Acts: The Expansion of the Church
Session 3
Estimated reading time: 29 minutes
Who are the Deacons?
We will now look at Acts, chapters 6 and 7 to discover; “Who Are the Deacons?” We will be covering two chapters in Acts. Initially, I thought about leaving out some sections, then I realized I just could not skip chapter 7; hence we will be looking at chapter 7 also. Up until this point in time in the Book of Acts, the focus has been on the Apostles, especially Peter. Now, however, there is a change and there are two leading figures to whom we are introduced. The first one is Stephen. The second person that we will look at in another chapter is Philip.
These two men are introduced at the beginning of chapter 6.
Acts 6:1-4 APNT
And in those days as the disciples multiplied, the Greek disciples were murmuring against the Hebrews that their widows were neglected in the daily service.
And the twelve apostles called the whole assembly of disciples and said to them, “It is not good that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.
Therefore, my brothers, search out and choose seven men from among you about whom there is a [good] testimony and [who] are full of the Spirit of the LORD and wisdom, and we will set them over this matter.
And we will be steadfast in prayer and in the ministering of the word.”
To give some background to this section, in the previous chapter, we saw the open-handed giving and the generosity that everyone had right at the beginning. Part of what the apostles did was set up a distribution to take care of widows. There were Grecian Jews and Hebrew Jews who had become Christians, but they had disagreements with one another, because they had always been that way. They did not appreciate one another because the Jews who lived around Jerusalem and spoke Aramaic did not think the Greek-speaking Jews had the same kind of integrity simply because they spoke Greek rather than Aramaic. Ultimately, the Greek and Hebrew speaking Jews had a dispute. Remember one of the first things that happened was the deception of Ananias and Sapphira. We will see in these two chapters how Satan attempted to get to the church internally first. When he could not get to the church internally he then sets up a persecution. We will discuss the persecution later, but, at this point, he was still trying to orchestrate discord internally by attempting to pit one group of people against another group of people.
In an answer to the dispute about the widows being neglected, the Apostles instructed them to; “search out and choose seven men from among you.” The revelation from God was they should choose seven men. Did the Apostles choose them? No! The Apostles told those who were having the dispute and were in charge, working on the distribution to the widows to be the ones to choose them. They told them the most important quality in those who they select; they should be full of the Spirit of the Lord and wisdom. That was the main criteria.
There is one particular word in there that we need to look take a little closer look at. The Apostles said, “It is not good that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.”
The word “serve” there is the Greek word “diakoneo,” from which the English word “deacon” is derived. We are asking the question, “Who are the deacons?” They received their name from this situation here in the very beginning of Acts when they chose these seven men. Later it became an office and a position in the church that people called deacons. The basic meaning of the word “deacon” is simply “to serve or minister.” It does not become a special office until later. We will discuss this later. We will continue in verse 5.
Acts 6:5 APNT
And this saying was good before all the people, and they chose Stephen (He filled the qualifications.), a man who was full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenes and Nicolas, an Antiochene proselyte.
We do not know as much about five of the seven as we do about Stephen and Philip. We notice Nicholas is mentioned. He was a proselyte Jew from Antioch originally. One could speculate he possibly may have had something to do the church opening up in Antioch later because he was from Antioch. There were other people who were initially involved with the church in Antioch, but it could be that he was also involved. We do not know this for certain, but it is nice thing to look at.
Acts 6:6 APNT
These stood before the apostles and after they had prayed, they laid a hand on them.
The Aramaic says, “laid a hand”: the King James and many other texts are plural: “They laid hands on them.” This does not mean they were ordained to this special office. They were, by laying a hand on them, the Apostles were simply identifying with them and, in a sense giving, them approval. It was more like a consecration or a dedication, similar to a baby being dedicated after its birth. It was not an ordination; it was a consecration or a dedication, being installed in this service so they could begin performing it. Verse 7 is a summary verse that is really amazing.
Acts 6:7 APNT
And the Word of God grew and the number of disciples in Jerusalem multiplied greatly and many people of the Judeans were obedient to the faith.
The King James says, “a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.” A great company of the priests became believers. There were 24 courses of the priests and each one of them would spend two weeks in Jerusalem. In addition, they would also there for four weeks to help with all the festivals. The priests would rotate in and out of these times of service. They would be coming in and then going back to their homes talking about how Jesus was the Messiah. Then other priests would come in and they would also be talking to them. As a result, there was a multitude, a great number, of the priests who believed also. This was not particularly endearing to the Sanhedrin either, that those of their group were believing in the Messiah. It was like a slap in the face because they are the ones who killed Jesus Christ. Now of their own people, of the own company, with whom they associated all the time, were also becoming believers. The Word of God was growing like crazy and spreading into areas one would think that it should not go. I have prepared a timeline, part of which you see below. The completed timeline can be located and downloaded from the “Light of the Word Ministry” website. It starts at the beginning of the Book of Acts and it goes all the way through chapter 12.
Timeline of the Book of Acts
| Dates | Reference | Events | Books Written | Historical Events | Roman Emperors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 5 AD | Acts 21:39 | Paul born in Tarsus of Cilicia | Augustus (27 BC‐14 AD) | ||
| 7 AD | Judea becomes a Roman Imperial province | ||||
| 14 AD | Tiberius (14‐37 AD) | ||||
| 26 AD | Pontius Pilate procurator of Judea | ||||
| 29 AD | Acts 1‐2 | Jesus is crucified under Pontius Pilate, Resurrection Appearances (after Passover) | |||
| Ascension | |||||
| Birth of Church on Pentecost | |||||
| Acts 3 | Lame man healed, Peter’s 2nd sermon | ||||
| Acts 4 | Peter & John before Sanhedrin | ||||
| Fellowship in Community | |||||
| 29‐31 AD | Acts 5 | Ananias & Sapphira | |||
| Multitudes believe and many signs and wonders | |||||
| c. 29‐34 AD | Acts 22:3; Phil 3:5 | Paul in the school of Gamaliel, Jerusalem | |||
| 31‐33 AD | Acts 6‐7 | Selection of 7 deacons | |||
| Arrest and stoning of Stephen | |||||
| Paul present at Stephen’s stoning | |||||
| 33‐34 AD | Acts 8 | Scattering of church: Philip in Samaria, Peter & John travel | |||
| 34 AD | Acts 9; II Cor 11:32 | Paul’s conversion on road to Damascus | Aretas king of Damascus (9 BC‐40 AD) | ||
| 34‐37 AD | Gal 1:17 | Paul goes to Arabia for 3 years | |||
| 37 AD | Acts 9:20‐30 | Paul returns to Damascus, then Jerusalem, then Tarsus | Herod Agrippa appointed by Tiberius as king of Judea | Gaius (37‐41 AD) also called Caligula | |
| 38‐41 AD | Acts 10 | Peter preaches to Cornelius’ household in Caesarea; first Gentiles believe | |||
| 41 AD | Herod Agrippa appointed by Claudius ruler of ALL Judea (includes Samaria & other provinces) | Claudius (41‐54 AD) | |||
| 41‐43 AD | Acts 11:22‐26 | Barnabas goes to Antioch | |||
| Barnabas gets Saul from Tarsus, spends year in Antioch | |||||
| 43 AD | Acts 11:27‐30 | Agabus prophesies of famine | Famine documented by Josephus | ||
| Aid sent to Jerusalem with Barnabas & Paul | |||||
| 44 AD | Acts 12:1, 2 | Herod executes James, brother of John | |||
| Acts 12:3‐19 | Peter in prison, rescued by angel | ||||
| Acts 12:20‐24 | Herod Agrippa dies during festival given for Claudius | March 16, date of Herod’s death | |||
| 46-47 AD | Acts 13:1-14:27 | 1st Missionary Journey Paul & Barnabas | |||
| 47-49 AD | Acts 14:28 | Paul & Barnabas in Antioch | |||
| 49-50 AD | Acts 15 | Jerusalem Council | |||
| 50-51 AD | Acts 15:30-36 | Paul & Barnabas in Antioch “some days” | Galatians | ||
| 51-54 AD | Acts 16:1-18:23 | 2nd Missionary Journey Paul & Silas (2 yrs in Corinth) | I Thessalonians | 51-52 AD Claudius expels Jews from Rome | |
| 54-57 AD | Acts 18:23-19:41 | 3rd Missionary Journey (in Ephesus 2 yrs and 3 mo) | I Corinthians (from Ephesus) | Nero (54-68 AD) | |
| 57 AD | Acts 20:1-21:14 | End of 3rd Journey | II Corinthians (from Macedonia); Romans (from Corinth) | ||
| 57-59 AD | Acts 21:15-26:32 | Jerusalem and Captivity in Caesarea | Felix procurator until 59 AD, Festus replaces him | ||
| 59-60 AD | Acts 27:1-28:13 | Trip to Rome, Shipwreck | Burrhus prefect in Rome | ||
| 60-62 AD | Acts 28:14-31 | Prison in Rome, Hired house | Philemon; Colossians; Ephesians; Philippians | ||
| 63-67 AD | Release from prison: Macedonia, Crete, Troas, Nicopolis | I Timothy; Titus; Hebrews? | Great Fire in Rome July 64 AD, Christians blamed | ||
| 67 AD | 2nd Imprisonment, execution | II Timothy | |||
| 66-69 AD | Beginning of Jewish revolt against Rome | Vespasian (69-79 AD) | |||
| 70 AD | Destruction of the temple |
As you can see on the timeline, we do not know the exact dates the beginning of Acts covers but we do know the crucifixion and resurrection took place in 29 AD when Pontius Pilate was governing in Judea. We also know Paul’s conversion happened at approximately 34 AD.
All of the events that we have been discussing so far, took place somewhere between 29 and 34 AD. We have the day of Pentecost with the people believing and getting excited, having things common. Then we have the situation with Ananias and Sapphira. Now we have the dispute about the distribution for the widows. It is a relatively short period of time. That is what I want you to see, all of these events took place over a very short period of time.
We will now learn a little bit more about the deacons and how they got this name. They got it because in 1st Timothy chapter 3 there is another record later on in which Paul talks about the qualifications of a deacon. The way the King James translated these verses has made it seem as if it were an office, because even by the end of the first century the idea had already been solidified that to be a deacon was somebody really special. Even though, like I said before, the word “deacon” simply means “a minister or a servant.” However, it sounds a much better if you call somebody “Deacon” Jones or “Deacon” Smith or “Deacon” Whoever. A similar type thing happened with the bishops later. An example is the “Bishop” of Alexandria sounded a much more dignified than the word “elder.” However, the word began with the meaning as simply “a servant”, but it sounds much more important than if one said, “Servant” Jones.
We will begin looking at this in 1Timothy. The record begins in verse 8. In the APNT, I have translated “deacon” as “a minister”, but it begins with the qualifications of a deacon.
1 Timothy 3:8-10 APNT
And so also, ministers should be pure and should not be double-tongued and should not be inclined to much wine and should not love corrupt profits,
but they should adhere to the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.
And these should be proven first and then they may serve, when they are without blame.
The word “serve” in verse 10, there is the word “diakoneo”, as I previously mentioned. It is simply translated in King James as “use the office of a deacon.” That whole phrase is the one word “to serve.” It is talking about people that serve in a specific capacity. It is not talking about an office or a specific function. In fact the root word for “servant” and also “diakoneo” is “diako,” which can simply mean “to run errands.” It could also mean “to attend to, to minister, to serve in any capacity.” It could be everything from mowing the lawn to serving in the cafeteria. It is also used in verse 13 again, “For those who have ministered well obtain recognition for themselves and much boldness in the faith of Jesus Christ.” The word “ministered” is again “to use the office of a deacon,” however it is not an office. It is simply “a service.”
The verse does say that those who serve well “…obtain recognition for themselves and boldness in the faith of Jesus Christ.” This is what we are going to see happen with Stephen and Philip, because they started out being cafeteria workers, serving food.As they were serving food, God opened up doors for them to speak His Word and walk by the Spirit and to be bold. Remember their qualification, the main qualification was to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom: full of spiritual wisdom.Let’s look at what Stephen did. I also want to point out in Acts chapter 6, all seven of those names are Greek names. “Stephen, a man who was full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenes and Nicolas, an Antiochene proselyte.”, (Acts 6:5). When the seven men were chosen in order to solve this dispute, they chose seven Greek-speaking Jews.They did not choose the Hebrews, as a result it solved the whole problem because the Greek-speaking Jews were the ones who had accused the Hebrews of not being concerned about the widows. (Acts 6: 1-5). As a result, the Greek-speaking Jews were given the responsibility,and it solved the problem.
Stephen was a Greek-speaking Jew.
Acts 6:8 APNT
Now Stephen was full of grace and power. (You could put those words together as “powerful grace.”) And he did signs and wonders among the people.
Stephen definitely did not think of himself simply as a “worker bee”, because immediately he got involved with people and signs and wonders were happening.
Acts 6:9 APNT
And men from the synagogue which was called that of the Libertine rose up along with the Cyrenians and Alexandrians and those from Cilicia and from Asia. And they were disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to stand against the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.
There could be five different synagogues mentioned here. Most likely there are at least three. The first mentioned is the synagogue of The Libertines. There are several different theories about what this particular synagogue was. There were over 450 synagogues in Jerusalem at that time. In order to have a synagogue there only had to have 12 men. As a result, they gravitated to those who were similar to themselves. The Libertines were people who had been sent to Rome during the time of Pompeii and subsequently freed. That is why they were called Libertines. They were freed. However, when Tiberius became Caesar, in 14 AD, beginning approximately 19 AD, he expelled all the Jews from Rome. Although they were free, and not slaves, he did not want them in Rome. Many of them went to Jerusalem and then formed the Synagogue of the Libertines. The other synagogues, the Cyrenians, and the Alexandrians were from Africa. They associated together so they could be one or they could also be two separate ones. Then there are the synagogues from Cilicia and from Asia. The main city in Cilicia was Tarsus. A man whose name was Saul was from the city of Tarsus. It is very likely that Saul, when he first came to Jerusalem to study under Gamaliel, was part of this synagogue of Cilicia.
All of these synagogues are mentioned because they were very, very interested in keeping the legalism of Judaism. They were staunch supporters of Judaism. Even though they were Greek-speaking, they are almost more determined to keep the legalism of Judaism than were the Jews that lived in Jerusalem. It is very interesting that they were the ones who started disputing with Stephen. When you think about Saul being involved with the synagogue in Cilicia, then you realize that when Stephen was being stoned and Saul was listening to Stephen’s speech, it was probably not the first time that he had heard Stephen speak. Stephen was talking about Jesus Christ, that God had raised him from the dead. He spoke about all the things Jesus Christ taught, you did not need to obey the oral law, and the oral law was put in place of, and superimposed on the real law. The real law pointed to the Messiah. Those are the things about which he was speaking. Let’s continue to see what happens.
Acts 6:10 APNT
And they were not able to stand against the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.
He spoke with such wisdom to these men who were very knowledgeable about the Old Testament scriptures. They would quote one scripture after another after another to him, and he answered every one; just like Jesus Christ did! You see his heart immediately, from the beginning, “I am NOT simply a servant. I am going to boldly speak God’s Word, exactly what he tells me to speak.”
Acts 6:11-15 APNT
Then they sent men and instructed them to say, “We have heard him speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.”
And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes and came and stood against him and seized [and] brought him into the middle of the council,
And they set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak words against the law and against this holy place,
For we have heard him say that this Jesus, the Nazarene, will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to you.”
And all those who were sitting in the synagogue looked at him and saw his face as the face of an angel.
He resembled Moses when he came down from the mountain. He was absolutely shining because God was speaking to him and telling him what to say. As a result, they were getting extremely agitated, and brought him before the council where they accused him of two things. They accused him of being against the law and against the holy place or the temple. Those are the two main things of which he was accused. However, if you look at verse 14, “For we have heard him say that this Jesus… will destroy this place (will destroy the temple.) Jesus had prophesied that the temple would be destroyed. Stephen was not the first one to be saying that. He was simply following in what Jesus Christ had already prophesied. They also said that Jesus would also, “change the customs that Moses delivered to you…” That word “customs” is not the word “law.” It is the word “ethos” and refers to the oral law and the manners of customs that were superimposed on the law, such as wash your hands at a certain time. All of the customs, similar to what Jesus Christ had pointed out: ‘you hypocrites, you say you need to tie the mint and cumin and rue, but you forget all the weightier matters of the law.’ Stephen was saying the exact same thing that Jesus Christ had said, He was continuing to point out their hypocrisy, that the oral law had been superimposed on the real law. They did not understand that the heart of the real law pointed to Christ. We see that Stephen had boldness, exactly like Timothy talked about. He kept speaking the truth, and doing so got him in serious trouble, however, he did not quit speaking.
When Stephen was called in front of the Sanhedrin, I initially thought to ignore chapter 7, as if it were simply a history of what happened to Israel. I thought it would merely be reciting the whole history of that event. I thought, “Skip chapter 7 and go straight to chapter 8 and get into the part about Philip and how he is going to do battle with Simon the sorcerer. That chapter is much more interesting than chapter 7.” However, what I found out is the reason I want to take some time to go through this chapter. It is not a defense! Stephen’s speech is not a defense. It is a confrontation of legalism and religion. He makes some very, very specific points using men and women in the Old Testament with whom the people he was confronting would have been very familiar in their history. He really highlighted the fact they had turned into a religion what should have been a wonderful relationship with God and an honoring of God
We will look at how the sections go. We will not be able to read every verse, but it will be apparent where the sections break down. The first section is using Abraham as the example, which begins in verse 1.
Acts 7:1- APNT
And the high priest asked him if these things were so.
That high priest was probably Caiaphas; the same one who had interrogated Jesus Christ.
Act 7:2-4 APNT
“And he said, (Stephen said,) Men, our brothers and our fathers, listen, the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he came to live in Haran.
And he said to him: DEPART FROM YOUR [OWN] COUNTRY AND FROM AMONG YOUR KINSMEN, AND GO TO THE COUNTRY THAT I WILL SHOW YOU.
And then Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and came [and] lived in Haran. And from there, after his father had died, God moved him to this land in which you live today.
He started out saying “the glory of God appeared to Abraham…” When? When he was in Ur of the Chaldeans before he had ever come to the land of Israel. At that time, God made him a promise before he ever left Babylon, God made him this promise.
Acts 7:6-7 APNT
And God spoke with him, saying to him: “YOUR SEED WILL BE A SETTLER IN A STRANGE LAND, AND THEY WILL SUBJECT HIM AND TREAT HIM WICKEDLY [FOR] FOUR HUNDRED YEARS.”
AND I WILL JUDGE THE PEOPLE WHOM THEY WILL SERVE [IN] BONDAGE, said God. AND AFTER THESE [THINGS] THEY WILL GO OUT AND SERVE ME IN THIS LAND.”
God gave Abraham a promise. When God gives promises, He declares it and He brings it to pass. If He makes a promise, it is His responsibility to bring the promise to pass. So it was with Abraham, but it took 400 years from the time the promise was given until they actually went into the land. During that time, Abraham never owned any property. Instead, they were sent to Egypt, and were subjected to bondage. This is explained even more clearly in Galatians. Now remember, Saul (we know him now as Paul) is hearing this speech as he is part of the Sanhedrin. Later when he gets born again and converted, then he realizes that what Stephen was saying was absolutely correct. He says it in Galatians 3, verse 16:
Galatians 3:16 APNT
Now the promise was promised to Abraham and to his seed. And he did not say to him, “To your seeds” as to many, but TO YOUR SEED as to one, who is the Messiah.”
When God had made this promise to Abraham, he was talking about the Messiah who would come and have the full inheritance in the land.
Galatians 3:17-18 APNT
“And this I say, that the covenant, which was previously established by God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, is not able to set it aside and make the promise void.
Now if the inheritance was by the law, then it was not by promise. But God gave it to Abraham by promise.
Basically what this is saying that the promise, the covenant that God made with Abraham, supersedes the law. It is not greater than the law. The promise will stay and stands; then the law came in, but it did not disannul the promise. The promise continues. We have the promise, then the law comes in, however the promise continues, and will continue until Christ establishes his millennial kingdom in the land. The promise stays this long period of time. The law is only in this short period of time. What he is saying at the very beginning is the covenant relationship is what God always wanted, and that is what He still wants. He never sent the law so that rules and regulations would take the place of the covenant relationship. Religion always substitutes rules for relationship. That is the first point.
Now the second point is a section on Joseph. (You can read this in Acts 7:9-16.) Joseph was a type of Christ because he was rejected by his brothers. Eventually he was sold into slavery and taken to Egypt and ultimately was elevated to become the right-hand man of Pharaoh. That is a type of Christ because Joseph’s brothers tried to kill him. Jesus Christ was also rejected by his kinsmen, his brothers, and was actually killed. However, eventually God raised him and set him at his own right hand. He is at the right hand of the Father. Joseph became an example or type of this deliverer and Messiah that God wanted to send.
Acts 7:9-10 APNT
“And our fathers were jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, yet God was with him.”
(The key phrase here in this verse is, “God was with him.”)
And he delivered him from all of his adversities and gave him grace and wisdom before Pharoah, the king of Egypt, and he made him ruler over Egypt and over all his house.
The King James Version for “jealous”, says “moved with envy.” They were moved with envy.” Stephen is pointing out to them their history that their fellow Israelites, did not even accept the deliverer that God set up in Joseph. They did not understand the promises to Abraham. Now regarding Joseph neither did they understand what God was doing with him; but God was with him, just like God was with Jesus. He is basically implying that they should believe in the Messiah. The point here is that faith, not law, brings deliverance. Joseph, walking through the steps, took a certain period of time from being sold into slavery to becoming the right-hand man of Pharaoh. Religion rejects the Savior because of envy, and it substitutes hypocrisy for true faith, where there is mask. People pretend to be something that they are not.
The third example is of Moses. You are seeing this build up; you can put yourself in the shoes of the Pharisees and the Scribes. They are getting angrier, and angrier, and angrier! One can imagine them thinking, ‘We know about Joseph, but that is not who we are. We are not like that. We are not hypocrites.” He proceeds to tell him, “Now you revere Moses so much, so let me talk to you about Moses.” The bulk of the speech is about Moses, from verse 17 to 45. Remember, Moses is the one who delivered them from the bondage of Egypt. This section describes what happened to Moses when he was born, beginning in verse 20.
Acts 7:20 APNT
At that time Moses was born and he was loved by God. And he was nurtured three months [in] the house of his father.
The King James says he was “exceeding fair”, but that does not show it. God loved Moses from the time he was born and rescued him. He ended up being raised by Pharaoh’s daughter, and being educated in all of the intelligence of Egypt. He had all of the privileges associated with being in the royal family. However, when he sees his people enslaved and wounded, he then stands up for them. This is what they say him in verse 26
Acts 7:26-29 APNT
“’Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong one another?”
But he who was wronging his neighbor, pushed him away from him and said to him: “WHO HAS SET YOU OVER US [AS] A RULER AND JUDGE?
WILL YOU SEEK TO KILL ME AS YOU KILLED THE EGYPTIAN YESTERDAY?”
And Moses fled at this saying and was a settler in the land of Midian and he had two sons.”
Moses had to flee, and another 40 years passed while he is in the wilderness, until God calls him to go rescue his people. He does as God tells him, brings Israel out of Egypt, and frees them from their bondage. They had proof after proof after proof that God is with them. They walked through the Red Sea on dry land. God set a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day, to protect them the entire way. Yet when they got into the wilderness, all they want to do is go back to the bondage. They murmured and complained, ‘Oh we like those cucumbers we had in Egypt, and by the way, we also like all those gods we were worshipping there because they were fun. This is no fun sitting in the wilderness eating manna every day.’ They totally rejected the deliverance that God had offered to them and turned back to idols and refused to hear what Moses was saying. They battered Moses for 40 years, and ultimately, he did not actually going into the promised land. We need to look at the summary in verse 37, because remember I told you, the accusation they sent to Stephen was he was against the holy place or against the temple and against the law.
Acts 7:37-38 APNT
This is Moses, who said to the sons of Israel, ‘The LORD God will raise up a prophet for you from your brothers like me. Hear him.’
This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke with him and with our fathers in the mountain of Sinai. And he is the one who received the living words to give to us.
Stephen is calling the law living words, words that bring life, not bondage, but they were treating the law as though it brought bondage. The point here is they were not believing in Jesus Christ. They were not seeing that everything in the law pointed to the Messiah. Everything about the law pointed them to the Messiah, but what they wanted instead was the bondage. Religion rebels against God’s true deliverer and substitutes idol worship for obedience.
We will now take a look at David and Solomon, which is in verses 46 to 50. This section is refuting that Stephen was speaking against the temple. We will begin in verse 48.
Acts 7:48-50 APNT
And the Most High does not dwell in a work of hands, as the prophet said:
HEAVEN [IS] MY THRONE AND EARTH A FOOTSTOOL THAT IS UNDER MY FEET. WHAT IS THE HOUSE THAT YOU WILL BUILD FOR ME? says the LORD. OR WHAT IS THE PLACE OF MY REST?
BEHOLD, DID NOT MY HAND MAKE ALL THESE [THINGS]?
The answer about the temple is that the temple was just a place. God could not be confined in a house. He is everywhere. Who is going to build him a place of his rest? Yes, he put his glory in the temple, but if the temple was destroyed at some point, it would not matter because God is everywhere. He could be in people. That was really the point that Stephen was getting to. It is as if he had a real glimpse of the mystery that would later be revealed. The dwelling place of God was going to be in men. People were going to be the temple, not a physical place. Stephen received a glimpse of that before it was even revealed. Religion seeks to glorify a specific place in order to have control. The Pharisees, the Scribes, the Sanhedrin had a very strict hierarchy and controlled everything that went on in that place. However, Stephen is saying this is not what Christianity is about. If you follow the Messiah, you will discover that it is not in a temple made with hands. As a result, they got very angry. Stephen was very specific with them. See what he tells them in the following verses.
Acts 7:51-53 APNT
Oh stiff of neck and without circumcision in their heart[s] and in their hearing! You always stand against the Holy Spirit. As your fathers [were], you [are] also.
For which of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted and killed, those who foretold about the coming of the Just [one], whom you delivered up and killed?
And you have received the law by way of the command of angels and have not kept it.
Stephen is confronting them point by point. ‘You talk about me being against the law? You are the ones who are stiff-necked and refuse to really do the law. Instead all you want is religion.’ At that point, they were furious! “And when they heard these [things], they were filled with anger in themselves, and they gnashed their teeth against him.” (Acts 7:54) That means they had every range of emotion that one could possibly have to do with anger.Anger that cannot even be expressed. They were so enraged they decided to stone him.
Acts 7:55-57 APNT
And being full of faith and the Holy Spirit, he looked into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
And he said, “Behold, I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
And they cried out with a loud voice and closed their ears and all of them rushed on him.
When Stephen said that it was the last straw, because he basically received the same vision as Daniel about the Son of Man being in heaven. The “Son of Man” means the righteous judge, judging the earth and all of Israel and he was going to be judging them. Stephen received the same vision just like Jesus had during his trial. God had shown Stephen, again that Jesus would be the righteous judge coming to the Earth in the clouds with power and great glory. It was that vision that kept Stephen going through being stoned, knowing that absolutely this was still going to come to pass. That he would see this day where the Son of Man will judge the earth. So they take him out and stoned him outside the city.
Acts 7:58-59 APNT
And they arrested [and] took him outside of the city and stoned him. And those who witnessed against him laid their garments at the feet of a certain young man who was called Saul.
And they stoned Stephen while he prayed and he said, “Our Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
And while he was kneeling down, he cried out with a loud voice and said, “Our Lord, do not cause this sin to stand against them.” And after he said this, he fell asleep.
The two things he said in the prayer right before he died were very similar to what Jesus Christ said on the cross just before he died. ‘Father forgive them for they know not what they do.’, and ‘receive my spirit.’ Stephen’s prayer was answered because the man at whose feet they laid their garments was Saul, who was to become the Apostle Paul. That sin was not laid to his charge. God answered Stephen’s prayer, because Paul leaves and ultimately becomes the one to take the gospel to all the Gentiles, and to teach these things of which Stephen had only a glimpse.
He had a glimpse of how the customs and the superimposing of rules and regulations only leads to religion. It does not lead to a relationship with God. He had a glimpse that the temple would be dwelling with people; not a place, not a hierarchy, not where religious people could put on a mask and pretend they were believing and trusting God when they were not. Stephen confronted all those things, so early on; however Paul was going to be the one who would carry the gospel forward. We see that Stephen was a planter and a waterer and God gave the increase. We also see that he, as a deacon or a servant, was a man who walked by the Spirit. He spoke boldly! He was an obedient servant who did not settle for religion.
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