“Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, “‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?’ “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
tent of witness - "I.e., the tent was a witness to the presence of God in their midst." (Ryrie)
vss 51-53 - "Stephen's indictment of unbelieving Jews is amply illustrated in the previously cited history of Israel." (Ryrie)
until the days of David - "We can trace the presence of the tent in Shiloh (1 Sam 1:3); in Nob (1 Sam 21:1) and in Bieon (2 Chron 1:3). We lose sight of it finally when it is carried by Solomon into the newly build temple (2 Chron v. 5)." (Walker)
Solomon who built a house for him - "The 'tent' was thus displaced not merely by a 'tent-like habitation' but by a substantial and stately 'house'. For the building of Solomon's temple, see 1 Kings 6-8 chapters. This, when destroyed by the armies of Babylon, was replaced by Zerubbabel's temple (completed 516 B.C.); which, in turn, was rebuilt and beautified by Herod the Great 20 B.C. It was Herod's temple in which St. Stephen's hearers made their boast." (Walker)
"In closing his address Stephen dealt with still another of their accusations. They had charged him with speaking blasphemous words against the temple. This, of course, was untrue. The fact was that they were guilty of blasphemy against the Holy One of whom the temple was but a type. The tabernacle had been replaced by the temple, but even this glorious abode did not do God justice. The temple was but a type of a still more glorious abode: Christ, in whom dwelleth 'all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.' He was God, manifested in the flesh. Had not Isaiah said: 'They shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us'? (Matt. 1:23)." (Stam)
as delivered by angels - "Cf. Gal. 3:19: Heb. 2:2, in which passages the angels are regarded as intermediaries through whom the Law was given; a view based, apparently, on Deut. 33:2, where the LXX reads 'At His right hand were angels with Him', in lieu of 'At His right hand was a fiery law unto them'... The general idea would appear to be that additional lustre was attached to the law on account of the presence and ministry of angels at its first promulgation. Its inception was attended with all the concomitants of heavenly glory." (Walker)
"That the rulers understood perfectly what Stephen had been getting at is clear from these verses and the rest of the account. Apparently it became evident that the rulers would reject any appeal Stephen had hoped to make, and he sensed that they would not listen much longer, for suddenly the tone of his message changes. Rather than an appeal there is a stinging indictment. He seems to disown them as he changes his repeated 'our fathers' to 'your fathers,' and charges them with resisting the Holy Spirit, betraying and murdering Christ and despising Moses and the law which they pretended to uphold. In his indictment Stephen went backward from their sin against the Spirit, to that against Christ, to that against Moses and the law, for the effect it would have upon them. Actually their sin against the Spirit was that which sealed their doom. Though Stephen had stood before them filled with the Holy Spirit and supernaturally transformed as he dealt with them, they would not listen. They had there and then resisted the Holy Spirit and committed the unpardonable sin of which our Lord had so solemnly warned them (Matt. 12:31-32)." (Stam)
tent of witness - "I.e., the tent was a witness to the presence of God in their midst." (Ryrie)
vss 51-53 - "Stephen's indictment of unbelieving Jews is amply illustrated in the previously cited history of Israel." (Ryrie)
until the days of David - "We can trace the presence of the tent in Shiloh (1 Sam 1:3); in Nob (1 Sam 21:1) and in Bieon (2 Chron 1:3). We lose sight of it finally when it is carried by Solomon into the newly build temple (2 Chron v. 5)." (Walker)
Solomon who built a house for him - "The 'tent' was thus displaced not merely by a 'tent-like habitation' but by a substantial and stately 'house'. For the building of Solomon's temple, see 1 Kings 6-8 chapters. This, when destroyed by the armies of Babylon, was replaced by Zerubbabel's temple (completed 516 B.C.); which, in turn, was rebuilt and beautified by Herod the Great 20 B.C. It was Herod's temple in which St. Stephen's hearers made their boast." (Walker)
"In closing his address Stephen dealt with still another of their accusations. They had charged him with speaking blasphemous words against the temple. This, of course, was untrue. The fact was that they were guilty of blasphemy against the Holy One of whom the temple was but a type. The tabernacle had been replaced by the temple, but even this glorious abode did not do God justice. The temple was but a type of a still more glorious abode: Christ, in whom dwelleth 'all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.' He was God, manifested in the flesh. Had not Isaiah said: 'They shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us'? (Matt. 1:23)." (Stam)
as delivered by angels - "Cf. Gal. 3:19: Heb. 2:2, in which passages the angels are regarded as intermediaries through whom the Law was given; a view based, apparently, on Deut. 33:2, where the LXX reads 'At His right hand were angels with Him', in lieu of 'At His right hand was a fiery law unto them'... The general idea would appear to be that additional lustre was attached to the law on account of the presence and ministry of angels at its first promulgation. Its inception was attended with all the concomitants of heavenly glory." (Walker)
"That the rulers understood perfectly what Stephen had been getting at is clear from these verses and the rest of the account. Apparently it became evident that the rulers would reject any appeal Stephen had hoped to make, and he sensed that they would not listen much longer, for suddenly the tone of his message changes. Rather than an appeal there is a stinging indictment. He seems to disown them as he changes his repeated 'our fathers' to 'your fathers,' and charges them with resisting the Holy Spirit, betraying and murdering Christ and despising Moses and the law which they pretended to uphold. In his indictment Stephen went backward from their sin against the Spirit, to that against Christ, to that against Moses and the law, for the effect it would have upon them. Actually their sin against the Spirit was that which sealed their doom. Though Stephen had stood before them filled with the Holy Spirit and supernaturally transformed as he dealt with them, they would not listen. They had there and then resisted the Holy Spirit and committed the unpardonable sin of which our Lord had so solemnly warned them (Matt. 12:31-32)." (Stam)
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