Seeing Heaven Open

Acts 6:1-7:60This week our passage is a long one: two whole chapters, including one of the longest chapters of Acts. There is enough material here to last for weeks, but I will focus on the charges against Stephen, Stephen’s God-inspired response, and the temple leaders’ subsequent vile actions. Acts Chapter 6 begins with a seemingly mundane problem: charges of being inequitable with regards to the handing out of food to the needy.

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." – Acts 6:1-4


What was the proposed solution? Delegate! It reminds me of the problem Moses had with too many cases to judge. Jethro, a non-Israelite, give him the same solution: delegate! This is a natural response – even the world does this. Here, though, the qualifications differ from those of the world: the workers must be filled with the Spirit and filled with wisdom. These are people living 100% for God, seeking Him day by day, and because of this, these are people whom God enables to work for Him. The Spirit is from God. The wisdom is from God.

This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. – Acts 6:5-7a

And the problem was solved. One of the people chosen was Stephen, the man Luke focuses on for this and the next chapter. Note how only Stephen is given a descriptive qualification: he was full of faith and the Spirit. The author, Dr. Luke, is drawing attention to him because of what is to come. Luke is telling us that Stephen was a standout among standouts.

An application for us is that we too should be full of faith and the Holy Spirit. How do we do these things? Only by God’s power. We cannot do this by our own strength; prayer and an active faith and trust in God are necessary.

The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. – Acts 6:7b

I think the last part of this verse is especially important to understand what is to follow. Imagine being one of these priests who became a believer. How would it affect you? How would it affect your view of your “job”?

Now, imagine being one of the priests who did not become a believer. How would it affect you to see many of your friends and coworkers coming to faith? How would their actions affect you? What do you think believing priests were now saying about the role of the Temple? What were unbelieving priests hearing and thinking about this?

At this point, we together had a “small group Bible study” together and discussed the following eight passages:

1. Matthew 26:59-61

The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward and declared, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.'" – Matthew 26:59-61

During Jesus’ trial, one of the arguments used against Jesus was the claim that Jesus said He could destroy the temple of God and He could rebuild it in three days. The “claim” isn’t something one would think to be something punishable by death, is it? Claiming to be able to do something is not the same as threatening to do it. And as we shall see, this isn’t exactly what He claimed, anyway. This argument will also come up in Acts.

2. Matthew 27:38-40

Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!" – Matthew 27:38-40

Here it is again! Now it is used as a taunt against Him. They are angry He could dare to make such a claim. (Again, whether that really was His claim is something we will come back to.)

3. John 2:13-22

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me." Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. – John 2:13-22

Now we see the source of this belief. Jesus used a whip to drive the moneychangers out of the temple courts – a brazen act, to be sure. In response to the question of “Who says you can do this?” He says, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” He didn’t say He would destroy it; He said He would raise it.

And there is more here. Destroy which temple? Raise which temple? We will come back to this too.

4. Matthew 27:50-51a

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. – Matthew 27:50-51a

This “curtain” was massive – years in the making, perhaps 40 feet tall, many inches think. It was what protected the people from the Holy of Holies – the very presence of God in the temple. The high priest only entered here once a year, with a rope tied around him to drag him out if his sacrifice was not acceptable (he would be struck dead in this case). To be made acceptable meant that the high priest had purified himself with sacrifices (as prescribed in Scripture) beforehand. Without the Holy of Holies present, the temple just becomes a building like any other.

And this is what happened at the exact moment that Jesus died. The curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. (One can imagine the giant hands of God ripping it down. No human could possibly do this.) So what happened to the presence of God? Gone! The temple may still be standing, but in a very real sense, it has just been destroyed.

Imagine if you were a priest and you saw this happen! Pretty demoralizing! You would likely think, “Now what?” “What are we supposed to do?” In a sense, by killing Jesus, they had just destroyed the temple.

5. Hebrews 7:23-28

Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. – Hebrews 7:23-28

Teachings like this were almost certainly circulating among the early believers, even if they were not yet written down. If you were one of the “other high priests,” what would you think about this? If you were one of the priests who became believers, you might see yourself (rightly so) as in need of a new career. If you were an unbelieving priest, you would see this teaching as dangerously threatening to your way of life.

6. Hebrews 9:11-14

When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! – Hebrews 9:11-14

Again, the teaching in this verse argues against the continued use of Old Testament-type sacrifices. One can see why “a large number of priests” becoming “obedient to the faith” would turn the entire priesthood upside down.

7. Hebrews 9:23-26

It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did He enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not His own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. – Hebrews 9:23-26

He has appeared once for all. This is in contrast to the repeated sacrifices of old. And this passage goes even further and says the old sacrifices were just “copies” or “shadows” of the real thing, Christ.

8. Hebrews 10:10-12

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. – Hebrews 10:10-12

And finally, we have this passage. If Jesus has now “sat down” because His work is finished, what about the work of a priest at the temple?

If you wanted to go see the glory of God, was the temple any longer the place to be? No. Where instead would you find the glory of God? How about among all the new believers? They were being transformed by Christ, inwardly (through the new birth and a new love of God) and outwardly (through healings and other miracles).

In a sense, the old temple really had been destroyed. When Jesus said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up,” did He not mean that His death and resurrection would enable Him to replace the temple with Himself? He is the temple, He is the sacrifice, He is the priest, He is the glory, and He is the fulfillment of everything that the temple and its priests had offered.

This prepares us for the rest of Acts 6-7.

Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. – Acts 6:8-10

God was using Stephen mightily. Miracles and wonders were being done through him.

Now, who was the Synagogue of the Freedmen? According to Philo, a Jewish/Greek philosopher alive at the time of the Book of Acts, the Freedmen, or more literally, the Libertines, were Jews who had been made captives of the Romans but were later set free.

They were zealous for the law and for the traditions of the temple. How do you think they felt when they watched Jerusalem, in their view, literally falling apart? The place was going crazy. They undoubtedly heard some of the teachings about Christ and the temple. They saw large numbers of priests, in their view, abandoning the faith (really entering into genuine faith). Something had to be done!

It says that they could not stand up against the reasoning of Spirit-inspired Stephen. When debating fails, they turned to something else.

Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, "We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God." So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who testified, "This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us." – Acts 6:11-14

Were the charges true, or false? Let’s take them one by one.

Blasphemy against Moses: FALSE.

Blasphemy against God: FALSE.

Speaking against the temple: TRUE.

Speaking against the law: TRUE IN A SENSE.

Jesus will destroy this place: ALREADY DONE.

Changing the customs: TRUE.

All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel. Then the high priest asked him, “Are these charges true?” – Acts 6:15-7:1

What do you think Stephen looked like? We discussed what it might mean to have “the face of an angel.” I at first thought it might reflect peace, joy, hope, love, etc., like the pictures we see of cherubs in the popular culture. But instead it was expressed (and I agree) that more likely it was, to a sinner, a face of judgment and holiness. Angels typically inspired fear when they were seen. And the face of judgment much more accurately reflects the speech Stephen is about to give. In a real sense God is about to speak through Stephen and give a terrible but totally true history lesson about the long-term relationship between God and His people.

Stephen had a perfect opportunity to simply say, “No, the charges aren’t true.” But instead, led by the Holy Spirit, he pulls no punches and gives a blunt history lesson. He weaves into this lesson the charges laid against them and turns them back on his accusers, especially the first two charges, blasphemy against Moses and blasphemy against God.

To this he replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. 'Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you.' "So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. God spoke to him in this way: 'Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,' God said, 'and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place. Then He gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs. – Acts 7:2-8

I have emphasized the phrases above because they seem to me to be the theme of this section. It is about God and what He had done for the early patriarchs. He appeared, He said, He sent, He promised, He spoke, and He gave. The message Stephen is saying is “God has led you!”

"Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace. "Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our fathers could not find food. When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit. On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph's family. After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died. Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money. – Acts 7:9-16

This part of Stephen’s speech starts with “Because the patriarchs were jealous.” This is sin. Yet God continues to lead them. The message is now, “God has led you despite your sins.”

"As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt. He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die. "At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father's house. When he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?' "But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, 'Who made you ruler and judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons. "After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord's voice: 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.' Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look. "Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt. – Acts 7:17-34

I have emphasized two parts that struck me. First, Moses expected his own people to welcome him because God was working through him to rescue them. Yet they rejected their savior. How much more true this is with Jesus! And second, despite all this, God still leads! Stephen’s message (and God’s message through him): “God has led you despite your sins and despite your rejecting His work.”

"This is the same Moses whom they had rejected with the words, 'Who made you ruler and judge?' He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out of Egypt and did wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the desert. "This is that Moses who told the Israelites, 'God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.' He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us. – Acts 7:35-38

There is a strong parallel between Moses and Jesus here! The temple leaders had rejected Jesus with almost the same words. Angels had also appeared to Jesus in the desert. Jesus led them out of slavery and did wonders and miraculous signs. Jesus received living words to pass on to us. And indeed, Jesus was the prophet Moses referred to, one “like” him.

"But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. They told Aaron, 'Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don't know what has happened to him!' That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made. But God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: "'Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?You have lifted up the shrine of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile' beyond Babylon. – Acts 7:39-43

Stephen through God is saying, “I am not the one who has blasphemed Moses and blasphemed God. Your fathers are the ones!” He says that God’s patience has limits. The result of their continued rejection of God was God’s rejection of them through exile. And he is implying the same of them, that they too are rejecting God, and that they too are facing a kind of exile, although he hasn’t yet come out and said it.

"Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. Having received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. 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 the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built the house for him. "However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. 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 where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?' – Acts 7:44-50

Where is “Solomon’s house”? Exactly where Stephen is being accused. But this is not God’s final “resting place.” No place built by man can be such a place. The resting place for God, for the Holy Spirit, is in every believer. We are the new “temple of the living God.” Then Stephen, again, led by and filled by the Holy Spirit, holds nothing back and says:

"You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? 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 put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it." – Acts 7:51-53

The message here is crystal clear. “You reject what God has done! You know what He has done, and yet you reject Him!” They did know! Their veil was still unrepaired. Their Holy of Holies was still empty. God was no longer there.

When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." At this 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. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen 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 had said this, he fell asleep. – Acts 7:54-60

Here were some final thoughts I shared:

1. Be full of faith and the Holy Spirit.

2. Although the temple was physically destroyed in 70 AD, in reality, it was destroyed the moment of Christ’s death on the cross.

3. Christ is our temple, our sacrifice, our high priest, the fulfillment of the law, etc.

4. Like the temple leaders, all unbelievers ultimately reject what they know is true. (Romans 1)

5. Despite this, like Stephen, we should pray for the salvation of even the vilest sinner.

I didn’t want to leave people depressed, focused on Stephen’s bloody death. Where is Stephen now? He has a martyr’s crown. He will enjoy Jesus forever. He served as God’s mouthpiece, as an Old Testament type prophet, proclaiming judgment on the temple leaders. Now his work on earth is done, and he has an eternity of joy and peace and fellowship with God. I am sure he has no regrets. Neither will we, if we follow the leading of His Spirit wherever it takes us.