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Acts Chapter
Seven
Acts 7
Stephen, [1] as far as we are told, had not known the
Lord during His life on earth. Certainly he was not appointed, like the
apostles, to be a witness of that life. He was simply the instrument of the
Holy Ghost, distributing to whom He would.
He begins therefore their history from the beginning of God's way,
that is, from Abraham, called out by the revelation of the God of glory, slow
indeed to obey, but at length led by the patient grace of God into Canaan.
Nevertheless, he was a stranger in the promised land; and bondage was to be the
portion of his descendants, until God interposed in grace. The lot, therefore,
of the blessed patriarch was not that of possessing the promises, but of being
a stranger; and that of his descendants was to be captives until God delivered
them with a strong arm. Nothing can be more striking than the calm superiority
to circumstances displayed by Stephen. He recites to the Jews a history they
could not deny, a history they boasted in, yet it condemned them utterly. They
were doing as their fathers had done. But two persons are specially prominent
in Stephen's account, in connection with the goodness of God towards Israel at
this period-Joseph and Moses. Israel had rejected them both, given up Joseph to
the Gentiles, rejected Moses as judge and leader. It was, in cases which the
Jews could not deny or object to, the history of Christ also, who, too, at the
time appointed of God, will indeed be the Redeemer of Israel. This is the
substance of Stephen's argument. The Jews had always rejected those whom God
had sent and in whom the Holy Ghost had acted, and the testimony of the same
Holy Ghost in the prophets who had spoken of the Christ whom they had now
betrayed and slain. Besides this, according to Moses, they had worshipped false
gods, even from the time of their deliverance out of Egypt [2] -a sin which, however great the
long-suffering of God, would cause them to be carried away, now that they had
filled up the measure of their iniquity, beyond the Babylon which had already
been their punishment.
It is a most striking summing up of their whole
history-the history of man with all the means of restoration supplied. The full
measure of guilt is stated. They had received the law and had not kept it,
rejected the prophets who had testified of Christ, and betrayed and murdered
Christ Himself-always resisted the Holy Ghost. What they did trust in, the
temple, God rejected. God Himself has been, as it were, a stranger in the land
of Canaan; and if Solomon built Him a house, it was in order that the Holy
Ghost might declare that He who had heaven for His throne, and earth for His
footstool, whose dominion was universal, would not dwell in houses of stone,
which were the creation of His own hand. Thus we have the complete summing up
of their history, connected with the last days of their judgment. They always
resisted the Holy Ghost, as they had always disobeyed the law. Judaism was
judged, after the long patience of God and all His ways of grace with man as
means were exhausted. For Israel was man under the special dealings and care of
God. Man's guilt now is not only sin, but sin in spite of all that God has
done. It was the turning-point of man's history. Law, prophets, Christ, the
Holy Ghost, all tried, and man at enmity against God. The cross had really
proved it, but this had added the rejection of the testimony of the Holy Ghost
to a glorified Christ. All was over with man, and began anew with the second
Man ever in connection with heaven.
Their conscience convicted, and their heart hardened,
their will unchanged, the members of the council were filled with rage, and
gnashed upon him with their teeth. But if Stephen was to bear this definitive
testimony against Israel, he was not merely to render the testimony, but much
more to place it in its true relative position, by a living expression of that
which a believer was in virtue of the presence of the Holy Ghost here below
dwelling in him. In their history we have man always resisting the Holy Ghost;
in Stephen, a man full of Him consequent on redemption.
Such are the elements of this touching and striking
scene, which forms an epoch in the history of the assembly. The heads of Israel
gnash their teeth with rage, against the mighty and convincing testimony of the
Holy Ghost, with which Stephen was filled. They had rejected a glorified
Christ, as they had slain a humbled one. Let us follow out the effect as to
Stephen himself. He looks stedfastly up to heaven; now fully opened to faith.
It is thither that the Spirit directs the mind, making it capable of fixing
itself there. He reveals to one who is thus filled with Himself the glory of
God on high, and Jesus in that glory at the right hand of God, in the place of
power-Son of man in the far higher place than that of Psalm 2, that of Psalm 8,
though all things were not yet put under Him (compare John 1:50, 51).
Afterwards He gives the effect of the testimony borne in the presence of the
power of Satan, the murderer.
"I see," said Stephen, "the heavens opened." Such
then is the position of the true believer-heavenly upon the earth-in presence
of the world that rejected Christ, the murderous world; the believer, alive in
death, sees by the power of the Holy Ghost into heaven, and the Son of man at
the right hand of God. Stephen does not say "Jesus." The Spirit
characterises Him as the Son of man! Precious testimony to man! Nor is it to
the glory of God that he testifies (this was natural to heaven) but to the Son
of man in the glory, heaven being open to him, and then looks to Him as the
Lord Jesus, to receive his spirit, the first example and full testimony of the
state of the believer's soul after death with Christ glorified.
With regard to the progress of the testimony, it is not
now that Jesus is the Messiah, and He will return if you repent (which,
however, does not cease to be true), but it is the Son of man in heaven, which
is open to the man that is filled with the Holy Ghost-that heaven to which God
is about to transport the soul, as it is the hope and the testimony of those
that are His. The patience of God was doubtless still acting in Israel; but the
Holy Ghost opened new scenes and new hopes to the believer. [3]
But remark that Stephen, in consequence of seeing Jesus
in heaven, perfectly resembles Jesus upon earth-a fact precious in grace to us:
only that the glory of His Person is in all cases carefully guarded. Jesus,
though heaven was opened to Him, was Himself the object to which heaven looked
down, and who was publicly owned and sealed of the Father. He did not need a
vision to present an object to His faith, nor did it produce any transformation
into the same image by revelation of the glory. But "Father, into Thy
hands I commit my spirit" is found in "Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit." And the affection for Israel which expresses itself in
intercession, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,"
is found again in "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge"; save that
here the Holy Ghost does not now affirm that they are ignorant.
But it is well to dwell a moment on that which brings out
more clearly the especial position of Stephen, the vessel of the Spirit's
testimony, so definitively rejected by the Jews; and the divine character and
Person of Jesus, even where His disciple is most like Him. Heaven is open to
Jesus, the Holy Ghost descends upon Him and He is acknowledged the Son of God.
Heaven opens on Jesus, and the angels descend upon the Son of man: but He has
no object presented to Him; He is Himself the object on which heaven is gazing.
Heaven will open at the end of the age, and Jesus Himself come forth on the
white horse (that is, in judgment and triumph). Here, too, heaven opens, and
the disciple, the Christian, full of the Holy Ghost, sees into it, and there
beholds Jesus at the right hand of God. Jesus is still the object, before of
heaven, now of the believing man who is filled with the Holy Ghost; so that, as
to the object of faith and the position of the believer, this scene is
definitively characteristic. Jesus has no object, but is the object of heaven
when it opens; the saint has, and it is Jesus Himself in heaven when it is
open. Rejected, and rejected by the Jews, like Jesus, partaking in His
sufferings, and filled with His Spirit of grace, Stephen's eyes are fixed on
high, on the heaven which the Holy Ghost opens to him; and he sees the Son of
man there ready to receive his spirit. The rest will come later; but it is not
only Jesus, whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution, but
also the souls of His believing people until the moment of resurrection, and
the whole church, in spirit, detached from the world that rejected Him, and
from Judaism that opposed the testimony of the Holy Ghost. The latter, Judaism,
is no longer at all recognised; there is no longer any room for the
long-suffering of God towards it. Its place is taken by heaven, and by the
assembly, which, so far as it is consistent, follows her Master there in
spirit, while waiting for His return.
[1] He
is the expression of the power of the Holy Ghost witnessing to Christ
glorified, who had been now thus presented to Israel, who had already rejected
Him in humiliation. From the fall to the flood, man, though not left without
witness, was otherwise left to himself. There were no special ways and
institutions of God. The result was the flood, to cleanse, so to speak, the
earth from its horrible pollution and violence. In the new world God began to
deal with man. Government was set up in Noah. But in Abraham one was, by
electing grace, called out, and God's promises given to him when the world had
turned to demons. This began the history of God's people, but the question of
righteousness was not raised. This the law did, claiming it from man. Then
prophets came in patient grace. Then, the last appeal of God for fruits, and
testimony of grace, the Son was sent. He was now rejected, and on His
intercession the Holy Ghost had witnessed to His glory by Peter (Acts 3) for
their repentance, and now dealt with them as to it by Stephen.
[2]
Observe, too, here, that however long the patience of God had lasted,
repentance not being its result, the first sin, the first departure from God,
bears its penalty at the end.
[3] The
Holy Ghost opens heaven to our view, and enables us to contemplate that which
is found there; and forms us on earth according to the character of Jesus. As
to the change that took place in the progress of God's dealings, it appears to
me that it was the realisation by the Spirit of the effect of the veil being
rent. Jesus is seen still standing; because, until the rejection by Israel of
the testimony of the Holy Ghost, He did not definitely sit down, waiting for
the judgment of His enemies. Rather He remained, in the position of High
Priest, standing; the believer with Him on high by the Spirit, and the soul
having thus far joined Him there in heaven; for now, by the blood of Christ, by
that new and living way, it could enter within the veil. On the other hand, the
Jews having done the same thing with regard to the testimony of the Holy Ghost
that they did with regard to Jesus, having (so to speak) in Stephen sent a
messenger after Him to say, "We will not have this man to reign over
us," Christ definitively takes His place, seated in heaven, until He shall
judge the enemies who would not that He should reign over them. It is in this
last position that He is viewed in the Epistle to the Hebrews; in which
consequently they are exhorted to come out of the camp of Israel, following
after the victim whose blood had been carried into the sanctuary; thus anticipating
the judgment, which fell upon Jerusalem intermediately by means of the Romans,
in order to set the nation aside, as it will be finally executed by Jesus
Himself. The position of Stephen therefore resembles that of Jesus, the
testimony being that of the Spirit to Jesus glorified. This makes the great
principle of the Epistle to the Hebrews very plain. The doctrine of the church,
announced by Paul after the revelation made to him on his way to Damascus, goes
further than this; that is, it declares the union of Christians with Jesus in
heaven, and not merely their entrance into the holy place through the rent
veil, where the priest might only go in previously, behind the veil which hid
God from the people.
── John Darby《Synopsis of Acts》
Acts 7
Chapter Contents
Stephen's defence. (1-50) Stephen reproves the Jews for
the death of Christ. (51-53) The martyrdom of Stephen. (54-60)
Commentary on Acts 7:1-16
(Read Acts 7:1-16)
Stephen was charged as a blasphemer of God, and an
apostate from the church; therefore he shows that he is a son of Abraham, and
values himself on it. The slow steps by which the promise made to Abraham
advanced toward performance, plainly show that it had a spiritual meaning, and
that the land intended was the heavenly. God owned Joseph in his troubles, and
was with him by the power of his Spirit, both on his own mind by giving him
comfort, and on those he was concerned with, by giving him favour in their
eyes. Stephen reminds the Jews of their mean beginning as a check to priding
themselves in the glories of that nation. Likewise of the wickedness of the
patriarchs of their tribes, in envying their brother Joseph; and the same
spirit was still working in them toward Christ and his ministers. The faith of
the patriarchs, in desiring to be buried in the land of Canaan, plainly showed
they had regard to the heavenly country. It is well to recur to the first rise
of usages, or sentiments, which have been perverted. Would we know the nature
and effects of justifying faith, we should study the character of the father of
the faithful. His calling shows the power and freeness of Divine grace, and the
nature of conversion. Here also we see that outward forms and distinctions are
as nothing, compared with separation from the world, and devotedness to God.
Commentary on Acts 7:17-29
(Read Acts 7:17-29)
Let us not be discouraged at the slowness of the
fulfilling of God's promises. Suffering times often are growing times with the
church. God is preparing for his people's deliverance, when their day is
darkest, and their distress deepest. Moses was exceeding fair, "fair
toward God;" it is the beauty of holiness which is in God's sight of great
price. He was wonderfully preserved in his infancy; for God will take special
care of those of whom he designs to make special use. And did he thus protect
the child Moses? Much more will he secure the interests of his holy child
Jesus, from the enemies who are gathered together against him. They persecuted
Stephen for disputing in defence of Christ and his gospel: in opposition to
these they set up Moses and his law. They may understand, if they do not
wilfully shut their eyes against the light, that God will, by this Jesus,
deliver them out of a worse slavery than that of Egypt. Although men prolong
their own miseries, yet the Lord will take care of his servants, and effect his
own designs of mercy.
Commentary on Acts 7:30-41
(Read Acts 7:30-41)
Men deceive themselves, if they think God cannot do what
he sees to be good any where; he can bring his people into a wilderness, and
there speak comfortably to them. He appeared to Moses in a flame of fire, yet
the bush was not consumed; which represented the state of Israel in Egypt,
where, though they were in the fire of affliction, yet they were not consumed.
It may also be looked upon as a type of Christ's taking upon him the nature of
man, and the union between the Divine and human nature. The death of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, cannot break the covenant relation between God and them. Our
Saviour by this proves the future state, Matthew 22:31. Abraham is dead, yet God is still
his God, therefore Abraham is still alive. Now, this is that life and
immortality which are brought to light by the gospel. Stephen here shows that
Moses was an eminent type of Christ, as he was Israel's deliverer. God has
compassion for the troubles of his church, and the groans of his persecuted
people; and their deliverance takes rise from his pity. And that deliverance
was typical of what Christ did, when, for us men, and for our salvation, he
came down from heaven. This Jesus, whom they now refused, as their fathers did
Moses, even this same has God advanced to be a Prince and Saviour. It does not
at all take from the just honour of Moses to say, that he was but an instrument,
and that he is infinitely outshone by Jesus. In asserting that Jesus should
change the customs of the ceremonial law. Stephen was so far from blaspheming
Moses, that really he honoured him, by showing how the prophecy of Moses was
come to pass, which was so clear. God who gave them those customs by his
servant Moses, might, no doubt, change the custom by his Son Jesus. But Israel
thrust Moses from them, and would have returned to their bondage; so men in
general will not obey Jesus, because they love this present evil world, and
rejoice in their own works and devices.
Commentary on Acts 7:42-50
(Read Acts 7:42-50)
Stephen upbraids the Jews with the idolatry of their
fathers, to which God gave them up as a punishment for their early forsaking
him. It was no dishonour, but an honour to God, that the tabernacle gave way to
the temple; so it is now, that the earthly temple gives way to the spiritual
one; and so it will be when, at last, the spiritual shall give way to the
eternal one. The whole world is God's temple, in which he is every where
present, and fills it with his glory; what occasion has he then for a temple to
manifest himself in? And these things show his eternal power and Godhead. But
as heaven is his throne, and the earth his footstool, so none of our services
can profit Him who made all things. Next to the human nature of Christ, the
broken and spiritual heart is his most valued temple.
Commentary on Acts 7:51-53
(Read Acts 7:51-53)
Stephen was going on, it seems, to show that the temple
and the temple service must come to an end, and it would be the glory of both
to give way to the worship of the Father in spirit and in truth; but he
perceived they would not bear it. Therefore he broke off, and by the Spirit of
wisdom, courage, and power, sharply rebuked his persecutors. When plain
arguments and truths provoke the opposers of the gospel, they should be shown
their guilt and danger. They, like their fathers, were stubborn and wilful.
There is that in our sinful hearts, which always resists the Holy Ghost, a
flesh that lusts against the Spirit, and wars against his motions; but in the
hearts of God's elect, when the fulness of time comes, this resistance is
overcome. The gospel was offered now, not by angels, but from the Holy Ghost;
yet they did not embrace it, for they were resolved not to comply with God,
either in his law or in his gospel. Their guilt stung them to the heart, and
they sought relief in murdering their reprover, instead of sorrow and
supplication for mercy.
Commentary on Acts 7:54-60
(Read Acts 7:54-60)
Nothing is so comfortable to dying saints, or so
encouraging to suffering saints, as to see Jesus at the right hand of God:
blessed be God, by faith we may see him there. Stephen offered up two short
prayers in his dying moments. Our Lord Jesus is God, to whom we are to seek,
and in whom we are to trust and comfort ourselves, living and dying. And if
this has been our care while we live, it will be our comfort when we die. Here
is a prayer for his persecutors. Though the sin was very great, yet if they
would lay it to their hearts, God would not lay it to their charge. Stephen
died as much in a hurry as ever any man did, yet, when he died, the words used
are, he fell asleep; he applied himself to his dying work with as much
composure as if he had been going to sleep. He shall awake again in the morning
of the resurrection, to be received into the presence of the Lord, where is
fulness of joy, and to share the pleasures that are at his right hand, for
evermore.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Acts》
Acts 7
Verse 3
[3] And
said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into
the land which I shall shew thee.
Which I will show thee — Abraham knew not where he went.
Verse 4
[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.
After his father was dead — While Terah lived, Abraham lived partly with him, partly in Canaan: but
after he died, altogether in Canaan.
Verse 5
[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.
No, not to set his foot on — For the field mentioned, Acts 7:16, he did not receive by a Divine
donation, but bought it; even thereby showing that he was a stranger in the
land.
Verse 6
[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.
Verse 7
[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.
They shall serve me —
Not the Egyptians.
Verse 8
[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.
And so he begat Isaac — After the covenant was given, of which circumcision was the seal. Genesis 17:10.
Verse 9
[9] And
the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,
But God was with him — Though he was not in this land. Genesis 37:28.
Verse 12
[12] But
when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.
Sent our fathers first — Without Benjamin.
Verse 14
[14] Then
sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred,
threescore and fifteen souls.
Seventy-five souls — So
the seventy interpreters, (whom St. Stephen follows,) one son and a grandson of
Manasseh, and three children of Ephraim, being added to the seventy persons
mentioned Genesis 46:27.
Verse 16
[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.
And were carried over to Shechem — It seems that St. Stephen, rapidly running over so many circumstances of
history, has not leisure (nor was it needful where they were so well known) to
recite them all distinctly. Therefore he here contracts into one, two different
sepulchres, places, and purchases, so as in the former history, to name the
buyer, omitting the seller, in the latter, to name the seller, omitting the
buyer. Abraham bought a burying place of the children of Heth, Gen. xxiii. Genesis 23:1-20 There Jacob was buried. Jacob
bought a field of the children of Hamor. There Joseph was buried. You see here,
how St. Stephen contracts these two purchases into one. This concise manner of
speaking, strange as it seems to us, was common among the Hebrews;
particularly, when in a case notoriously known, the speaker mentioned but part
of the story, and left the rest, which would have interrupted the current of
his discourse, to be supplied in the mind of the hearer.
And laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought — The first land which these strangers bought was for a sepulchre. They
sought for a country in heaven. Perhaps the whole sentence might be rendered
thus: So Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers, and were
carried over to Shechem, and laid by the sons (that is, decendants) of Hamor,
the father of Shechem, in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money.
Verse 17
[17] But
when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the
people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
Verse 18
[18] Till
another king arose, which knew not Joseph.
Another king —
Probably of another family.
Verse 19
[19] The
same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that
they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.
Exposed —
Cast out to perish by hunger or wild beasts.
Verse 20
[20] In
which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's
house three months:
In which time — A
sad but a seasonable time. Exodus 2:2.
Verse 21
[21] And
when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her
own son.
Pharaoh's daughter took him up — By which means, being designed for a kingdom, he had all those
advantages of education, which he could not have had, if he had not been
exposed.
Verse 22
[22] And
Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words
and in deeds.
In all the wisdom of the Egyptians — Which was then celebrated in all the world, and for many ages after.
And mighty in words —
Deep, solid, weighty, though not of a ready utterance.
Verse 23
[23] And
when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren
the children of Israel.
It came into his heart — Probably by an impulse from God.
Verse 24
[24] And
seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was
oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:
Seeing one wronged —
Probably by one of the task masters.
Verse 25
[25] For
he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would
deliver them: but they understood not.
They understood it not — Such was their stupidity and sloth; which made him afterward unwilling
to go to them.
Verse 26
[26] And
the next day he shewed 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?
He showed himself — Of
his own accord, unexpectedly.
Verse 27
[27] But
he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler
and a judge over us?
Who appointed thee —
"Under the presence of the want of a call by man, the instruments of God
are often rejected."
Verse 30
[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.
The angel —
The Son of God; as appears from his styling himself Jehovah.
In a flame of fire —
Signifying the majesty of God then present. Exodus 3:2.
Verse 33
[33] Then
said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou
standest is holy ground.
Then said the Lord, Loose thy shoes — An ancient token of reverence; for the place is holy ground - The
holiness of places depends on the peculiar presence of God there.
Verse 35
[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.
This Moses whom they refused — Namely, forty years before. Probably, not they, but their fathers did
it, and God imputes it to them. So God frequently imputes the sins of the
fathers to those of their children who are of the same spirit.
Him did God send to be a deliverer — Which is much more than a judge; by the hand of - That is, by means of
the angel - This angel who spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai expressly called
himself Jehovah, a name which cannot, without the highest presumption, be
assumed by any created angel, since he whose name alone is Jehovah, is the Most
High over all the earth, Psalm lxxxiii, 18. Psalms 83:18. It was therefore the Son of God
who delivered the law to Moses, under the character of Jehovah, and who is here
spoken of as the angel of the covenant, in respect of his mediatorial office.
Verse 37
[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.
The Lord will raise you up a prophet — St. Stephen here shows that there is no opposition between Moses and
Christ. Deuteronomy 18:15
Verse 38
[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:
This is he —
Moses.
With the angel, and with our fathers — As a mediator between them.
Who received the living oracles — Every period beginning with, And the Lord said unto Moses, is properly
an oracle. But the oracles here intended are chiefly the ten commandments.
These are termed living, because all the word of God, applied by his Spirit, is
living and powerful, Hebrews 4:12, enlightening the eyes, rejoicing
the heart, converting the soul, raising the dead. Exodus 19:3.
Verse 40
[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.
Make us gods to go before us — Back into Egypt. Exodus 32:1.
Verse 41
[41] And
they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and
rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
And they made a calf — In imitation of Apis, the Egyptian god: and rejoiced in the works of
their hands - In the god they had made. 42.
God turned —
From them in anger; and gave them up - Frequently from the time of the golden
calf, to the time of Amos, and afterward.
The host of heaven —
The stars are called an army or host, because of their number, order, and
powerful influence.
In the book of the prophets — Of the twelve prophets, which the Jews always wrote together in one
book.
Have ye offered —
The passage of Amos referred to, chap. v, 25, etc., Amos 5:25 consists of two parts; of which the
former confirms verse 41, Acts 7:41,42 of the sin of the people; the
latter the beginning of verse 42, concerning their punishment.
Have ye offered to me — They had offered many sacrifices; but God did not accept them as offered
to him, because they sacrificed to idols also; and did not sacrifice to him
with an upright heart. Amos 5:25.
Verse 43
[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.
Ye took up —
Probably not long after the golden calf: but secretly; else Moses would have
mentioned it.
The shrine — A
small, portable chapel, in which was the image of their god. Moloch was the
planet Mars, which they worshipped under a human shape. Remphan, that is,
Saturn, they represented by a star.
And I will carry you beyond Babylon — That is, beyond Damascus (which is the word in Amos) and Babylon. This
was fulfilled by the king of Assyria, 2 Kings 17:6.
Verse 44
[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.
Our fathers had the tabernacle of the
testimony — The testimony was properly the two tables
of stone, on which the ten commandments were written. Hence the ark which
contained them is frequently called the ark of the testimony; and the whole
tabernacle in this place.
The tabernacle of the testimony — according to the model which he had seen - When he was caught up in the
visions of God on the mount.
Verse 45
[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;
Which our fathers having received — From their ancestors; brought into the possession of the Gentiles - Into
the land which the Gentiles possessed before. So that God's favour is not a
necessary consequence of inhabiting this land. All along St. Stephen intimates
two things: 1. That God always loved good men in every land: 2. That he never
loved bad men even in this. Joshua 3:14.
Verse 46
[46] Who
found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
Who petitioned to find a habitation for the
God of Jacob — But he did not obtain his petition: for
God remained without any temple till Solomon built him a house. Observe how
wisely the word is chosen with respect to what follows.
Verse 48
[48]
Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the
prophet,
Yet the Most High inhabiteth not temples made
with hands — As Solomon declared at the very dedication
of the temple, 1 Kings 8:27.
The Most High —
Whom as such no building can contain. Isaiah 66:1.
Verse 49
[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?
What is the place of my rest? — Have I need to rest? 51.
Ye stiff necked —
Not bowing the neck to God's yoke; and uncircumcised in heart - So they showed
themselves, verse 54; Acts 7:54 and ears - As they showed, verse 57. Acts 7:57 So far were they from receiving the
word of God into their hearts, that they would not hear it even with their
ears.
Ye — And your fathers,
always - As often as ever ye are called, resist the Holy Ghost - Testifying by
the prophets of Jesus, and the whole truth. This is the sum of what he had
shown at large.
Verse 53
[53] Who
have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
Who have received the law by the
administration of angels — God, when he gave the law on Mount Sinai,
was attended with thousands of his angels, Galatians 3:19; Psalms 68:17.
Verse 55
[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,
But he looking steadfastly up to heaven, saw
the glory of God — Doubtless he saw such a glorious
representation, God miraculously operating on his imagination, as on Ezekiel's,
when he sat in his house at Babylon, and saw Jerusalem, and seemed to himself
transported thither, Ezekiel 8:1-4. And probably other martyrs, when
called to suffer the last extremity, have had extraordinary assistance of some
similar kind.
Verse 56
[56] And
said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the
right hand of God.
I see the Son of man standing — As if it were just ready to receive him. Otherwise he is said to sit at
the right hand of God.
Verse 57
[57] Then
they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with
one accord,
They rushed upon him — Before any sentence passed.
Verse 58
[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.
The witnesses laid down their clothes at the
feet of a young man, whose name was Saul — O
Saul, couldst thou have believed, if one had told thee, that thou thyself
shouldst be stoned in the same cause? and shouldst triumph in committing thy
soul likewise to that Jesus whom thou art now blaspheming? His dying prayer
reached thee, as well as many others. And the martyr Stephen, and Saul the
persecutor, (afterward his brother both in faith and martyrdom,) are now joined
in everlasting friendship, and dwell together in the happy company of those who
have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.
Verse 59
[59] And
they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit.
And they stoned Stephen, invoking and saying,
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit — This is the literal translation of the
words, the name of God not being in the original. Nevertheless such a solemn
prayer to Christ, in which a departing soul is thus committed into his hands,
is such an act of worship, as no good man could have paid to a mere creature;
Stephen here worshipping Christ in the very same manner in which Christ
worshipped the Father on the cross.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on
Acts》
Chapter 7. Bloody Witness
Powerful in
Speech
Powerful in Action
I. Recital of
the Old Testament History
II. Rebuke the
Israelites
II. Stephen the
First Martyr
── Chih-Hsin Chang《An Outline of The New Testament》
Chapter Seven General Review
OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS CHAPTER
1) To review Stephen's defense to the charge of blasphemy against the temple and the Law 2) To note the remarkable manner in which the first martyr for Christ died SUMMARY
The previous chapter ended with Stephen before the Sanhedrin councilfacing accusations that he spoke blasphemy against the temple and theLaw (cf. 6:13-14). Chapter seven contains Stephen's defense to thesecharges, and the account of his martyrdom. Stephen responded by reviewing the call of Abraham and God's promise tohim and the nation of Israel deliver Israel through the wilderness. Yet Israel God gave the Law. Not only in the incident involving the golden calf,but throughout their wilderness wanderings Israel false gods (cf. Amo 5:25-27). Turning to the matter of God's dwellingplace, Stephen acknowledged the role of the tabernacle of Moses and the