Lesson #11

ACTS 7
LESSON #11
THE EXIT OF THE FIRST MARTYR AND THE ENTRANCE OF THE ZEALOUSPERSECUTOR

• MEMORY VERSE: ACT 7:55

• AT THE END OF CHAPTER 6 STEPHEN IS ON TRIAL BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN. HE IS ACCUSED OF SPEAKING AGAINST MOSES, AGAINST GOD, AGAINST THE TEMPLE AND AGAINST THE MOSAIC LAW. CHAPTER 7 OPENS WITH A QUESTION, ARE THESE CHARGES TRUE?

• READ ACT 7:1-50 THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL RELATED BY STEPHEN:
• STEPHEN BEGINS HIS DEFENSE BY ADDRESSING HIS ACCUSERS AS HIS BROTHERS AND FATHERS. (2)
• STEPHEN IS A GENTLEMAN WHO GIVES HONOR AND RESPECT TO THOSE IN AUTHORITY EVEN WHEN THEY ACCUSE HIM.
• IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTICE THAT STEPHEN DOES NOT MENTION THE CHARGES AGAINST HIM, NOR DOES HE DEFEND HIMSELF. INSTEAD HE GIVES A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL.
• STEPHEN BASIS HIS ARGUMENT IN FRONT OF THE SANHEDRIN ON COUNTERING SOME BASIC ASSUMPTIONS HELD BY THE JEWISH LEADERS. WHAT ARE THESE BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF JUDAISM:

• =1=

UNLESS A PERSON WAS LOCATED WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE PROMISED LAND, HE WAS NOT TRULY ONE OF GOD’S PEOPLE.

• IN THE STORY OF ISRAEL, STEPHEN POINTS OUT HOW MANY TIMES THE ISRAELITES WERE OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARIES OF THE PROMISED LAND BUT WERE STILL CONSIDERED GOD’S PEOPLE.
• =2=

UNLESS A PERSON WORSHIPPED IN THE JEWISH TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM, HE DID NOT TRULY WORSHIP GOD.

• GOD’S INTENTION ALL ALONG WAS TO DWELL IN THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE AND NOT IN A PERMANENT BUILDING.
• READ JOH 4:19-24
• IN THE STORY OF ISRAEL, STEPHEN TELLS OF THOSE WHO WORSHIPPED GOD IN THE WILDERNESS BEFORE THE TEMPLE WAS BUILT.
• =3=

UNLESS A PERSON WAS EDUCATED IN THE MOSAIC LAW AND FOLLOWED THE LAW, HE WAS NOT SAVED.

• IN THE STORY OF ISRAEL, STEPHEN TELLS OF ABRAHAM WHO WAS SAVED BY FAITH BEFORE THE MOSAIC LAW WAS WRITTEN.
• IN THE STORY OF ISRAEL, STEPHEN TELLS OF MOSES WHO RECEIVED HIS EDUCATION IN EGYPT.
• =4=

UNLESS A PERSON WAS A CIRCUMCISED JEW, HE WAS NOT ONE OF GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE.

• THE IMPORTANT POINTS IN STEPHEN’S DEFENSE:

• #1 GOD IS NOT LIMITED TO GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES OR PHYSICAL LOCATIONS. (4-7)

• THE WORSHIP OF GOD OUTSIDE THE PROMISED LAND:
• STEPHEN TAKES US BACK TO ABRAHAM, WHO DID NOT WORSHIP IN A TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM, WHO LIVED BEFORE THE MOSAIC LAW WAS ESTABLISHED, AND WHO HAD FAITH IN GOD OUTSIDE THE PROMISED LAND.
• GOD APPEARED TO ABRAHAM AND CALLED HIM WHEN HE WAS OUTSIDE THE PROMISED LAND IN MESOPOTAMIA (IRAQ). (2-3)
• THEREFORE, GOD IS NOT LIMITED TO ONE LAND.
• THIS PASSAGE IN ACT 7:6 MENTIONS 400 YEARS. (SEE ALSO GAL 3:17, GEN 15:13-16, AND GEN 35:9-15).
• MOST THEOLOGIANS, PASTORS, AND TEACHERS BELIEVE THAT THE 400 YEARS REFERS TO THE LENGTH OF TIME THAT THE ISRAELITES SPENT IN CAPTIVITY IN EGYPT AFTER JOSEPH AND BEFORE MOSES BROUGHT THEM OUT OF EGYPT.
• HOWEVER, 400 YEARS CAPTIVITY IN EGYPT DOES NOT FIT WITH ALL THE OTHER REFERENCES AS TO AGE AND TIME IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS AND EXODUS.
• PROBABLY, THE CONTEXT OF THE PASSAGE IN ACTS 7:6 REFERS TO 400 YEARS BETWEEN THE TIME WHEN GOD FIRST CALLED ABRAHAM IN UR AND THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT UNDER MOSES. DURING THOSE 400 YEARS, GOD’S CHOSEN ONES, SPENT TIME OUTSIDE THE PROMISED LAND AND YET GOD WAS WITH THEM. THIS WOULD INCLUDE ISAAC WHO WENT TO EGYPT, JOSEPH WHO WAS SOLD INTO EGYPT (9), AND JACOB WHO WENT TO EGYPT TO ESCAPE A FAMINE.
• STEPHEN TAKES US BACK TO MOSES TO WHOM GOD CALLED WHEN MOSES WAS OUTSIDE THE PROMISED LAND.
• THEREFORE, GOD’S PRESENCE IS ANYWHERE GOD CHOOSES.
• #2 THE WORSHIP OF GOD IS NOT RESTRICTED TO THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM

• THE WORSHIP OF GOD OUTSIDE THE TEMPLE:
• ABRAHAM DID NOT HAVE A TEMPLE IN WHICH TO WORSHIP GOD.
• MOSES WORSHIPED GOD IN A PORTABLE TABERNACLE, AND NOT IN A TEMPLE.
• EVEN SOLOMON SAID THAT THE TEMPLE WAS AN INFERIOR LOCATION FOR THE WORSHIP OF GOD. (46-48)
• READ 1KIN 8:27
• GOD GAVE DAVID THE TASK OF BUILDING A DYNASTY, WHILE HE GAVE SOLOMON THE TASK OF BUILDING THE TEMPLE.
• BECAUSE DAVID WAS THE GREATER MAN, HE HAD THE GREATER TASK. THE ROYAL DYNASTY OF CHRIST IS GREATER THAN THE PHYSICAL TEMPLE.
• #3 GOD IS NOT THE UNIQUE POSSESSION OF AN EDUCATED PEOPLE TO WHOM GOD GAVE THE MOSAIC LAW. (20-36)

• THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN ACTS WERE WELL EDUCATED IN THE MOSAIC LAW. BECAUSE OF THAT, THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE WELL EQUIPPED TO BE GOD’S REPRESENTATIVES.
• STEPHEN TELLS THEM THAT MOSES WAS HIGHLY EDUCATED, YET HE WAS NOT PREPARED TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE UNTIL GOD HUMBLED HIM AND PREPARED HIM IN THE DESERT. (23-29)
• STEPHEN TELLS THEM THAT GOD WAS THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB BEFORE THERE WAS A MOSAIC LAW.(32) HE WAS NOT JUST THE GOD OF MOSES.
• GOD HAS CHANGED THE FORM OF WORSHIP FROM A PERIOD OF LAW TO A PERIOD OF GRACE; FROM THE ADHERENCE TO THE MOSAIC LAW TO ADHERENCE TO JESUS CHRIST.
• #4 GOD IS NOT JUST THE GOD OF THE CIRCUMCISED JEW

.

• GOD BEGAN THE PRACTICE OF CIRCUMCISION WITH ABRAHAM, TO INDICATE A COVENANT RELATIONSHIP.
• HOWEVER BEFORE THAT, PAGAN PEOPLE HAD ALREADY PRACTICED CIRCUMCISION.
• EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE CIRCUMCISED, THE ISRAELITES NEVER REALLY WORSHIPPED GOD AS A NATION. TRUE WORSHIP HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIMITED TO A SMALL REMNANT OF FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS WHO WERE CIRCUMCISED IN THEIR HEARTS.
• EVEN UNDER MOSES, THE ISRAELITES WERE NOT FAITHFUL TO GOD OR TO THE LEADER GOD SENT. (35, 41)
• BOTH JOSEPH AND MOSES, BY EXAMPLE, WERE REJECTED BY THE PEOPLE UNTIL THEIR SECOND ATTEMPT.
• LIKEWISE, THE ISRAELITES REJECT CHRIST AS THEIR LEADER THAT GOD SENT UNTIL THE SECOND COMING.
• THE MAJORITY OF ISRAELITES CONTINUALLY WORSHIPPED IDOLS AND OTHER GODS FROM THE TIME OF THE GOLDEN CALF IN MOSES’ DAY AND ONWARD.
• OLD TESTAMENT QUOTES BY STEPHEN:
• DEU 18:15-19 THE PROPHECY BY MOSES THAT A GREATER PROPHET IS TO COME. (37) THAT PROPHET IS JESUS CHRIST.
• WE SAW PETER USE THIS SAME OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY IN ACT 3:22-26.
• READ ISA 66:1-2 GOD CANNOT BE PUT INTO A BOX.
• SUMMARY OF STEPHEN’S SERMON:
• STEPHEN TELLS THE SANHEDRIN THAT GOD’S PLAN IS ONE OF CHANGE, THAT GOD’S BLESSINGS ARE NOT LIMITED, AND THAT ISRAEL HAS ALWAYS BEEN OPPOSED TO GOD’S PLAN.
• READ ACT 7:51-60
• STEPHEN’S ACCUSATION
• STEPHEN ACCUSES THE SANHEDRIN OF THE SAME DISGRACEFUL SINS THAT THEIR ANCESTORS COMMITTED:
• THE SIN OF IDOLATRY.
• THE SIN OF NEGLECTING THE TRUE WORSHIP OF GOD.
• THE SIN OF BREAKING THE SPIRIT OF GOD’S LAW.
• THE SIN OF FAILING TO REPENT FOLLOWING THE HOLY SPIRIT’S CONVICTION.
• THE SIN OF REJECTING GOD’S LEADERS AND PROPHETS.
• THE SIN OF PERSECUTING AND KILLING GOD’S PROPHETS, HIS SON, AND NOW HIS APOSTLES.
• THE ANGER OF THE SANHEDRIN:
• WHAT IS IT SPECIFICALLY THAT MADE THE SANHEDRIN SO ANGRY?
• THE MENTION OF THE CITY OF SHECHEM (SYCHEM), THE CAPITAL OF THE HATED SAMARITANS, AS A SACRED PLACE OF BURIAL. (16)
• JACOB WAS BURIED AT HEBRON (GEN 50:24 GEN 23:19), BUT JOSEPH WAS BURIED IN SHECHEM (JOS 24:32).
• STEPHEN’S BLUNT ACCUSATION OF BEING STIFF-NECKED AND UNCIRCUMCISED IN HEART. (51)
• REMEMBER THAT THE JEWS THOUGHT THAT PHYSICAL CIRCUMCISION MADE A PERSON A CHILD OF GOD.
• READ ROM 2:29 (COL 2:11)
• THEY GNASHED AT STEPHEN WITH THEIR TEETH.
• STEPHEN’S GLORIOUS VISION INTO HEAVEN:
• HE SAW JESUS, THE SON OF MAN, STANDING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. (55)
• DISCUSSION

: WHY DOES HE SEE JESUS STANDING AND NOT SEATED?

• BEING SEATED IS A SYMBOL OF WORK COMPLETED, WHILE STANDING IS SYMBOLIC OF BEING READY FOR ACTION. JESUS IS READY TO WELCOME STEPHEN INTO HEAVEN AS THE FIRST MARTYR.
• NOTICE THAT HE USES THE VERY UNUSUAL TITLE FOR JESUS, THE SON OF MAN. ONLY JESUS USED THIS MESSIANIC TITLE FOR HIMSELF TO INDICATE HIS HUMANITY.
• THE STONING OF STEPHEN:
• THE ANGER OF THE SANHEDRIN GREW TO SUCH A FEVERED PITCH THAT THEY CARRIED STEPHEN OUT OF THE CITY AND STONED HIM.
• THIS WAS AN ILLEGAL EXECUTION FOR THE JEWS DID NOT HAVE THE LEGAL AUTHORITY OVER CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. ONLY THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT HAD THE AUTHORITY TO CARRY OUT SUCH A SENTENCE.
• THE SANHEDRIN EVIDENTLY GOT AWAY WITH ACTING ILLEGALLY PROBABLY BECAUSE PILATE WAS NOT IN JERUSALEM AT THE TIME.
• THE FALSE WITNESSES PARTICIPATE IN THE STONING OF STEPHEN. THIS WAS A REQUIREMENT IN THE MOSAIC LAW. (DEU 17:7)
• LUKE VERY CASUALLY DROPS THE NAME OF SAUL AS ONE OF THE PERSECUTORS AT THE STONING OF STEPHEN.
• THE APOSTLE PAUL, WHOSE NAME WAS SAUL, WAS A PHARISEE AND HAD OBVIOUSLY HEARD STEPHEN’S DEFENSE AND EXPLANATION OF ISRAEL’S HISTORY.
• STEPHEN’S LAST WORDS CONCERNING THE FORGIVENESS OF HIS KILLERS REMINDS US OF JESUS’ WORDS FROM THE CROSS.
• APPLICATION:
• WHAT DOES THIS CHAPTER TEACH YOU ABOUT THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD AND THE HEART OF MAN?
• GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY IS SO VAST THAT MAN CANNOT COMPREHEND IT. WE LIVE IN OUR OWN SMALL WORLD AND TEND TO BRING GOD DOWN TO OUR LEVEL, TO OPERATE IN ONLY ONE WAY.
• THE LIMITS WE PLACE ON GOD ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE THE SANHEDRIN PLACED ON GOD WHEN THEY TRIED TO CONFINE HIM TO A GEOGRAPHICAL LAND AND A TEMPLE.
• THE HEART OF MAN IS DESPICABLY WICKED IN THAT IT TRIES TO EXCUSE EVIL BEHAVIOR, AND TO RATIONALIZE, IN AN ATTEMPT TO CONTROL GOD AND MAKE GOD INTO WHAT MAN WANTS GOD TO BE.
• WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM STEPHEN?
• STEPHEN’S SPEECH PARALLELS 4 ASPECTS OF A BELIEVER’S LIFE:
• =1= A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS INITIATED BY GOD WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT CALLS A PERSON TO CHRIST, JUST AS GOD CALLED ABRAHAM.
• =2= A CALL FROM GOD DEMANDS THAT A PERSON MAKE A CHOICE, JUST AS ABRAHAM AND MOSES CHOSE TO FOLLOW GOD.
• =3= THE CHOICE MADE, IS FOLLOWED BY THE DEATH OF A VISION.
• ABRAHAM WAS GIVEN THE LAND BUT DID NOT OWN TITLE TO IT.
• JOSEPH WAS IN PRISON, UNJUSTLY.
• MOSES WAS REJECTED BY HIS PEOPLE.
• JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED.
• =4= THE DEATH OF A VISION IS FOLLOWED BY VINDICATION:
• ABRAHAM HAD DESCENDANTS WHO WOULD INHERIT THE LAND.
• JOSEPH SAVED HIS FAMILY.
• MOSES GAINED POWER WITH GOD AND DELIVERED HIS PEOPLE.
• JESUS WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD.
• GOD USES THOSE WHO ARE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT (CONTROLLED BY THE SPIRIT) AND NOT INTIMIDATED BY THE POWER OF MAN.
• STEPHEN EXPRESSED 5 ASPECTS OF THE FULLNESS OF THE SPIRIT:
• THE PRESENCE OF GOD’S SPIRIT, GOD’S WISDOM, GOD’S GRACE, STRONG FAITH, AND GOD’S POWER.
• ONLY WITH THE PRESENCE AND POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN A PERSON DIE THE DEATH OF STEPHEN.
• WHEN ONE IS SO FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT AS STEPHEN WAS, HE IS MORE AWARE OF THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD THAN HE IS OF THOSE AROUND HIM

HOMEWORK
ACT 8:1-25
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FORCORRECTION.

• APPLICATION OF ACT 7
• IS THERE ANYTHING IN THE REVIEW OF ISRAEL’S HISTORY THAT WAS NEW AND STRIKING TO YOU?
• PREPARATION FOR ACT 8:1-25
• READ ACT 8:1-25
• WHAT ARE SATAN’S NEW TACTICS IN CHAPTER 8?
• WHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF THESE NEW TACTICS?
• EXPLAIN VERSES 15, 16, AND 17 IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
• WHAT IS IT THAT IS SO UNUSUAL ABOUT VERSE 25?
• MEMORY VERSE: ACT 8:4