2 And he said, Brethren and fathers, hearken. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, 3 and said to him, Go out of thy land and out of thy kindred, and come into the land which I will shew thee. 4 Then going out of the land of the Chaldeans he dwelt in Charran, and thence, after his father died, he removed him into this land in which ye now dwell. 5 And he did not give him an inheritance in it, not even what his foot could stand on; and promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when he had no child. 6 And God spoke thus: His seed shall be a sojourner in a strange land, and they shall enslave them and evil entreat [them] four hundred years; 7 and the nation to which they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God; and after these things they shall come forth and serve me in this place. 8 And he gave to him [the] covenant of circumcision; and thus he begat Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs. 9 And the patriarchs, envying Joseph, sold him away into Egypt. And God was with him, 10 and delivered him out of all his tribulations, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he appointed him chief over Egypt and all his house. 11 But a famine came upon all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great distress, and our fathers found no food. 12 But Jacob, having heard of there being corn in Egypt, sent out our fathers first; 13 and the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh. 14 And Joseph sent and called down to him his father Jacob and all [his] kindred, seventy-five souls. 15 And Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers, 16 and were carried over to Sychem and placed in the sepulchre which Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the [father] of Sychem.
17 But as the time of promise drew near which God had promised to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, 18 until another king over Egypt arose who did not know Joseph. 19 He dealt subtilly with our race, and evil entreated the fathers, casting out their infants that they might not live. 20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceedingly lovely, who was nourished three months in the house of his father. 21 And when he was cast out, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up, and brought him up for herself [to be] for a son. 22 And Moses was instructed in all [the] wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. 23 And when a period of forty years was fulfilled to him, it came into his heart to look upon his brethren, the sons of Israel; 24 and seeing a certain one wronged, he defended [him], and avenged him that was being oppressed, smiting the Egyptian. 25 For he thought that his brethren would understand that God by his hand was giving them deliverance. But they understood not. 26 And on the morrow he shewed himself to them as they were contending, and compelled them to peace, saying, Ye are brethren, why do ye wrong one another? 27 But he that was wronging his neighbour thrust him away, saying, Who established thee ruler and judge over us? 28 Dost thou wish to kill me as thou killedst the Egyptian yesterday? 29 And Moses fled at this saying, and became a sojourner in the land of Madiam, where he begat two sons.
30 And when forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai, in a flame of fire of a bush. 31 And Moses seeing it wondered at the vision; and as he went up to consider it, there was a voice of [the] Lord, 32 I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not consider [it]. 33 And the Lord said to him, Loose the sandal of thy feet, for the place on which thou standest is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the ill treatment of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groan, and have come down to take them out of it; and now, come, I will send thee to Egypt. 35 This Moses, whom they refused, saying, Who made thee ruler and judge? him did God send [to be] a ruler and deliverer with the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out, having wrought wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, A prophet shall God raise up to you out of your brethren like me [him shall ye hear]. 38 This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers; who received living oracles to give to us; 39 to whom our fathers would not be subject, but thrust [him] from them, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, Make us gods who shall go before us; for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has happened to him. 41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
42 But God turned and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in [the] book of the prophets, Have ye offered me victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 43 Yea, ye took up the tent of Moloch, and the star of [your] god Remphan, the forms which ye made to do homage to them; and I will transport you beyond Babylon. 44 Our fathers had the tent of the testimony in the wilderness, as he that spoke to Moses commanded to make it according to the model which he had seen; 45 which also our fathers, receiving from their predecessors, brought in with Joshua when they entered into possession of [the lands of] the nations, whom God drove out from [the] face of our fathers, until the days of David; 46 who found favour before God, and asked to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob; 47 but Solomon built him a house. 48 But the Most High dwells not in [places] made with hands; as says the prophet, 49 The heaven [is] my throne and the earth the footstool of my feet: what house will ye build me? saith [the] Lord, or where [is the] place of my rest? 50 has not my hand made all these things?
51 O stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers, ye also. 52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain those who announced beforehand concerning the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have now become deliverers up and murderers! 53 who have received the law as ordained by [the] ministry of angels, and have not kept [it].
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Acts 7:2-53
Commentary on Acts 7:1-16
(Read Acts 7:1-16)
Stephen was charged as a blasphemer of God, and an apostate from the church; therefore he shows that he is a son of Abraham, and values himself on it. The slow steps by which the promise made to Abraham advanced toward performance, plainly show that it had a spiritual meaning, and that the land intended was the heavenly. God owned Joseph in his troubles, and was with him by the power of his Spirit, both on his own mind by giving him comfort, and on those he was concerned with, by giving him favour in their eyes. Stephen reminds the Jews of their mean beginning as a check to priding themselves in the glories of that nation. Likewise of the wickedness of the patriarchs of their tribes, in envying their brother Joseph; and the same spirit was still working in them toward Christ and his ministers. The faith of the patriarchs, in desiring to be buried in the land of Canaan, plainly showed they had regard to the heavenly country. It is well to recur to the first rise of usages, or sentiments, which have been perverted. Would we know the nature and effects of justifying faith, we should study the character of the father of the faithful. His calling shows the power and freeness of Divine grace, and the nature of conversion. Here also we see that outward forms and distinctions are as nothing, compared with separation from the world, and devotedness to God.
Commentary on Acts 7:17-29
(Read Acts 7:17-29)
Let us not be discouraged at the slowness of the fulfilling of God's promises. Suffering times often are growing times with the church. God is preparing for his people's deliverance, when their day is darkest, and their distress deepest. Moses was exceeding fair, "fair toward God;" it is the beauty of holiness which is in God's sight of great price. He was wonderfully preserved in his infancy; for God will take special care of those of whom he designs to make special use. And did he thus protect the child Moses? Much more will he secure the interests of his holy child Jesus, from the enemies who are gathered together against him. They persecuted Stephen for disputing in defence of Christ and his gospel: in opposition to these they set up Moses and his law. They may understand, if they do not wilfully shut their eyes against the light, that God will, by this Jesus, deliver them out of a worse slavery than that of Egypt. Although men prolong their own miseries, yet the Lord will take care of his servants, and effect his own designs of mercy.
Commentary on Acts 7:30-41
(Read Acts 7:30-41)
Men deceive themselves, if they think God cannot do what he sees to be good any where; he can bring his people into a wilderness, and there speak comfortably to them. He appeared to Moses in a flame of fire, yet the bush was not consumed; which represented the state of Israel in Egypt, where, though they were in the fire of affliction, yet they were not consumed. It may also be looked upon as a type of Christ's taking upon him the nature of man, and the union between the Divine and human nature. The death of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, cannot break the covenant relation between God and them. Our Saviour by this proves the future state, Matthew 22:31. Abraham is dead, yet God is still his God, therefore Abraham is still alive. Now, this is that life and immortality which are brought to light by the gospel. Stephen here shows that Moses was an eminent type of Christ, as he was Israel's deliverer. God has compassion for the troubles of his church, and the groans of his persecuted people; and their deliverance takes rise from his pity. And that deliverance was typical of what Christ did, when, for us men, and for our salvation, he came down from heaven. This Jesus, whom they now refused, as their fathers did Moses, even this same has God advanced to be a Prince and Saviour. It does not at all take from the just honour of Moses to say, that he was but an instrument, and that he is infinitely outshone by Jesus. In asserting that Jesus should change the customs of the ceremonial law. Stephen was so far from blaspheming Moses, that really he honoured him, by showing how the prophecy of Moses was come to pass, which was so clear. God who gave them those customs by his servant Moses, might, no doubt, change the custom by his Son Jesus. But Israel thrust Moses from them, and would have returned to their bondage; so men in general will not obey Jesus, because they love this present evil world, and rejoice in their own works and devices.
Commentary on Acts 7:42-50
(Read Acts 7:42-50)
Stephen upbraids the Jews with the idolatry of their fathers, to which God gave them up as a punishment for their early forsaking him. It was no dishonour, but an honour to God, that the tabernacle gave way to the temple; so it is now, that the earthly temple gives way to the spiritual one; and so it will be when, at last, the spiritual shall give way to the eternal one. The whole world is God's temple, in which he is every where present, and fills it with his glory; what occasion has he then for a temple to manifest himself in? And these things show his eternal power and Godhead. But as heaven is his throne, and the earth his footstool, so none of our services can profit Him who made all things. Next to the human nature of Christ, the broken and spiritual heart is his most valued temple.
Commentary on Acts 7:51-53
(Read Acts 7:51-53)
Stephen was going on, it seems, to show that the temple and the temple service must come to an end, and it would be the glory of both to give way to the worship of the Father in spirit and in truth; but he perceived they would not bear it. Therefore he broke off, and by the Spirit of wisdom, courage, and power, sharply rebuked his persecutors. When plain arguments and truths provoke the opposers of the gospel, they should be shown their guilt and danger. They, like their fathers, were stubborn and wilful. There is that in our sinful hearts, which always resists the Holy Ghost, a flesh that lusts against the Spirit, and wars against his motions; but in the hearts of God's elect, when the fulness of time comes, this resistance is overcome. The gospel was offered now, not by angels, but from the Holy Ghost; yet they did not embrace it, for they were resolved not to comply with God, either in his law or in his gospel. Their guilt stung them to the heart, and they sought relief in murdering their reprover, instead of sorrow and supplication for mercy.