Study the bible online using commentary on Acts 7 and more! Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices. . They persecuted Stephen for disputing in defence of Christ and his gospel: in opposition to these they set up Moses and his law. . Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. Next to the human nature of Christ, the broken and spiritual heart is his most valued temple. 39. 6-8. four hundred years--using round numbers, as in Genesis 15:13 Genesis 15:16. 25. They, like their fathers, were stubborn and wilful. Moses was exceeding fair, fair toward God; it is the beauty of holiness which is in God's sight of great price. 56. He was wonderfully preserved in his infancy; for God will take special care of those of whom he designs to make special use. . 45. which . Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible by Matthew Henry. Please enter your email address associated with your Salem All-Pass account, then click Continue. This Jesus, whom they now refused, as their fathers did Moses, even this same has God advanced to be a Prince and Saviour. carry you beyond Babylon--the well-known region of the captivity of Judah; while "Damascus" is used by the prophet ( Amos 5:27 ), whither the ten tribes were carried. . And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. This Jesus, whom they now refused, as their fathers did Moses, even this same has God advanced to be a Prince and Saviour. for Christ, amidst all the darkness of its perpetrators; and how many have been cheered by it to like faithfulness even unto death! God is preparing for his people's deliverance, when their day is darkest, and their distress deepest. The actual stoning is recorded in Acts 7:59 . Stephen's defence. 23-27. Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did , so do ye. 20-37. Stephen was charged as a blasphemer of God, and an apostate from the church; therefore he shows that he is a son of Abraham, and values himself on it. The death of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, cannot break the covenant relation between God and them. The faith of the patriarchs, in desiring to be buried in the land of Canaan, plainly showed they had regard to the heavenly country. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord. They may understand, if they do not wilfully shut their eyes against the light, that God will, by this Jesus, deliver them out of a worse slavery than that of Egypt. Though the sin was very great, yet if they would lay it to their hearts, God would not lay it to their charge. 17. . All rights reserved. 28, 29. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and, To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust, Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for. Much more will he secure the interests of his holy child Jesus, from the enemies who are gathered together against him. It is well to recur to the first rise of usages, or sentiments, which have been perverted. I suppose this question never occurred but to critics of narrow soul, one of whom [MEYER] conjectures that he saw it through the window! All Rights Reserved. So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor. Bible > Bible Commentary; John Darby’s Synopsis; Acts; Acts 7; John Darby’s Synopsis << Acts 6 | Acts 7 | Acts 8 >> (Read all of Acts 7) Stephen, as far as we are told, had not known the Lord during His life on earth. Verses 1-16 Stephen was charged as a blasphemer of God, and an apostate from the church; therefore he shows that he is a son of Abraham, and values himself on it. 59, 60. calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, &c.--An unhappy supplement of our translators is the word "God" here; as if, while addressing the Son, he was really calling upon the Father. the Son of man standing, &c.--This is the only time that our Lord is by human lips called THE SON OF MAN after His ascension ( Revelation 1:13 , 14:14 are not instances). Acts 7 Commentary, One of over 110 Bible commentaries freely available, this commentary, as set of 17 volumes on the New Testament, the result of Barclay's dedicated work Proud member
Then said the high priest, Are these things so? he fell asleep--never said of the death of Christ. into Egypt--"In this Stephen would have his hearers read the downward career on which they were themselves entering.". (Act 7:59-60) Stephen’s last words. But when--rather, "as." written in the book of the prophets--the twelve minor prophets, reckoned as one: the passage is from Amos 5:25 . Salem Media Group. . Here he is, having perhaps already a seat in the Sanhedrim, some thirty years of age, in the thick of this tumultuous murder of a distinguished witness for Christ, not only "consenting unto his death" ( Acts 8:1 ), but doing his own part of the dark deed. The gospel was offered now, not by angels, but from the Holy Ghost; yet they did not embrace it, for they were resolved not to comply with God, either in his law or in his gospel. Stephen was going on, it seems, to show that the temple and the temple service must come to an end, and it would be the glory of both to give way to the worship of the Father in spirit and in truth; but he perceived they would not bear it. Article Images Copyright © 2020 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. There is that in our sinful hearts, which always resists the Holy Ghost, a flesh that lusts against the Spirit, and wars against his motions; but in the hearts of God's elect, when the fulness of time comes, this resistance is overcome. Yet most people today have never heard of John Gill. (What that resting-place was, even "the contrite heart, that trembleth at God's word," he leaves to be gathered from the prophet referred to). Stephen offered up two short prayers in his dying moments. It was no dishonour, but an honour to God, that the tabernacle gave way to the temple; so it is now, that the earthly temple gives way to the spiritual one; and so it will be when, at last, the spiritual shall give way to the eternal one. This Moses whom they refused, saying,. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. brought in with Jesus--or Joshua. 29. God owned Joseph in his troubles, and was with him by the power of his Spirit, both on his own mind by giving him comfort, and on those he was concerned with, by giving him favour in their eyes. His calling shows the power and freeness of Divine grace, and the nature of conversion. Proud member
but they understood not--Reckoning on a spirit in them congenial with his own, he had the mortification to find it far otherwise. Then they cried out . Clearly, to express the eager interest with which He watched from the skies the scene in that council chamber, and the full tide of His Spirit which He was at that moment engaged in pouring into the heart of His heroical witness, till it beamed in radiance from his very countenance. The sense is perfectly clear without any supplement at all--"calling upon [invoking] and saying, Lord Jesus"; Christ being the Person directly invoked and addressed by name (compare Acts 9:14 ). Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit--In presenting to Jesus the identical prayer which He Himself had on the cross offered to His Father, Stephen renders to his glorified Lord absolute divine worship, in the most sublime form, and at the most solemn moment of his life.