Comments on Acts 7

v1  The chief accusations aimed at Stephen at the end of the
previous chapter are for blaspheming against Moses and attempting
to change the Law.  For this accusation the high priest asks him
if it is true.

v2-53 is Stephen's defense.  Questioned concerning blasphemy and
changing the Law, Stephen's defense centrally draws on the
writings of Moses to show that it is in fact the hardhearted
among Israel who have altered the Law.  He then equates the
contemporary Jews with ancient Israel and condemns them.  The
result is the accusation of attempting to change the Law of Moses
is turned on them and they are caught in it.

     His defense is structured as follows:

     v2-34  Recounts Israel's history which places them in
     captivity in Egypt which requires Moses as a deliverer.

     v35-43  Ancient Israel in general rebels against Moses
     and ignores him all throughout their history choosing
     instead to worship idols.  This rebellion continues and
     necessitates exile in Babylon to humble the Jews, and
     Stephen quotes Amos 5:25-27 to prove it.

     v44-50  Just as their ancient fathers had the
     Tabernacle in the Wilderness, so do they have the
     Temple of the Lord among them.  And just as the ancient
     fathers worshiped idols instead of the Lord, so do
     they. 

     v51-53  Stephen concludes by saying that the
     contemporary Jews are no different from ancient Israel,
     they are stiff-necked, deaf, and hardhearted.  Their
     fathers killed the prophets who testified of the
     messiah, and they are become murderers just the same. 
     The Law was given to them by angels, and they do not
     keep it.

v48-50  God does not dwell in a house made by human hands,
meaning that when men worship the works of their own hands then
they are not worshiping God.  The Tabernacle and the Temple were
symbols intended to get Israel to worship the Lord.  Instead,
they became physical objects of idolatry which were suborned to
men's desires.  The Temple was no longer a House of God, but an
edifice used by the Sanhedrin and high priests as a means of
political and social power to promote their own purposes.
     Just as the Tabernacle was among ancient Israel and they
worshiped idols instead, so do the contemporary Jews ignore the
Temple and worship the work of their own hands instead.

v54-60  When they hear Stephen's accusations they are stung by
the truth and are enraged.  Stephen is filled with the Spirit and
sees the heavens open in vision ans says so.  The council mobs
him, dragging him out of the city and stones him to death.  Upon
dying Stephen asks Jesus to accept his spirit and to not lay the
guilt of murder at the mob's feet.  
     Among the mob is one named Saul, whom we learn more about in
the next chapter.





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