Acts 7

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Acts 7 is Stephen's defense before the Sanhedrin, the longest speech in Acts, and the story of the first Christian martyr. Accused of speaking against the temple and the law, Stephen retells Israel's history from Abraham through Joseph and Moses to David and Solomon, showing that God has always met his people outside the land and outside any building, and that Israel has always resisted the deliverers God sent. He ends by charging the council with betraying and murdering the Righteous One. Enraged, they stone him while he sees Jesus standing at God's right hand and prays for their forgiveness. A young man named Saul watches.

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Acts 7 is a history lesson that ends in a stoning. Stephen, accused of speaking against the temple and the law, does not deny the charges directly. He tells Israel's story, and the way he tells it is the defense. God appeared to Abraham in Mesopotamia, long before there was a land or a temple, and gave him a promise rather than a foot of ground. Joseph was rejected by his brothers and became the ruler who saved them. Moses was rejected by his people twice, once in Egypt and once in the wilderness, and met God on holy ground in the desert near Sinai, far from Jerusalem. The people who received the tabernacle, built to a heavenly pattern, turned to a calf and to the stars. Solomon built a house, but the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands; heaven is his throne. Then Stephen turns on his judges. You always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did; they killed the prophets who foretold the Righteous One, and you have betrayed and murdered him. The council's rage is immediate. But Stephen is looking elsewhere. He sees heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God, and he says so. They drag him out and stone him, laying their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. Stephen's last words are prayers: receive my spirit, and do not hold this sin against them. Luke says he fell asleep.

Bagian kunci

Acts 7:2-8 Acts 7:30-38 Acts 7:44-53 Acts 7:54-60 Isaiah 66:1-2

Historical and literary context

Stephen was one of seven men chosen in chapter 6 to serve the Greek-speaking widows, and his preaching in the Hellenistic synagogues drew the charge that he spoke against Moses and the temple. The Sanhedrin was the same council that had condemned Jesus. Stephen's speech draws on Genesis, Exodus, Amos, and Isaiah, and reflects a reading of Israel's story in which the tabernacle, made to a heavenly pattern, stands over against the temple, and in which God's presence was never confined to Jerusalem. His death, apparently a mob action rather than a formal execution, scattered the church and, Luke notes, was approved by Saul of Tarsus.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 8 cover Abraham, called in Mesopotamia and given no land but a promise. Verses 9 to 16 cover Joseph, rejected by his brothers and made a ruler in Egypt. Verses 17 to 43 cover Moses at length: his birth, his rejection by his own people, the burning bush on holy ground far from the land, the exodus, the promise of a prophet like him, and the golden calf, with Amos quoted on Israel's idolatry. Verses 44 to 50 move from the tabernacle to Solomon's temple and Isaiah's word that the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. Verses 51 to 53 are the indictment. Verses 54 to 60 are the vision, the stoning, Saul at the edge, and Stephen's two prayers.

Why this chapter matters

Stephen's speech is the New Testament's most sustained reading of the Old Testament as a story of rejected deliverers, Joseph and Moses foreshadowing Jesus, and of a God who is not bound to one place. It laid the foundation for the church's move beyond Jerusalem and the temple. His death models Christian martyrdom on the pattern of Christ: he commits his spirit to the Lord Jesus, as Jesus committed his to the Father, and prays for his killers' forgiveness, as Jesus did. His vision of the Son of Man standing, rather than seated, at God's right hand has been read as Jesus rising to receive him. And the presence of Saul at the stoning is Luke's quiet introduction of the man whose conversion the death helped prepare.

Interpretive tension to watch

Stephen's history contains details that differ from Genesis and Exodus as usually read, seventy-five people going down to Egypt, a tomb at Shechem bought by Abraham, which reflect the Greek Old Testament and the traditions of his day. And his tone shifts from careful narration to fierce accusation in verse 51. Was the speech a defense at all, or a prophetic indictment that made his death certain? The chapter invites readers to hear it as both.

Pertanyaan untuk pasal ini

  • Stephen shows that God met Abraham, Joseph, and Moses outside the promised land. What does that pattern say about where God can be found?
  • Joseph and Moses were both rejected by the people they were sent to save. How does that pattern prepare the council to hear about Jesus?
  • Stephen dies praying for his killers, with Saul watching. What might it have meant for Paul to remember that day after his conversion?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

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1 And the high priest said, Are these things then so? 2 And he said, Brethren and fathers, hearken. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, 3 and said to him, Go out of thy land and out of thy kindred, and come into the land which I will shew thee. 4 Then going out of the land of the Chaldeans he dwelt in Charran, and thence, after his father died, he removed him into this land in which ye now dwell. 5 And he did not give him an inheritance in it, not even what his foot could stand on; and promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when he had no child. 6 And God spoke thus: His seed shall be a sojourner in a strange land, and they shall enslave them and evil entreat [them] four hundred years; 7 and the nation to which they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God; and after these things they shall come forth and serve me in this place. 8 And he gave to him [the] covenant of circumcision; and thus he begat Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs. 9 And the patriarchs, envying Joseph, sold him away into Egypt. And God was with him, 10 and delivered him out of all his tribulations, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he appointed him chief over Egypt and all his house. 11 But a famine came upon all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great distress, and our fathers found no food. 12 But Jacob, having heard of there being corn in Egypt, sent out our fathers first; 13 and the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh. 14 And Joseph sent and called down to him his father Jacob and all [his] kindred, seventy-five souls. 15 And Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers, 16 and were carried over to Sychem and placed in the sepulchre which Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the [father] of Sychem. 17 But as the time of promise drew near which God had promised to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, 18 until another king over Egypt arose who did not know Joseph. 19 He dealt subtilly with our race, and evil entreated the fathers, casting out their infants that they might not live. 20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceedingly lovely, who was nourished three months in the house of his father. 21 And when he was cast out, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up, and brought him up for herself [to be] for a son. 22 And Moses was instructed in all [the] wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. 23 And when a period of forty years was fulfilled to him, it came into his heart to look upon his brethren, the sons of Israel; 24 and seeing a certain one wronged, he defended [him], and avenged him that was being oppressed, smiting the Egyptian. 25 For he thought that his brethren would understand that God by his hand was giving them deliverance. But they understood not. 26 And on the morrow he shewed himself to them as they were contending, and compelled them to peace, saying, Ye are brethren, why do ye wrong one another? 27 But he that was wronging his neighbour thrust him away, saying, Who established thee ruler and judge over us? 28 Dost thou wish to kill me as thou killedst the Egyptian yesterday? 29 And Moses fled at this saying, and became a sojourner in the land of Madiam, where he begat two sons. 30 And when forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai, in a flame of fire of a bush. 31 And Moses seeing it wondered at the vision; and as he went up to consider it, there was a voice of [the] Lord, 32 I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not consider [it]. 33 And the Lord said to him, Loose the sandal of thy feet, for the place on which thou standest is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the ill treatment of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groan, and have come down to take them out of it; and now, come, I will send thee to Egypt. 35 This Moses, whom they refused, saying, Who made thee ruler and judge? him did God send [to be] a ruler and deliverer with the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out, having wrought wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, A prophet shall God raise up to you out of your brethren like me [him shall ye hear]. 38 This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers; who received living oracles to give to us; 39 to whom our fathers would not be subject, but thrust [him] from them, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, Make us gods who shall go before us; for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has happened to him. 41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 But God turned and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in [the] book of the prophets, Have ye offered me victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 43 Yea, ye took up the tent of Moloch, and the star of [your] god Remphan, the forms which ye made to do homage to them; and I will transport you beyond Babylon. 44 Our fathers had the tent of the testimony in the wilderness, as he that spoke to Moses commanded to make it according to the model which he had seen; 45 which also our fathers, receiving from their predecessors, brought in with Joshua when they entered into possession of [the lands of] the nations, whom God drove out from [the] face of our fathers, until the days of David; 46 who found favour before God, and asked to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob; 47 but Solomon built him a house. 48 But the Most High dwells not in [places] made with hands; as says the prophet, 49 The heaven [is] my throne and the earth the footstool of my feet: what house will ye build me? saith [the] Lord, or where [is the] place of my rest? 50 has not my hand made all these things? 51 O stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers, ye also. 52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain those who announced beforehand concerning the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have now become deliverers up and murderers! 53 who have received the law as ordained by [the] ministry of angels, and have not kept [it]. 54 And hearing these things they were cut to the heart, and gnashed their teeth against him. 55 But being full of [the] Holy Spirit, having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw [the] glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, Lo, I behold the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God. 57 And they cried out with a loud voice, and held their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord; 58 and having cast [him] out of the city, they stoned [him]. And the witnesses laid aside their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen, praying, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60 And kneeling down, he cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And having said this, he fell asleep.

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