We may view these events as typical of the Christian time or as expressive of an inner meaning, a Divine logic of history. We may learn, then, from this passage -

I. THAT DIVINE BEGINNINGS IN HISTORY ARE NEVER WITHOUT STRUGGLES, The people grew and increased, but a sudden check was given to their prosperity by the accession of a new king. Israel might have settled in Egypt and have achieved no great thing for the world, had not persecution compelled her to struggle for existence and for liberty. Times of national danger throw the nation back upon its true consciousness. They vivify and purify that consciousness. It was England's struggle against a tyrant two centuries and a half ago which made England. So the War of Independence made America into a nation. The truth applies to the individual also. We may depend upon it that permanent good must sooner or later be struggled for - either that it may be gained, or, if gained, that it may be kept.

II. THAT THE EXTREME HOUR OF HUMAN NEED IS THE HOUR FOR DIVINE INTERPOSITION; or, man's extremity is God's opportunity. "When the tale of bricks is full," says the proverb, "then comes Moses." Great stirrings among the people, movements towards liberty and purity of religion, seem to produce at the right moment the patriotic leader and the reformer. When the hour comes the man is not wanting. It may be argued that until the leader appears the movement is not ripe. God reveals his will for change in the words and work of great men.

III. THE SIGNIFICANT PERSONALITY OF GREAT MEN. The child was divinely fair. He was wonderfully preserved from death; rescued by the very daughter of the persecutor, and cradled in the very house of his foes. His education among one of the most richly civilized of ancient peoples was complete; and the influence of his person was most commanding. God does not bestow such graces for nothing. Whenever we see such a one marked out by beauty, knowledge, intellectual power above his fellows, we are entitled to ask - What is his significance for the world? What does God mean to do with him for the good of mankind? Again, the life-ideas in such great men are often of slow ripening. Not till he was forty years of age did his thoughts turn to the condition of his nation, and the delivering purpose come to fruit in his heart. Some men conceive much earlier the ambition and the call of their life, and move toward the goal with extraordinary velocity and energy. Others appear to be long dormant, like the oak that tarries to put forth its leaf in the woodland. Great careers have been run, great works achieved, by the age of thirty-seven: Alexander, Raphael, Byron, arc well-known examples. Cromwell, on the other hand, was about the age of Moses when God called him from the fens of Huntingdon to save our nation. The age matters little; men in this respect resemble plants - "Ripeness is all."

IV. GREAT TRAINS OF EVENTS SPRING FROM SLIGHT VISIBLE CAUSES. A single spark is sufficient to fire the train of powder which is to explode the mine. When the mind is full of an idea, a trifling circumstance may stimulate all its energies to action. A forming purpose waits only for the decisive action to fix and crystallize it. Thus the act of Moses in delivering the individual Israelite from his oppressor fixed him in his national design. In everything let us follow the lead of God. Let us remember that we are here first to be acted upon by him, that we may then act from him upon others. If we are really in earnest, the opportunity will never be wanting. God makes his servants ready for great enterprises by first inspiring them for lesser duties. The large and distant project may hold the mere visionary's view; but the practical and really useful man begins with his neighbor next door. The man who actually helps his friend in need is the man who may be trusted to help a community or a nation. But how many dreamers are there whose projects of amelioration begin and end with eloquent speeches or articles in newspapers! The old lesson comes back from Moses' life to all who would do and be something in the world: "Do the thing that lies nearest to thee; the second will have already become clearer."

V. MOSES EXAMPLE WAS THAT OF LOYALTY UNDER MISCONCEPTION. There is much pathos in the simple word that he thought his brethren understood that God was delivering them by his band; but they did not understand. So mighty is the strength derived from the sympathy of numbers, the common soldier becomes a hero at its electric touch. So chilling is misconception and want of sympathy on the part of friends, it damps the spirit of the Heaven-born leader. For this reason, when we sift the examples of moral courage presented by any time, those are the bravest and the greatest, and most prove their call of God, who show that they can go on, if needs be, not merely in spite of their open enemies, but in spite of their friends. The misconstruction of friends will be most felt when the action is in the conscience known to be most disinterested and sincere. Moses aims to reconcile contending brethren; unity among themselves is now above all necessary. His action is misconstrued as ambition (ver. 28). Thus does the sick man turn on the kindly physician, the subject on his prince, the slave on his deliverer. Man often ignores the day of his salvation. Moses, like his great Antitype, was baffled in his saving designs by the ignorance and folly of those who would not be blessed. But he simply uses prudence and waits for a future opportunity. We can hardly construe the flight of Moses otherwise than as an act of prudence. He saw his life and with it his design endangered. To have remained would have been foolhardiness, often confounded with true courage. He took the course of prudence, which is the course of the higher courage. Far easier to rush on an heroic death than to nourish a noble purpose under disappointment, solitude, and exile. The history of a nation's greatness is summed up in that of its great men. And in the life trials and struggles of great men God reveals himself from age to age as the persevering, unvanquishable, and loving Savior of mankind. His undying purpose, manifested in all his heroes, is to set us free; and this in the knowledge of him and obedience to his laws. - J.

What a faithful God! He does not forget His promise, but fulfils it even long after the death of the man. Mark this, thou disheartened teacher: thou mayest not see the use of this thy work, and thou mayest in the meantime with Abraham fall asleep; yet God will fulfil His promise after thy death.

(Apostolic Pastor.)

Aaron, David, Egyptians, Emmor, Hamor, Haran, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua, Molech, Pharaoh, Saul, Solomon, Stephen, SychemBabylon, Canaan, Egypt, Haran, Jerusalem, Mesopotamia, Midian, Mount Sinai, Red Sea, ShechemAdopted, Advantage, Alive, Babes, Babies, Cast, Casting, Causing, Craftily, Crafty, Cruel, Dealt, Designs, Die, Entreated, Evil, Expose, Fathers, Forced, Forcing, Forefathers, Ill-treated, Infants, Kept, Kindred, Making, Mistreated, Nation, Newborn, Oppressed, Permitted, Policy, Race, Shrewd, Stay, Subtilely, Subtilly, Survive, Throw, Towards, Treacherously, Wouldn't1. Stephen, permitted to answer to the accusation of blasphemy,
2. shows that Abraham worshipped God rightly, and how God chose the fathers,
20. before Moses was born, and before the tabernacle and temple were built;
37. that Moses himself witnessed of Christ;
44. and that all outward ceremonies were ordained to last but for a time;
51. reprehending their rebellion, and murdering of Christ, whom the prophets foretold.
54. Whereupon they stone Stephen to death,
59. who commends his soul to Jesus, and humbly prays for them.

Acts 7:19

     5061   sanctity of life

Acts 7:17-19

     5652   babies

Acts 7:18-19

     5969   treachery

Stephen's vision
'Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God'--ACTS vii. 56. I. The vision of the Son of Man, or the abiding manhood of Jesus. Stephen's Greek name, and his belonging to the Hellenistic part of the Church, make it probable that he had never seen Jesus during His earthly life. If so, how beautiful that he should thus see and recognise Him! How significant, in any case, is it he should instinctively have taken on his lips that name, 'the Son of Man,' to designate …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Young Saul and the Aged Paul [Footnote: to the Young. ]
'...the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.'--ACTS vii. 58. '...Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.' --PHILEMON 9. A far greater difference than that which was measured by years separated the young Saul from the aged Paul. By years, indeed, the difference was, perhaps, not so great as the words might suggest, for Jewish usage extended the term of youth farther than we do, and began age sooner. No doubt, too, Paul's life had aged him fast, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Death of the Master and the Death of the Servant
'And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60. 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.'--ACTS vii. 59, 60. This is the only narrative in the New Testament of a Christian martyrdom or death. As a rule, Scripture is supremely indifferent to what becomes of the people with whom it is for a time concerned. As long as the man is the organ of the divine Spirit he is …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Prayer of Stephen.
(Fifth Sunday after Trinity, 1832.) TEXT: ACTS vii. 60. "And Stephen 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." FREE and unrestricted as we are in our church as to our choice of subjects for meditation from the treasuries of the divine Word, many of you may still perhaps wonder why I have selected this passage. For you are aware that I have often lately taken occasion to express the opinion that the state of things …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

Our Lord Appears after his Ascension.
^F I. Cor. XV. 8. ^f 8 and last of all, as to the child untimely born, he appeared to me also. [Since Paul reckons this among the bodily appearances of our Lord, we have included it in our work; but it borders upon those spiritual appearances which belong rather to apostolic history and may be classed with the vision of Stephen (Acts vii. 55) and John (Rev. i. 9-17), to which it was near kin. Accounts of the appearance will be found in the ninth, twenty-second and twenty-sixth chapters of Acts. For …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Letter iv. You Reply to the Conclusion of My Letter: "What have we to do with Routiniers?...
My dear friend, You reply to the conclusion of my Letter: "What have we to do with routiniers? Quid mihi cum homunculis putata putide reputantibus? Let nothings count for nothing, and the dead bury the dead! Who but such ever understood the tenet in this sense?" In what sense then, I rejoin, do others understand it? If, with exception of the passages already excepted, namely, the recorded words of God--concerning which no Christian can have doubt or scruple,--the tenet in this sense be inapplicable …
Samuel Taylor Coleridge—Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit etc

St. Stephen's Day and Stephen, Full of Faith and Power, did Great Wonders and Miracles among the People. . . . Then they Stirred up the People. . . . And Caught Him, and Set up False Witnesses against Him.
And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. . . . Then they stirred up the people. . . . and caught him, and set up false witnesses against him. Verzage nicht du Haüflein klein [52]Altenburg Gustavus Adolphus' Battle-song. 1631. trans. by Catherine Winkworth, 1855 Fear not, O little flock, the foe Who madly seeks your overthrow, Dread not his rage and power: What though your courage sometimes faints, His seeming triumph o'er God's saints Lasts but …
Catherine Winkworth—Lyra Germanica: The Christian Year

The Death of Stephen. Acts 7:54-60
…
John Newton—Olney Hymns

Whether in Christ There was the Gift of Prophecy?
Objection 1: It would seem that in Christ there was not the gift of prophecy. For prophecy implies a certain obscure and imperfect knowledge, according to Num. 12:6: "If there be among you a prophet of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, or I will speak to him in a dream." But Christ had full and unveiled knowledge, much more than Moses, of whom it is subjoined that "plainly and not by riddles and figures doth he see God" (Num. 6:8). Therefore we ought not to admit prophecy in Christ. Objection …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether those who are not Practiced in Keeping the Commandments Should Enter Religion?
Objection 1: It would seem that none should enter religion but those who are practiced in the observance of the commandments. For our Lord gave the counsel of perfection to the young man who said that he had kept the commandments "from his youth." Now all religious orders originate from Christ. Therefore it would seem that none should be allowed to enter religion but those who are practiced in the observance of the commandments. Objection 2: Further, Gregory says (Hom. xv in Ezech., and Moral. xxii): …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether the Old Law was Given through the Angels?
Objection 1: It seems that the Old Law was not given through the angels, but immediately by God. For an angel means a "messenger"; so that the word "angel" denotes ministry, not lordship, according to Ps. 102:20,21: "Bless the Lord, all ye His Angels . . . you ministers of His." But the Old Law is related to have been given by the Lord: for it is written (Ex. 20:1): "And the Lord spoke . . . these words," and further on: "I am the Lord Thy God." Moreover the same expression is often repeated in Exodus, …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Christ's Birth Should have Been Manifested by Means of the Angels and the Star?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ's birth should not have been manifested by means of the angels. For angels are spiritual substances, according to Ps. 103:4: "Who maketh His [Vulg.: 'makest Thy'] angels, spirits." But Christ's birth was in the flesh, and not in His spiritual substance. Therefore it should not have been manifested by means of angels. Objection 2: Further, the righteous are more akin to the angels than to any other, according to Ps. 33:8: "The angel of the Lord shall encamp round …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether it is Fitting that Christ Should Sit at the Right Hand of God the Father?
Objection 1: It would seem unfitting that Christ should sit at the right hand of God the Father. For right and left are differences of bodily position. But nothing corporeal can be applied to God, since "God is a spirit," as we read in Jn. 4:24. Therefore it seems that Christ does not sit at the right hand of the Father. Objection 2: Further, if anyone sits at another's right hand, then the latter is seated on his left. Consequently, if Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, it follows that …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Judgment is Rendered Perverse by Being Usurped?
Objection 1: It would seem that judgment is not rendered perverse by being usurped. For justice is rectitude in matters of action. Now truth is not impaired, no matter who tells it, but it may suffer from the person who ought to accept it. Therefore again justice loses nothing, no matter who declares what is just, and this is what is meant by judgment. Objection 2: Further, it belongs to judgment to punish sins. Now it is related to the praise of some that they punished sins without having authority …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

In Process of Tithe, that is to Say, in the Tenth Generation after the Flood...
In process of tithe, that is to say, in the tenth generation after the Flood, Abraham appeared, [120] seeking for the God who by the blessing of his ancestor was due and proper to him. [121] And when, urged by the eagerness of his spirit, he went all about the world, searching where God is, and failed to find out; God took pity on him who alone was silently seeking Him; and He appeared unto Abraham, making Himself known by the Word, as by a beam of light. For He spake with him from heaven, and said …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

And Jacob, when He Went into Mesopotamia, Saw Him in a Dream...
And Jacob, when he went into Mesopotamia, saw Him in a dream, standing upon the ladder , that is the tree which was set up from earth to heaven; [172] for thereby they that believe on Him go up to the heavens. For His sufferings are our ascension on high. And all such visions point to the Son of God, speaking with men and being in their midst. For it was not the Father of all, who is not seen by the world, the Maker of all who has said: Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

The Law Given, not to Retain a People for Itself, but to Keep Alive the Hope of Salvation in Christ Until his Advent.
1. The whole system of religion delivered by the hand of Moses, in many ways pointed to Christ. This exemplified in the case of sacrifices, ablutions, and an endless series of ceremonies. This proved, 1. By the declared purpose of God; 2. By the nature of the ceremonies themselves; 3. From the nature of God; 4. From the grace offered to the Jews; 5. From the consecration of the priests. 2. Proof continued. 6. From a consideration of the kingdom erected in the family of David. 7. From the end of the …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Wisdom and Revelation.
"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul

As God in his Word Enjoins Common Prayer, So Public Temples are the Places Destined...
As God in his word enjoins common prayer, so public temples are the places destined for the performance of them, and hence those who refuse to join with the people of God in this observance have no ground for the pretext, that they enter their chamber in order that they may obey the command of the Lord. For he who promises to grant whatsoever two or three assembled in his name shall ask (Matth. 18:20), declares, that he by no means despises the prayers which are publicly offered up, provided there …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith

A Glorious vision.
THE Epistle to the Hebrews, this profound and blessed portion of the Holy Scriptures, unfolds a most wonderful vision of the Person, the Glory and the great Redemption work of our adorable Lord. The portion of the Epistle which is the richest in this respect is the Second Chapter. Here is a vista for the eyes of faith which is sublime. Our Lord in His Person, in His humiliation and exaltation, in His suffering and glory, stands out in a way which makes the believing heart rejoice with joy unspeakable …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

It Follows in the Creed, "And in the Holy Ghost. ...
13. It follows in the Creed, "And in the Holy Ghost." This Trinity, one God, one nature, one substance, one power; highest equality, no division, no diversity, perpetual dearness of love. [1795] Would ye know the Holy Ghost, that He is God? Be baptized, and ye will be His temple. The Apostle says, "Know ye not that your bodies are the temple within you of the Holy Ghost, Whom ye have of God?" [1796] A temple is for God: thus also Solomon, king and prophet, was bidden to build a temple for God. If …
St. Augustine—On the Creeds

The Secret of Its Greatness
[Illustration: (drop cap G) The Great Pyramid] God always chooses the right kind of people to do His work. Not only so, He always gives to those whom He chooses just the sort of life which will best prepare them for the work He will one day call them to do. That is why God put it into the heart of Pharaoh's daughter to bring up Moses as her own son in the Egyptian palace. The most important part of Moses' training was that his heart should be right with God, and therefore he was allowed to remain …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

From Egypt to Sinai.
Ex. Chs. 1-19 Israel in Egypt. The length of time the Hebrews remained In Egypt is a perplexing question. Exodus 6:16-20 makes Moses the fourth generation from Levi (See Gen. 15:16; Num. 26:57-59). This would make it about 150 years. Gen. 15:13 predicts 400 years. Ex. 12:40 says they were there 430 years and Paul (Gal. 3:17) says 430 years from Abraham to Sinai. These apparently conflicting dates may be explained because of different methods of counting generations, probably based on long lives of …
Josiah Blake Tidwell—The Bible Period by Period

The Son of Man
"The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins." MARK 2:10 (R.V.) WHEN asserting His power to forgive sins, Jesus, for the first time in our Gospel, called Himself the Son of man. It is a remarkable phrase. The profound reverence which He from the first inspired, restrained all other lips from using it, save only when the first martyr felt such a rush of sympathy from above poured into his soul, that the thought of Christ's humanity was more moving than that of His deity. So too it is then alone …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

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