moses; the flesh dies hard!), there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sina an Angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush (this was actually God Himself appearing to Moses [Ex. 3:2; 4:17]).

³¹When Moses saw it(the burning bush), he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the Voice of the Lord came unto him (after forty years, the Lord now speaks),

³²Saying, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (in essence says that He was the same One Who had spoken to them; it also means they were alive at that very time, actually in Paradise). Then Moses trembled, and turned his face away (Ex. 3:6).

³³Then said the Lord to him (begins a scenario that would only end some forty years later), Put off your shoes from your feet: for the place where you stand is Holy Ground (the pulling off of the shoes signified that Moses was relinquishing ownership to everything; slaves do not wear shoes, and he, in effect, would be a slave of Christ, exactly as Paul).

³⁴I have seen, I have seen the affliction of My people which is in Egypt (God sees all and knows all), and I have heard their groaning (groaning under the burden imposed by the Egyptian taskmasters, who were types of Satan), and am come down to deliver them (He delivered them by the means of the slain lamb and the blood applied to the doorposts, in essence the Cross; the Cross is still the only manner of Deliverance [Ex. 12:13]). And now come, I will send you into Egypt (presents one of the most appalling commissions ever given to any man).

³⁵This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge? (This is meant by the Holy Spirit through Stephen to show that the Jesus they had rejected and crucified was their only Present and Eternal Saviour.) 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 (the Sanhedrin were overly familiar with this; however, they surely understood the implication).

³⁶He brought them out (speaks of Egypt, but is meant to convey as well the Deliverance effected regarding every believing sinner upon coming to Christ), after that he had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt (he manifested His great Power to Egypt, so that the Egyptians were without excuse), and in the Red Sea (speaks of the greatest Miracle that had ever been performed up to that time), and in the wilderness forty years (presents the Divine protection of God for this length of time, even though it was His Will that they only be there about two years, if that!).

³⁷This is that Moses, which said unto the Children of Israel (portrays Stephen now presenting the fact of Christianity, even though it was not even called such then), A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall you hear (points directly to Jesus as the fulfillment of that Prophecy given by Moses so long before).

³⁸This is he (Moses), who was in the Church in the wilderness with the Angel which spoke to him in the Mount Sinai (actually refers to God Himself, Who gave Moses the Law), and with our fathers (refers to the fact that the Elders of Israel, were to help Moses, but rather, did the opposite!): who received the lively oracles to give unto us (refers to the Law of Moses):

³⁹To whom our fathers would not obey (marks the history of Israel, which ultimately led to their destruction), but thrust him from them (had God not intervened, at least several times, they would have killed Moses), and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt (puts the finger right square on the problem; their hearts were still in Egypt, just like the hearts of many Believers presently are still in the world),

⁴⁰Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us (proclaims the sin which ultimately destroyed Israel): for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him (while God was preparing great things for them, they were preparing to worship idols!).

⁴¹And they made a calf in those days (this was their idol), and offered sacrifice unto the idol (probably represented a lamb, but in times to come would include human sacrifice), and rejoiced in the works of their own hands (it is still the problem presently, with the Church little desiring to lean solely on Christ and what He has done at the Cross; many prefer a Salvation of their own hands).

⁴²Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of Heaven (refers to the sun, moon, and stars); as it is written in the Book of the Prophets, O ye house of Israel, have you offered to Me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? (While Israel did offer up Sacrifices, they were not always to God. To Me is emphatic!)

⁴³Yes, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch (refers to the name of the main Ammonite Deity to whom children were offered by fire [Lev. 18:21; 20:2; Deut. 18:10; II Ki. 16:3; 26:6; 23:10; Jer. 19:5; 32:35]), and the star of your god Remphan, figures which you made to worship them (this was the star-god of Babylon): and I will carry you away beyond Babylon (Stephen quotes from Amos 5:25-27; however, he used the name Babylon while Amos used the name Damascus; both were correct).

⁴⁴Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He had appointed (means that God gave them the Tabernacle plus the articles of Sacred Vessels, in order that His People may have a way to worship Him), speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen (presents the design exclusively by the Lord, which means that Moses was not to deviate from that design).

⁴⁵Which also our fathers who came after brought in with Jesus (Joshua) into the possession of the Gentiles (refers to the Land of Canaan), whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David (refers to a time span of approximately five hundred years; during that time, victories were sparse);

⁴⁶Who found favour before God (referring to David), and desired to find a Tabernacle for the God of Jacob (speaks of the Ark of the Covenant being brought into Jerusalem, after being untended for approximately seventy years [II Sam. 6:12; Ps. 132:6]).

⁴⁷But Solomon built Him (God) an house (the plans were given to David, but it is Solomon, his son, who built the house).

⁴⁸Howbeit the most High dwells not in Temples made with hands (speaks of the prayer offered by Solomon at the dedication of the Temple [I Ki. 8:27]); as said the Prophet (this phrase should have been in the next Verse, because it speaks of Isaiah),

⁴⁹Heaven is My Throne, and earth is My Footstool (God is bigger and greater than anything): what house will you build Me? says the Lord (the Temple was to be merely a stopgap measure until Christ would come): or what is the place of My rest? (Israel had come to the place where they believed the Temple was all in all. They didnt see it as a step toward an ultimate goal. The rest is found only in Christ [Mat. 11:28-30].)

⁵⁰Has not My Hand made all these things? (He has made the heavens and the Earth and all that is therein, so why would He want to confine Himself totally to one small building on Earth?)

⁵¹You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears (presents Stephen using the same language as Moses when he conveyed Gods rebuke to Israel [Deut. 10:16]), you do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you (everything carried out by God on Earth is through the Person and Office of the Holy Spirit; to resist Him is to resist God, for He is God; they resisted Him by resisting the Plan of God, Who and What was Jesus Christ).

⁵²Which of the Prophets have not your fathers persecuted? (This is very similar to that stated by Christ [Mat. 5:12; 23:30-31, 34-37; Lk. 13:33-34].) and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One (they killed the Prophets who pointed to the One Who was to come, namely Jesus); of Whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers (is about as strong as anything that could be said; how different this is from most of the modern Preaching!):

⁵³Who (Israel) have received the Law (Law of Moses) by the disposition of Angels (speaks of the myriads of Angels who were present and were used to help give the Law of Moses to Israel [Ps. 68:17]), and have not kept it(contradicted their claims!).

THEIR ANSWER

⁵⁴When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart (refers to the depth to which the Holy Spirit took Stephens words, which, in effect, were the Words of the Lord), and they gnashed on him with their teeth (proclaims their answer to Stephen and the Holy Spirit).

⁵⁵But he, being full of the Holy Spirit (the second time this is said of him [Acts 6:5]), look ed up stedfastly into Heaven (means that Stephen saw something in Heaven which immediately seized his attention), and saw the Glory of God (he saw the Throne of God), and Jesus standing on the Right Hand of God (Christ is usually presented as sitting at the Right Hand of God [Heb. 1:3], but here He is seen standing, as rising to welcome His Faithful martyr and to place on his head the Crown of Life),

⁵⁶And said, Behold, I see the Heavens opened (proclaims Jesus in His Glory as God, just as the Heavens had opened to see Jesus in His humiliation on Earth as Man [Jn. 1:51]), and the Son of Man standing on the Right Hand of God (proclaims His rightful place by virtue of His achievements and exaltation to original Glory [Jn. 17:5; Eph. 1:20-23; Phil. 2:9-11; Heb. 1:3-4]).

⁵⁷Then they (members of the Sanhedrin) cried out with a loud voice (had they cried out in Repentance, the future of Israel could have been drastically changed for the better), and stopped their ears (means that they no longer desired to hear anything he desired to say), and ran upon him with one accord (all of the religious leadership of Israel were guilty),

⁵⁸And cast him out of the city, and stoned him(this was their answer to the plea of God for their souls): and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young mans feet (they took off their outer garments so as to be free to hurl the stones at their victim with greater force), whose name was Saul (presents the first mention of this man who would have a greater positive impact on Christianity than any other human being who has ever lived; the death of Stephen, no doubt, played a part in the later conversion of Paul).

⁵⁹And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God(presents a monstrous offense on the part of his murderers; we must remember, he was murdered by the religious leaders of Israel), and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit (presents Stephen rendering Divine Worship to Jesus Christ in the most sublime form, and in the most solemn moment of his life).

⁶⁰And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge (presents him dying on his knees, without malice toward his murderers). And when he had said this, he fell asleep (portrays the body falling asleep, while his soul and spirit instantly went to be with Jesus; due to what Jesus did at the Cross; death is now looked at as merely going to sleep).