And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. (Acts 6:8-9)
In the previous lesson, we learned that the Hellenists, Greek speaking Jews, felt their widows were not being provided for like the Hebrew widows were. So the twelve disciples instructed the multitude, "...Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;" ... And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and... (Acts 6:3, 5; see ACTS: Full of the Holy Spirit and Wisdom, to Serve How and Where We're Most Needed) Of the seven men chosen, Stephen is the only one described as a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit.
The world doesn't have a problem with a silent Christian, because they aren't convicted by the Truth if they aren't hearing the Truth. But we aren't supposed to be silent; through the Holy Spirit in us, we are supposed to be bold witnesses. (see ACTS: Bold Witnesses, No Matter Who Opposes) Remember, Stephen was one of seven men chosen to help the Hellenists, the Greek speaking Jews who had converted. There was also a Synagogue of the Freedmen in Jerusalem, a synagogue for Greek speaking Jews. They believed as the Pharisees and scribes did. They did not want to believe the Truth, that Christ Jesus was the Son of God, that He had died and rose from the dead, that He had ascended to God the Father, and that He had sent the Holy Spirit to the apostles, disciples and all who would believe on Him.
And they [the Synagogue of the Freedman] were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he [Stephen] spoke. Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel. (Acts 6:10-15)
This is the exact thing the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes and elders did to Jesus: stirred up the people (see THE GOSPEL: Jesus Scourged; He Gets what We Deserve) ; seized him, and brought him to the council (see THE GOSPEL: Jesus Betrayed and Arrested; the Word is The Truth; THE GOSPEL: Jesus Charged with Blasphemy by Blasphemers); set up false witnesses (see THE GOSPEL: Jesus, The Truth Before Pontius Pilate). But they couldn't deny that there was something different about Stephen, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel. That's what being full of faith and the Holy Spirit looks like! Even without saying a word, people can see there's something different about us, and they will either draw near to God or flee from Him. The council was captivated, but they still resisted, just as they Jewish religious leaders had done with Christ.
Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?” And he [Stephen] said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ [Genesis 12:1] Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. [Genesis 12:4-5] And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. [Genesis 12:7, etc.] But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, [Genesis 15:13-16] and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. [Exodus 12:40] ‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ [Genesis 15:14] said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ [Exodus 3:12] Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs. [Genesis 17:9-11, etc.] (Acts 7:1-8)
“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. [Genesis 37:4-28] But God was with him [Genesis 39:2-23] and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. [Genesis 41:37-42:6] Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. [Genesis 41:54] But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. [Genesis 42:1] And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. [Genesis 45:4-16] Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. [Genesis 45:27-46:27] So Jacob went down to Egypt [Genesis 46:5]; and he died, he and our fathers. [Genesis 49:33, Exodus 1:6] And they were carried back to Shechem [Exodus 13:19] and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. [Genesis 23:16, 33:19] (Acts 7:9-16)
“But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt [Exodus 1:7-9] till another king arose who did not know Joseph. This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. [Exodus 1:22] At this time Moses was born, [Exodus 2:2] and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. [Exodus 2:3-10] And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. (Acts 7:17-22)
“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. [Exodus 2:11-12] And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ [Exodus 2:13] But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. [Exodus 2:15-22, etc.] (Acts 7:23-29)
“And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. [Exodus 3:2] When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. ‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. [Exodus 3:5] I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.”’ [Exodus 3:7] (Acts 7:30-34)
“This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. [Exodus 14:19] He brought them out [Exodus 12:41], after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt [Exodus 7:8-14], and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years. [Exodus 14:21-29, etc.] (Acts 7:35-36) And we will learn more about "this Moses" and how he proclaimed to the children of Isreal, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’ (Acts 7:37)
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