🙏🏽 Dear Heavenly Father – We humbly bow before Your authority. Let us sit at Your feet and learn from You how You raised up Your Church under the Lordship of Jesus and the faithful obedience of Your apostles. Reveal to us what You have planned for us as members of Your Church. Let us set aside our own expectations as we learn what You are revealing in these chapters. We thank You and praise You, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
[Hold on folks, here we go.]
Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin
7 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”
2 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ [Genesis 12:1]
4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’ [Genesis 15:13,14] 8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’ [Exodus 1:8] 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. [Exodus 2:2] For three months he was cared for by his family. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ [Exodus 2:14] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ [Exodus 3:6] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’[Exodus 3:5,7,8,10]
35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.
37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’ [Deuteronomy 18:15] 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.
39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’ [Exodus 32:1] 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made. 42 But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:
“‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
43 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek
and the star of your god Rephan,
the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile’ [Amos 5:25-27] beyond Babylon.
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.
48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
50 Has not my hand made all these things?’[Isaiah 66:1,2]
51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”
Points to Ponder: Every so often, Scripture includes a summary of all that God has done so far. He commanded Israel to remember and we are grateful for it. Genealogies do it… Moses did a recap throughout Deuteronomy [i.e., Deuteronomy 4:9]… Song of Deborah [Judges 5]… Hannah’s Prayer [1 Samuel 2]… Samuel’s farewell speech [1 Samuel 12] many of the Psalms do this, it is the purpose of 1st and 2nd Chronicles, and although we don’t have the words, we know Jesus did this with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus [Luke 24:27]… and here, Stephen presents, to the Jewish leaders of all people, a summary of Scripture, beginning with Abraham – the patriarch of the Jewish nation. Stephen weaves scriptural passages through his response, condemning the leaders for doing the same things that their ancestors did throughout their history – rebelling against God and failing to yield to His authority.
The Stoning of Stephen
54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Points to Ponder: Stephen spoke the truth using the very Scriptures that the Jewish leaders professed to follow, but he called out their hypocrisy. This caused great offense to the leaders. They either did not see themselves as being disobedient to God’s Law or they believed that their status excused them from the requirements of the Law. Being a Christian will never make you popular.
Here, Stephen becomes the first martyr of the Christian Church. Perhaps they thought that by silencing Stephen they would end the Church. Isaiah 55:11 tells us that God’s Word will go out and not return void – it will accomplish what He desires.
I love that Stephen sees the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. It’s as if He’s cheering Stephen on – and why not? Death has already been defeated. Stephen prays for his enemies and falls asleep… What great encouragement for us! Why not be brave? A Christian never dies; they fall asleep and are then welcomed into the presence of God!
8 And Saul approved of their killing him.
The Church Persecuted and Scattered
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
Points to Ponder: Saul is standing with his leaders… first watching their coats as they drag Stephen out to stone him. He not only approves of their actions, but becomes zealous in getting rid of the Church. While the original apostles remained in Jerusalem, the other believers scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Here we are called to remember Jesus’ Words to His disciples before He ascended into His Glory. [Acts 1:8]
Personal note: Remember Isaiah 55:8-9? Jesus told them this would happen, He did not tell them how! I am absolutely sure that if I knew in advance how my personal path was going to play out, I would never have agreed, up front! That’s where faith comes in. That’s where the motivation to understand God and His Scriptures come in. That’s how we learn to trust God and leave all the consequences to Him. That’s when we can finally say, like Jesus… not my will – but Yours be done. Trusting Him, wholeheartedly, is where we find peace.
Philip in Samaria
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
Points to Ponder: We now see Philip, one of the original disciples, outside of Jerusalem and witnessing in Samaria. He gets it. From being a disciple saying, ‘Come and See’ [John 1:46], Philip is now an apostle being sent to ‘Go and make disciples.’ [Matthew 28:19]
Simon the Sorcerer
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
Points to Ponder: What an interesting character that Simon is! Is he just a con man? I don’t think so – he amazed all the people for some time. He claimed his own greatness and all the people were convinced – even giving him a messianic title… the Great Power of God. They followed him because his powers lasted over a long time. This reminds me of some of the magicians in Pharoah’s court. They could do some of the same things that Moses did… but not all – even they had to admit God was greater than whomever was sourcing their power.
But here, we see Simon listening and watching Philip and he himself, believes. He follows Philip everywhere, just astonished at what he is witnessing. (Oh, he is soooo close.)
But when he witnesses the next level… common people receiving the Holy Spirit from Peter and John, he desires that power for himself. We might argue that his motives might have been generosity to help others… but Scripture makes it clear that Peter calls him out for his true motive of greed and selfish gain.
FUN FACT: the historical meaning of the word, SIMONY, is the buying or selling of ecclesiastical privileges. Ouch – nothing hurts more than the evidence of hypocrisy. [Matthew 10:7-8]
It is truth and gentleness here. Peter tells him to repent because his heart is not right before God… and it appears that Simon does just that.
Philip and the Ethiopian
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.” [Isaiah 53:7,8]
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Points to Ponder: Three things we cannot get back – a spent arrow, a spoken word, and a missed opportunity. Here we see Philip being directed by an angel of the Lord, so he goes. (Nice obedience!) There an opportunity presents itself for Philip to go… from Judea… to Samaria… and now, to the ends of the earth… (Ethiopia).
The Ethiopian had been in Jerusalem to worship… he was reading his Bible… he clearly was hungry for God. Philip seizes that opportunity to start a conversation and to make a new disciple – meeting him just where he was at and explaining to him the good news about Jesus. This eunuch believed – he requested to be baptized as public display of acknowledging Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
The whole Bible is about Jesus. You can meet anyone where they are at.
Summary: These chapters introduce a few more human characters for us to study. The Church is growing rapidly, but Luke emphasizes the roles that people play in building God’s Kingdom. First, we saw a mighty Stephen and a zealous Saul. Then we see an obedient Philip in Samaria and his evangelistic effects on Simon and the Ethiopian eunuch.
These chapters break the geographical boundaries of Jerusalem and the national boundaries of the Jewish nation. Where the Old Testament revealed a funneling-down or ‘remnant’ theme for the disobedient nation of Israel – God’s Chosen People, we now see in Acts the great reversal! God’s Chosen People – His Kingdom – His Church is now going to include people from other nations, like the Ethiopian eunuch. Even people like Simon, who had been something great – followers of and empowered by another god even – they have the opportunity to repent and be saved.
🙏🏼 Heavenly Father – I thank You for Your wisdom and Your faithfulness. I thank You that You don’t change. And I thank You for Your patience in giving us time in this life to get to know You and just how much You love us. And I thank You for that love.
We live in a time where culture throws around hot-topic terms like diversity, tolerance, and inclusion, as if they’re something new to consider, while You remind us that there is nothing new under the sun. [Ecclesiastes 1:9] Strengthen and encourage Your children to be brave and like Philip – go and make disciples. Give us the Words, the protection, and the opportunities, so that Thy Will be Done.
I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.