Acts 7: Implications of Stephen’s Testimony Before the Sanhedrin

Stephen’s testimony and subsequent murder are recorded in Acts chapter 7.

Christian Zionists don’t want to acknowledge that their support of the Jewish people is ungodly and out of line with the faithful people in the Bible such as Stephen. Do they not know that the overwhelming majority of the Jewish people in the 1st century AD sided with their leaders instead of Jesus and His faithful disciples? There was a large crowd which gave into instigation from the chief priests to pressure Pilate to have Jesus crucified. How do they not discern that the things which Stephen rebuked the Jewish leaders for in his time still basically apply to Jewish political and religious leaders today? And how do they not recognize that the average Jewish person today is under great pressure from more powerful Jews to not bow to Jesus as was the case in the first century? Is a Jewish person today likely to be able to go among their family, religious community, and/or other Jewish social network and say “Jesus Christ is Lord” without facing significant backlash and rejection? Stephen and the earliest Christians were Jews- and they were overall rejected by the vast majority of their own people. That corresponds to how a faithful Christian would be harassed and not esteemed well in Israel today.

The events leading up to Stephen’s testimony are recorded in Acts 6:8-15: “And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.”

This did not stop the council from instigating his murder.

Note also that Jesus indeed warned that the Temple and the whole city of Jerusalem would be destroyed due to the Jewish nation’s rejection of Him (see Luke 19:41-44). This happened less than 40 years later at the hands of the Romans. Jesus even said that this judgment would be from His hand (see Matthew 22:1-7). This judgment also made the ceremonial aspect of the Law of Moses impossible to faithfully practice as it destroyed the tabernacle which had become incorporated into the Temple and also caused the Levitical Priesthood to cease. The witnesses against Stephen were not telling the whole story though and they were labeling Stephen’s warnings as blasphemy as well as his testimony demonstrating the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth.

Acts 7:1-3: “Then said the high priest, Are these things so? And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran (Haran), And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.”

Note how respectful and overall gentle Stephen is in saying what he says here. Some would say that he wouldn’t have gotten murdered if he had only been nicer. Yet that is not true. He couldn’t have been any nicer than he was without holding back the rebukes which were necessary for him to set forth in order to be a true witness.

The basis of Abraham being the father of the nation that the Messiah came through was his proper recognition of the true God and his readiness to act according to His Word. This became even more apparent in Genesis 17 when himself and all the males in his household were circumcised at God’s Word on the very day he was commanded to do this; and in Genesis 22 when he quickly went to the place the Lord told him to offer his son Isaac and proved his willingness to do so had the Lord not intervened at the last moment. The people of the nation of Israel were supposed to follow in Abraham’s footsteps of faith. They had not been given the land they inhabited for any other end than to demonstrate such a faith there. Stephen’s rebuke will prove that most had not walked according to the faith of Abraham and that modern Israel does not either.

The nature of Abraham’s faith is also continually glossed over and/or misrepresented by people who preach in Jesus’ name- in spite of the reality that Abraham is also presented in the New Testament as a key model of faith for Christians (Romans 4, .James 2, Hebrews 11, etc). As natural descendants of Abraham throughout history have thought they are entitled to the grace of God that was upon Abraham in spite of not following Abraham in his obedient faith, so Christians throughout history have wrongly thought themselves to be under the grace of God in Jesus Christ though they walk not walk in the faith of Abraham. In many cases, especially today, the Christians also wrongly agree with the Christ-rejecting Jews’ own estimation of themselves as being blessed with faithful Abraham. This is all the more illogical since the same professing Christians often do claim to believe Jesus when He said in John 14:6 that He is the way, the truth, and the life; and that no man comes to the Father but through Him.

John the Baptist’s preaching of repentance in the 1st century AD was given to prepare Israel for the Messiah’s appearance. Heeding John the Baptist means turning from one’s sins and actually bringing forth works fitting for repentance. None can really believe in Jesus without heeding the call of repentance given through John the Baptist nor can anyone heed that call while refusing to acknowledge and bow to the supreme authority of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 3:7-12: “But when he (John the Baptist) saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance (or, works fitting for repentance): And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

The threat just set forth would be in vain if Jews who reject Jesus as the Messiah nevertheless inherit the blessing which God promised to Abraham and his seed.

Acts 7:4-7: “Then came he (Abraham) out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran (Haran): and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. And God spoke on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.”

The Israelites were given the land to serve the Lord faithfully in. They were warned frequently in the Law of Moses and the rest of the Old Testament that they would eventually be spewed out of the land if they did not do so. They were even sent into captivity in Babylon for 70 years as a rebuke to their multiplied wickedness and to teach them they have no right to be in the land apart from being faithful to the service of the Lord. They would indeed be driven out of the land not long after Stephen’s testimony due to the nation’s overall rejection of Jesus as the Messiah and continued refusal to repent despite the testimony of His faithful servants afterwards (like Stephen). The Jewish people overall have still not learned their lesson. They had no right to join together and re-take the land like they did in 1948. Everything they took from others in this endeavor was theft and every killing they did in this endeavor was murder.

A big reason Zionist Christians label the modern nation of Israel as being of God when it is actually of the devil is that they likely don’t insist on the righteous ways of the Lord actually prevailing in themselves either. To proclaim Zionism is in itself a call to walk in the broad way that leads to destruction rather than the narrow way to life wherein those on it acknowledge themselves to be bound to the standards of God’s Word and also act accordingly.

Acts 7:8: “And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.”

More on the significance of circumcision later. Stephen will eventually rebuke the Jewish council (the Sanhedrin) for being uncircumcised in heart and ears.

Acts 7:9-10: “And the patriarchs (Jacob’s sons), moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.”

This in itself was a stinging rebuke to Israel’s leaders who had crucified Jesus and were suppressing His resurrection (the evident proof God was with Him). Remember also that the multitude of Israelites had given heed to their leaders who instigated them to demand Pilate to crucify Him. This is reason in itself to apply Stephen’s rebuke to Israel’s leaders in this time as well as to the Jewish people overall.

Acts 7:11-14: “Now there came a dearth (or, famine) over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan (Canaan), and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph’s kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls (or, 75 souls).”

Some will point out the discrepancy between Acts 7:14 and Genesis 46:27 where the number stated is 70 instead of 75. Yet Genesis 46:26, which shows that Jacob’s sons’ wives which came into Egypt were not counted among the sum of 70 which is stated in Genesis 46:27, likely explains the discrepancy.

Acts 7:15-16: “So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, And were carried over into Sychem (Shechem), and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem (Shechem).”

Since Abraham had actually bought the field of Machpelah in Hebron from Ephron the Hittite, the one who bought the sepulchre in Sychem (Shechem) was Jacob. There is no good reason to call this inaccuracy anything more than a translation error which doesn’t affect the reliability of the Bible since it is common sense that Jacob should be called the buyer of the burial place in Shechem rather than Abraham. This doesn’t give any cause to claim that the New Testament is not of God or that He allowed His Word to become corrupted. This is a translation mistake which is insignificant due to how it is common sense to straighten out.

Acts 7:17-27: “But when the time of the promise drew nigh (near), which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months: And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. And when he was full 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 him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?”

Just as the Jews did with Jesus Christ who rebuked their evil deeds; and taught against their shallow interpretation and many other abuses of God’s law which practically taught a license to sin. He was rejected by the nation when He was delivered to Pilate to be crucified.

Acts 7:28-32: “Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday? Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian (Midian), where he begat two sons. And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina (Sinai) an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.”

Moses served the same God as the faithful people in the New Testament. Jesus is the God of Moses. See especially the exhortations in Hebrews chapters 3.

Acts 7:33-35: “Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.”

The parallel to Jesus, who is the ultimate Ruler and Deliverer, is obvious. Most Christians want His deliverance from the penalty of sin though they refuse His reign and don’t fully seek deliverance from the power of sin. That is a vain hope since He is not an enabler of wickedness. There is also no salvation in any other. To claim then that Jews are in covenant with God while rejecting Him like the Zionist Christians claim is justifying them in that (and thereby opposing Jesus). Think about it. The Israelites like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram who told others they could be on the Lord’s side without heeding Moses, a type and foreshadowing of Christ, were rebels against the Lord. All Zionists (whether Jew or Christian or other) essentially make the same claim as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

Numbers 16:1-3: “Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?”

Read the rest of Numbers 16 to see the fiery ending of Korah and 250 of his followers as well as how the earth swallowed up Dathan, Abiram, and their family members which stood with them. In spite of that, it is also seen later in Numbers 16 how there were many hardened wretches among the Israelites upset at this and accusing Moses and his brother Aaron of killing those whom they alleged to be the people of the Lord. The Lord sent a plague and killed 14,700 more Israelites. It takes virtually no imagination to think of people complaining and finding fault with a severe judgment from the Lord which ought to put people in terror and stop their mouths even if nothing else will. Christ-rejecting Jews and Christ-rejecting Christians are the easiest to picture complaining and fault-finding about a judgment like this because they already twist the Bible all the time and make really pathetic excuses not to follow its counsel all the time anyways.

Acts 7:36-41: “He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. 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. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spoke to him in the mount Sina (Sinai), and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not (or, know not) what is become of him. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.”

The Israelites overall didn’t heed Moses either even though Israel honored him after he was dead. If the Lord had not intervened many times and purified the Israelites through many judgments in the wilderness, the wicked counselors among the Israelites would have prevailed and Moses’ congregation would have been very small- like faithful Christian churches are typically small.

Jesus tells the Jews in John 5:45-46: “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.”

The following is not only proof that the Jews had no right to re-take the land, it is also proof that they do even heed what Moses wrote. It is no wonder then that they reject Jesus Christ. Hear Moses rebuke Zionism in principle.

Deuteronomy 4:25-26: “When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger: I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.”

The very concept of Zionism is practically a graven image in that it is a false concept which has been connected to God. We are seeing though that the true God taught in utter opposition to Zionism through Moses. The God of Moses then could not be the god of Zionism.

Deuteronomy 5:32-33: “Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.”

And that is why the Jews were indeed dispossessed of the land which Moses’ successor Joshua led them into.

How could anyone who supports Israel now even acknowledge that the Lord was on the verge of destroying Israel after its people had made the Golden Calf as was the case in Exodus 32:10-11? They couldn’t possibly believe that while remaining consistent Zionists.

Acts 7:42-43: “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 by the space of forty years in the wilderness? 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.”

Idolatry among Israel was prevalent throughout its history and idolatry characterizes modern Israel. How can anyone claim that Jesus Christ is the true God and eternal life while also claiming they worship the same God as the Jews who reject Him. Look what the Apostle John wrote to the Christians whom he oversaw.

1 John 5:20-21: “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”

Consider here the corrupted Judaism set forth in the teachings of the Talmud and Kabbalah. These teachings contain a multitude of wicked and blasphemous things- even basically calling natural Gentiles beasts meant to serve the natural Jews, saying some blatantly horrifying things against Jesus Christ, and saying many, many other things out of line with the Old Testament. Corrupted Judaism came to define Judaism after the Second Temple’s destruction in AD 70 (which made faithful Biblical Judaism impossible to practice anymore for anyone). Certain elements of corrupt Judaism are seen (not taught or prescribed but seen) in the New Testament and rebuked severely by Jesus and the Apostles there. Jewish synagogues now might as well be Pagan Temples. And speaking of identifying with the God of the Bible, yet being Pagan in a practical sense, that goes deep and long and wide into the realm of professing Christianity as well.

Acts 7:44-50: “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus (this is obviously referring to Joshua, Moses’ successor) into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; Who found favor before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?”

The Jews had an unwarranted pride in the Temple and an unwarranted trust in it while it stood.

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.”

Stephen was not preaching a new concept. He was reinforcing a concept established in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 9:23-26).

The Jews today who do not receive Jesus Christ, whom the Law of Moses points to, they are uncircumcised at heart and therefore cut off from covenant with God. The same is true of disobedient professing Christians. Since they do not have the obedient heart of faith which God requires to be in covenant with Him, they are not in covenant with Him for that reason. Their problem is not their lack of physical circumcision.

Galatians 6:14-16: “But God forbid that I should glory, save (except) in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.”

Acts 7:52-53: “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.”

The Zionist Christians actually call those of this spirit God’s chosen people! There is no good reason to believe that Stephen wouldn’t rebuke Zionist Christians who bow to the ungodly modern Jewish collective with strong words as well.

Acts 7:54: “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.”

Stephen didn’t think Jews could be won to Jesus by flattery like Zionist Christians do. Unlike him, they would be mostly or only lauding the rich heritage of these murderers and rebuking Stephen (who was also a Jew) for speaking of God’s supposed chosen people like he was.

Proverbs 28:4 says: “They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.”

Christ-rejecting Jews, especially their political and religious leaders, still gnash on faithful Christians with their teeth and would still kill them if/when they could get away with it.

By the way: Stephen was probably not a notable person on the radar of the Romans while Jesus probably was. It makes sense then that the Jewish leaders thought it was possible to get away with his murder by doing the killing themselves. In Jesus’ case they thought it necessary to do the murder indirectly through falsely accusing Him to the Romans so the Romans would physically carry out His murder instead.

Acts 7:55-60: “But he (Stephen), being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”

There is no teaching of Pacifism or unconditional forgiveness in Stephen’s final statement. This was simply a plea for them to have another chance to repent so that their murder of Stephen wouldn’t be the last straw before they lost all hope of ever obtaining mercy. The same is so of Jesus’ prayer on the cross recorded in Luke 23:34: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Though there is no evidence from the Bible that it happened, the Romans catching these murderers and sentencing them to death would be a great wake-up call for them. The time between their sentence being handed out and their execution would be among the best opportunities for repentance they could receive. Yet we do see in the Bible that the young man Saul who was complicit in Stephen’s murder did indeed repent and surrender to Jesus not long afterwards.