Ensign: Stephen And The Classic Apology

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3



AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS                       12 May 2017



[Several of the morning devotionals I've read this week come from the early chapters of Acts. The last two in particular, at about the dividing line between the apostles Peter and Paul becoming the main characters, dealt with the defense given by and the death of Stephen, one of the seven men the apostles chose to "serve tables" -- that is, to be in charge of dispersing the church's communal funds.


Often called the first Christian martyr, a person who died for Jesus Christ and what he believed about Him as his Lord and Savior, Stephen often has and has had an influence out of all proportion to his appearances in Scripture. It's a good example for us.

Anyway, this study of mine of the seventh chapter of Acts is excerpted from my full study Unto The Brethren (ISBN 9781449996574) and I thin there's someone it will profit to review. For there is no profit without honor. David]




No, Stephen was not saying he was sorry in the seventh chapter of Acts. Today’s title refers to the older, classic sense of “apology” – you may be more familiar with this from Plato’s “Apology” or “The Apology of Socrates” depending on how the title’s rendered. Unlike our modern sense of regret or remorse, an apology in this sense is a defense akin to defending oneself in court. That’s what both Socrates four centuries previous before the Athenian assembly and Stephen now (in the sense of our study) was doing before the Sanhedrin. Our modern politicians could stand to learn from the older sense of apology – in fact, the branch of Christianity which deals with explaining the faith (it doesn’t really need a defense if it’s true) is called “apologetics”, derived from apology.

Stephen begins with what the Sanhedrin (should) already know regarding their own history when asked by the high priest if he’s been speaking “against this holy place, and the law” (from 6:13) and saying that Jesus of Nazareth was going to destroy it and change the law. He doesn’t answer the question directly with a yes or no not because he’s disrespectful to his questioners (whom he calls “men, brethren, and fathers” in verse two) but because the truth would be too much for them. So he relates the Jewish – and by extension, Christian – people’s shared history, beginning with God calling to Abraham when he first dwelt in Mesopotamia to leave the place (Ur) and go to Haran significantly northwest of him.







Abraham wasn’t told WHY to leave with his household and servants and flocks everything he’s ever known, but by God’s word he did it and was promised the stretch of land that comprises Israel for him and his descendants. This when Abraham did not have any descendants or even children to speak of! Verse six begins with God telling Abraham that his descendants (“seed”) would remain in a strange land and be enslaved for four centuries. The book of Exodus tells us the story of the Hebrews in Egypt as well as God’s eventual judgment of them followed by their leaving Egypt to serve him in the “Promised Land”. Verse eight crosses from Abraham to his son Isaac to his son Jacob to his sons “the twelve patriarchs”, the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel.







“And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him.” From verse nine, Stephen goes on to relate how Joseph got lifted out of prison and made governor of Egypt by Pharaoh, a position that came in handy when famine hit the region. “But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers [the twelve patriarchs] first.” The rest of the story – how Joseph reveals that he’s their lost brother the second time around, how his entire family comes to Egypt, how Jacob dies and is buried back in the cave Abraham bought in Shechem generations before – is told in further detail in Genesis 37-50. Stephen likely wouldn’t need to recount the details to his priestly audience, but we’ll see he’s leading up to something.



When another Pharaoh came to power “which knew not Joseph (likely because he’d been dead for centuries)” and saw the Hebrews in Egypt multiplying by leaps and bounds, he took it in his hands to forcefully reduce the non-Egyptian population by killing the male children and enslaving their parents. Into this world, Moses was born; from verse twenty, we read that he spent three months with his parents and “cast out” to save him from getting killed. Found by Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses was raised as her son (and thereby Pharaoh’s grandson) and grew up with the learning and wisdom of Egypt. Again, this came in very handy when he found out he himself was a Hebrew, born of a slave. This section covering verses twenty through twenty-eight ends with Moses killing an Egyptian who’d mistreated a Hebrew, an act which got thrown back in his face the next day.







So Moses traveled to Midian, where he would have probably spent the rest of his life as a shepherd in that area with his wife and two sons if God (“an angel of the LORD”, verse thirty) hadn’t appeared to him in the burning bush (“a flame of fire in a bush”) and called him to be the one to lead the Hebrews to freedom. As we know from the book of Exodus, that’s just what he did, and the people were happy with that for a while. But they wandered in the wilderness, and they got hungry. Moses went up on Mount Sinai to receive the Law, and they got impatient, so much so that they pressured Moses’ brother and spokesperson Aaron to make them a golden calf to worship. There’s a pattern here throughout Hebrew history; the people want to follow God, but it seems only when it’s convenient for them.







Verse forty-five gives brief mention to Joshua leading the conquest of the Promised Land and leads into David’s desire to build God a permanent tabernacle. Not because He’s homeless without one (“the most High dwelleth not in temples made with human hands,” verse forty-eight), but because a tabernacle will focus the people’s attention and encourage the right reverence toward God Himself. David’s son Solomon ultimately gets to build it. And Stephen’s coming to the conclusion of his apology by confronting the Sanhedrin directly regarding the charges of blasphemy brought against him by liars and people quoting him out of context (6:8-15) by laying this at their feet. Persecuting the prophets is nothing new to people who “do always resist the Holy Ghost” (verse fifty-one) as their fathers [ancestors] did.







“Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.” Receiving the Law and the Prophets from God Himself and then refusing to acknowledge their fulfillment in Jesus is the ultimate slap in the face to God, but to the assembled Sanhedrin (many of whom were present when Jesus was arrested in Jerusalem a short time ago) it’s nothing short of blasphemy. Notice, though, that verses fifty-four through fifty-seven emphasize the priests’ anger (Satan-inspired, perhaps?) at Stephen not because of what he’s said but for the threat he represents to them, who he is.







“They were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.” That sounds more like what a mob would do rather than any civilized gathering, but even in the midst of his impending death, Stephen could still be inspired by the vision he “being full of the Holy Ghost” had of Jesus (also “Son of man” in verse fifty-six) sitting at God’s right hand. “Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord.” Outside Jerusalem, Stephen was stoned to death and there was another man who’ll play a very important role later, Saul, whom the others gave their cloaks to hold. You can’t really throw when you’re bound in a long sleeved robe-like garment.





“And they stoned Stephen, [as he was] calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”


Stephen knew he was going to die; no one came away from an audience with the Sanhedrin unchanged, and he was prepared for whatever happened. Peter and John had faced them before and refused to stop teaching, preaching, and healing in Jesus’ name. If the original twelve apostles would risk death for Jesus’ sake, how could he, an officer in the burgeoning church, do any less? And even at the end, he asks God to forgive them for doing this. “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” Having done all he can do and placing himself in God’s hands, modeling the example of Jesus Who didn’t strike back against false accusations, “he fell asleep” to die. We’re not all called to be martyrs, to die for Who we believe in, but we have to be prepared for the possibility.







David

P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with you, and I hope to be an encourager to action too! If you find I'm not or you want me to get lost, just let me know -- thank you!

Thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in prayerand that You provide for all our needs, even when we don't know what they are. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and all over the world.


Thank You, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life through You. I pray that we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.