Monthly Archives: August 2014

Aug 7 2014

Stephen Preaches On Rejecting God – Acts 7

Moses with the tablets of the Ten Commandments...

Moses with the tablets of the Ten Commandments, painting by Rembrandt (1659) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Stephen continued speaking to the Sanhedrin, tells them that Moses had told the Israelites that “God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers” (Deuteronomy 18:15-18). He tells of Moses’ encounters with the angel of God, of receiving “living oracles” for them from God (the Ten Commandments). And he reminds them how the people rejected this prophet again — how they rejected God, and had Aaron make them the golden calf to worship.

He then reminds them of how God turned away, and quotes from Amos 5:25-27, and 1 Kings 11:7, saying:

‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,
during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
You took up the tent of Moloch
and the star of your god Rephan,
the images that you made to worship;
and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

The council would like to have believed Stephen to be ignorant, blasphemous, and disrespectful of all that is holy.  His inspired words prove otherwise, and even they cannot deny it. But it’s about to get more personal.

 

(This year’s reading plan for Luke, Acts, and 1 and 2 Chronicles averages just 15 verses per day – 5 days per week!)
Schedule for this week
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from Acts here
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from 2 Chronicles here

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please visit this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books” to find out about my published and upcoming books, and for a link to my Facebook Author’s Page.

All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.

 

 

Aug 6 2014

Stephen On the Rejection of Moses – Acts 7

A depiction of the Hebrews' bondage in Egypt, ...

A depiction of the Hebrews’ bondage in Egypt, during which they were forced to make bricks without straw. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As Stephen continues his speech, he tells of how the Israelites went from less than a hundred welcomed guests of the Pharaoh to over 600,000 men plus women and children (Exodus 12:37), who were now slaves. But slavery, as Stephen says, was not the worst of their problems. Their children were being murdered to try to keep their growing numbers down. This clearly is to illustrate the fulfillment of Gods promise to Abraham to “multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore” (Genesis 22:17).

Moses himself had to be hidden to escape death (Exodus 2), and it is here in verse 23 that we learn that Moses, having been raised in Pharaoh’s own house, was 40 years old when “it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.” After striking dead an Egyptian that was beating one of them, Stephen illustrates in verse 26 the betrayal of this prophet of god by one of his own people, after which he fled from Egypt.

Then he tells in verse 30 that it was another 40 years before Moses’ encounter with the burning bush at Sinai (Exodus 3). It is these inspired details from Stephen that help us piece together Moses’ age at different intervals in the Old Testament. But Stephen’s point is that it was this man (led by God, of course) who led them out of bondage — the one they had rejected.

(This year’s reading plan for Luke, Acts, and 1 and 2 Chronicles averages just 15 verses per day – 5 days per week!)
Schedule for this week
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from Acts here
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from 2 Chronicles here

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please visit this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books” to find out about my published and upcoming books, and for a link to my Facebook Author’s Page.

All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.

 

Aug 5 2014

Stephen Preaching On Joseph – Acts 7

English: Joseph and His Brethren Welcomed by P...

English: Joseph and His Brethren Welcomed by Pharaoh, watercolor by James Tissot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Stephen’s speech before the Sanhedrin continues with the account of Joseph. He recounts how his brothers were jealous of him and sold him into Egypt. But he says that God was with him — that He gave Joseph favor and wisdom before Pharaoh so that he was made to be a ruler over Egypt. An important point to note here (and in the rest of Stephen’s Spirit-filled account of history) is that in each section of time, Stephen continues to show God’s unfailing love and care in all sorts of circumstances.

He goes on to talk about the famine and how Jacob and his family came to live there after Joseph made himself know to his brothers. Stephen mentions 75 coming to live there, whereas Exodus 1:5 says there were 70. But the differences in the Hebrew and the Septuagint can be explained and they harmonize fine (as if it really matters). A good explanation of that subject can be found in this article at ApologeticsPress.org.

(This year’s reading plan for Luke, Acts, and 1 and 2 Chronicles averages just 15 verses per day – 5 days per week!)
Schedule for this week
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from Acts here
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from 2 Chronicles here

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please visit this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books” to find out about my published and upcoming books, and for a link to my Facebook Author’s Page.

All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.

 

Aug 4 2014

Stephen Begins to Speak – Acts 7

Annas and Caiaphas

Annas and Caiaphas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The chapter begins with the high priest asking Stephen whether “these things” were so. What he meant by “these things” was the false witness that had been given about Stephen as he was arrested back in Acts 6:12-14. Although the text doesn’t say, the high priest was officially Caiaphas until 36 A.D., according to Josephus. But as we saw in Acts 4:5-6, the deposed Annas was still regarded as such.

Instead of answering the question directly, though, Stephen instead begins a speech saying “Brothers and fathers, hear me.” He begins with God’s promises to Abraham. At first, it doesn’t seem like Stephen is answering the question of blasphemy at all, but we will see by the end of the chapter that what Stephen has to say does in fact deal with the worst kind of blasphemy.

When Stephen refers to God sending Abraham from Mesopotamia to Canaan after his father died, he is speaking of Terah (Genesis 11:32), who was about 8 generations descended from Shem. He reminds the council he is addressing of the 400 years they spent in bondage to Egypt before God led them out, and into the land they now occupied. But his focus for the time being is still on Abraham, the promise, and through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob, the twelve patriarchs (verse 8).

As Stephen was speaking the word of God, these men had no quarrel with what he had to say at this point. Things were going to change, however.

(This year’s reading plan for Luke, Acts, and 1 and 2 Chronicles averages just 15 verses per day – 5 days per week!)
Schedule for this week
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from Acts here
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from 2 Chronicles here

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please visit this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books” to find out about my published and upcoming books, and for a link to my Facebook Author’s Page.

All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.

 

Aug 3 2014

Brothers Against Brothers – 2 Chronicles 13

Now that Abijah was king of Judah, there came to be a war between him and Jeroboam, the king of Israel. The text give some hint that Jeroboam may have instigated the was, seeking to re-unite the divided kingdom (under his ruler-ship of course. Abijah had troops with him of 400,000 in number, while Jeroboam had 800,000 “mighty warriors.” Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim and addressed the Israelites.

Map showing the Kingdoms of Israel (blue) and ...

Map showing the Kingdoms of Israel (blue) and Judah (orange), ancient levant borders and ancient cities such as Urmomium and Jerash. The map shows the region in the 9th century BCE. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

He reminded them of God’s promise to David, which meant that Jeroboam must not be their king. He also pointed to the golden calves, and the fact that the priest, Levites, and sons of Aaron had been driven out, and that they had unlawfully made priests of people who were not eligible. Their kingdom, their king, and even their service to God was all a lie, and they knew in their hearts it was so.

But while he spoke, Jeroboam sent troops to ambush Abijah and his men from the rear. Verses 16-20 state clearly that God defeated Jeroboam and his troops, and gave them into the hands of Abijah and his men, who took cities from Jeroboam’s kingdom. Verse 17 says that a half million Israelite were killed in this battle. A true blood bath, and Jeroboam never recovered his power against Abijah.  And according to verse 21, Abijah grew mighty.

Abijah’s speech in this chapter was impressive and seemed to foreshadow a great time of Godly leadership for the kingdom of Judah. But alas, we will see that such did not prove to be the case after this victory.

(This year’s reading plan for Luke, Acts, and 1 and 2 Chronicles averages just 15 verses per day – 5 days per week!)
Schedule for this week

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Please check out my Books and my Facebook Author’s Page. You will find the links at this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books“.

 

Aug 1 2014

A Face Like an Angel – Acts 6

Verses 8-9 tell us of Stephen’s wisdom, grace and power, and the signs and wonders that he worked.  But not everyone was impressed by either his words or the miracles he worked. Verse 9 speaks of different groups from different synagogues that rose up and disputed with him. The Freedmen means just what it sounds like. These were former slaves, who had been freed. The other groups mentioned were from various geographic areas.

The Transfiguration Lodovico Carracci 1594

The Transfiguration Lodovico Carracci 1594 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The point that the text makes is that these groups of Jews not only did not believe, but they were determined to silence him. When they argued with him, Stephen’s wisdom with the word of God, being filled with the Spirit, prevailed. They could not counter Stephen’s wisdom because it was the wisdom of God. So they sent men around secretly, telling the people, the elders, and the scribes that Stephen was speaking blasphemy against Moses and God Himself.

So they arrested him, and spoke their false charges against him, even saying that he was teaching that Jesus would “destroy this place” (meaning the temple), and will “change the customs that Moses brought to us.” The last verse of chapter 6 says that everyone on the council (the Sanhedrin) saw that his face was “like the face of an angel.” We can speculate what that means, but lit is likely that it had a sort of radiance somewhat like Jesus at His transfiguration to some degree. Clearly, it was a remarkable sight to behold.

One would think that itself would have been enough to alert the council that God might have something to do with what was going on. But some people never learn because of their hardened hearts.

(This year’s reading plan for Luke, Acts, and 1 and 2 Chronicles averages just 15 verses per day – 5 days per week!)
Schedule for this week
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from Acts here
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from 2 Chronicles here

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Please check out my Books and my Facebook Author’s Page. You will find the links at this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books“.