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Acts 7:1–7. Then the high priest said: Is this so? But he said: men, brothers and fathers! listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham in Mesopotamia, before he moved to Harran, and said to him: “Get out of your land and from your kindred and from your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you” (Gen. 12:1). “Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran; and from there, after the death of his father, God moved him to this land in which you now live. And he did not give him an inheritance on it, not even one foot, but promised to give it as a possession to him and his descendants after him, while he was still childless. And God told him that his descendants would be migrants in a foreign land and would be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. “But I,” said God, “will execute judgment on the people to whom they will be enslaved; and after that they will come out and serve Me in this place.” They themselves did not even think that they allowed themselves to act blasphemously, but he is accused of blasphemy for his words. They always had Moses on their minds—they cared less about the things of God than about the decrees of Moses. But Stephen, at the very beginning of his speech, refutes their opinion and proves that neither the church nor the rituals matter and that they will not overcome the preaching of the Gospel, that God makes the difficult and impossible easy and possible. Note: their accusation is precisely that, constantly taking advantage of God’s love for mankind, they paid their Benefactor the opposite and are seeking the impossible. Stephen also shows that the promise was given before the land, before the circumcision, before the sacrifice, before the church, that they received this land, as well as circumcision and the law, not according to merit, but the land was a reward for obedience, that when circumcision was given, the promise was not yet fulfilled, and that all these were types. He beautifully calls God at the beginning of the speech “God of glory,” because He made those who were reviled glorious. He also says that there was no church yet, but Abraham was honored to see God, that he had Persians as his ancestors and lived in a foreign land. Notice how Stefan diverts their thoughts from the sensory, starting with the locality, since they were talking about the place. If God is the God of “glory,” then He does not need to have glory from you through your church, because He Himself is the source of all glory and all good. “Get out of your land and from your kindred.” How does Scripture say that Abraham’s father wished to leave (see Gen. 11:31), but here it says that Abraham was told to “get out of your land?” From this we conclude that the appearance of God to Abraham affected his father and he wished to leave the land of the Chaldeans. But by this, Stephen shows that the Jews are not the children of Abraham, because he, having left both his fatherland and his relatives, showed obedience, but they are disobedient. “And he did not give him an inheritance on it, not even one foot.” Observe how the conversation about the Promised Land leads them to the truth. Why didn't the Lord give Abraham an inheritance? Because this land was a prototype of another land. “And he promised to give it.” Do you notice that it is not without reason that he repeats again: he does not say “gave,” but “promised to give.” If Abraham was a stranger and a stranger and had to migrate after some time, then how could he have this land as his “possession!” So, the heritage of Abraham is preserved through his seed, which is Christ, since the saints will reign with Him, according to the word of Scripture: “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father” (Matthew 16:27; 25:31), reigning over all nations. “And to his descendants after him, while he was still childless.” Again he indicates that God is able to make the possible possible out of the impossible, because it is said that He will make the master of Palestine the one who was in Persia and was at such a far distance. But there is also an indication of God’s great love for mankind and of Abraham’s great faith, because the expression “while he was still childless” shows Abraham’s obedience and faith, although what happened to him then inclined him to the opposite opinion, since after he came he did not have anything “not a single foot,” and even then he did not have anything. “And God told him that his descendants would be immigrants in a foreign land.” Look how many years ago the promise was given and its image existed, and there was never an image of a sacrifice, never an image of circumcision. But this also shows how God allowed the Israelites to endure misfortunes, although there was nothing of which they were guilty. “And they will be in enslavement and oppression for four hundred years.” What is written in the book of Exodus does not contradict this passage. It says there: “After four hundred and thirty years... all the army of the Lord came out of the land of Egypt” (12:41), and here it says approximately: after “four hundred years.” But we must remember that it is not said: “they left when they were four hundred years old,” it is said: after “four hundred” years, which does not exclude the remaining thirty years. Twenty-five years - from the seventy-fifth year to the hundredth of Abraham, sixty years of Isaac, ninety-one years of Jacob, one hundred and ten years of Joseph, one hundred and forty-four years in Egypt - a total of four hundred and thirty years. In the expression: “And after that they will go out and serve Me,” one can see an indication of these thirty years. “But I,” said God, “will execute judgment on the people to whom they will be enslaved...” Those who embittered them did not do so with impunity, because the Jews endured bitter and difficult slavery, since the Egyptians looked at them not as slaves, but as enemies and adversaries. Acts 7:8–16. And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. Therefore he begat Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob twelve patriarchs. The patriarchs, out of envy, sold Joseph to Egypt; but God was with him, and delivered him from all his sorrows, and gave him wisdom and the favor of the king of Egypt, Pharaoh, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his house. And famine and great tribulation came to all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no food. Jacob, having heard that there was bread in Egypt, sent our fathers there for the first time. And when (they came) the second time, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh. Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five souls. Jacob went over to Egypt, and he and our fathers died; and they were carried to Shechem and laid in a tomb, which Abraham bought at the price of silver from the sons of Hamor Shechem. The descendants are given promises, and the ancestors are given disasters. And the fathers were commanded by law to circumcise the foreskin because Abraham came out of the land of the Chaldeans; the Chaldeans, as well as the Medes and Persians, according to the customs of their fathers, were allowed to marry mothers and sisters. Thus, Abraham is circumcised as a sign that he renounces carnal mixture and denies illegal consanguineous marriages. And others argue that circumcision was commanded to Abraham and his descendants in order to make it clear that from them Christ had to be according to the flesh, since we know that circumcision, which was a type in the Old Testament, contained an image of saving baptism and, by casting off the flesh, signified the renunciation of life according to the flesh, and making those of the circumcision sons of God. “Therefore he begat Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day.” Isaac is circumcised first on the eighth day; hence the Jews are circumcised on the eighth day. And Ishmael is circumcised at the age of thirteen (see Gen. 17:25), therefore his descendants, the Ishmaelites, are circumcised, as Josephus says, also in the thirteenth year. "They sold Joseph into Egypt". Not knowing any guilt behind their brother, they treated him so badly, and moreover, at a time when he came to them with food for them, and by their act they contributed to the prophecy, without realizing it and unwittingly becoming the culprits of his well-being, although after many trials for him. They themselves brought upon themselves great fear and unbearable shame, although Joseph did not remember evil and did not plot anything terrible against them, but, on the contrary, fed them, who were languishing with hunger, and made them known to Pharaoh. “And he and our fathers died; and they were transferred to Shechem." Abraham with his family and the patriarchs were buried in Shechem, which may have been called “Sikema.” Abraham bought this place himself to bury Sarah. "And they were laid in a tomb." Having said this, Stephen shows that Abraham, even before his burial, was not the master of the earth. Acts 7:17–28. And as the time approached for the fulfillment of the promise that God swore to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, until another king arose who did not know Joseph. This one, contriving against our family, oppressed our fathers, forcing them to abandon their children so that they would not live. At this time Moses was born and was beautiful before God. For three months he was fed in his father's house. And when he was abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and raised him as her son. And Moses was taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers the children of Israel. And, seeing one of them being offended, he stood up and took revenge for the offended one, striking the Egyptian. He thought his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand; but they didn't understand. The next day, when some of them were fighting, he appeared and persuaded them to peace, saying: “You are brothers; Why do you offend each other? But the one who offended his neighbor pushed him away, saying: “Who made you a leader and a judge over us? Don’t you want to kill me too, just as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?” The expression "as the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise" does not indicate that they increased during four hundred years, but that the end was approaching, since four hundred years or more had already passed in Egypt. "The people grew and multiplied in Egypt". If regarding Joseph it is worthy of surprise that he was sold by his brothers and, having been sold, saved them from hunger, then even more surprising is that the king raised the one who was supposed to undermine his power (that is, Moses); the one who was supposed to be killed by the person who condemned him to death - he was educated and brought up to overthrow the teacher. “Forcing... to abandon their children so that they would not live.” This expression hints that the king did not want the killing of infants to be carried out openly. And note: the promise of God was strengthened through the very circumstances through which the devil tried to undermine it, because the people of Israel were embittered, but they grew and multiplied. That is why Moses is accepted and educated and educated in the king’s house and flees again; but during the flight he is awarded a vision and is entrusted with the leadership of the people. Thus, God brings about the fact that those sold as slaves become kings where they were slaves. “Moses... was beautiful before God.” The parents gave birth and saw that the child was beautiful, because grace flourished in him. Seeing that it was beautiful, they spared it, but, frightened by the command, they hid it. Fear won; and out of fear they decided to abandon the child, but out of a sense of parental compassion they use cunning in this matter - they manage to circumvent the command: having made an ark, in imitation of the ark that was with Noah, and calling on the God of Noah, they threw the child with the ark into the river in order to appear obeying the command and to save the child. And so they leave, and God inspires Pharaoh’s daughter, who did not know about this, to go out to the river. She came out, not knowing anything, and found what she was not looking for - she took a baby from the ark. And Moses was saved by symbols of the general salvation of the Church, because the ark was made of wood, and the tree was of water, and salvation was hopeless, and the one who took Moses was not a Jew, but a pagan and an Egyptian. “And Moses was taught in all the wisdom of Egypt.” Neither Moses, nor Ananias and Daniel with those who were with them would have received foreign education if the need and violence of the despots had not forced them to this, because they did not need it for anything, unless, perhaps, someone will say that getting an education was good in order to eradicate the errors of the Egyptians. “Having defeated the Egyptian,” Moses took revenge on him for the one he had oppressed. It was not out of frenzy or anger that he killed the Egyptian, but out of zeal for God. And what is done out of zeal for God, even if it were murder, is not murder. This is what Moses heard from the Lord about Phinehas, who killed two with one hand: “Phineas... took a spear in his hand. And he followed the Israelite into the bedroom, and pierced them both... and the defeat of the children of Israel ceased" (Num. 25: 7-8). And what Moses did was an unsolved mystery, because it was a sign that through Moses God would destroy the Egyptians and save the Israelites. Moses thought that his brothers understood that through him God was giving them deliverance. However, Divine protection was evident from the deeds themselves - what other understanding was needed? However, even then they did not understand. “The next day, when some of them were fighting, he appeared and persuaded them to peace.” See how the one who showed such anger towards the Egyptian speaks favorably: “You are brothers; Why do you offend each other? But pay attention to the answer: “Who made you a leader and a judge over us?” The same words that were later spoken to Christ. Repaying good with offense is in the spirit of the Jews. Acts 7:29–34. From these words Moses fled and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where two sons were born to him. When he was forty years old, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai in the flames of a burning thorn bush. When Moses saw it, he marveled at the vision; and when he approached to look, the voice of the Lord came to him: “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” Moses, overcome with trepidation, did not dare to look. And the Lord said to him: “Take off the sandals from your feet; for the place on which you stand is holy ground. I see the oppression of My people in Egypt, and I hear their groaning, and I came down to deliver them: therefore go, I will send you to Egypt.” But his flight did not violate God’s plans, because it is said: “When he was forty years old, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai,” - he appeared when Moses was on the run, when he did not hope to return, since he already had two sons. But notice: Stefan now calls the Son of God an angel, as well as a man. The Angel appears to Moses not in the church, but in the desert, and not in the desert itself, but - in a bush - in the flames of a burning thorn bush. So Moses is honored with a voice: “I am,” says the voice, “the God of your fathers.” “Take off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.” The place is holy for the appearance of Christ and is worthy of greater wonder than that which was in the Holy of Holies, because such a phenomenon had never happened there. Further, the great care of God is visible, because it is said: “I see the oppression of My people... and I hear their groaning, and I came down to deliver them.” Acts 7:35–41. This Moses, whom they rejected, saying: “Who made you a ruler and a judge?”, this God sent through the Angel who appeared to him in a bush of thorns as a ruler and deliverer. This one brought them out, performing signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the children of Israel: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers; Listen to him” (Deut. 18:15). “This is the one who was in the meeting in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, and who received living words to convey to us, to whom our fathers did not want to be obedient, but rejected him and turned their hearts to Egypt, saying to Aaron: “Make us gods who will go before us; for we do not know what happened to Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt.” And in those days they made a calf, and sacrificed to the idol, and rejoiced before the work of their hands. That Moses, who was in danger for his life, whom the Israelites regarded and rejected as nothing, God raised up and “sent through an Angel who appeared to him in a thorn bush.” Whom Stephen calls Angel, Moses saw and calls God. “This is the Moses who said to the children of Israel: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brothers, like me,” that is, like me, he was placed in nothing for something for which he should have been honored much more quickly. Pharaoh wanted to kill Moses, and Moses fled; and Herod wanted to kill the Lord, and the Lord was saved in Egypt. Both Pharaoh and Herod plotted against the baby; both of them issued a command; and neither one nor the other command was obeyed. “This is the one who was in the meeting in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai.” The words before us show that people become better or worse not from place, because those whom we are talking about, having already been outside Egypt by place, by location, were in Egypt and did not abandon thoughts about Egyptian customs, as the Gospel says: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:34). Many, while still on earth, are laying up treasure in heaven; there is their heart. But the angels who transgressed God's will, being in heaven, had a disposition towards what is on earth; as a result of which they were cast down to the ground. "Who received living words." He calls words of a special kind, the meaning of which is clarified by ordinary words, or prophecies, living. "Make us gods". Not God, but gods. “And in those days they made a calf.” The same with David: “and they made a calf at Horeb” (Ps. 105:19). And it is not without a purpose that Horeb is pointed out, but in order to show the extreme madness of the Israelites: here God appeared to Moses, here they made idols and offered sacrifices to them. Acts 7:42–50. God turned away and left them to serve the heavenly army, as it is written in the book of the prophets: “House of Israel! Did you bring slaughter and sacrifices to Me for forty years in the wilderness? You took the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan, the images that you made to worship them: and I will remove you further than Babylon” (Am. 5, 25-27). “Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, as He who spoke to Moses commanded that it should be made according to the pattern which he had seen. Our fathers and Jesus, taking it, brought it into the possession of the nations expelled by God from the presence of our fathers. This was the case until the days of David. This one found grace before God and prayed to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. Solomon built a house for Him. But the Most High does not live in churches made by hands, as the prophet says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or what place for My rest? Was it not My hand that created all this?” (Isa. 66, 1–2). The saying “left... to serve” is put instead of “allowed,” just as with the Apostle Paul “God gave them over to a depraved mind” (Rom. 1:28) is put instead of “allowed to be surrendered.” So, he says: since the Jews had such a passion - to serve the creature instead of the Creator, God often reproached them through the prophets for such arbitrariness, and then, when they turned out to be stubborn, he allowed them to do what they wanted. And the word “turned away” is put instead of the saying “having turned away from another desire,” because something else shows the will of God, and another is what is allowed out of condescension. For His will is the same as the law: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him alone” (Luke 4:8). But He allowed those who persisted in wickedness to remain in wickedness, because He does not want to be served out of necessity, so as not to constrain the one who has free will. Some people think that the expression “heavenly host” is equivalent to “Angels”. “The word was proclaimed through angels” (Heb. 2:2). But Stephen is not talking about Angels, but about the stars to which the Jews paid veneration, namely: Taurus, which replaced the morning star - the morning star, and the moon, as the queen of heaven. This expression is used almost everywhere where we are talking about luminaries and stars. “House of Israel! Did you bring slaughter and sacrifices to Me for forty years in the wilderness? Notice that he first mentions that they made sacrifices to Himself, and then sacrifices to idols. This is because before this the name “sacrifice” is not found anywhere, but only “commandments” and “living words.” Moreover, he cites this evidence not without reason, but to show that there was no need for sacrifices. He says, “Have you brought sacrifices and sacrifices to Me” instead of saying: “You cannot say that you offer sacrifices to idols because you offered them to God; on the contrary, you first offered sacrifices to them, and this in the desert, where I especially protected you. Therefore, if I said that this church would be destroyed, and the rituals and sacrifices would be changed, then I did not say anything new. For Moses, of whom you seem to have a high opinion, did not offer a sacrifice or erect a church for forty years, and neither did David, although you already owned this land, divided by lot. Likewise, the prophets speak of them as unnecessary. But how can you cite Moses in your defense, when your fathers and you rejected him?” “You accepted the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan.” The divine Moses withdrew to the mountain to receive the law, and they, the Israelites by blood, appeared before Aaron, saying: “Make us a god” (Ex. 32:1). So they made a calf in the desert, and this calf was clearly an idol; They gradually built many other idols. They were especially devoted to the worship of the stars. In addition to the calf, they “accepted” the “tabernacle of Molokhov.” Having created the tabernacle, they placed an idol in it and called it Molech. This is a Moabite idol. He had a transparent stone on the top of his forehead in the form of a morning star - the Lucifer. And the word “Moloch” translated means “their king.” For this is how Aquila and Theodotion explain it. And the image of the morning star was prepared by artists. So, “they accepted the tabernacle of Moloch,” that is, the tabernacle of your king. And what kind of king was he? “The star of your god Remphan,” whose name translated means “darkening” or “blinding.” So, they worshiped the star, rising before the appearance of the sun's radiance. However, these worshipers became blind, or remphan, not because the star produced this blinding, but because this veneration became the cause of such darkness. “I will move you further than Babylon.” The Prophet said: “I will move you beyond Damascus” (Am. 5:27). And Stephen said “beyond Babylon,” following the exposition of the Jews or because Babylon is the limit of the land of the Damascenes. Seventy interpreters said: “Next Damascus.” “Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness.” They had her in order to have God as a witness. He calls it the tabernacle of testimonies, that is, miracles and commandments. "As he who spoke commanded Moses." The establishment of the tabernacle took place on a mountain, and it was portable in the desert, and not located in one place. If the Angel was the one who spoke to Moses on the mountain, then he still spoke to him on behalf of God. And there is a lot of this in the Divine Scripture. Thus, the book of Exodus says that the Angel of the Lord said to Moses: “Moses, Moses!.. Do not come here” (Ex. 3, 4 5). And a little further this Angel says: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:6). Acts 7:51–53. Fierce-necked! people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! you always resist the Holy Spirit, just like your fathers and you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now become traitors and murderers, you who accepted the law under the ministry of angels and did not keep it. Why does he who has hitherto spoken to the people meekly use cruel words here? Because he saw that they were not paying attention to what was being said. “You always resist the Holy Spirit” - not just now. By this he shows: what he said was from the Holy Spirit, especially when the hour of his death was approaching, because he, of course, knew this, being filled with the Holy Spirit. He showed great and fearless boldness, and what he said to them was not his, but the words of the prophets. “Always,” he says, “resist.” When God didn't want there to be sacrifices, you made sacrifices, and then when He wants sacrifices, you don't make them. Again, when the church existed, you served idols, and when He wants you to renounce the church, you do the opposite. Moreover, he did not say: “Resist God,” but “Resist the Spirit.” For there is no difference between Spirit and God. “Resist... as your fathers did, so do you.” Shows that this evil falls more heavily on them because it reached them a long time ago. This is what Christ did, because they greatly boasted about their ancestors. “Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute?” If your fathers killed these forerunners, then it is not surprising that I, preaching the One foretold by them, will be killed by you, who are too proud of your ancestors. “They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One.” He says “The Righteous One,” showing that He was unrighteously killed by them, because if He is righteous, then those who killed Him are very wrong. Calls Him righteous, because they could not deny it. Nowhere did they condemn Him as unrighteous, for how could they condemn Him for this as someone who did not even have shelter? But he exposes to them two of their crimes: murder and betrayal. For he says: “You have now become traitors and murderers... who accepted the law during the ministry of the Angels and did not keep it,” that is, what was arranged by the Angels and handed over to those who appeared in the bush. Shows that they did not submit and do not submit to either God, or the Angels, or the prophets, or the Spirit. Acts 7:54–56. Listening to this, they tore their hearts and gnashed their teeth at him. Stephen, being filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said: Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. If the Jews wanted to kill Stephen, then why didn’t they kill him immediately? Because they wanted to present a plausible pretext for their insolence, since the insult that he caused them was not a plausible pretext for killing him; Moreover, what they considered an insult to themselves was not his own insult, but it was a reproof made to the Jews by the prophet. At the same time, they did not want it to be thought of them that they killed him for something that related to them personally, as was the case when Christ was condemned to death, but that they were killing him for wickedness. Because they were not content with desecrating themselves by murder, but hoped and cared to tarnish the honor of the person being killed. For they were afraid that he would not enjoy greater veneration if they killed him for a personal insult to them. "Jesus standing at the right hand of God". Standing means firmness and steadfastness. Moreover, they already admitted this: they then already considered Him worthwhile. Acts 7:57–60. But they shouted in a loud voice, covered their ears, and with one accord rushed towards him. And, taking him out of the city, they began to stone him. The witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of the young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen, who was praying and saying: Lord Jesus! receive my spirit. And, kneeling down, he exclaimed in a loud voice: Lord! Do not impute this sin to them. And having said this, he rested. When Christ said: “Behold the Son of Man sitting on the right hand” (Matthew 26:64), the Jews called this blasphemy and attacked Him. So it is now: having heard Stefan’s words, they rushed at him. But then they tore their clothes, and here they “stopped their ears.” “And, taking him out of the city, they began to stone him.” Finding themselves decidedly unable to put an end to Stephen’s speech, they “began to stone him.” Even if he had told a lie, he should have been released as if he were insane. If he spoke the truth, one should rather be surprised. “And taking him out of the city,” they kill him, just as they did with Jesus. “The witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of the young man.” Luke calls witnesses those whom the Jews put forward for the purpose of bearing false testimony against Stephen. By this, the evangelist hints at two circumstances: that those who were considered witnesses were more likely to commit murder when they took off their clothes in order to throw stones more freely and unhindered - and that he who would later be a preacher of the universe himself then assisted in the murder, and that thus some kind of Divine, amazing and unusual change occurred in him. The saying “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” is the saying of one teaching and showing them that he will not perish. "They stoned Stephen". Since justification is accomplished by faith in Christ and in Him human nature has abundantly received innocence and has given us a new right, by virtue of which our souls no longer go to hell, but, as before, are sent into the hands of the Living God, then, knowing this, Saint Stephen said: “Lord Jesus! receive my spirit." And blessed Peter writes: “Let those therefore who suffer according to the will of God commend their souls to Him, as to a faithful Creator” (1 Pet. 4:19). “Kneeling down, he exclaimed in a loud voice: Lord! Do not impute this sin to them." Not just, he says, he prays, but with zeal, since God has allowed his soul to remain in his body until now. Notice the voice and excess of patience in suffering. By this he shows that what he said to them before, he said not out of anger, but in order to put them in difficulty, to expose and reproach them. You might be interested in: