51 `Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears! ye do always the Holy Spirit resist; as your fathers -- also ye;
also I walk to them in opposition, and have brought them into the land of their enemies -- or then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and then they accept the punishment of their iniquity, --
and ye have circumcised the foreskin of your heart, and your neck ye do not harden any more;
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `I have seen this people, and lo, it `is' a stiff-necked people;
To whom do I speak, and testify, and they hear? Lo, their ear `is' uncircumcised, And they are not able to attend. Lo, a word of Jehovah hath been to them for a reproach, They delight not in it.
And they have rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit, And He turneth to them for an enemy, He Himself hath fought against them.
unto a land flowing with milk and honey, for I do not go up in thy midst, for thou `art' a stiff-necked people -- lest I consume thee in the way.'
In your bringing in sons of a stranger, uncircumcised of heart, and uncircumcised of flesh, to be in My sanctuary, to pollute it, even My house, in your bringing near My bread, fat, and blood, and they break My covenant by all your abominations,
and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking;
and he who is doing injustice to the neighbour, did thrust him away, saying, Who set thee a ruler and a judge over us?
to whom our fathers did not wish to become obedient, but did thrust away, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,
For he is not a Jew who is `so' outwardly, neither `is' circumcision that which is outward in flesh; but a Jew `is' he who is `so' inwardly, and circumcision `is' of the heart, in spirit, not in letter, of which the praise is not of men, but of God.
and make not sorrowful the Holy Spirit of God, in which ye were sealed to a day of redemption.
And they are not like their fathers, A generation apostate and rebellious, A generation! it hath not prepared its heart, Nor stedfast with God `is' its spirit.
`And Thou drawest over them many years, and testifiest against them by Thy Spirit, by the hand of Thy prophets, and they have not given ear, and Thou dost give them into the hand of peoples of the lands,
and saith, `If, I pray Thee, I have found grace in Thine eyes, O my Lord, let my Lord, I pray Thee, go in our midst (for it `is' a stiff-necked people), and thou hast forgiven our iniquity and our sin, and hast inherited us.'
and thou hast known, that not for thy righteousness is Jehovah thy God giving to thee this good land to possess it, for a people stiff of neck thou `art'.
`And Jehovah thy God hath circumcised thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, for the sake of thy life;
`Now, harden not your neck like your fathers, give a hand to Jehovah, and come in to His sanctuary, that He hath sanctified to the age, and serve Jehovah your God, and the fierceness of His anger doth turn back from you;
Raise not up on high your horn, (Ye speak with a stiff neck.)
From my knowing that thou art obstinate, And a sinew of iron thy neck, And thy forehead brass,
Lo, days are coming -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have laid a charge on all circumcised in the foreskin, On Egypt, and on Judah, and on Edom, And on the sons of Ammon, and on Moab, And on all cutting the corner `of the beard', Who are dwelling in the wilderness, For all the nations `are' uncircumcised, And all the house of Israel `are' uncircumcised in heart!
And they have not hearkened nor inclined their ear, And they stiffen their neck not to hear, And not to receive instruction.
And the sons `are' brazen-faced and hard-hearted to whom I am sending thee, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah:
`This Moses, whom they did refuse, saying, Who did set thee a ruler and a judge? this one God a ruler and a redeemer did send, in the hand of a messenger who appeared to him in the bush;
in whom also ye were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh in the circumcision of the Christ,
And they refuse to attend, And they give a refractory shoulder, And their ears have made heavy against hearing. And their heart they have made adamant, Against hearing the law, and the words, That Jehovah of Hosts sent by His Spirit, By the hand of the former prophets, And their is great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 7
Commentary on Acts 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
When our Lord Jesus called his apostles out to be employed in services and sufferings for him, he told them that yet the last should be first, and the first last, which was remarkably fulfilled in St. Stephen and St. Paul, who were both of them late converts, in comparison of the apostles, and yet got the start of them both in services and sufferings; for God, in conferring honours and favours, often crosses hands. In this chapter we have the martyrdom of Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church, who led the van in the noble army. And therefore his sufferings and death are more largely related than those of any other, for direction and encouragement to all those who are called out to resist unto blood, as he did. Here is,
Act 7:1-16
Stephen is now at the bar before the great council of the nation, indicted for blasphemy: what the witnesses swore against him we had an account of in the foregoing chapter, that he spoke blasphemous words against Moses and God; for he spoke against this holy place and the law. Now here,
But let us see how this serves Stephen's purpose.
Let us now see what this is to Stephen's purpose.
Act 7:17-29
Stephen here goes on to relate,
Now let us see how this serves Stephen's purpose.
Act 7:30-41
Stephen here proceeds in his story of Moses; and let any one judge whether these are the words of one that was a blasphemer of Moses or no; nothing could be spoken more honourably of him. Here is,
Act 7:42-50
Two things we have in these verses:-
Act 7:51-53
Stephen was going on in his discourse (as it should seem by the thread of it) to show that, as the temple, so the temple-service must come to an end, and it would be the glory of both to give way to that worship of the Father in spirit and in truth which was to be established in the kingdom of the Messiah, stripped of the pompous ceremonies of the old law, and so he was going to apply all this which he had said more closely to his present purpose; but he perceived they could not bear it. They could patiently hear the history of the Old Testament told (it was a piece of learning which they themselves dealt much in); but if Stephen go about to tell them that their power and tyranny must come down, and that the church must be governed by a spirit of holiness and love, and heavenly-mindedness, they will not so much as give him the hearing. It is probable that he perceived this, and that they were going to silence him; and therefore he breaks off abruptly in the midst of his discourse, and by that spirit of wisdom, courage, and power, wherewith he was filled, he sharply rebuked his persecutors, and exposed their true character; for, if they will not admit the testimony of the gospel to them, it shall become a testimony against them.
We have reason to think Stephen had a great deal more to say, and would have said it if they would have suffered him; but they were wicked and unreasonable men with whom he had to do, that could no more hear reason than they could speak it.
Act 7:54-60
We have here the death of the first martyr of the Christian church, and there is in this story a lively instance of the outrage and fury of the persecutors (such as we may expect to meet with if we are called out to suffer for Christ), and of the courage and comfort of the persecuted, that are thus called out. Here is hell in its fire and darkness, and heaven in its light and brightness; and these serve as foils to set off each other. It is not here said that the votes of the council were taken upon his case, and that by the majority he was found guilty, and then condemned and ordered to be stoned to death, according to the law, as a blasphemer; but, it is likely, so it was, and that it was not by the violence of the people, without order of the council, that he was put to death; for here is the usual ceremony of regular executions-he was cast out of the city, and the hands of the witnesses were first upon him.
Let us observe here the wonderful discomposure of the spirits of his enemies and persecutors, and the wonderful composure of his spirit.