Study #29: The death of Stephen led to a general persecution of Christians, which was led by Saul (Acts 7:44

Study #29: The death of Stephen led to a general persecution of Christians, which was led by Saul (Acts 7:44 - 8:4)

Acts, Chapter 1.3: The Sanhedrin violently rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ from Stephen (6:1 - 8:4)

§Unique Introduction: The Apostles appointed seven men (Deacons) to assist them in the ministry of the church at Jerusalem (6:1 - 7)

¶Opposite The Apostles ask the members of the church at Jerusalem to choose seven men to take charge of the daily distribution of food (6:1 - 5)

¶Opposite The appointment of the seven Deacons resulted in a great increase of the church membership at Jerusalem (6:6 - 7)

§Complement Body: Stephen laid the theological groundwork for an indictment of the leadership of the Jews for their guilt in murdering their Messiah (6:1 - 7:43)

¶Unique The enemies of Stephen caused him to be falsely arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin council of the Jews (6:8 - 15)

¶Complement God called Abraham to serve Him and gave his seed the land of Canaan (7:1 - 8)

¶Complement Joseph called his father Jacob to come down to Egypt with his family (7:9 - 16)

¶Opposite God trained Moses for leadership by placing him in the household of Pharaoh, but Pharaoh tried to kill him (Acts 7:17 - 29)

¶Opposite God called Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt, but the people rejected Moses and the Law of Jehovah (7:30 - 43)

§Complement Conclusion: Stephen indicted the Jews for rejecting their Messiah; and this resulted in his death and a general persecution of all Christians (7:44 - 8:4)

¶Complement Stephen indicted the Sanhedrin Council for murdering Jesus Christ, the true Temple of Jehovah, and the Prophet like Moses (7:44 - 54)

¶Complement This indictment of Stephen resulted in his death by stoning and a general persecution of all Christians (7:55 - 8:4)

Comments: We finish our study of Acts Chapter 1.3 with the Conclusion Section.

Recall from the previous study that Stephen was a powerful preacher and one of the first seven deacons in the church in Jerusalem. He had been falsely accused of blaspheming the Temple and the Law of Moses, and brought before the Sanhedrin Council of the Jews, which was the highest ruling body of Jews at that time in Israel.

Stephen started his sermon by quickly rehearsing the basic facts of the history of Israel: Abraham to Moses.

Moses was important, because he was a prototype of Christ, and also because Moses prophesied of a “Prophet” who would come, who would be “like me”.

Deuteronomy 18:15-19: “Jehovah your God will raise up to you a Prophet from the midst of you, of your brethren, like me. To him shall you listen...And Jehovah said to me, ‘They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like you, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my Name, I will require it of him.”

Jesus was “the Prophet”; and just like Moses, the children of Israel (not all, but most) rejected Christ and the testimony of their own Law and Prophets to Christ, in spite of all of the miracles that Jesus did before them.

Then in the last two paragraphs of the Body Section, Stephen noted that

“Nevertheless the Most High does not dwell in Temples made with hands, as the Prophet said, ‘‘Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. What house will you build me?’ says [Jehovah], ‘Or what is the place of my rest? Has not my hand made all these things?’’ Acts 7:48 - 50

The Gospel of John has several references to the fact that Jesus was a Living Temple of Jehovah, or a Tabernacle of flesh:

“And the Word became flesh, and Tabernacled among us; and we beheld his glory: the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

“Then the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign do you show us, seeing that you do these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “This Temple was forty-six years in construction; and will you raise it up in three days?” But he spoke of the Temple of his body.” John 2:18-21

While Stephen did not specifically equate Jesus to the Temple in his sermon that is recorded in Acts, it is clear that he was doing that.

The message of Stephen to the Sanhedrin was this:

1) Jesus was the Prophet that was prophesied to come by Moses, and you rejected Him; therefore Jehovah will require it of you.

2) Jesus was the Living Temple of Jehovah, and you rejected Him.

3) You have been the betrayers and murderers of the Just One.

4) You received the Law of Moses by the hand of Angels, and you have not been true to it.

The Sanhedrin council could not allow Stephen to publicly shame them and pronounce them to be traitors to the Law of Moses, so they killed him.

§Complement Conclusion: Stephen indicted the Jews for rejecting their Messiah; and this resulted in his death and a general persecution of all Christians (7:44 - 8:4)

¶Complement Stephen indicted the Sanhedrin Council for murdering Jesus Christ, the true Temple of Jehovah, and the Prophet like Moses (7:44 - 54)

Opposite Our fathers had the Tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking to Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Joshua into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David; who found favor before God, and desired to find a Tabernacle for the God of Jacob; but Solomon built him a House.

Opposite Nevertheless the Most High does not dwell in Temples made with hands, as the Prophet said, ‘‘Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. What house will you build me?’ says [Jehovah], ‘Or what is the place of my rest? Has not my hand made all these things?’’

Complement You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

Complement Which of the Prophets have your fathers not persecuted? And they have slain them who showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers! Who have received the Law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it!”

Unique When they heard these things, they were convicted in their hearts; and they gnashed their teeth at him.

Paragraph outline: The “OO-CCU” (two opposites, two complements, and one unique) Golden Ratio design of the sub-paragraphs for paragraph 1:

Opposite The fathers of the nation of Israel had a Tabernacle and a Temple where Jehovah met with the priest of Aaron

Opposite But the Most High God does not dwell in Temples made with hands, because He is greater than all of Creation --

Complement The leaders of Israel always resisted the Holy Spirit

Complement The leaders of Israel followed in the footsteps of their evil ancestors who slew the prophets

Unique The leaders of Israel gnashed their teeth at Stephen

Comments: Now, having laid the foundation for his indictment of the Jews for their rebellion against God, Stephen let them have it:

1) These Jews were “uncircumcised in heart and ears”: in other words, they were not true Jews; they did not have a personal relationship with their God, Jehovah, as their fathers such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and the prophets had. They were lost and going to Hell.

2) These Jews were descendants of those who had persecuted the Prophets of God and slain those who had prophesied of the Coming of the Messiah.

3) These Jews were disobedient and disloyal to the Law of Moses, which had been given to them by the hand of the angels of God.

¶Complement This indictment of Stephen resulted in his death by stoning and a general persecution of all Christians (7:55 - 8:4)

Opposite But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into Heaven; and he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God!”

Opposite Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears; and they ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, who was calling upon God, and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, hold not this sin against them!”And when he had said this, he fell asleep; and Saul was approving of his death.

Complement And at that time there was a great persecution against the Assembly at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles.

Complement And devout men carried Stephen to his burial; and they made great lamentation over him.

Unique As for Saul, he made havoc of the Assembly: entering into every house, and dragging men and women committed them to prison; therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word.

Paragraph outline: The “OO-CCU” (two opposites, two complements, and one unique) Golden Ratio design of the sub-paragraphs for paragraph 2:

Opposite Stephen looked up into Heaven and saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God

Opposite This so outraged the Sanhedrin that they threw Stephen out of Jerusalem and stoned him to death --

Complement The execution of Stephen expanded into a persecution against the Assembly in Jerusalem

Complement Devout men carried Stephen to his burial

Unique Saul attacked the members of the Assembly in Jerusalem and put them into prison

Comments: Was it significant that Stephen saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God in Heaven, rather than sitting on his right hand, as recorded in other parts of the Bible?

Certainly it means something; but what it is, exactly, is not clear. Some believe that Jesus was ready to return to Earth that instant to claim his Kingdom, if the Sanhedrin had repented and believed in Jesus Christ. But that doesn’t make sense, because the men of the Sanhedrin were already grinding their teeth in rage against Stephen and his sermon, and were extremely unlikely to repent at that moment.

I believe that any interpretation that goes beyond what the Bible says in this text is unwarranted and pure speculation. I try to avoid speculation about things that the Bible gives no light upon.

The execution of Stephen was a pivotal event in the history of the early church in Jerusalem.

Up to that point, the church had been prosperous and growing rapidly, in spite of the Apostles being arrested twice and brought before the Sanhedrin council. The last time it happened, they were beaten and commanded not to preach in the Name of Jesus ever again (Acts 5:40).

But now, a man called “Saul” had come into the picture. He was a very zealous and earnest Jew, who thought that he was doing the will of God by persecuting Christians:

“...circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the Law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal; persecuting the Assembly; touching the righteousness which is in the Law of Moses, blameless.” Philippians 3:5-6

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord; who has enabled me, in that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; who before was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and violent; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” 1 Timothy 1:12-13

To Christians, he was the most dangerous man in Israel in those days, because he searched for Christians in every house in Jerusalem, and dragged them to prison.

But God had other plans for Saul, and there wasn’t a thing that could change that, no matter how much Saul hated Christians. In the next Chapter in Acts, we will study the conversion of Saul into the Apostle Paul in detail.

You should be able to see that Acts Chapter 1.3 is a unit: it is all about the Deacon Stephen, whose courageous and spirit-filled sermon before the Sanhedrin council led to his death; and then to Saul taking a leading role in the general persecution of Christians afterwards; and of course, how this led to his conversion and leading role in the evangelization of Asia Minor and Greece in the following years, which is recorded in the remainder of the Book of Acts.

Saul was apparently a member of the Sanhedrin council who either voted to execute Stephen, or at least approved of his death in some way (Acts 8:1). Without the call of God upon the life of Stephen, Saul would not have witnessed the sermon of Stephen, and perhaps would never have gone on his rampage of persecution against the church; and so, his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus would not have happened either. So then, Saul would never have become Paul the Apostle, and we would not have the 13 or 14 letters that he wrote in the Bible today: Hebrews, Romans, and so on.

Do you see how important it is to obey the call of God upon your life? If you have been born again by faith in Jesus Christ, then God has a plan for your life that will have an eternal impact on the lives of other people in some way that you cannot even imagine today.

Serve the Lord, my friend! If you have been saved, and you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, then God has something important for you to do, that only you can do, in the way that God wants you to do it.

There is no one in the world like you, because God has made you a unique person; and God has given you special gifts, that only you can use to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in the way that He wants you to serve Him. It may not be in a preaching capacity or in a role that receives a lot of publicity; but it is important and critical to the lives of many people that you do what God wants you to do. Surrender to his will, right now!

And never forget, that God will never use you in a way that is contrary to the Holy Scriptures. Do not seek to serve God in a role that God has not specifically approved of in his Word. This is an area where many women Christians have failed to follow the Lord. We will explore this area further in a future study on the letter of 1 Timothy.

Do you want to be saved, and know the one true God as your Savior, Lord, and Master? Then find a place where you can be alone with God, and pray this prayer with all of your heart:

“Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned against YOU. I am no good, and you are righteous! I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, were buried, and rose again from the dead on the third day. I want you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Please come into my heart right now. Forgive me for all my sins, and save my soul. In the mighty Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!”

If you have turned from your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and only Savior from sin, please message me through Facebook and let me know that you have done that, so that I can pray for you and rejoice with you in what God has done in your life. Amen.