Commentary of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles
By Dr. Barry L. Jenkins
Text Used: Legacy Standard Bible
Bible Study Acts 7: 31-60
Text:
31 When Moses saw it, he was marveling at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the [q]Lord: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and would not dare to look. 33 But the [r]Lord said to him, ‘Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groans, and I have come down to deliver them; [s]come now, and I will send you to Egypt.’
35 “This Moses whom they disowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God [t]sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the [u]help of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, doing wonders and [v]signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet [w]like me from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one who, in the [x]congregation in the wilderness, was with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai and with our fathers; the one who received living oracles to pass on to you. 39 Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 [y]At that time they made a [z]calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away and delivered them up to [aa]serve the [ab]host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘Did you present Me with slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 43 You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god [ac]Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will remove you beyond Babylon.’
44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He, who spoke to Moses, directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen. 45 And having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with [ad]Joshua when they dispossessed the [ae]nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David. 46 David found favor in the sight of God, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the [af]God of Jacob. 47 But Solomon built a house for Him. 48 However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands, as the prophet says:
49
‘Heaven is My throne,
And earth is the footstool of My feet.
What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,
‘Or what place is there for My rest?
50
Was it not My hand which made all these things?’
51 “You men—stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears—are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 And which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; 53 you who received the Law as ordained by angels, and yet did not observe it.”
Stephen Is Stoned to Death
54 Now when they heard this, they became furious in their hearts, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. 55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But crying out with a loud voice, they covered their ears and rushed at him with one accord. 58 And when they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 They went on stoning Stephen as he was calling out and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And having said this, he [ag]fell asleep.
Verse by verse commentary:
Verse 31: “When Moses saw it, he was marveling at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord:”
Can you imagine what Moses was thinking? Whatever the emotions, they did not stop him from moving toward the burning bush, not away from it. Then, the voice.
Verse 32: “‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and would not dare to look.”
This is a quote from Exodus 3: 6, 15. Notice that God states that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Verse 33: “But the Lord said to him, ‘Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
This is a quote from Exodus 3: 5. I am of the opinion that anywhere God’s Presence is would make the ground holy.
Verse 34: “‘I have surely seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groans, and I have come down to deliver them; [a]come now, and I will send you to Egypt.’”
This is a quote from Exodus 3: 7, 8. It is a comfort to know that even when your answers to prayer are delayed, God still sees you and hears you. When the time is right, then He will act.
Verse 35: “This Moses whom they disowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.”
Stephen is making the argument that the rejection of God’s choice of a deliverer, i.e. Moses, was the beginning of a history of the Israelites rejection of God and His deliverers. The quote, “Who made you?” is from Exodus 2: 14.
Verse 36: “This man led them out, doing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.”
Moses performed many miracles at God’s direction: the 10 plagues in Egypt, parting of the Red Sea, water from a rock, and the destruction of Korah.
Verse 37: “This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’”
This is a quote from Deuteronomy 18: 15 and is a reference to the Messiah that would come. Moses was chosen to lead the children of Israel out of captivity and the Lord Jesus Christ was the chosen sin substitute that would deliver His people from sin.
Verse 38: “This is the one who, in the congregation in the wilderness, was with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai and with our fathers; the one who received living oracles to pass on to you.”
The word “congregation” is the Greek word ekklesia that is generally translated as church, but I believe the better translation is “assembly”. The reference to “the angel who was speaking to him” is interesting because it reveals that an angel had some part in the conveyance of the ten commandments to Moses. We know that Moses received the Law directly from God, but the angel spoke also.
Verse 39: “Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,”
Israel preferred slavery to Egypt than obedience to Moses. Stephen is making the defense that just as the Israelites had rejected Moses, now they are rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 40: “saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what has become of him.’”
The request was to make a physical representation of a false god. This is a quote from Exodus 32: 1, 23.
Verse 41: “At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.”
The people made a god with their own hands and worshipped it. How many today make a god in their own image and worship it?
Verse 42: “But God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘Did you present Me with slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?”
The quote is from Amos 5: 25-27. “Delivered them up” refers to God abandoning them to their own selfish interests. “Host of heaven” means heavenly bodies to include the sun, moon and stars. These were worshipped during the Babylonian captivity. The people were given over to idolatry.
Verse 43: “‘You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will remove you beyond Babylon.’”
Moloch was a Canaanite title for deities to whom human fiery sacrifices were offered. Many times they were child sacrifices. Rompha comes from the Egyptian name for the god associated with the planet Saturn.
Verse 44: “Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He, who spoke to Moses, directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen.”
The “testimony” was the tablets of the Ten Commandments. The Ark of the Covenant and Ten Commandments were in the Old Testament tabernacle. They had God’s Words directing how they should live. However, they rejected and rebelled. Stephen’s defense is that just as their fathers rejected then, now they are rejecting Christ.
Verse 45: “And having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David.”
The fathers brought that testimony with them when they began to take the land that God was providing for them. Jesus is the Greek translation of Joshua.
Verse 46: “David found favor in the sight of God, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.”
It was David’s idea to build the temple, not Solomon’s, his son. What a testimony to say that someone “found favor in the sight of God.” May that be our desire as well.
Verse 47: “But Solomon built a house for Him.”
However, God Sovereignly decreed that David’s son Solomon would build the temple.
Verse 48: “However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands, as the prophet says:”
“Most High” was a common title for God in the Old Testament.
Verses 49-50: “Heaven is My throne,
And earth is the footstool of My feet.
What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,
‘Or what place is there for My rest?
Was it not My hand which made all these things?’”
These verses are a quote from Isaiah 66: 1,2. Stephen’s point is that God is greater than a temple. Further, the Jewish council were actually blaspheming God by trying to confine Him to the temple. Now he comes to his condemnation of the religious rulers of that day.
Verse 51: “You men—stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears—are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.”
Stephen states that they are obstinate, like their fathers. To be “uncircumcised” was to be unclean like the uncircumcised Gentiles. “Resisting the Holy Spirit” was to reject the message from God’s chosen messengers.
Verse 52: “And which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become;”
Stephen is using historical facts to argue that the current Jewish leadership was just like their fathers when they killed the prophets. They rejected Christ and His messengers. The “Righteous One” refers to the LORD Almighty and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 53: “you who received the Law as ordained by angels, and yet did not observe it.”
Scripture does not specify the precise role of the angels in the giving of the Law, but clearly states the fact of their presence.
Verse 54: “Now when they heard this, they became furious in their hearts, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.”
To “gnash their teeth” meant to grind them together and was an expression of deep emotional distress in that culture.
Verse 55: “But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;”
God is a Spirit so He doesn’t really have a right hand. The “right hand of God” is a place of prominence and honor. Hebrews 1: 3 tells us that when the Lord Jesus had finished His work He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. To be seated means that the work was completed. Here, the Lord Jesus Christ stands to receive His first martyr.
Verse 56: “and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
Stephen’s vision of the standing Son of Man in heaven would have reminded the Sanhedrin what the Lord Jesus Christ said when he was asked, was He the Christ? He replied, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:61, 62).
Verse 57: “But crying out with a loud voice, they covered their ears and rushed at him with one accord.”
Gospel rejectors will cover their ears to avoid hearing more Truth. Their anger boiled over into a rage. They wanted blood.
Verse 58: “And when they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.”
Saul, who would become the Apostle Paul, was a Pharisee and associated with the Sanhedrin. He may have been an instigator of Stephen’s trial.
Verse 59: “They went on stoning Stephen as he was calling out and saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!’”
Stoning was the punishment prescribed in the Law for blasphemy (Lev. 24:16); however, this was not a formal execution based on the Law, but an act of mob violence without justification.
Verse 60: “Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And having said this, he fell asleep.”
“Do not hold this sin against them!” is similar to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ from the cross. See Luke 23: 24. To fall “asleep” is to die.
