CSSA 3-5-356 - STEPHEN—MARTYR FOR THE KINGDOM

356.    STEPHEN € MARTYR FOR THE KINGDOM

"They were not able to resist the wisdom and the power by which he spake"

Despite the opposition from the Jewish authorities, their threats and prohibitions, the ecclesia multiplied and the word of Yahweh spread as the apostles continued to preach. However, as Jewish converts from foreign backgrounds and customs were added to the saints, problems arose which placed added difficulties in the way of the Truth's progress. To cope with these problems there were selected seven brethren, amongst whom was Stephen who saw clearly that God could not be confined to Jewish affairs alone.

Our aim in this lesson is to see how Stephen took a further step for ward in the opening of the door of faith unto the Gentiles and to take heart from his conviction and courage.

Acts 6 and 7

THE NEGLECTED WIDOWS (Acts 6:1-6).

The rapid expansion of the truth placed burdens upon the facility of the ecclesia to organise and administer. For example, 3,000 converts came from Peter's speech at Pentecost and 5,000 from the healing of the lame man at the Temple Gate called Beautiful.

The wealthy shared their excess with the poor (Acts 4:32-34) and this produced unity and a bond in the spirit of Christ such as their Master had taught on many occasions (Matt. 6:25-34; Lk. 6:38).

It should be a stark warning to us, that even in these near ideal condi tions ill-feeling was generated. It arose because of differences between the Greek-speaking Jews and the Jerusalem Jews, who largely maintained traditional customs and the Hebrew language.

The differences concerned an apparent discrimination in the matter of providing daily food for the Grecian-Jewish widows (Acts 6:1, R.V.). Until then the apostles had the responsibility of distributing the material needs (4:35-37; 5:1-2). Now the stage had been reached where this work needed to be delegated, so that the apostles could concentrate on their primary commission to preach and teach the word of God (6:2-4), and at tend to prayer for the guidance of the work.

The ecclesia was called together and this matter explained to them, and the first ecclesial election then took place. The seven appointed were Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch. All save the last have Greek names, and so it ap pears Divine guidance ensured that the Grecian widows would now have brethren especially concerned for their welfare looking after them. The apostles sealed their approval by the laying on of hands (v.6).

STEPHEN ARRESTED (Acts 6:7-12).

These seven, especially Stephen, did not confine their work in the Truth to the immediate task of providing daily bread for the widows € it was Stephen's preaching and miracles that made a startling impact (v.8).

The gospel of Christ had converted many of the priests (v.7), who in many cases brought into the ecclesia deeply ingrained convictions concerning the place of worship and the relevance and observance of the Law of Moses. They saw Christ and grace as complementary to the Law, not as a fulfillment and replacement of the Law. Thus the seeds were sown for the subsequent conflicts with Judaism (Acts 15:1, 5; Gal. 2:11-21), as customs, rituals and observances became matters of doctrinal insistence by some.

Stephen may have hoped to avert some of these difficulties by going to the syngagogue of the "Libertines and Cyrenians and Alexandrians and of them of Cilicia and of Asia" (v.9). However, disputes arose, and here Stephen no doubt came up against Saul of Tarsus of Cilicia (22:3), the foremost proponent of the Law € a "Hebrew of the Hebrews". These Jews were, however, not able to withstand or resist the wisdom of Stephen (v.10).

STEPHEN CHARGED WITH BLASPHEMY (Acts 6:13-15).

In an ominous repetition of the methods used to falsely convict the Lord Jesus Christ, they secretly bribed men to falsely accuse Stephen of blasphemy against Moses and God. They incited the people and the elders and scribes to arrest Stephen and bring him before the Sanhedrin.

False witnesses said they had heard Stephen speak blasphemy against:

1. the Temple ("this holy place" v. 13); and
2. the Law of Moses.

The words of Jesus concerning the destruction of the Temple were recalled and used in formulating the charges. The same words had been used by the Jews when they reviled Jesus at his crucifixion, not realizing that Jesus had spoken of the Temple of his body (Jn. 2:19-21; Mk. 15:29).

Death was the Sanhedrin's objective and so they secured the necessary false witnesses (Deut. 19:15). As they awaited Stephen's answer to these charges, to their amazement his face took on the countenance and ap pearance of an angel. Surely Yahweh was with him as he had promised (see Matt. 10:17-20).

STEPHEN'S DEFENCE (Acts 7:1-50).

In answering the charges brought against him, Stephen outlined the history of the nation using the Old Testament scriptures in such a way as to demonstrate that the scope of Yahweh's plan of salvation was not limited by the Law or the physical Temple. This plan was to include Gen tiles (Isa. 49:6), involve replacing the Law of Moses (Jer. 31:31-33), and go beyond the Temple then standing, to culminate in a great House of Prayer for all nations (Isa. 56:7). The time had now come for men to worship Yahweh in "Spirit and in Truth" (Jn. 4:23), upon the principle of faith (Hab. 2:4), without the confinement of the Law and the Temple. To show that these principles were eternal and Yahweh had always work ed that way, Stephen took them back to the foundations of the nation. He began with Abraham and proceeded to bring before them the follow ing points in his defence.

ABRAHAM (Acts 7:2-8).

1. The God of glory who shone forth and spoke to Moses from between the cherubim in the Most Holy Place (Num. 7:89; Ps. 80:1), ap peared to Abraham in Babylon. Thus Yahweh is not limited to com municating with men only within a tabernacle or temple.
2. Separation and faith are the essential requirements since Abraham found favour with Yahweh before he dwelt in Haran, and certainly before he ever set foot in the land of Israel (vv.3-4; cf. Gen. 12:1-3).
3. God must have some future purpose with Abraham and the land of Israel independent of the Law, since he never possessed it in his lifetime (v.5; cf. Heb. 11:13). This must involve a future resurrec tion.
4. Though in Egypt, the people were still considered to be Abraham's seed (v.6).
5. Israel acceptably worshipped Yahweh at Sinai, outside the bound aries of the land of Israel, before the Law was given or the tabernacle erected (v.7). Note the manner in which Stephen adds Ex. 3:12 to Gen. 15:13-14 to demonstrate the point.
6. Circumcision preceded the Law. Israel was bound to God by a cove nant, the sign of which was circumcision, signifying the cutting off of the works of the flesh (v.8; Gal. 3:17; Jn. 7:22).

JOSEPH (Acts 7:9-16).

Stephen then moved on to consider Joseph. Stephen drew inferences from the nation's rejection of deliverers Yahweh had sent them, such as Joseph. He implied that Israel had repeated history in rejecting Jesus of Nazareth.

1. Envy was the motive for selling Joseph into Egypt for 20 pieces of silver (v.9; cp. Mk. 15:10). The Sanhedrin's memories were no doubt fresh with the recollection of another such transaction involving 30 pieces of silver for the betrayal of Jesus.
2. "But God was with him" (v.9), that is even in Egypt! So much for God being confined by the Law, Temple, or even the land of Israel.
3. Joseph gained favour in Pharaoh's eyes and became governor of Egypt (v.10). In all this God was instrumental. The parallels with Jesus are obvious; first rejected by his nation and then raised to high office. Peter had shown this at Pentecost (Acts 2:33-36).
4. Israel had to find sustenance among Gentiles (v.12).

5. Israel recognised Joseph the second time (v.13). History would repeat itself in the future, in events surrounding Jesus Christ (Micah 5:2-5; Zech. 12:10), when on his second appearance the nation realizes its tragic mistake in rejecting him.
6. Stephen included children of Ephraim and Manasseh born in Egypt of an Egyptian mother among the children of Israel (see Gen. 46:20 LXX; cp. Num. 26:28-37; 1 Chron. 7:20). This explains the apparent discrepancy between the 75 souls mentioned here and the 70 men tioned in Gen. 46:26; Ex.  1:5; Deut.  10:22. So much for the unhealthy emphasis on the sanctity of the Land, without ap preciating the great spiritual truths associated with it.
7. Furthermore, Stephen points out that Joseph and the other sons of Jacob (i.e. the fathers of the nation) were buried at Sychem or Shechem, which at the time was in the midst of despised Samaria! (cp. Josh. 24:32; Gen. 48:22). What a blow to their nationalistic pride.

MOSES (Acts 7:17-43).

The history of Moses is advanced to further answer charges of blasphemy and to show how again Israel had rejected a deliverer and saviour sent to them.

1. The nation had developed and grown in Egypt (v. 17). In fact Stephen had shown that each major event in the development of Israel had taken place outside the land. Where were the grounds for a charge of blasphemy against "this holy place"?
2. Their deliverer and Law-giver Moses was saved, nourished and educated by the Egyptians (vv.18-22). Only Moses' parents had the faith to resist Pharaoh's command; the rest killed their own children in subservience to the Gentiles. What a beginning to a nation now so proud and insistent on observance of its traditions!
3. Moses was rejected by his brethren even in the midst of trying to save them (vv.23-26). Jesus had suffered a like fate (cf. Matt. 23:27). Stephen's quotation, "Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us" is reminiscent of Jesus' parable in which the people say of the nobleman, "We will not have this man to reign over us" (Lk. 19:14).
4. Moses had to flee to a "far country" where he received a divine revelation of Yahweh's purpose and found a bride among the Gen tiles (vv.29-30).
5. Yahweh announced Himself as "The God of thy fathers" to Moses (v. 32), on the "holy ground" in the Sinai wilderness (v.33). Was the Temple area then the only holy place where Yahweh could be wor shipped or was the Law necessary for acceptable worship? Stephen had successfully refuted the charges in these striking points.
6. Stephen again brings before them the evidence of a rejected leader; "This Moses whom they refused" (v.35). God sent "this same Moses" back to be a ruler and deliverer. As with the case of Joseph, Israel was forced to accept him at the second appearance. The ob vious analogy is Yahweh's purpose with Jesus. Stephen's purpose in recalling their history in this way is to make this plain.

(g) Yahweh worked His wonders in Egypt, in the Red Sea and the wilderness (v.36). No mention is made of the land of israel.

(h) The pointed warning of Deut. 18:18 was next brought forward by Stephen. The prophet like Moses had indeed been raised up but they had not hearkened to him (v.37).

(i) God was worshipped in the wilderness (v.38). Israel was termed the ecclesia there and there the Law or oracles were mentioned for the first time in Israel's history.

(j) However, Israel's history shows that they disobeyed the very Law they were now accusing Stephen of blaspheming. They rejected Moses as a leader (v.39), and worshipped an idol even as the Law was being given to Moses (w.40, 41). Herod's Temple, the work of their hands (Jn. 2:20), was to suffer the same fate as the golden calf (Mk. 13:1, 2).

(k) Stephen then combined the words of two prophets, Amos (5:25-27) and Jeremiah (20:4, 5), to show that Israel would, because of their disobedience, be taken captive beyond Babylon this time. They were, in effect, worse off than Abraham before his call from Babylon (cf. v.4). The Romans were the means by which this prophecy was fulfill ed in A.D. 70.

THE TEMPLE (Acts 7:44-50).

Stephen now moved to consider the status of the Temple in which the Jews prided.

1. Israel first worshipped Yahweh in a tent in the desert (v.44).
2. This was at least made to divine specifications: "as he had ap pointed", "speaking unto Moses", "and was made according to the fashion he had seen" (v.44). This claim could not be met by Herod's Temple!
3. Joshua drove Gentiles out of the land of Israel to establish the taber nacle. But it was not until the time of David that the site of the Tem ple was in fact taken from the Gentiles!
4. David, the man after God's own heart, had found favour with God without having a temple to worship in, and in fact was prevented from building one (v.46).
5. When Solomon eventually built the temple (v.47), he acknowledged that "the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands" (1 Kgs. 8:13, 27-30)!
6. Stephen answered the question, "Where then is God worshipped ac ceptably?" by quoting Isa. 66:1-2, "What house will ye build me?" and the reply comes, "to this man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word" (vv.49-50).

Yahweh is worshipped, by being manifest in people performing His will.

STEPHEN MOVES FROM DEFENCE TO ATTACK (Acts 7:51-53).

Though never once mentioning Jesus by name, the allusions were plain. It is obviously Jesus whom Stephen had in mind in directing the Jews to Moses and Joseph; both were rejected deliverers who were recognised at a second manifestation. The anger of the Sanhedrin was probably apparent at this stage, and so Stephen launched into a strong at tack, pointing out that they were in fact uncircumcised in heart and ears, and were repeating the mistakes of past generations in their stiff-necked attitude, and their murderous intent towards Yahweh's prophets (vv.51-52).

His attack reached a climax when he accused them directly of the murder of Jesus Christ, the "Just One" (a title already applied to him by Peter in Acts 3:14). Whilst pretending to uphold the Law and charging him with blasphemy against it, they were in fact, guilty of breaking it themselves (v.53).

THE MURDER OF STEPHEN (Acts 7:54-60).

The rage produced by Stephen's onslaught was blinding (v.54). Stephen was strengthened by a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of his Father (v.55). This standing was a sign of impen ding judgment. The oft-quoted Psalm used by the apostles (Psa. 110:1-2), had stated that the future ruler would sit at Yahweh's right hand, until his enemies were made his footstool. Thus Stephen saw the Lord Jesus Christ about to tread upon his enemies in vengeance for the blood of himself and other faithful servants of all ages (Rev. 6:9-10).

Rushing upon Stephen with blocked ears at this considered blasphemy, they carried him outside the city and the first martyr (or witness unto death) for the cause of the new faith as it was in Christ Jesus, fell under a barrage of stones (vv. 57-58).

As he died Stephen prayed that his life might have been acceptable as a sweet sacrifice unto Yahweh, and like his Master before him he prayed for his murderers (v.60; cf. Lk. 23:34). This prayer did not go unanswered, for Saul of Tarsus, at whose feet the witnesses laid their clothes and who was at that moment the Truth's bitter enemy, later became Christ's great ambassador to the nations.

LESSONS FOR US:

• The apostles arranged for the care of the humblest members of the ecclesia, as well as the ministration in the Word of God.
• Stephen is a great example for us in the way he combined the at tributes of a student of the Word of God with qualities of compas sion and concern for others less fortunate and in need of physical sustenance.
• Stephen came into conflict with opponents of the Truth because of his fearless proclamation of the gospel. He did not flinch in this con flict.
• Yahweh is interested in men and women of humble and contrite character, who have a reverence for His Word, and not in formal religion based on ritual and vain tradition, such as the Jews of Stephen's day practiced.
• A vision of future glory sustained Stephen in his last moments, en abling him to see the present sufferings as a brief passing phase. Men tal pictures of the future age can sustain us too.

REFERENCE LIBRARY:

"The Oracles of God" (J. Carter) € Pages 94-105

"The Story of the Bible" (H. P. Mansfield) € Vol. 13, Pages 39-52

"The Christadelphian" (J. Carter) € Vol. 93 (1956), Pages 408-410

PARAGRAPH QUESTIONS:

1. What problem in the early ecclesia brought Stephen into prominence in the work?
2. What similarities did Stephen imply existed between the treatment of Joseph and Moses and that of the Lord Jesus Christ?
3. What are the essential requirements for acceptable worship of Yahweh? How do these contrast with Jewish thought at the time of Stephen?
4. Record the events that occurred at the end of the trial of Stephen.

ESSAY QUESTIONS:

1. What lessons did Stephen draw from the lives of Joseph and Moses in his defence before the Sanhedrin.
2. What were the charges laid against Stephen and briefly comment on how they were answered?

Section 2

THE WITNESS SPREADS TO SAMARIA, ANTIOCH AND THE WORLD

The story of the conquest of Christianity is to a large extent the story of the Apostle Paul. The first section of our lessons concluded with the pic ture of Paul, or Saul as he was then called, overseeing the stoning of Stephen. Our second section takes up the story of Paul from his conver sion and shows how the once implacable enemy of the Truth took the Gospel to the Gentiles afar off € to Galatia, to Macedonia, to Achaia to Asia and then on to Rome and Spain. As a result, the hope of a risen Messiah, which was first preached in Jerusalem, the centre of the Jewish world, was preached not only in Rome, the centre of the Roman world but throughout the whole Roman Empire.

But before Paul could go to the Gentiles, some further steps needed to be taken. So this section of our lessons commences with Philip the Evangelist taking the gospel first to half-Jews, the Samaritans, and then to a Gentile-turned-Jew, the Ethiopian eunuch. Then Peter takes up the work and introduces the Truth to the first Gentile converts, Cornelius and his household.