Stephen preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is stoned to death.

Acts 7:1-53

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

• Calling of Abraham: Jesus Christ fulfillment of promise made to Abraham.
• Joseph, rejected by his brothers, becomes ruler over them: Jesus Christ, rejected by the Jewish people, becomes King of kings.
• Moses, whom the Israelites rejected, leads them out of bondage: Jesus Christ, whom the Jewish people reject, leads us out of bondage to sin.
• Israelites rebelled against God and served the Golden Calf: Jesus Christ is rebelled against to serve the god of this world.
• Israelites had the tabernacle made with hands: God lives in the tabernacle of our body through Jesus Christ.
• Jewish people resist the Holy Spirit who is given through Jesus Christ.
• Stephen is killed.

Stephen’s entire message, from Acts 7:1-50, to the Jewish council was focused on quoting Old Testament Scriptures to make this point, “You stiff-necked and 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 foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.” Acts 7:51-53

Calling of Abraham: Jesus Christ fulfillment of promise made to Abraham.
“Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?” Acts 7:1

In theprevious post on Acts 6:11-15, Stephen was falsely accused of blasphemy, so those of the Jewish council [court] asked him, “Are these things so?” In reply, Stephen begins preaching from the Scriptures to show how Jesus is the Christ and Son of God, whom they rejected, betrayed, and had crucified. He begins by speaking of Abraham, who God promised to multiply his descendants through those who believe in Jesus Christ. The Jewish people rejected Jesus and thereby rejected the promise God made to multiply their descendants. As a result, the Jewish people are cut off from the family of God which is everyone born through Jesus Christ, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29

“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, and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’” Acts 7:2-3

Stephen is bringing the Scriptures up to date to bring to the Jewish ruler’s consciousness that they are the relatives of Abraham that have been promised the land that God has shown them. God led Abrham away from his relatives to a land that would be shown to him. Stephen is building to the point that the Jewish people were/are to come away from their culture rooted in the laws of Judaism to come to a land that would be shown to them. That land is the eternal promised land through faith in Jesus Christ, whom they rejected and had murdered on the Cross.

“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. 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.” Acts 7:4-5

Stephen is bringing the Scriptures up to date to point to the Jewish rulers he was speaking to. That is why he said, “He moved him to this land in which you now dwell”. God moved Abraham to the territory of Jerusalem/Israel after he was led away from the land of the Chaldeans in Haran. Stephen is making the point that the Jewish people were and are living where Abraham stood by the will of God.

Abraham had no inheritance in Jerusalem/Israel because he had no descendants to inhabit the land, there was only him and his wife Sarah [Sarah was unable to have children]. Stephen is making the point that there is no inheritance in the promised land unless God gives the descendants to populate the territory. God promised to give the promised land to Abraham and his descendants. Stephen was making the point that the Jewish culture were/are unable to give birth to the children of God because the fulfillment of the promise of God to multiply their seed comes through Jesus Christ, whom they rejected. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12-13

“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. ‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve Me in this place.’” Acts 7:6-7

God fulfilled His promise to Abraham in the Old Testament to multiply his descendants, before the coming of Jesus Christ, and they were brought under bondage in the foreign land of the Egyptians and oppressed. God fulfilled His vow to bring judgment on the oppressors. After that, the Israelites were brought out of bondage, given the Ten Commandments and commandments of sacrifices, and vowed to serve God.

At the time of Stephen’s speech to the Jewish rulers, the Jewish people were under the rule, bondage, and oppression of the Romans. Stephen is bringing the Scriptures up to date to apply aptly to the circumstances of the Jewish people. They were then and are now the descendants of Abraham who are in bondage to worldly forces. God promised to bring judgment upon those of this world through Jesus Christ. God promises that we who put our faith in Jesus, “…will come out and serve Me in this place...”.

The Jewish people, and all of us, are able to experience freedom in the Spirit through Jesus Christ even while being under worldly bondage and oppression by the rulers of this world. That is the life of Holiness as the Holy Spirit sanctifies our inner being from rebellious, bitter, prideful, and vengeful attitudes.

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2

The Jewish people will never know the freedom and liberty that comes through Jesus Christ because they reject Him. And Stephen says, “You stiff-necked and 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 foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.” Acts 7:51-53

“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.” Acts 7:8

Stephen was making the Jewish rulers he was addressing aware that they were, and are, members of the twelve tribes of Israel. They are the fulfillment of God’s promise to multiply the seed of Abraham, in fleshly terms. In the verses of the next section, Stephen makes it clear that members of the twelve tribes had jealousy, treachery, malice, deceit, evil intent, and murder in their heart against one whom God loved. They were given the covenant of circumcision, but being circumcised in the flesh did nothing to cleanse their heart from bad intentions towards those that God loved/loves.

“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” Romans 2:28-29

Holiness comes by the circumcision of ugly attitudes, the cutting away of bad feelings through the process of sanctification. Jesus Christ works in us through the Holy Spirit to bring about Holiness.

Joseph, rejected by his brothers, becomes ruler over them: Jesus Christ, rejected by the Jewish people, becomes King of kings.
“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him 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.” Acts 7:9-10

In the previous verse of the previous section, Stephen speaks of how circumcision was given to the twelve sons of Jacob [Israel]Jacob’s name was changed to Israel in Genesis 32:28. They were the sons whom the twelve tribes of Israel are named after. They were and are the patriarchs of the Jewish people. Stephen is showing to the Jewish rulers, from Old Testament scriptures, that circumcision did nothing to remove envy from the heart of those who sold Joseph into Egypt. The patriarchs were the brothers of Joseph, those whom the twelve tribes of Israel were named after.

In other words, Stephen told the Jewish rulers that although they are circumcised and they require all the Jewish people to be circumcised, it does nothing to make them right in the eyes of God. Circumcision comes by the Spirit not by the mutilation of the flesh, as the Holy Spirit speaks through Paul, “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!” Philippians 3:2 Spiritual circumcision is the process of sanctification to cut off envy and malice from our attitude to work Holiness within us. Only through Jesus Christ is the Holy Spirit given and the process of sanctification begins within us.

Stephen knew the Jewish rulers were envious of the way of Jesus Christ because multitudes were being added to the family of God through faith in Him and they were fleeing the weight of the laws of Judaism. Stephen was quoting the Scriptures to show the Jewish rulers that they were/are those who sold Jesus into the hands of the Romans to be crucified, like the patriarchs who sold Joseph into Egypt. Like Joseph, who was given wisdom and power in the presence of Pharoah, God gave our Lord Jesus wisdom and power within this world, over and above that of the Jewish rulers. Within this world of bondage to sin, God has made Jesus the governor over His Kingdom within the sinner, for while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

“Now a famine and great affliction came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh.” Acts 7:11-13

Joseph was in charge of the distribution of grain, from Egypt, during a time of severe famine. Jacob sent his sons, founders of the twelve tribes of Israel and forefathers of the Jewish culture to Egypt to ask for grain. Stephen quoted Old Testament scriptures to reveal to the Jewish rulers that they were living in a famine of devotion to God, and it would be necessary for them to turn to a “foreign” land, to turn to Jesus Christ for their spiritual sustenance. The forefathers returned a second time to ask for more grain from Joseph, this time Joseph revealed himself as being the brother they sold into Egypt. This was to show that our Lord Jesus revealed Himself as the Christ and Son of God to the Jewish people, His “brothers”, whom they betrayed to be crucified on the Cross.

“Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. 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.” Acts 7:14-16

After Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, he called all of his family, all the forefathers of the twelve tribes of Israel, to come to him. Stephen is saying this to the Jewish rulers to state that our Lord Jesus had revealed Himself as the Christ and Son of God and has called all the Jewish people to Him. Unfortunately, the Jewish people have died to the will of God for them to place their faith in Jesus Christ and to receive the Holy Spirit. “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:11-13

Stephen is saying to the Jewish rulers that they have sold Jesus Christ to the Romans to be crucified on the Cross. Even so, God rose Jesus from the grave and has become the ruler over them within the Kingdom of God. The only way to be revived from spiritual famine is through faith in Jesus Christ [the Bread and Water of Life] not by faith in the laws of Judaism. Jesus revealed Himself as the Christ and Son of God but by rejecting Him they have died to the will of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. This is why Stephen said to the Jewish rulers, “You stiff-necked and 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 foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.” Acts 7:51-53

Moses, whom the Israelites rejected, leads them out of bondage: Jesus Christ, whom the Jewish people reject, leads us out of bondage to sin.
“But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt till another king arose who did not know Joseph. This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live.” Acts 7:17-19

Joseph governed under two Pharaohs, the first was lenient towards the Israelites, but the second was treacherous and caused the abortion [deaths] of Israelite babies. Stephen is showing from the Old Testament scriptures that the Jewish rulers, whom he is speaking to, are the treacherous rulers who caused death to the birth of the children of God. Our Lod Jesus emphasized this when He said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” Matthew 23:15

“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. But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.” Acts 7:20-22

At a time when the Pharoah was persecuting and exterminating the Israelites, Moses was born and lived under Israelite parents for three months. Instead of aborting him, as commanded by the law of the Pharoah, they placed him in a basket and put him in the Nile River. The Pharoah’s daughter saw the babe and raised Moses as her own. Moses grew up in the wisdom of the Egyptians and became mighty in words and deeds.

Stephen is showing from Scriptures that the Jewish rulers are the Pharoah that by their command sought to end Jesus Christ and the birth of Christianity. They knew that our Lord Jesus was raised early in His life by Mary and Joseph but also that He was brought up in the Jewish customs and by the laws of Judaism. They were even amazed at His understanding of and questions about the Scriptures when He was only 12 years of age, as quoted, “And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast…Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.” Luke 2:42, 46-47

Like Moses, who grew mighty in the wisdom of the Pharaohs Jesus grew mighty in the word of God, the Old Testament Scriptures, and in His deeds, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Luke 2:52

The Jewish rulers knew Stephen was talking about Jesus Christ because they marveled and could recognize the followers of Jesus by their wisdom in the Scriptures and their boldness, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13

“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.” Acts 7:23-25

Moses began intervening on behalf of the Israelites when he was forty years of age. He was within the family of the Pharoah at this time, being adopted by the Pharoah’s daughter. Moses defended an Israelite who was being harmed and oppressed by an Egyptian, believing that all the Israelites would understand that he came to deliver them. But they didn’t.

Stephen is saying to the Jewish rulers that Jesus Christ came to deliver the Jewish people from the ruler’s wrong-doing and spiritual oppression. It would seem that the Jewish people would have understood that Jesus came to deliver them from the wolves in sheep clothing [the Jewish leaders]. But they didn’t. In fact, they cried for His crucifixion. “Then [Pilate] said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go.” But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.” Luke 23:22-23

“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?’ But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.” Acts 7:26-29

After Moses defended an Israelite from suffering wrongdoing at the hands of an Egyptian, the next day he tried to reconcile two Israelites who were fighting among themselves. Moses said to them, “‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’” The one who did his neighbor wrong said, “‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?” Moses fled from the Israelites because they were about to deliver him into the hands of the Egyptians for killing an Egyptian.

Stephen was showing from the Old Testament to the Jewish leaders, that they were the ones who said to Jewish Christ, “‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?” Jesus quit walking openly among the Jewish people because they wanted Him dead, like Moses who fled the Israelites, “Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death. Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.” John 11:53-54

Jesus came simply to reconcile the Jewish people to God, like Moses when he came to the Israelites, as Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18-19

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

God appeared to Moses in a flame of fire in a bush, and God said this was Holy ground where Moses was standing. This is the same God of Abrham, Issac, and Jacob, the forefathers of the Israelites. God sent Moses to deliver the Israelites from their oppression.

Stephen was showing the Jewish leaders, through the Old Testament scriptures, that God had given Jesus His Spirit, the flaming fire of the Holy Spirit. Where Jesus stands that is Holy Ground. God sent Jesus to deliver the Jewish people, and all of us, from spiritual oppression and bondage to sin. The Jewish rulers accused Jesus of blaspheme and having a demon and despised the notion that Jesus was empowered by the Spirit of God to deliver them and all the Jewish people from bondage to sin. “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?…Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”” John 8:31-33, 48

“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. 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.” Acts 7:35-36

Stephen further quotes the Old Testament scriptures about Moses being rejected as they said, “‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’” The Jewish rulers perceived that Stephen was talking about them because all through the ministry of Jesus they were saying to Him, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’” Like Moses who brought the Israelites out of bondage through signs and wonders, our Lord Jesus did signs and wonders so that we would know He has the authority to forgive sin. The Jewish rulers knew Stephen was speaking the truth that Jesus did many signs and wonders, yet the Jewish people were/are like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness.

Israelites rebelled against God and served the Golden Calf: Jesus Christ is rebelled against to serve the god of this world.
“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.’ “This is he who was in the assembly 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, whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 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.’” Acts 7:37-40

Moses prophesied about our Lord Jesus Christ being raised up from the twelve tribes of Israel, He was of the Tribe of Judah. Moses said, Him you will hear, and even as God said, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” Luke 9:35 Stephen is becoming more direct in saying to the Jewish leaders that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecy about the coming of the Christ as spoken through Moses. Our Lord Jesus said, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” John 5:46-47

The same Moses who prophesied about the coming of the Christ is the same one who received the Ten Commandments that the Israelites rejected and would not obey. Stephen is putting the Jewish rulers in the same category as those who rejected the word coming through Moses, those who rejected his prophecy about the coming of the Christ. In their hearts, like the Jewish rulers Stephen was speaking to, they turned away from God when they rejected Jesus Christ. Jesus addresses the corruption of the Jewish rulers and the Jewish people in Matthew 23.

When Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, the Israelites felt that he would never come back. They became tired of waiting for him and decided to serve their own god, not the Living God of Jesus Christ. Stephen is clarifying the image of the Jewish rulers he was speaking to as losing faith in the coming of the Christ. They began to turn the Scriptures into a god that empowered and enriched them in worldly ways but corrupted the Spirit of God within those scriptures.

“And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.” Acts 7:41

Stephen is now describing the Jewish leaders he is speaking to by quoting the Old Testament scriptures about when those of their forefathers made a golden calf and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Click here for a post on the Golden Calf. The calf represents “milking” the word of God for their own benefit and rejoicing over what they were doing by their own efforts and “ingenuity”. Our Lord Jesus addressed their corruption in Matthew 23.

“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? 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.’” Acts 7:42-43

When God is rejected, this leaves a void within the human soul for adopting the worship of the “universe”, the “environment”, and the false god in the heavens. This is said of the god in the heavens, “For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregations on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’” Isaiah 14:13-14

Today’s culture, which is global, worships the star in the sky, which Ezekiel addresses in his vision of the space satellites, space station, and space shuttle in Ezekiel 1.

“This is their resemblance throughout the earth: Here is a lead disc lifted up, and this is a woman sitting inside the basket”; then he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he thrust her down into the basket, and threw the lead cover over its mouth. Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were two women, coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven.“ Zachariah 5:6-9 Click here for the full post on the woman and the basket.

Today’s culture worships the “star in the heavens” that gives them what to speak, do, think, and feel. This is an artificial entity that disregards the need for the human spirit and emotions as it opposes the presence of the Holy Spirit. Click here for a post on the “number of the beast [6-6-6] is the number of the man.” This entity gives life to the image of the beast to speak and live through people as they are groomed to the mark of the beast by what they are given to say and do.

The god that today’s culture worships sets itself up as God within the temple of God [our body] as if it is God. This is done by giving people what to speak, do, think, and feel. This is the one “…who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4 The “he” in this verse is the “man of sin”. Click here for a post on the “man of sin”.

Today’s global government and its global culture do not make any offerings to God, Jesus Christ, nor the Holy Spirit. They will be carried “beyond the captivity in Babylon” to be utterly destroyed on this earth and within their eternal death in hell.

Israelites had the tabernacle made with hands: God lives in the tabernacle of our body through Jesus Christ.
“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, 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, who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob.” Acts 7:44-46

The Jewish rulers, whom Stephen was talking to, were still living by the thought that the house of God was the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. In that temple was the place called the Holy of Holies, where only the Jewish priests could enter [no one else could come into the presence of God]. Stephen reminded the Jewish rulers that the Jewish forefathers did indeed have tabernacles in the wilderness, and those tabernacles were brought into the earthly promised land with Joshua. While those tabernacles were movable tents, David, a man after God’s own heart, desired to build a permanent house for God.

The Lord replied to David, “For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ”2 Samuel 7:6-7

“But Solomon built Him a house. “However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: ‘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? Has My hand not made all these things?’” Acts 7:47-50

Solomon built the Lord a permanent house, but the Lord does not live in temples made with hands. Stephen made this clear to the Jewish rulers he was speaking to by quoting from Isaiah, “Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?” Isaiah 66:1 In other words, Stephen was telling the Jewish leaders that their manmade churches/temple were useless as a place to contain the presence of God. The question to answer is, “…what is the place of My rest?” The answer to that question is one that the Jewish leaders could not accept, that we are the temple of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ [our Priest]. The Jewish rulers rejected Jesus as their Priest and were infuriated at the notion that their manmade temple of God was useless as a place of worship. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16

Jewish people resist the Holy Spirit who is given through Jesus Christ.
“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.” Acts 7:51

Stephen called the Jewish leaders stubborn and uncircumcised of heart and ears. They were stubborn against acknowledging Jesus being the fulfillment of Scriptures of Him being the Christ and Son of God. They might have been circumcised in the flesh, but not in the spirit and not in their hearing. They were hardened to the Holy Spirit and were living as disobediently as the Israelites before the 1^st coming of Jesus Christ.

1] The Jewish leaders refused to believe that our Lord Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham to multiply his descendants. “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29

2] The Jewish leaders refused to believe that Joseph was a prophecy about Jesus Christ. That prophecy being that Jesus would be betrayed by His Jewish “brothers” but rise and come again to be the King of kings.

3] The Jewish leaders refused to believe that God empowered Jesus with His Spirit to bring the new commandment, or the New Covenant, in the same way He empowered Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

4] The Jewish leaders refused to accept that they were among their Israelite forefathers who chose to worship the “golden calf” and not to wait for Moses.

5] The Jewish leaders refused to accept that their manmade temple was useless as a living quarter for the presence of God. They despised the thought that Jesus Christ was their Priest, and the temple is within us as we are the temple of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus.

“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, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.” Acts 7:52-53

Stephen went on to say that the Jewish leaders were just like their forefathers who persecuted the Prophets and killed those who prophesied about the coming of Jesus, their Christ and the Son of God. The Jewish leaders betrayed Jesus when they delivered Him to the Romans through Judas for thirty pieces of silver. They plotted His murder by crucifixion on the Cross. Our Lord Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!” Matthew 23:37 Stephen made it clear to the Jewish rulers that they have the word of God to read for themselves, the word given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit [“…by the direction of Angels…”] but have not kept it.

Stephen is killed.
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.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11