Faith without religion.
Stoning of Stephen: Unveiling the Rebellion of the Chosen People
Acts chapter 7, idolatry, stoning
In a recent discussion on Acts Chapter 7, Shawn and Delaney delve into the narrative of Stephen addressing the Sanhedrin, highlighting the historical and spiritual journey of the Israelites. Stephen recounts the Israelites’ rejection of Moses and their subsequent idolatry, crafting a golden calf while Moses was receiving the law from God. This act of rebellion is used by Stephen to illustrate the persistent disobedience of their ancestors, who, despite witnessing miracles, turned to worship celestial bodies and pagan gods like Molech.
Stephen’s speech is a bold critique of the religious leaders, accusing them of resisting the Holy Spirit and persecuting prophets, culminating in the betrayal and murder of the “righteous one,” Jesus. This confrontation enrages the Sanhedrin, leading to Stephen’s martyrdom. As he is stoned, Stephen sees a vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God, a poignant moment that signifies divine support and approval.
The conversation also touches on the broader implications of religious leadership and the dangers of idolizing historical figures, drawing parallels to contemporary religious practices. Shawn and Delaney emphasize that the critique is directed at the religious authorities of the time, not the Jewish people as a whole, underscoring the importance of individual faith and integrity over institutional allegiance. This exploration of Acts Chapter 7 offers a profound reflection on faith, leadership, and the enduring struggle between human tradition and divine truth.
Podcast Transcript:
Acts chapter 7 here we go continuing
three all right we’re about on verse 40
who for those who follow along it’s the
longest chapter
ever but it’s
great they told Aaron make us Gods okay
well the previous most important verse
but our ancestors refused to obey him um
Steve
telling the
sanim about Moses’s people
rejecting Moses’s leadership and Moses’s
people are their
fathers that’s how they would see it
they were their
fathers of the faith Steven’s father
Stephen and sanhedrin’s fathers he’s
mocking them for their lack of faith oh
so those
people like somehow the San hedum would
have considered these people that
refused Moses still holy oh yeah that
we’re from Abraham we we come through
this Heritage we God is our God and he
say wait a second let’s look at what
really happened okay so e wow they don’t
recognize that Moses was a prophet and
that they do but they don’t recognize
that their fathers never followed him as
the prophet okay so they told Aaron um
make us the people who are following
Moses told Aaron make us Gods who will
go before us as for the As for this
fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt we
don’t know what is happened to him so
he’s up in the mountain it’s thunder
it’s lightning he’s talking to God
they’re down there and what do they do
they make an idol they make a golden
calf and they they want to that’s coming
straight out of Egypt and they mol they
melt all the gold and they make that
little calf okay um yeah that was the
time they made an idol in the form of a
calf is the next verse yeah they brought
sacrifices to it revealed it revealed in
what their own hands had made but God
turned away from them gave them over to
worship of the sun moon and stars okay
so now we’re talking about ultimately
Stephen’s telling them you know what
your fathers that you hold so dearly too
they started worshiping the the heavens
instead of the one who created the
heavens sun moon and stars that’s
classic after what we just talked about
which is I so much is people likening it
to astrology it’s like that might be
that might have been happening too
alongside Jesus Mesopotamia they knew
their astrology they knew all of that
stuff they governed Life by the stars
but God was telling them that is not
your God yeah okay this is great did you
bring oh wait uh this agrees with what
is written in the book of the prophets
is say says Stephen and he quotes did
you bring me the sacrifices and
offerings 40 years in the wilderness
people of Israel you have taken up the
Tabernacle of
Molech I don’t know what that means and
the star of your God ref ref and Idols
you made to worship there I therefore
I’ll send you into Exile Beyond Babylon
okay so this is what happened a nation
Moses gives them the law while he’s up
there doing it they they worship a calf
so what Stephen says to him is you know
what the value of your fathers were God
turned them over and he let them go and
worship the Stars the Moon and the Sun
and they worshiped other gods including
Molech Molech was a pagan God MCH was a
a Brazen God that they made and they
would fill its
belly uh it was like made out of brass
fill its belly with wood and lighted on
fire and its arms would turn red and
they would throw their children on the
arms of Molech the nation of Israel the
fathers of these men in the Sanhedrin
were that idolatrous that even though
God LED them through Miracles out of
bondage they still pursued uh Idols
yeah and I just can’t believe that the
people that the San hedum so
proudly like identify with these people
yeah how do they religion to me it’s no
different than when people hold up other
men in in the world today of religion
yeah you know they hold up Brigham Young
or they hold up Martin Luther Martin
Luther was a raving anti-semite wow he
was he was uh misogynistic through the
roof you know these men are men of clay
so all they’re doing is worshiping their
forefathers and because it gives them
you know like uh it’s like in Italian we
come straight from Italy we’re that you
know like God turned you guys over to
Steven is throwing down on him
wow I wouldn’t have known that yeah just
reading this I know without you certain
things I’m picking up
but okay so
so so he so he says your fathers put
them in bondage into Babylon Beyond
Babylon okay but he calls them our
ancestors he’s not just okay our
ancestors had the Tabernacle of the
Covenant Covenant law with them in the
wilderness it had been as God directed
Moses according to the pattern he had
seen after receiving the Tabernacle our
our ancestors under Joshua brought it
with them when they took the land from
the Nations God drove out before them
okay there were Seven Nations that
inhabited the promised land okay they’ve
been in bondage they’ve come out Moses
is leading them and he leads them around
in the world Wilderness for 40
years and they can’t go into the
promised land yet and uh
so when they were finally ready Joshua
like Jesus led them into the promised
land that God had given Abraham so many
years before but the promised land was
filled with Seven
Nations Hittites
parites all these ites and ites and ites
amorites and they the nation of Israel
was commanded have nothing to do with
them do not intermar don’t do anything
with them in fact God says go in and
wipe them out kill them now this is
something that critics of the Old
Testament pick on God for that he tells
the nation of Israel go in and wipe out
everything men women children animals
destroy them and that upsets humanists
today they say that’s no kind of God I
can believe
in and but the thing was remember back
what God is trying to do he’s trying to
bring a nation through who would worship
Him and ultimately bring forth the
Messiah well those Seven Nations were
known for being um involved in human
sacrifice Molech the all that stuff and
it was
like uh they were like Sam Francisco at
its wildest time on fire they were bad
God said if they’re under this age don’t
you don’t have to kill them but if
they’re over this age you kill them
because they’ve been tainted and they
will bring that in they didn’t do it wow
yeah they intermarried with them they
did all sorts of things yeah the hivites
were pridden they were one of the Seven
Nations in the promised land when David
has the affair with ba Sheba her husband
is a a hit oh my gosh he’s one so it
just showed they just did not pay
attention to anything he commanded them
wow I
know what the heck so when people get
mad and they say Christianity just
borrows from Judaism and they’re the
chosen people God chose them maybe not
for their obedience but chose them
because they were so rebellious wow and
they just weren’t going to make it
happen no matter what yeah weren’t going
to choose Jesus wer going to choose yeah
and so not doing that he dies sheds his
his blood is shed and the world is
reconciled yeah that’s the
plan clearly they can’t freaking do it
it’s the same story over and over and
over and over and over and over it feels
like yeah they want to put an idol
between God and them always
that’s what religion does today they put
a pastor between God and you they put
rules between you they put tithes they
put obedience God wants the direct
relationship
yeah okay so um Stephen Carries
On It remained in the land until the
time of David who enjoyed God’s favor
and asked that he might provide a
dwelling place for God for the god of
Jacob I’m starting at this end of it I’m
losing track it’s less but it was
Solomon who built a house for him like I
don’t know who all these people are King
David he ca he was the second king of
Israel God said don’t have Kings they
wanted a king why other nations had him
she said your King’s going to lead you
into bondage and they were like we want
a king so they said give us Saul he was
the first king of Israel he was a
failure God wanted David so God made
David the King and King David is like
the picture of everything to a Jew King
David King David right so what he’s
saying there was what until the time of
he drove before after receiving the
Tabernacle our ancestors under Joshua
brought it with them when they took the
land from the nations of God drove up
for them it remained until the land of
David who enjoyed God’s savor like
you’re saying and asked that he might
provide a dwelling place for the god of
Jacob okay so Moses the nation of Israel
are going to get instructions by God up
on the mount Moses will get instructions
to build a tabernacle it was portable
was very small and it just had different
animal skins to separate these different
areas Gentiles Jews and the high priest
okay and it was for sacrificing animals
and and that God would come once a year
and visit that Tabernacle well David
comes along and he was a man of war he
killed people right and left so he said
hey can I make you a house instead of a
portable Tabernacle I want to make you a
house God said no you’re a man of blood
but I’ll let your son do it Solomon so
Solomon built him a temple but it was
Solomon who built a house for him yeah
so and just
to contextualize
this
Stephen talking to the
Sim was okay just threw that in there
yeah he’s just telling them their
history that he’s Drawing the Line to
them from all these things okay however
the most high does not live in the
houses made by human hands as the
prophet said Heaven is my throne and
Earth is my foot stol what kind of house
will you build for me says the Lord or
will my resting place be has not my hand
made all these things okay by the time
Stephen is speaking the Jews have become
so immersed in their culture
of having a law that they obeyed
perfectly but they didn’t care about God
having a temple oh man now they have
this massive Temple it’s not Solomon
it’s another Temple oh look at our
Temple and and he’s saying God doesn’t
live in temples made with hands you know
it’s not about that that’s what he’s
clarifying there to them so he’s
undermining everything they think is
important okay well that’s the very end
of it because then he goes you stiff
necked people your heart
now he throws it down read it baby read
it stick
neck stick neck stick neck it’s in a
front to every skinny necked person on
Earth you stiff necked people your
hearts and ears are still uncircumsized
and you are just like your ancestors you
will always resist the Holy Spirit was
there ever a prophet your ancestors did
not
persecute even they even killed those
who predicted the coming of the
righteous one and now you have betrayed
and murdered him you who have received
the law that was given through the
Angels but have not obeyed it oh man and
that is Stephen saying look at what you
are and we forget all of that and we
think they were great they weren’t oh my
gosh they’ve never been great who thinks
they were great I don’t I’m not part of
the chosen people I’m not a shut up oh
yeah yeah because he elected to use them
people think that means his election was
cuz they’re great no I see no so he’s by
the time Jesus comes and does his thing
they were
so putrid they were so evil he says your
father’s the devil I mean he just flat
out he hated what they had become that
is so that’s why they were destroyed
yeah you have a
chance so they’ve killed him now
Steven’s talking God we haven’t had
anyone give that sort of
speech what do you mean no one up in
anything that we’ve read thus far has
said has I mean and that’s just
scratching the surface he doesn’t even
tell half the
stories when Paul shows up he’ll start
throwing down oh Paul okay well that was
pretty that was pretty clarifying for
someone who doesn’t so much like a lot
of the questions that we even asked in
Matthew were sort of brought up right
there like answered through that read
about what happens next because there’s
some interesting things there okay it
help I’m I’m just going to be reading
word for word but when the members of
the sanum heard this they were Furious
and Nash their teeth at him I knew I
knew I always think of dogs who are
really mean like through a fence oh
nashing their teeth at him I don’t want
to see it because when people do that
they are insane they’re violent they’re
vicious they’re murderous that’s what
the that was what was in their hearts
yeah so it’s not like God wiped out a
beautiful people in 70 AD this is about
about 35 ad I guess or 40 ad so we 30
years are going to pass before they’re
wiped out but Stephen called them out
and they shows you their heart man
they’ve literally never been beautiful
no only certain individuals have just
individuals it really starts to paint
the picture of even how it works now
yeah like it’s never been a lot of this
talk I think it’s like the culture or
not the culture but the nation of
Israel
um was chosen meaning they were good but
it it really is just individuals who
were pulled out of that nation that are
exemplary that carried it forward for
generations and generations not the PE
not the others no but when you say the
others just for our audience know what
she means and what it was was the
religious leaders of that nation that
were so reprehensible the people may
have been weak but they also believed in
yahava and they followed their leaders
so it was the Shepherds W be to the
Shepherds of is is that do feed
themselves should not the Shepherds feed
the flock right they didn’t they only
fed themselves and that’s what he is
facing that religious group that are so
full of Venom especially especially then
where there it was passed down Orly and
they like people had to trust their
elders and it was built as a system like
that like they it wasn’t like it really
is different today right like it
doesn’t makes sense um so they’re
nashing their teeth could is there any
chance that the nashing of teeth could
have just been
like it’s a phrase personal like nashing
of teeth could have meant anything I
just like to give it some Flavor Flavor
Flav um but Stephen Full of the Holy
Spirit o look out now he looked up at
heaven and saw the glory of God and
Jesus standing at the right hand of God
I took note of that so there’s a there’s
a witness of
his position of them because and it says
he continues look he said I see Heaven
open and the son of man standing at the
right hand of God yeah um there’s
something about that line that’s
interesting because most of the passages
that speak of Jesus ascending and taking
the right hand of God it talks about him
sitting at his right hand oh and to me
there’s something kind of touching there
because I think Steven’s about to be
stoned on his behalf and he stands
wow yeah oh my
gosh me emotional too yeah I mean that
kills me because that’s the kind of God
you know he’s on the side of those who
uh who love him wow it’s always sitting
except here that’s really special
mhm as this they covered their
ears they covered their ears and yelling
at the top of their voices they all
rushed at him dragged him out of the
city and began to Stone him totally
against the law really yeah they were
they were in under the Juris Prudence of
Rome Rome wouldn’t let you go out and do
that you know that’s why they had Jesus
crucified because only Rome could take
life they broke that here
yeah
covering their
ears yeah
insane meanwhile the witnesses laid
their coats at the feet of a young man
named Saul guess who that is
Paul wait well that was my question what
does that mean the witnesses laid their
coats like he was part of the witness
group and they laid their Coates at his
feet he says later I joined in the
murder of Steven my gosh that’s how Paul
started Paul was a Jew of Jew a Pharisee
of Pharisees taught by G gamiel and he
was vicious toward Christians he hated
them he wanted them dead right that
makes me emotional too
yeah that’s
crazy while they rest stoning him Sten
prayed Lord Jesus receive my spirit then
he fell on his knees and cried out Lord
do not hold this sin against them when
he said this he fell asleep
yeah he just fell over and
just that’s just to prove in the
scripture when it says they’re sleeping
or they fell asleep it’s death oh yeah
he didn’t fall asleep he was killed oh I
assumed like just unconscious or
something but fall asleep means
died yeah there’s one point when Jesus
is talking about Lazarus and he says
Lazarus sleepeth and they said shall we
let him have rest so he gets better and
Jesus said Lazarus is dead yeah people
make big deal out of that and they call
it Soul sleep that you die and your soul
sleeps until the Resurrection comes you
know and it’s made up by Ellen G white
and I think it was Ellen G white who did
it but nevertheless I don’t believe
it well that’s good timing the episode’s
over but stoning of Sten that’s sad I’m
getting sad no sadness this is all the
plan man this is how he reconciled the
world I know but they killed him yeah
but you got Jesus standing up for you
like come on buddy I’m here yeah yeah
that’s that’s the image we have of him
yeah the thing too about him being at
the right hand the thing that changed my
world view on eschatology was the writer
of Hebrews and Paul in First Corinthians
says he would be at his right hand
until there’s a time when that wouldn’t
be anymore Christians today have always
taught that you know Jesus is at the
right hand of the father and you’re
doing something bad and and Satan
accuses you and and God says oh that’s
not good and Jesus says it’s okay Dad
I’ve got them they’re mine that’s this
fiction that they’ve made up but the
reality is the scripture says he was
only there until a certain time and then
God became all in all when he departed
from that right hand side
but that’s a lot to
consider and that’s
at that’s at the at 70 AD yeah yeah okay
when he came out from that right hand
side and returned to his
own and that’s not some sort of death
like we earlier we were talking about a
resurrection only being a resurrection
when they don’t die
again it seems like that that’s a form
of him dying again no he came out ruling
and reigning he died a martyr a lamb he
came back with
blood yeah and he
waged war on those Jews who were so
terrible yeah but again I want to
reiterate to our audience the Jews we
are talking about are the religious
leaders of that religion the people not
so not
anti-semitic very anti-jewish leaders
ship in that
day yeah all right all right that was
great thank that was a great one my
favorite thing about Delaney
watch that was actually formal usually
it’s
this we love you guys write your
questions I don’t get the
bible.com
