Acts 7: The History of Rebellion

Stephen was seized and taken before the religious council and elders of the church. In Acts 7, the Holy Spirit comes upon Stephen as he gives amazing insights to the history of Israel along with a strong rebuke. Let’s look at the summarized history of Israel through the eyes of the Spirit of God.

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’

Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ And he gave him the covenant of circumcision.

“And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

“Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive.

“At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. (Acts 7:1-22 ESV)

This first bit is a brief summary of the calling of Abraham until the birth of Moses. There is no additional information, except that Moses was “mighty in words and deeds.” This is the way the Holy Spirit saw Moses, but it wasn’t the way Moses saw himself as we can see from when God appeared in the burning bush:

And Moses said to the LORD, “O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since you have spoken to your servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” (Exodus 4:10 AKJV)

The Holy Spirit saw Moses as mighty in words, but Moses’ lack of confidence in himself caused God to assign Aaron to speak for him. We must always remember that it isn’t about what we think we can do. Don’t make the mistake of Moses: We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! (Philippians 4:13)

“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.

“And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’

“But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’ (Acts 7:23-28 ESV)

The book of Exodus records that Moses killed the Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave, yet here, the Holy Spirit shows the heart of Moses who knew his calling was to free Egypt and tried to come into it under his own power. Because God had not empowered Moses yet, he was rejected and had to flee. He had spent forty years learning the ways of the Egyptians, now he spent 40 years learning God’s ways.

“This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. (Acts 7:35-38 ESV)

This is the basic description of Moses’ calling: He was the head of God’s church revealing the way to redemption. Signs and wonders were associated with his ministry. The “living oracles” refers to receiving wisdom and directions from God. It is “living” because it is the Word of God what is living and active!

Stephen’s speech to the council and elders takes a turn at this point. It goes from simply recounting history to pointing out rebellion.

Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of Heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

“‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’ (Acts 7:39-43 ESV)

The rebellion of God’s people is brought to the forefront as Stephen quotes scripture he may not have even had access to. The Holy Spirit points out that the “hosts of Heaven” which are fallen angels, are “stars” who are attached to the worship of other gods. After summarizing the wilderness journey, establishment of Israel, and building of the first Temple in two short paragraphs, Stephen begins to rebuke the leaders.

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” (Acts 7:51-53 ESV)

Thanks to this scripture, we know that “oracles” or wisdom directly from God is delivered by His angels! This rebuke is leveled not only at the current leaders, but the history of Israel’s leaders who refused to listen to prophets sent by God, speaking corrections with the power of the Holy Spirit. How many religious leaders today are making this same mistake? The ones here have a super strong response to Stephen’s correction:

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into Heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:54-56)

“Grinding their teeth” means the leaders were furious. Jesus referred to Himself as the “Son of Man” so when Stephen declares that Jesus is at the right hand of God, this pushes them over the edge.

But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:57-60 ESV)

The leaders are in such a state of rebellion against God that they put their hands over their ears, refusing to listen. Saul, who would later be called Paul, was a ringleader as the stoning began. Stephen’s closing remarks are why Jesus could appear to Paul on the road, blinding him until a disciple prayed for him.

If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” (John 20:23 ESV)

Stephen forgave Saul and the others for stoning him, therefore the murder was not held against them. Jesus said the same thing on the cross, asking God to forgive all those who played a part for placing Him on the cross. The prayer for forgiveness allowed God to move strongly by the power of His Spirit to bring thousands of people to Him through Jesus after His death. Stephen's prayer paved the way for Saul to be brought to his knees, becoming Paul, one of the greatest advocates for Jesus, writer of nearly a quarter of the New Testament.

Israel had a history of rebellion against God, but they also had a history of meticulously recording His ways. Both of these played a major role in the salvation that comes from Jesus. God needed a people who would remember His ways, but one that would reject His Son so salvation could come to the world!

Don’t fall into the trap of rebellion like Israel: How well do you know God’s way? Are you rebelling against them? Are you willing to receive corrections about your beliefs? We should never stop learning: through it we go from glory to glory, being used by God more and more!

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:16-18 ESV)