Category NT Book 05 – Acts

Aug 8 2014

The Stoning of Stephen – Acts 7

Pietro da Cortona, Stoning of Saint Stephen, 1...

Pietro da Cortona, Stoning of Saint Stephen, 1660. Acts 7:55 says that, as he was dying, Saint Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As Stephen prepares to wind down and get to the ultimate point in his history lesson to the Sanhedrin, comes to the house of worship. He speaks of the tabernacle that Moses had built under God’s direction (verse 44, Exodus 25). He speaks of the Israelites bringing it into Canaan under Joshua, where it remained until David’s time. Then Solomon built a house for the Lord. But he reminds them in verses 48-50, that God does not dwell in the temple, and for all its glory, His own hands made everything in it.

He then addresses the council more personally, and speaks of their own vile rejection of “the cornerstone” and their betrayal of God and His son, saying:

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.
Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?
And they killed those who announced beforehand
the coming of the Righteous One,
whom you have now betrayed and murdered,
you who received the law as delivered by angels
and did not keep it.”

Stephen had not only turned the tables on his own accusers as having gone against God, but had called them the murderers that they were! Their fury had to have been something to see. Then verses 55-57 read:

But he, full of the Holy Spirit,
gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God,
and Jesus standing pat the right hand of God.
And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened,
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

I believe this is a literal account of what the Spirit showed Stephen before he died. It must have been a most comforting sight, knowing that he would be with the Lord soon. So they dragged him out of the city, and laid their garments at the feet of a man named Saul (stoning was hard, sweaty work) before they stoned Stephen to death.

(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 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 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“.

 

Jul 31 2014

Church Growth Picks Up Momentum – Acts 6

Line of Jewish high priests. Woodcut from the ...

Line of Jewish high priests. Woodcut from the Nuremberg Chronicle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Once the deacons were appointed, the apostles were free to concentrate their efforts on delivering the word is God. Verse 7 says that the number of disciples multiplied greatly and that among those were even priests that were converted. This was significant for a couple of reasons. First, having priests converted into the church demonstrated the validity of the gospel in a big way. These men of God knew His word, and by becoming Christians they were telling the world that they believed the Messiah had come and that salvation was freely available to all.

The other side of that coin is that the priests who did not convert (particularly the Sadducees and Pharisees who were already hostile to Jesus and now to His apostles) were already jealous of the attention and reverence that was given to the apostles. Add to this the “loss” of priests to Christianity, and the hostility would work them up to a frenzy in belief that something had to be done to stop these followers of Jesus.

(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“.

 

Jul 30 2014

07/30 – The Appointment

English: folio 11 recto of the codex with the ...

English: folio 11 recto of the codex with the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After receiving their charge from the apostles, the disciples chose seven men for the apostles to appoint to “serve tables” for the church – the first deacons. It is an important distinction. It is the elders of the church who are to appoint the deacons, true enough. But they make their decisions as to who to appoint based solely upon the group of men that the church members select. One could logically assume that the wisdom in doing it this way is because the members are closer to their fellow disciples and they are going to better know the hearts and lives of the men that they select,

Two of the men they select will become familiar to us. Though Stephen’s time will end in chapter 7, his life, the speech that he gives, and his death have great meaning and served the fulfillment of the Lord’s commands, as well as the growth of his church in ways that we can only partially know. Phlip will be instrumental in chapters to come for the conversion and salvation of many. The other five that the text mentions do not appear elsewhere after this chapter.

(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“.

 

Jul 29 2014

Table Servants – Acts 6

English: page of the Acts of the Apostles from...

English: page of the Acts of the Apostles from the last edition of the bible originally translated by Johann Dietenberger, published in Augsburg 1776 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So the phenomenal growth that the church had experienced, had become a double-edged sword, where the apostles were concerned. Growth and the salvation of men and women was indeed what they were commanded to achieve by The Lord Himself.  But such great success in doing so in such a short time had resulted in numbers of people who had inevitably had problems and special needs. And in such large numbers, managing those needs had become an impossible task for the twelve who had been “called out” as messengers.

So they told the disciples to pick out seven men ” of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom” for them to appoint. Today, we refer to these men as deacons in the church.  The word deacon comes from a Greek word for servant, and that is exactly what they do — they serve the church. They are not elected, neither are they “officials” of the church. Their role is a direct reflection of Jesus’ command to the apostles to serve, which he gave them in John 13:1-17 (the washing of their feet).

(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“.

 

Jul 28 2014

Needing a Solution from the Lord – Acts 6

International Hellenist Of Mystery

International Hellenist Of Mystery (Photo credit: Mike_tn)

As we mentioned before, the Lord’s church was exploding in numbers in those days. We are talking about thousands in numbers. And it was not like it is today. There was not a Northside congregation, a Southside congregation, and on and on. They were unified, and when you get that many people together (even of one mind), problems develop. It is an inevitable fact.

Verse one tells us that a complaint came up by the Hellenists. This is what they called Greek-speaking Jews. The complaint was that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.  Acts 4:32-37 tells had they had everything in common, and everyone was working together to help those among them who were in need. But the numbers had just become too large. The church had an internal administrative problem on its hands.

So in verse 2, we are told that the apostles summoned “the full number” of disciples, and they told them that “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.” The apostles needed to be about the work of preaching Christ crucified, but they recognized that there were other matters to be dealt with. So it was up to them to provide a solution. It was a solution that fit the model of the church so well because it came from the Holy Spirit. And it still works today.

(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“.