Stephen, on trial for blasphemy, has just finished summarizing Jewish history.
Acts 7:37-43
"This is that Moses who told the Israelites, `God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.' He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.
"But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. They told Aaron, `Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt--we don't know what has happened to him!' That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made. But God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies.
This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: "`Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? You have lifted up the shrine of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile' beyond Babylon.
Stephen compares the Jewish leaders, who have rejected Jesus, with those in Moses's day who rejected Moses. This comparison will not be well-received.
The Old Testament quotes are from Deuteronomy 18:15 (verse 37), Exodus 32:1 (verse 40) and Amos 5:25-27 (in verse 43.)
Acts 7:44-50
"Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. Having received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, who enjoyed God's favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built the house for him.
"However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: `Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?'
Stephen, on trial for supposedly saying Jesus would destroy the Jerusalem temple, summarizes the true value of that "house of God".
"Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. Having received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, who enjoyed God's favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built the house for him.
"However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: `Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?'
Stephen, on trial for supposedly saying Jesus would destroy the Jerusalem temple, summarizes the true value of that "house of God".
From the NIV Footnotes on verse 46: Some early Greek manuscripts say "the house of Jacob" instead of "the god of Jacob." The quote in verse 50 is from Isaiah 66:1-2.
Acts 7:51-53
"You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him--you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it."
Stephen who has just finished summarizing Jewish history, does not back down, but confronts the religious leaders. They are following a Jewish tradition (indeed a human tradition) of persecuting those who speak with the voice of God.
"You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him--you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it."
Stephen who has just finished summarizing Jewish history, does not back down, but confronts the religious leaders. They are following a Jewish tradition (indeed a human tradition) of persecuting those who speak with the voice of God.
When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.
The reactions of the religious leaders is not too surprising.
In the early church, with its heavy emphasis on the resurrection of Jesus, the phrase "fell asleep" describes death. After all, from the point of view of the early church, that separation from earthly existence is a temporary one, almost like an afternoon nap.
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