- What is the Gospel message centered in? (Deut 20:1, John 17:17)
- How is Christ figured into Stephen’s message? (Zech 9:9)
- What is the significance of pointing to the Tabernacle and Temple? (1Cor. 3:16, 17; 6:19 Eph. 2:21; Heb. 3:6)
- How does pointing to idolatry in the Hebrew culture figure in? (1Cor 10:14; Gal 5:20; Col 3:5; 1Pet 4:3)
- What is the response of those who hear the Gospel? (Acts 2:37, 5:3, 22:22-23; Isa 55:11; Rom 10:17)
- What other scriptures speak of men’s hearts being impacted by the Gospel? (Jer 23:29; Heb 4:12-13; 1Thess 2:13; 1Pet 1:13)
- Why is Stephens’s death important? (Acts 8:1-4; 22:17-20)
- What purpose does it accomplish? (John 12; Rom 11:28-36)
- Extra Points Question: Who said, “The blood of the Martyrs is the seeds of the Church.”?
The God of Glory- Recall that primarily this is the response Stephen is giving. “God is God.” God does what He wants when He wants to, enduring the sins of the chosen to bring into view the good purpose of His will. Stephen is referring to Psalm 29:3 which says:
A Psalm of David.
Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, Give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the Lord is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, Yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; The Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth, And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everyone says, “Glory!” The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, And the Lord sits as King forever. The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace. (Psalm 29:1-11, NKJV)
The thread leading to the accusation Stephen brings in v. 51 is bound up in Verse 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.’
Here the theme of Prophet comes sharply into view. Stephen, from the Old Testament delivers a short recursive history of the Jewish rejection of the God of Glory according to the recorded teaching of the Prophets, who were always sent to call the people to worship and serve God in the manner He desires:
Golden Calf (Ex 32:1-6, Deut 9:16, Psalm 106:19)
The Tabernacle of Moloch (1 Kings 23:10, Jer 7:31, 32:35)
The Star of Remphan (Amos 5)
Gods response Exile!
Even though God delivered them through the wilderness, even though God gave them the Tabernacle and the Temple, the people rejected God even a Moses the Prophet said:
“But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, You are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; With abominations they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, not to God, To gods they did not know, To new gods, new arrivals That your fathers did not fear. Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, And have forgotten the God who fathered you. (Deuteronomy 32:15-18, NKJV)
Ultimately the proclamation against the Council is a complete indictment against them, a reversal of Stephen’s position as the accused to the accuser.
