Acts 7

Acts 7 records Stephen’s defense before the Sanhedrin. Instead of only defending himself, Stephen retells the history of Israel. He shows that God had always been faithful, but Israel often resisted God’s messengers. He also teaches that God is not limited to temples made by human hands. At the end, Stephen boldly accuses the Jewish leaders of resisting the Holy Spirit, just as their fathers had done. Because of this, they became angry and stoned him. Stephen became the first Christian martyr. This chapter shows God’s faithfulness, Israel’s repeated rebellion, the rejection of God’s messengers, and the movement from the old covenant shadows to the greater reality in Christ.

Acts 7:1-10 (NKJV)
1 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,
3 and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’
4 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.
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.
6 But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years.
7 ‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’
8 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.
9 “And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him
10 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.

Stephen begins by reminding the Jewish leaders of Abraham. God called Abraham before he lived in the promised land, and Abraham obeyed even though he had not yet received the land or even had a child. This shows that God’s promise depended on His own faithfulness, not on what Abraham could see at the time. Stephen then speaks about Joseph, whose brothers became jealous and sold him into Egypt. But even though they acted wrongly, God was with Joseph, delivered him from his troubles, gave him wisdom and favor, and raised him to a high position in Egypt. This shows that God can still carry out His purpose, even when people act out of envy and unbelief.

Acts 7:11-19 (NKJV)
11 Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance.
12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.
13 And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh.
14 Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people.
15 So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers.
16 And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.
17 “But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt
18 till another king arose who did not know Joseph.
19 This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live.

Stephen continues by showing how God used Joseph to preserve Jacob’s family during the famine. Because there was food in Egypt, Jacob sent his sons there, and later Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. Jacob and his family then moved to Egypt, where God preserved them and caused them to grow into a great people. But after many years, a new Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph, and he oppressed the Israelites cruelly, even trying to destroy their babies. Stephen shows that God’s people often went through suffering, but God had not forgotten His promise. Even in oppression, God’s plan was still moving forward.

Acts 7:20-29 (NKJV)
20 At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months.
21 But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son.
22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.
23 “Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.
24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian.
25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.
26 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?’
27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
28 Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’
29 Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.

Stephen then speaks about Moses. Moses was born during a time of danger, but God preserved his life. He was raised in Pharaoh’s house, educated in the wisdom of Egypt, and became mighty in words and deeds. When Moses was forty years old, he wanted to help his own people, the Israelites. He defended one who was being mistreated, thinking they would understand that God would use him to deliver them. But they did not understand and rejected him, saying, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?” Because of this, Moses fled to Midian and lived there as a stranger. Stephen is showing that Israel had a history of rejecting the very men God sent to help and deliver them.

Acts 7:30-34 (NKJV)
30 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.
31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him,
32 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.
33 ‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.
34 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.”

After forty years in Midian, God appeared to Moses in the burning bush. Moses was amazed, and when he came near, the Lord spoke to him. God identified Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, showing that He had not forgotten His covenant promise. God told Moses to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. Then God said that He had seen the oppression of His people, heard their groaning, and had come down to deliver them. The same Moses who had been rejected by Israel was now being sent by God as their deliverer. Stephen is preparing the leaders to see the same pattern with Jesus: the One they rejected was the One God sent to save them.

Acts 7:35-43 (NKJV)
35 “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.
36 He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
37 “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’
38 “This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us,
39 whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,
40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
41 And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
42 Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:
‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness,
O house of Israel?
43 You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
And the star of your god Remphan,
Images which you made to worship;
And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’

Stephen makes the point clear: the Moses whom Israel rejected was the same Moses whom God sent to be ruler and deliverer. Through Moses, God brought Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, led them through the Red Sea, and guided them in the wilderness for forty years. Moses also said that God would raise up another Prophet like him, and that the people must hear Him, pointing forward to Jesus. But even after all God had done, Israel still rejected Moses in their hearts and turned back toward Egypt. They made the golden calf, worshiped idols, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Because they refused God, God allowed them to follow their false worship, which eventually led to judgment and exile. Stephen is showing that rebellion against God was not new; it had been repeated throughout Israel’s history.

Acts 7:44-50 (NKJV)
44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen,
45 which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David,
46 who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob.
47 But Solomon built Him a house.
48 “However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
49 ‘Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
What house will you build for Me? says the Lord,
Or what is the place of My rest?
50 Has My hand not made all these things?’

Stephen then speaks about the tabernacle and the temple. The tabernacle was given by God through Moses and was made according to the pattern God showed him. Later, it was brought into the promised land with Joshua. David desired to build a house for God, and Solomon eventually built the temple. But Stephen reminds them that the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands. Heaven is His throne, and earth is His footstool. Since God made all things, He cannot be limited to one building. This was a rebuke to the Jewish leaders because they honored the temple outwardly, but they were missing the greater reality of God’s presence and resisting the One to whom the temple pointed.

Acts 7:51-53 (NKJV)
51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.
52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,
53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

Stephen now speaks directly to the leaders. He calls them stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, meaning they were outwardly religious but inwardly stubborn and unwilling to hear God. He says they always resist the Holy Spirit, just as their fathers did. Their ancestors persecuted the prophets, and now they themselves had betrayed and murdered the Just One, Jesus Christ. They claimed to honor the law, but they did not truly keep it. Stephen exposes their hypocrisy: they were proud of their history, their temple, and their law, but they were repeating the same rebellion as their fathers by rejecting God’s Son.

Acts 7:54-60 (NKJV)
54 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, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;
58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

When the leaders heard Stephen’s words, they were deeply convicted, but instead of repenting, they became furious. Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. When he declared that he saw the Son of Man standing at God’s right hand, the leaders became even more enraged. They covered their ears, rushed at him, dragged him out of the city, and stoned him. As Stephen was dying, he called on the Lord Jesus and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he prayed, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” This shows the same forgiving spirit that Jesus had toward those who crucified Him. Stephen died in faith, peace, and forgiveness. His death shows the cost of standing for truth, but also the power of Christ living in a believer. Saul was there watching over the clothes of those who stoned Stephen, introducing the man who would later become Paul, one of the greatest preachers of the gospel.