Day 290: Stephen’s Martyrdom

*Acts 7:30-60

This passage continues Stephen’s defense before the Jewish council, his accusation against them, and his martyrdom.

  • Moses’ Encounter with God and Return to Egypt:
    • Forty years after fleeing to Midian, Moses encounters the Angel of the Lord in a burning bush on Mount Sinai.
    • God instructs Moses to return to Egypt; this time, he is to lead the Israelites out of slavery.
    • Stephen emphasizes that this Moses, whom the Israelites had rejected, was chosen by God to be a ruler and deliverer through the angel who appeared in the bush.
    • He leads the Israelites out of Egypt, performing wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.
  • The Rejection of Moses and the Golden Calf:
    • Stephen cites Moses’ prophecy about a prophet like him who would be raised from among their own people, hinting at Jesus.
    • He recounts how the Israelites turned away from Moses and God while in the wilderness, making a golden calf to worship and engaging in idolatry.
    • God turns away from them, allowing them to worship the stars, as prophesied by Amos.
  • The Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple:
    • Stephen reviews the history of the Tabernacle of the Testimony as it moved with the Israelites and was brought to the Promised Land under Joshua.
    • He mentions that David found favor with God and desired to build a permanent dwelling for the God of Jacob, but it was Solomon who built the temple.
    • However, Stephen quotes Isaiah, emphasizing that the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands, asserting God’s transcendence beyond a physical temple.
  • Stephen’s Accusation and Stoning:
    • Stephen accuses the Sanhedrin of resisting the Holy Spirit and persecuting the prophets just as their ancestors did. He charges that they have now become betrayers and murderers of the Righteous One, Jesus, whose coming the prophets had foretold.
    • Enraged by his words, the council members rush at him.
    • Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looks up to heaven and sees the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He declares this vision to the council.
    • The council, covering their ears and yelling, drag him out of the city and begin to stone him.
    • As he is being stoned, Stephen prays for the Lord to receive his spirit and forgives his executioners by asking God not to hold this sin against them.
    • Stephen dies, and the witnesses lay their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul, introducing a pivotal character in the spread of Christianity.

Acts 7:30-60 teaches us to stand firm in our faith and trust God, even in difficult situations. Stephen boldly spoke the truth about God’s plan, even though it cost him his life. Instead of responding with anger, he forgave those who hurt him, just like Jesus did. We can apply this by being courageous in sharing our faith and choosing forgiveness instead of bitterness when others wrong us. Even when we face challenges, we can trust that God is with us and that staying faithful to Him is always worth it.

Acts 7:30-60 (WEB)

7:30 “When forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. As he came close to see, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Moses trembled and dared not look. 33 The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.’
35 “This Moses whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.’ 38 This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living revelations to give to us, 39 to whom our fathers wouldn’t be obedient, but rejected him and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’ 41 They made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away and gave them up to serve the army of the sky, as it is written in the book of the prophets,
‘Did you offer to me slain animals and sacrifices
forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43 You took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
the star of your god Rephan,
the figures which you made to worship,
so I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’
44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen; 45 which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered into the possession of the nations whom God drove out before the face of our fathers to the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob. 47 But Solomon built him a house. 48 However, the Most High doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says,
49 ‘heaven is my throne,
and the earth a footstool for my feet.
What kind of house will you build me?’ says the Lord.
‘Or what is the place of my rest?
50 Didn’t my hand make all these things?’
51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do. 52 Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers. 53 You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t keep it!”
54 Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, then rushed at him with one accord. 58 They threw him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 He kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep.