V. Progress of the Church and a Third Persecution. (6:1-8:4)
A. Seven men appointed to serve tables (6:l-7)
v.1 The church is now about three or four years old. The number of disciples has multiplied and the number of needy in the church along with it. The Jews in the church who were of foreign descent felt that their needy widows were not being ministered to fairly.
v.2 The apostles felt that their preaching should take precedence over having to care for these widows, however this was not a statement without love, as we shall see.
v.3 The apostles left it up to the disciples to select seven men to fulfill this service. However, the men had to meet certain qualifications, namely: 1) of good report- a good reputation within and without the church, 2) full of the Spirit- I believe this means knowledgeable concerning the word as opposed to possessing miraculous gifts (see verse 6), 3) wisdom- good sense and sound judgement in business affairs. The apostles would appoint these men. Would these men be deacons in our sense of the word? As outlined in I Timothy and Titus?
v.4 The apostles would then be able to devote themselves to spiritual matters without neglecting this temporal matter.
v.5 Of this group only Stephen and Philip are mentioned again in the N.T. However, some scholars feel that this Nicolaus is the same one as in Revelation 2:6-15. All of these names are Greek names. That would mean that the Hebrews had enough faith in these men of foreign descent to entrust the oversight of the widow's benevolence to them. Some commentators feel that 3 were Greek, 3 were Hebrew and 1 was of neither origin.
v.6 Is this "laying on of hands" to confer spiritual gifts? We see from verse 8 that Stephen could perform miracles and later we see Philip performing miracles. The laying on of hands was a symbol of the impartations of gifts and graces needed to fulfill their duties. The extent of these gifts cannot be determined by these verses.
v.7 The word was now beginning to work on the religious leaders of the Jews, the priests. If these priests were obedient to the faith, there must be something in the faith to be obeyed. A point denominationalists seem to forget. Three aspects listed here to show the growth of the church are: 1) the word of God increased, 2) the number of disciples multiplied and 3) priests were obedient.
B. Stephen arrested and falsely accused (vv. 8-15)
v.8 We see that the gifts of miracles had been imparted to Stephen and he used them powerfully.
v.9 There were so many foreigners in Jerusalem who spoke Greek that they had their own synagogues. Some historians believe there were as many as 280 different synagogues in Jerusalem at this time and each of the groups mentioned here had their own. Nevertheless, each group would be classified Grecian Jews or Hellenists. Stephen was A Grecian Jew, so what better place for him to teach.
v.10 These men could not meet Stephen's arguments.
v.11 Suborn- to instruct privately, in other words they prepared false witnesses against Stephen. If Stephen was guilty of these charges then he had committed a capital offense. Lev. 24:16; Deut. 13:6-10 These are the same accusations that had been brought against Christ.
v.12,13 This is the first mention of the people being stirred up against the gospel. Once again fake witnesses are presented speaking against Stephen and charging him with blasphemy.
v.14 Stephen could have been warning of the impending destruction of Jerusalem as Jesus had done: Mt. 26:61; Lk. 19:41-44. Of course this destruction was to come at the hands of the Gentiles. Nevertheless, the false witnesses perverted what Stephen had said to make him appear in the worst light possible.
v.15 What does "as it had been the face of an angel" mean? Why did not Gamaliel stop these proceedings?
C. Stephen's discourse (7:1-53)
1. introduction (7:1-8)
v.1 By asking the question "are these things so" the High Priest was asking guilty or not guilty?
v.2 Notice the respect Stephen pays the council as he begins his discourse. He begins his address at the beginning, Abraham.
v.3 Gen. 12:1; Heb. 11:8
v.4 Abraham was not the eldest son of Terah. Horan or Nahor or both were older. We know this because Lot, Abraham's nephew was about his age. See McGarvey, vol. 1, pp. 117 for more details.
v.5 The land was not given to Abraham, it was an inheritance for his heirs, the Jews. Gen. 12:7; 13:15,16.
v.6 Gen. 15:13- exile in Egypt.
v. 7 Escape from captivity. Judgement brought upon Egypt recounted in Exodus 7-12.
v.8 The time period encompassed by this verse is from Abraham's 99th year to the birth of Jacob's sons. Gen. 17:9-14; Rom. 4:11.
ADDENDA
Miracles in the book of Acts.
11) Stephen wrought great signs and wonders. Acts 6:8