In-Depth Bible Study Notes for Acts 7:44-60
One of the accusations brought against Stephen was that he preached "against this holy place" (the temple), so he concludes his defense by speaking about the sanctuary. Though we don't have any of his other speeches recorded, we can probably assume that he had been preaching that the risen Christ had now replaced the temple as the mediation of God's saving presence among his people and as the one (the "place") through whom they (and "all nations,") could come to God in prayer.
Read Acts 7:44. Stephen calls the desert tabernacle the "tabernacle of the Testimony" because its primary contents were the two covenants tablets (on which were written the Ten Commandments) called "the Testimony." The Hebrew word for "testimony" is related to the Babylonian word for "covenant stipulations." The term "ark of the covenant" is the same as "the ark of the Testimony" or "the tabernacle of the Testimony."
Read Acts 7:45-47. Stephen reminds his audience of how the ark traveled with the Jews, without a permanent place, until the time of King Solomon, who built the first temple. I think Stephen mentions this, in part, because there was a time in Jewish history were God's presence was NOT limited to this particular temple building. Neither Joshua nor David worshipped God in a temple, but they were blessed and guided by God anyway.
Read Acts 7:48-50. Stephen reminds them that God is the Creator and does not live in a house made by man. He quotes from another prophet, Isaiah, as support. Ultimately God makes His own temple; He decides where He will dwell. It is Stephen's belief (and all Christians') that Jesus became the new temple (the new house of God's presence) and that all people can come to God, now, through Jesus. As we read earlier, Jesus explicitly states He is the true temple. Read John 2:19-22.
Read Acts 7:51. Stephen doesn't pull any more punches, no more dancing around: after listing many of past sins of the Jews he tells his audience "you are just like your fathers (ancestors)!" He calls them stiff-necked, which means rebellious. Moses, too, called his generation stiff-necked. Read Deuteronomy 31:24-27.
Stephen also calls his audience "uncircumcised" in their hearts and ears. They were physically circumcised, but they lived like the pagan nations around them - they were not consecrated to the Lord. His audience was so proud to be Jewish, but they refuse to acknowledge the sin of their nation's past or to see how they were following in those sinful footsteps. As a brief rabbit trail, to call a Jewish man "uncircumcised" was a great insult. This was a term you used to insult pagans. Read 1 Samuel 17:26, Isaiah 52:1. Leviticus also talks about "uncircumcised hearts." Read Leviticus 26:40-42.
Read Acts 7:52-53. Jesus accused the Jewish leaders of being responsible for the deaths of the prophets, as well. Read Luke 11:46-51. Jesus uses the expression "from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah" to summarize the history of martyrdom in the Old Testament. The prophets who were killed were not killed by pagans, they were killed by their fellow Jews. And these were the same prophets that the Jews of the present generation claimed to revere - yet their ancestors murdered them. "They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One." I believe that one of the prophets Stephen is speaking of here is Isaiah. Tradition says that he was killed by being sawn in two, by order of King Manasseh.
Stephen strikes home one last blow: you murdered the Messiah, you who claim to honor and love the Law. You are no different or better than your forefathers, who murdered the prophets.
Read Acts 7:54. Though everything Stephen told them was truth and well presented and backed up with Old Testament references, their hearts are so hard, and so proud. Their only response is fury.
Read Acts 7:55-56. I think God gave Stephen this vision, in part, to give him comfort in what was to follow, his own martyrdom. Jesus uses this title of "Son of Man" to emphasize that He is a fulfillment of Messianic predictions. Read Daniel 7:13-14, Matthew 25:31-33. He also claims that He will sit at the right hand of God, therefore being made second in authority to God Himself. Read Matthew 26:64. Stephen, here, sees the fulfillment of Jesus' promise earlier than the rest of us.
Read Acts 7:57-58. There is no orderly finish to this trial, no official announcement of guilt. The orderly court of the Sanhedrin turns into a mob scene. The fact that people lay their clothes at the feet of Saul could be an indication that Saul is in charge of the execution. At the very least it is clear that Saul supports, whole-heartedly, Stephen's killing.
Read Acts 7:59-60. All I can say is that if I ever have to face something similar I can only pray that God can give me the strength and grace to be as loving and forgiving as Stephen. It is one thing to know you are going home to God, which does take a mighty faith; it is something else, it seems to me, to forgive those who are sending you there. Stephen's words are remarkably like Jesus', when He hung on the cross. Read Luke 23:34.
Stephen is the first Christian martyr. There will be hundreds of thousands more, if not millions, before the Lord's return.
Blessings!
Source
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version
Written by Gail_Sanders
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