ST. STEPHEN’S ADDRESS St. Stephen’s address was neither to defend himself, nor the Christian faith, but he found it a convenient opportunity to stand before the chief priest and some rulers and Jewish leaders, to present to them a true Scriptural invitation to enjoy the living faith. He addressed them from the Scripture, as though the Holy Book was open before him. He uttered by the Holy Spirit, to give new concepts for the Scriptures that concern the people of God. Having been a Hellenist Jew, he quoted gospel verses from the Septuagint Version, in a first class preaching address. St. Stephen set the living spiritual Theological foundation for the people of the Church later on. What preoccupied the defender was not to defend the Lord Christ and His Church, because the Lord is capable of defending Himself and His Church, But he bears a spacious heart to reveal the evangelic truth to the oppressors, to make them, together with him, convinced by the glorified work of salvation. St. Stephen presented a magnificent parade of the Old Testament as a whole, to demonstrate that the faith in the Lord Christ is the goal of the law, the prophets, and all the books of the Old Testament. The saint did not address them as an accused defending himself, but as though he was in a position of strength, to let those present reconsider themselves, their concepts, the hardness of their hearts, and their uncircumcised ears, in order not to appear as opponents to the Holy Spirit like their fathers (Acts 7: 51). He invited them to lift themselves up together with him, as though to heaven, to see by a spiritual eye, the law, the prophets, the temple, and all the rites of worship, to see in Jesus Christ, the origin of history, and the source of salvation, so as not to fill up the measure of their fathers, the opponents of the divine truth. If this speech is addressed to the Jewish leaderships, full of hatred toward Jesus the Lord of glory and His Church, it is also indirectly addressed to the believers of Jewish origin, who were still unable to set themselves free of the literality of the law and the Jewish rites. It was a speech that he gave during the last moments of his life on earth, to correct the path of the Church of the circumcised, not to be preoccupied by the letter of the law, and not to be attached to the temple of Jerusalem. 1- The Lord of glory appearing to Abraham in a heathen land 1 – 10 2- Jacob, father of the tribes, going down to Egypt 11 19 3- Moses brought up in Pharaoh’s palace. 20 – 29 4- The burning bush and the holy ground 30 – 36 5- Their fathers’ opposition to Moses 37 – 43 6- The tabernacle of witness in the wilderness 44 – 45 7- God does not dwell in temples made with hands 46 – 50 8- Their fathers persecuted the prophets, and did not keep the law 51 – 53 9- The open heaven 54 – 56 10- The martyrdom of Stephen 57– 60. 1- THE LORD OF GLORY APPEARING TO ABRAHAM IN A HEATHEN LAND “Then the high priest said, ‘Are these things so’” (Acts 7: 1). 319 The high priest demonstrated some kind of justice, in giving the chance to Stephen to defend himself against the accusations directed to him. He probably expected the saint to use that chance to reconsider his thoughts to avoid death by stoning. Caiaphas the high priest, in his authority as the head of the Sanhedrin, asked the accused about the charges directed against him, concerning the destruction of the temple, and the opposition to the law. He probably wished to catch out of his mouth a word that would justify the previous verdict by the Sanhedrin against Jesus, condemning Him to death. He probably wished for something to keep the people from protesting against the crucifixion of Jesus and the stoning of Stephen. The question of the chief priest meant: “Having heard the charges directed against you, Are you guilty or not?" St. Stephen responded by a prolonged defense, characterized by the following: 1- His answer concentrated directly on the points of accusation in a clearly defined way. 2- His defense revealed his deep knowledge of the Scriptures and the Jewish tradition. 3- What he believed in and preached was but a living and a spiritual extension of the path of the fathers, and the history of salvation that goes according to God’s plan, as proclaimed by the fathers and the prophets. 4- Intending to answer their accusations, he paraded their history from the beginning, revealing God’s exalted compassion in His relationship with His people, and how the people reacted to that divine love with persistent denial and murmur along the generations. Having consummated the cup of their evil, they brought themselves down under the fruit of the rebellion, and deprived themselves of God’s mercies. 5- Going through the Holy Books, he clarified that God’s Church or God’s people did not start with the Hebrews or the land of Canaan, but He had faithful believers in other regions before the building of the temple. It is therefore not strange to seek for Himself a people in the world as a whole. “And he said, ‘Men and brethren and fathers, listen: the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran” (Acts 7: 2). Despite the intense hatred they had shown, Stephen showed them great compassion, and addressed them with respect and reverence, yet with no hypocrisy. He spoke to them as one of their own, calling them ‘Brethren and fathers’. Stephen’s address came as a historical record, with a deep Theological concept that bears a testimony to the Lord Christ and His gospel, and not a defense of himself. He divided his defense into three stages: The first stage: The time of the Patriarch [2 to 16]. The second stage: The time of Moses and the prophets [17 to 43]. The third stage: Between the tabernacle and the temple [44 to 50]. In this record, he demonstrated the following facts: 1- God blessed their fathers when they were not in Palestine or Canaan, in particular Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 2- The people of Israel were not bound, throughout history, to worshipping in the temple, until the time of Solomon. 320 3- Even after the temple was built, it did not keep Israel from rebelling against God. It is as though Stephen intended to confirm that there is what is greater than the earthly Canaan, and the temple of Jerusalem; that is, the enjoyment of reconciliation with God, through the promised Messiah. “Men and brethren and fathers”: He addressed the elders of the congregation as brethren, and the priests and the chief priest as fathers. “Listen”: He speaks with the spirit of strength, proclaiming the word of God, to which they should listen. “The God of glory”: so he called God, to confirm that he is no blasphemer as they claimed. He started by the call to Abraham to get out of Ur the land of the Chaldeans, to be dedicated to God, qualified to gain the divine promises and to become a father of men of the Old Testament. “When he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran”: as God wishes to encounter the believers wherever they are. He did not appear to Abraham in Jerusalem, in the tabernacle, or in the temple, but in Mesopotamia, in Ur of the Chaldeans (Gen 15: 7, 11: 31-32; Neh 9: 7). Here he calls God “The God of glory”. If Moses’ face shone through the reflection of God’s glory on it, The God of glory also shone on Abraham, the father of fathers, before the provision of the law, in a heathen land. He then shone with His glory on Moses the Recipient of the law, and then, it shone on Stephen in the era of grace. God is as He always is, yesterday, today, and forever, who desires to shine with His glory in all eras, and on all mankind. He does not limit Himself to a certain place or to a certain people. "Both the temple was not, and sacrifice was not, and yet a vision of God was vouchsafed to Abraham, and yet had he Persians for his ancestors, and was in a strange land. And he does well at the beginning of his speech to call Him, "the God of glory:" seeing that He has made them that are without honor to be glorious. "Because" (says he) "it was He that made them glorious, He will make us also." Observe how he leads them away from things of the body, from the place, in the first instance, as the place was in question. "The God of glory," says he: implying again, that He needs not the glory which comes from us, which comes by the Temple: for Himself is the Fountain thereof. Think not, he would say, in this way to glorify Him"1. St. John Chrysostom God’s call to Abraham came when he was among the heathens in Ur of the Chaldeans before departing to the Promised Land. The divine call was to go first to Haran, to dwell for some time, and from there to go to Canaan or Palestine. He did not say “He came to this land in which you now dwell”, but said,” And from there, He moved him to this land”, As though God set forth, carrying him on His arms, from Haran to the Promised Land. It was a divine gift and a divine promise executed by God Himself. God, who carried Abraham to this land, because of his practical faith and obedience, is He, who expels now his children through their lack of faith and their rebellion. Stephen, as a son of Abraham, by faith enjoyed the heavenly Canaan, whereas 1Hom. On Acts. Hom. 15. 321 the opponents of faith would be expelled from the earthly Canaan, as well as the heavenly one, even though they considered themselves children of Abraham. “And said to him, ‘Get out of your country and your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you” (Acts 7: 3). Abraham presented the strongest example of faith (Heb 11: 8-9), a living portrait of the simplicity of trust in God. If Abraham, in faith, got out of his country, his relatives, and his fathers house, to set forth to somewhere of which he knew nothing, It was fitting for the children of Abraham not to connect to a temporal thing in a literal way, as for instance the flesh reference to Abraham, the practice of Jewish customs, or being proud of the building of the temple. Abraham got out to go to some land he knew nothing about its nature, nor the nature of its inhabitants, with no army or weapons to support him, other than “the divine promise”. St. Stephen used God’s call to Abraham to obey Him, and to get out of his land, his relatives, and his father’s house, as though to say to them, ‘You are not like your father Abraham, as instead of obedience, “you resist the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7: 51). “Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell” (Acts 7: 4). If God has called Abraham, the father of believers, to get out from Ur of the Chaldeans “Mesopotamia” to Haran, then to Canaan, And Abraham was obedient to God’s call, It is fitting for us not to hold fast to a certain land, but to submit ourselves to God, our leader, to move us wherever He will, and not according to our human mind. It is fitting for us, as children of Abraham, to enter into a covenant with God, to soar up, together with Him, above the world and to live by faith in obedience to God, to enjoy the encounter with the God of glory. The saint showed that Abraham did not move from Haran to the Promised Land, before the death of his father in Haran, as though Abraham’s movements were not according to those of his family, but according to God’s plan concerning him personally. It is as though Stephen was calling them as well to move, not according to what their fathers gained, I.E., their connection to Canaan, but according to God’s plan for salvation in the whole world. Abraham was an obedient tool in God’s hand. He moved him “to this land in which you dwell”. He did not say, ‘the land that you possessed or inherited. For having killed the Son of the Owner of the vine, the only true Heir, they became prone to expulsion from the vine that it would be given to the believers of the New Testament, as the Lord Christ has already proclaimed. “And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him” (Acts 7: 5). It is not counted as blasphemy, if the Lord Christ proclaimed the destruction of this location, to lead us to the heavenly Canaan, But it is a divine movement, as a consummation of His plan in moving Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans to Haran, then to Canaan, bringing his descendants under bondage in the land of Egypt, then calling them to go to Canaan. Now, the Savior commands us to get away from the literal connection to Canaan, to cross over to the heavenly Canaan. 322 Abraham lived a sojourner, as though he had no permanent place to dwell and settle down. He possessed nothing but a burial place, the price of which he insisted on paying, to bury in it his wife Sarah (Gen. 23) that he purchased by his own money and did not get through a promise from God, yet God gave him favor in the sight of the sons of Heth. Because his descendants inherited the land, it was counted as his possession, as what the son gets, the loving father counts as though enjoyed by him personally. Although he got the promise that his descendants would inherit it, when he was an old man, with a barren wife, he believed that promise, that was eventually completely realized. Abraham’s blessing was not that the land promised would be the inheritance of his descendants, but in the divine promise itself. Abraham did not get in the land of Canaan, even enough to set his foot on, but he was promised to possess it, and his descendants after him. Abraham got it by faith and gave it to his son Isaac, whom he offered a sacrifice to God. The inheritance was based upon faith, like that of Abraham, and by the giving obedience to God, like that of Isaac. It was a conditional inheritance: “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land, But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isa 1: 20). "See how he raises their thoughts away from (their possession of) the land. For he (Abraham) came, having left both kindred and country. Wherefore then did He not give it to him? Truly it was a figure of another land"1. St. John Chrysostom “But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would sojourn in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years” (Acts 7: 6). For Abraham’s descendants to enjoy the inheritance, they first had to endure sojourning, and experience bondage, in order to long for freedom, and know the value of the free inheritance. Stephen reminds them of the sojourn of Abraham’s descendants four centuries in the land of Egypt, before their exodus to the wilderness, to head toward the Promised Land. He mentioned 400 years as an approximation to 430, as it came in (Gal 3: 17). God’s plan for salvation seems slow and not hastened, having left the descendants of Jacob 400 years in their sojourn in the land of Egypt, yet it was intact, secure, and sure. The scholar Tertullian believes that the law delivered to Moses was God’s law that was there before Moses, and that it opens the gate of faith before the Gentiles, having prophesied it. "Whence we understand that God's law was anterior even to Moses, and was not first (given) in Horeb, nor in Sinai and in the desert, but was more ancient; (existing) first in paradise, subsequently reformed for the patriarchs, and so again for the Jews, at definite periods"2. The Scholar Tertullian 1Hom. On Acts. Hom. 15. 2 Answer to the Jews, 2. 323 “And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge, said God, And after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place” (Acts 7: 7). God allowed for Abraham’s descendants to be brought into bondage to enjoy the inheritance. Pharaoh and his army, who exalted himself above God and His people, would fall under judgment and perdition; whereas, the people of God would come out to worship God. "He, the same that promised, He that gave the land, first permits the evils. So also now, though He has promised a Kingdom, yet He suffers us to be exercised in temptations. If here the freedom was not to be till after four hundred years, what wonder, with regard to the Kingdom? Yet he performed it, and lapse of time availed not to falsify His word"1. "That God is rich in ways and means to bring us up from hence. For this above all showed the riches of God's resources, that in its very reverses (apostrofh) the nation increased, while enslaved, while evil-entreated, and sought to be exterminated. And this is the greatness of the Promise. For had it increased in its own land, it had not been so wonderful. And besides, it was not for a short time, either, that they were in the strange land: but for four hundred years. Hence we learn a (great lesson) of philosophic endurance (filosofian):-they did not treat them as masters use slaves, but as enemies and tyrants-and he foretold that they should be set in great liberty: for this is the meaning of that expression, “They shall come out and serve Me in this place” "2. St. John Chrysostom “Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision, and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs” (Acts 7: 8). If the Jews accused St. Stephen of blasphemy against God and Moses, and of the intention to change their customs, their father Abraham got the divine promise even before getting the commandment of circumcision, considered by the Jews to be the backbone of the Jewish customs. Abraham was justified by faith, even before he was circumcised. God gave Abraham no other commandment, except “the covenant of circumcision”. Although we hear nothing about one for keeping the Sabbath, the statutes of purification, or about setting a special sanctuary for God “a tabernacle of meeting or a temple”, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were counted as God’s beloved. Even after their departure, the name of God remained “God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob”. Thus, St. Stephen intended to draw their hearts to the divine commandment or the divine covenant, which is the circumcision of the heart and the ears. “And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him”. (Acts 7: 9). St. Stephen tells them that what they embraced of evil jealousy and envy was not something new, but is as old as man himself. At the beginning of the creation of man, death came to Adam and Eve by the envy of the devil. With the beginning of setting the people of God, the patriarchs, the sons of Jacob delivered their brother Joseph through envy. When our Lord Jesus Christ came the rulers delivered Him to death through envy. 1Hom. On Acts. Hom. 16. 2Hom. On Acts. Hom. 16. 324 And then, St. Stephen stood before the Sanhedrin, the grandchildren of the Patriarchs, seeking his death through envy. Beloved brother, Your envy against what is good, and your jealousy against those who are better than you may probably seem to some as something of little or of no value, and not a big deal. Taking it lightly makes this dark and hidden harm difficult to avoid. Not realizing that it should be avoided by a prudent man makes it infiltrate secretly into the unaware mind, and make it distorted. The Lord commanded us to be prudent, and to watch carefully, lest this enemy, always vigilant, would infiltrate into our hearts, ignite fires out of sparks, and make the little matters big. While we carelessly breathe the soft and gentle breeze, storms and hurricanes blow, to corrupt faith, and to destroy salvation and life. That is why, beloved brother, we should be careful, armed with strength, and prudently vigilant, to drive out the violent enemy that aims his arrows to every exposed and vulnerable part of our body, according to the warning of the apostle Peter: “Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet 5: 8). In all examples, harm would come to the envious, but God would be with the one whom he envies. If man looks carefully to the (arrows of envy), he would find out that there is nothing worse than being taken captive by envy. Whoever falls into the hidden traps of that evil enemy would go from envy to hatred, to unconsciously perish by his own sword. When the extremities are wounded by the sword, the harm would be limited, and the danger simple. Healing would be possible as long as the wound is visible, and the medication applied. A seen ulcer is easy to cure, while the wounds of the envious are invisible and incurable. They embrace pains deeply hidden inside the depths of the conscience. Since the beginning of creation, Satan was the first to bring perdition upon himself and others. He was broken by jealousy, envy, and hatred, he who, in his previous angelic greatness, was once accepted and beloved by God. He did not shoot the others with the instinct of jealousy, before shooting himself with it; with captivity, before getting himself captivated; and with destruction, before being destroyed himself. Through enticing man with envy, he led him to loosing the grace of eternity granted to him, after he himself (Satan) had already lost his. What a great evil, O beloved brethren! Envy has caused the angel to fall, and wiped out a great and splendid glory. By which he deceived others, he had been deceived. Martyr Cyprian “And delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house” (Acts 7: 10). While the patriarchs of the tribes sold their brother as a slave to get rid of him, God delivered him out of all his troubles, gave him grace and wisdom, and granted him glory in the land of Egypt. The (rulers’) opposition did not shake Joseph’s person, but turned out for his glory. It is as though Stephen was warning them against opposing him in the divine truth, as that would certainly end up to the glory to God, and that of His faithful servant. 325 "And he shows, that the saints were not exempt from tribulation, but that in their very tribulations they obtained help. Just as these made Joseph the more glorious: just as the king did Moses, by ordering the children to be killed: since had he not ordered, this would not have been: just as also that drives Moses into exile, that there he may have the Vision, having become worthy. Thus also him, who was sold for a slave, makes He to reign as king there, where he was thought to be a slave. Thus also does Christ in His death give proof of His power: thus also does He there reign as king where they sold Him"1. St. John Chrysostom What Joseph enjoyed was but a free gift from God, having been granted favor in the sight of many, as well as the wisdom, to interpret the dreams of those in the prison and of Pharaoh (Gen 41). 2- JACOB, FATHER OF THE TRIBES, GOING DOWN TO EGYPT “Now a famine and great trouble came over the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance” (Acts 7: 11). Famine came over the land of Egypt and Canaan (Gen 41: 54), And Jacob, the eleven patriarchs and their families in Canaan were not saved by being in that location (Canaan), but were saved by God through Joseph, who was in Egypt. “And when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first” (Acts 7: 12). Notice the wisdom of St. Stephen, as he calls the eleven sons of Jacob, “our fathers”, counting the patriarchs as fathers of the Christian believers. On the other hand, by reciting a history that the prophet Moses had included in his books of the law, he confirms his acceptance of these books, and his confidence in what Moses wrote with the inspiration of God. “And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh” (Acts 7: 13). The second time, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers (Gen. 45.4), and introduced them to Pharaoh (Gen 45: 16). “Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people” (Acts 7: 14). St. John Chrysostom believes that what the fathers of the tribes had done with their brother Joseph was a symbolic prophecy of what was realized concerning the Lord Christ by the Sanhedrin. Joseph bore for his brothers friendship and care; even after their envy and selling him as a slave, He did not forsake them, but introduced them to Pharaoh and helped them. What a marvelous portrait of pure love, presented by St. Stephen, as though he is proclaiming to his adversaries that despite what they did to the Lord Christ and His apostles after His ascension, the Lord and His Church stay on loving them, and presenting to them the better life. Although Joseph was not in the Promised Land, but in Egypt, God was with him, and delivered him out of all his troubles (Acts 7: 10-11). He even turned those troubles into glory, making him governor over all Egypt, and over the house of Pharaoh. He delivered him from bondage, for the benefit of his brothers, and granted him freedom and glory of the highest level. 1Hom. On Acts. Hom. 16. 326 Stephen followed the Septuagint Version, when he quoted the number of people as 75, while it came in the Hebrew version as 70 (Gen 46: 26; Exod 1: 5; Deut 10: 22). Some believe that the number of Joseph’s family who came to Egypt was 66 (Gen. 46: 26), and when Joseph’s family in Egypt (9 persons) were added to them, the number became 75 (Gen. 46: 27),. "let them learn that it is customary for Holy Scripture to imply the whole by the part. For He that said, “Every body will come before you” does not mean that the flesh will be presented before the Judge apart from the souls: and when we read in sacred History that Jacob went down into Egypt with seventy-five souls (Acts7: 14)we understand the flesh also to be intended together with the souls. So, then, the Word, when He became flesh (john1: 19), took with the flesh the whole of human nature"1. St. Gregory of Nyssa “And Jacob went down to Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers” (Acts 7: 15). Before the children of Israel came out of Egypt, setting forth to the land of Canaan, all the sons of Jacob were dead. “And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem” (Acts 7: 16). Jacob was buried in the field of Machpelah by Joseph and his brothers. As to the bones of Joseph, they were carried by the Israelites to the land of Canaan, according to his will and were buried in Shechem (Gen 50: 25; Josh 24: 32). The Old Testament did not refer to carrying the bones of any father, other than those of Joseph, Yet the probability is there, that just as the descendants of Joseph carried the bones of their father, the descendants of the other fathers might have done the same. The Historian Josephus2 says that the descendants of Joseph’s brothers, along the years, carried their bones and buried them in Hebron; whereas, those of Joseph were later on carried to the land of Canaan. Several Jewish authors adopted this view that the fathers of the tribes were buried in Hebron, while others believe that they were buried in Shechem. Anyhow, the Old Testament does not refer to anything against what St. Stephen said. As Shechem, in the days of St. Stephen was under the authority of the Samaritans, that might be the reason why many Jewish authors refer to the burial of their fathers’ bones in Hebron, to deprive the Samaritans of their claim that they were in their hands. Anyway, the listeners to St. Stephen did not contradict his words. Shechem was a town or village near Samaria, also called ‘Sychar’ (John 4: 5), and Sychem. Now it is called Napolos or Naplous, ten miles away from Shiloh, and forty miles north of Jerusalem. All that Abraham, the father of the patriarchs, or Jacob (Israel), the father of the tribes gained was a small plot of land as a burial place. Neither of them had his heart on the inheritance of that spacious and fertile land. Who purchased the land in Shechem? In (Gen 33: 19; Josh 24: 32), it came that Jacob, and not Abraham, was the one who purchased that land from the children of Hamor, the sons of Shechem. On the other hand, Abraham purchased the land in Machepelah from the sons of Heth (Gen 23). Some 1 against Eunomius, 2.13. 2 Antiq. 2.8.2. 327 believe that the word ‘Our father’ was misunderstood and replaced by ‘Abraham’, when it actually meant ‘Jacob’. “But when the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt” (Acts 7: 17). As the time of salvation drew near, God allowed for His people to grow in the midst of affliction in the land of Egypt. Those years were not wasted; and they were not an obstacle on the way of the realization of the divine promise. Affliction was rather the fitting atmosphere for the exodus, and the enjoyment of the divine promise. The realization of promises is always connected to the times of affliction. Here, St. Stephen proclaims his true Scripture insight, that the suffering of the Church of the New Testament caused by the Jews is actually the healthy atmosphere for her to grow and flourish, spiritually and in number. The shepherds stayed in the land of Goshen east of the Nile Delta, with fertile pasture and numerous Nile tributaries, while the rest of the children of Israel spread all over Egypt, got mixed with all the centers of business, and acquired experience in every profession. They lived four centuries in the midst of the most advanced civilization of the world at that time that was probably superior to the civilization of the present day. They studied science, literature, wisdom, economics, medicine, astronomy, engineering, languages, etc. They grew immensely, and multiplied, counted Egypt as their own home that when Pharaoh brought them into bondage, they were reluctant to leave Egypt under the leadership of Moses. And when they did leave, they tried several times to return; and in the days of the prophet Jeremiah, they carried him by force, and went back to Egypt. St. Stephen spoke about the amazing work of God, who transformed, within a little time, a family of 75 individuals into such a great nation, with 600, 000 man of war. Thus, God realized His promise to Abraham. “Till another king arose who did not know Joseph” (Acts 7: 18). Although the children of Israel greatly multiplied in number and strength, they did not think of leaving Egypt, where they settled down and felt well established. That is why God allowed for a new king to arise, who did not follow the lead of his ancestors, in dealing well with the Israelites. God allowed for his appearance, to let the Israelites feel unsettled enough in Egypt, to leave it and go to the land that God promised to be inherited by the descendants of Abraham. Now, the time came to realize the divine promise.Some believe that that Pharaoh was Ramses, the fifth king of the eighteenth Dynasty, and that it happened about the year 1559 BC. Whereas M. Champollion1, believes that the name of that king was Mandonei, who reigned from 1585 to 1565 BC. And G. Wilkinson2 believes that he was Amosis or Ames, the first king of the eighteenth Dynasty. Prof. Hackett, on the other hand, believes that our knowledge of the history of ancient Egypt is not accurate enough to reach a definite decision concerning that issue3. “This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose (abandon) their babies, so that they might not live” (Acts 7: 19). 1 Essay on Hieroglyphic System. 2Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. 1. P, 42, 2nd edition. 3 Barnes Notes on Acts 7.18. 328 God allowed for another king to arise (Ramses the second, in 1292-1225 BC), who persecuted the Hebrews, and deprived them of the pots of meat, and the luxuries of Egypt, which, according to him, they devoured. God was actually preparing for their salvation, and the enjoyment of the Promised Land. The exodus took place during the reign of Pharaoh Memoptah (1225-1215 BC). Seeing the Hebrews' immense growth, the Egyptians added to their burdens, and here St. Stephen notices three things: 1- The mean attitude of the new king, who disregarded the valuable contributions of Joseph to the welfare of Egypt. 2- His devilish and violent policy, “He dealt treacherously with our people”. 3- His merciless planning of having all the male babies killed. In all this, St. Stephen’s intention was to show them that their entrance into the Promised Land was not of their own making or that of their fathers, but was a free gift from God, God of the impossible, according to His grace, and not to their worthiness. He probably also intended to demonstrate to them that history repeats itself. As the plans of the Egyptians to destroy them failed miserably, and Israel ended up enjoying the freedom and the inheritance of the Promised Land; then, they were practicing what the Egyptians have previously done, and with the same spirit, assuming that they were capable of destroying the Church of Christ; Whereas God, God of the impossible, remains working among His believers, to grant them the eternal inheritance, the heavenly Canaan. 3- Moses brought up in Pharaoh's palace “At that time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God, and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months” (Acts 7: 20). As the persecution reached its climax, Moses was born. He, who was himself, in danger of getting killed while an infant, was sent by God to be a savior for his people. When the calamity seemed hopeless to solve, Moses was born amid that pitch darkness, sanctified while still in his mother’s womb, born with a shining face, and was very beautiful in the sight of God, and in the sight of Pharaoh’s daughter. St. John Chrysostom comments on how helpless man can be, Moses’ parents, kept him for three months, then helplessly cast him in the river. "But when man's help was despaired of, and they cast him forth, then did God's benefit shine forth conspicuous"1. "This is the wonder, that he who is to be their champion, is born, neither after nor before, these things, but in the very midst of the storm"2. St. John Chrysostom “But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away, and brought him up as her own son” (Acts 7: 21). Pharaoh’s plan was such a success, that the compassionate Israeli mothers were casting their babies to death by their own hands. God blessed him while in his mother’s womb with a great beauty, blessed him while an infant with his parents’ care, then when they helplessly cast him into the river, 1Hom. On Acts. Hom. 16. 2Hom. On Acts. Hom. 16. 329 he blessed him with the unexpected care in the house of Pharaoh, the bitter opponent of God and His people. “He was well pleasing to God”, And according to the Greek version, he was ‘beautiful before God’, or was ‘beautiful by God’, a Hebrew expression, meaning that his face had a mystic divine touch that made his parents disobey the king’s command (Heb 11: 23). He was, according to the Historian Josephus, a divine looking child1. Philo also described him: since his birth, Moses was more beautiful than other humans2. Therefore, when Pharaoh's daughter picked him from the water; she took him and brought him up as her own son. "Not a word of Temple, not a word of Sacrifice, while all these Providences are taking place. And he was nourished in a barbarian house"3. St. Chrysostom In his work ‘The life of Moses’, St. Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, presents Moses’ personality, life, and works, as a symbol of the work of the Lord Christ in the human soul, and her enjoyment of His amazing salvation. St. Gregory sees in the well educated heathen barren daughter of Pharaoh a symbol of the temporal philosophies and philosophers who work hard, as though in labor, only to give birth to wind, and never to the knowledge of God. Although Moses was brought up as a son to the daughter of Pharaoh, he was nourished on the milk of his own mother, the milk of the Church By which the soul flourishes, grows, and enjoys the means to ascend to the highest4. “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds” (Acts 7: 22). The knowledge of the Egyptians used to concentrate on Astrology, Interpretation of dreams, Medicine, Mathematics, and religion. The old world used to draw from the flood of knowledge: wisdom, and philosophy of the Egyptians that went from Egypt to Phoenicia, then to Greece. Many Greek Philosophers came to Egypt for the sake of that knowledge5. “Mighty in words”: Although Moses admitted before God that he was slow of speech and slow of tongue (Exod 4: 10), to say that he was “mighty in words” means that he could connect with Pharaoh ( through his brother Aaron) (Exod 4: 11-16). “Mighty in words": this is not mentioned in the books of the Old Testament, but quoted by St. Stephen from the Jewish tradition, describing the extent of knowledge that Moses acquired during his life in Pharaoh’s palace. Through that scientific knowledge, he probably became capable of having an active role in establishing the tabernacle of meeting with its elaborate designs. His knowledge was adorned by God’s work in his life, to become “very humble, more so than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Num 12: 3). God led him to the wilderness, to make him acquire the spirit of compassionate care in its environment. Through the wisdom of the Egyptians, he learned how to write, as well as how to keep the transcripts from damage. Several scholars believe that he set the basis of the Hebrew writing with all its grammar. Concerning him being “mighty in 1 Antiq. 2.9.7. 2 Vita Moys. 1.9. 3Hom. On Acts. Hom. 16. 4 Vita Moys. 12. 5 Barnes’ on Acts 7.22; Rawlinson’ Herodotus, vol. 2, p, 80-81; Herodotus, 2, p. 50-51. 330 deeds”, some refer to the fact that he had led a victorious Egyptian attack against Ethiopia, came back with captives, and became a legend in both peace and war. Not forgetting the God of his fathers, Moses, in spite of becoming a great scholar, did not follow the lead of the Egyptian sorcerers, but realized that all their work was the product of satanic deceit. “Mighty in words and mighty in deeds”: probably means that he became like a prime minister of Egypt, speaking with authority, and translated his words into effect. In St. Stephen’s mind, what Moses enjoyed was through a divine plan that made him one with authority. The same thing happened to Stephen himself, who became one with authority through the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in him. Although he was brought up in an atmosphere of royalty, with all its splendor and glory, and “was learned with all the wisdom of the Egyptians (Acts 7: 22), when he reached the age of maturity and became great, “he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin” (Heb 11: 25) 1. St. Makarius the Great "Having reached the proper age, he was taught arithmetic, geometry, poetry, harmony, and besides, medicine and music, by those that excelled in these arts among the Egyptians; and besides, the philosophy which is conveyed by symbols, which they point out in the hieroglyphical inscriptions. The rest of the usual course of instruction, Greeks taught him in Egypt as a royal child, as Philo says in his life of Moses. He learned, besides, the literature of the Egyptians, and the knowledge of the heavenly bodies from the Chaldeans and the Egyptians; And Eupolemus, in his book On the Kings in Judea, says that "Moses was the first wise man, and the first that imparted grammar to the Jews, that the Phoenicians received it from the Jews, and the Greeks from the Phoenicians"2. St. Clement of Alexandria "Moses, learned as he was in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, did not approve of those things, but thought that kind of wisdom both harmful and foolish. Turning away there from, he sought God with all the desire of his heart, and thus saw, questioned, heard Him when He spoke" (Exod3: 4)3. St. Ambrose "We must learn from God what we are to think of God; we have no source of knowledge but Himself. You may be as carefully trained as you will in secular philosophy; you may have lived a life of righteousness. All this will contribute to your mental satisfaction, but it will not help you to know God. Moses was adopted as the son of the queen, and instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; he had, moreover, out of loyalty to his race avenged the wrong of the Hebrew by slaying the Egyptian and yet he knew not the God Who had blessed his fathers"4. St. Hilary of Poitier 1Hom. 9.14. 2 Stromata 1.23. 3Duties of the Clergy, 1.26. 4 on the Trinity, 5.21. 331 “But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel” (Acts 7: 23). His age, when he thought of visiting his brethren, was not mentioned in the books of the Old Testament, but was quoted by St. Stephen from the Jewish tradition. Moses growing up, mighty in words and deeds, thought that, by his own capabilities and talents, he could visit his brethren in their humility. He probably thought of leading a military campaign against the oppressors of his people, to confirm their rights by force. But did he assume that he could do that inside the land of Egypt, or would have to lead the people to the Promised Land? Some believe that Pharaoh sought to kill Moses, not because he killed an Egyptian, as that in itself was of no importance to him, but this event came to confirm, in Pharaoh’s mind, and among those in the royal court, that Moses had begun to plan a secret movement to the account of the Hebrews against Egypt. Moses lived in Pharaoh’s palace, as an Egyptian, and had no connection to his people, but his heart, thought, and all his depths were with them, moaning with their moaning, and longing to see them free. “And seeing that one of them suffered wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian” (Acts 7: 24). The Egyptian probably was violently striking the Hebrew, and could have killed him. St. Gregory of Nyssa sees in the heathen Egyptian a symbol of the corrupt teachings, and in the religious Jew, on the other hand, a symbol of the teachings of the fathers, with every sort of animosity between them. He says: The war between the Egyptian and the Hebrew is like that between paganism and the true religion, between looseliness and righteousness, between arrogance and humility, and between everything and its contrary. Moses, by his example, teaches us to stand up for virtue, as though for a relative of ours, and to kill the enemy of virtue (evil). Standing up for what is right is like death and destruction to paganism. Righteousness kills oppression, and humility slays haughtiness1. “For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand” (Acts 7: 25). Although this was not mentioned in the books of the Old Testament, what St. Stephen mentioned was something acceptable. When Moses stood for the Hebrew against the Egyptian, he assumed that what he did was inspired by God Himself, to save his people, and expected that the people would appreciate it, and would realize that although he was brought up in Pharaoh’s palace, he was a true Israelite. “And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another? But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us” (Acts 7: 26-27). Appeared the next day (Exodus 2:13) suddenly and unexpectedly for two were fighting Hebrews, has urged them to find reconciliation and peace between them. Speaking about the face of the person at fault, saying that he is struggling against him is his brother. 1 Vita Moys. 14, 15. 332 When Moses asked the oppressor to take into consideration that they were brethren, he, not only rejected the reconciliation, but threatened Moses as well. It is very difficult for the wrong and ignorant party to reconsider his position and to admit that he is wrong. This is what led God, Himself, to initiate love, and consummate salvation, by delivering His only-begotten Son, in the hope that sinners might probably come in touch with the divine love, as they, on their side, were not seeking reconciliation with God. It is not strange for the oppressor to confront Moses, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?” As this is only a natural reaction, to come from the heart and thought of an evil person, toward him who tries to provoke him toward reconciliation and peace. “Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday” (Acts 7: 28). Who told him about what happened the day before? Most probably, the one rescued told his relatives; and instead of extending a word of gratitude or encouragement to the one who sought their salvation, Moses found opposition and threats. May no one expect a word of commendation or encouragement from those he ministers, as one should work to the account of God’s kingdom, without expecting any temporal reward, big or small. "Then again he shows how ungrateful they were to their benefactor. For, just as in the former instance, they were saved by the injured Joseph, so here again they were saved by another injured person, I mean, Moses. In intention they did kill, as did the others in the former case. There, they sold out of their own into a strange land: here, they drive from one strange land into another strange land: in the former case, one in the act of bringing them food; in this, one in the act See the plotted-against eventually becoming the authors of salvation to those plotting against them: the people, plotting against itself, and itself plotted against by others; and for all this, saved! A famine and it did not consume them: nor was this all: but they were saved by means of the very person, whom they had expected to be destroyed (by their means). A royal edict, and it did not consume them: nay then most did their number increase, when he was dead "who knew" them. Their own Savior they wished to kill, but for all that, they had not power to do it. Do you observe, that by the means whereby the devil tried to bring to naught the promise of God, by those very means it was advanced?" 1. St. John Chrysostom “Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he had two sons” (Acts 7: 29). What Moses expected was not far from the truth; he expected the news to reach the hearing of Pharaoh, who would seek to kill him, and that was what actually happened. Moses fled to the land of Midian, a desert land north-west of Arabia. There he married Zipporah, the daughter of Reuel (Exod 2: 18) or Jethro (Exod 3: 1; Num 10: 29), the priest of Midian. Zipporah begat from him two sons: Gershom and Eliezar (Exod 18: 3, 4). St. Stephen concentrates on the subject of sojourning, which he mentioned when he spoke about Abraham, whose descendants were said to be sojourners. And here, because Moses sojourned in the land of Midian, he called his son ‘Gershom’, saying, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land” (Exod 2: 21, 22). 1Hom. On Acts. Hom. 16. 333 Feeling of sojourning accompanied Moses all the days of his life: He was born in Egypt, away from his home land of Canaan; he was brought up in Pharaoh’s house, away from his parents; he fled to Midian to live as a sojourner for forty years; and he finally, he set forth to the wilderness, where together with his people, they sojourned for forty years. After all that, he was not allowed to enter into the Promised Land. 4- THE BURNING BUSH AND THE HOLY LAND “And when forty years had passed, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai” (Acts 7: 30). Then, the story of Exodus began, when Moses was in his weakest condition, as a sojourner, a fugitive from the face of Pharaoh; here, heaven proclaimed its intention for salvation, Jehovah appeared in a flame of fire in a bush, came down to sanctify the earth, and to lead His people to Canaan. It is the episode of the divine incarnation, when the Virgin Mary conceived in her womb the fire of Deity, and when the Lord Christ led humanity to the heavenly Canaan, liberating it from the bondage of the devil. Here, and for the second time, Stephen clarifies that the appearance of God to His believers is not bound to Jerusalem, As He appeared to Abraham in Mezopotamia, He appeared to Moses on the Mount of Sinai. The land became holy by the dwelling of God, not in the temple of Solomon, or in the holy of holies, but on the Mount of Sinai. Thus, Stephen provokes his listeners against bigotry to the Promised Land, to the city of Jerusalem, and to the temple, as God wishes to make the whole world holy. Having lived forty years in Egypt, Moses set forth to the wilderness of Midian, where he spent another forty years, shepherding the flocks of Jethro. Whereas John the Baptist came to the wilderness as an infant, He, about whom was said: “Among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist” (Matt 11: 11), and about whom the prophet says, “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face” (Mal 3: 1; Matt 11: 10), has been worthy of a greater education1. Scholar Origen Moses forsook the royal dignity by his own choice, as though it was like some dust he was wiping out from his feet (Heb 11: 24-26). He separated himself from human society for forty years, lived an isolated life, concentrating his sight on “seeing Him who is invisible” (Heb 11: 27), to get enlightened by an unutterable light, and to liberate the lower reaches of his soul from the dead garment made of skin2. St. Gregory of Nyssa St. Gregory of Nyssa sees in the setting forth by Moses to the wilderness, where he lived for forty years, as a shepherd of sheep, a symbol of the setting forth by the soul to a life of silence, to shepherd her inner intentions as a flock, the way Moses did: The same way, we can lead a life of loneliness, to fall no more into the traps of enemies, or to exist among them, but to live among those who are like us in intentions and thoughts, to shepherd all the movements of our souls, like sheep, and to nurture them by the will of the pure mind3. “When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight, and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him” (Acts 7: 31). 1Homilies on Luke. Hom. 10.7. 2 on the Inscriptions of the Psalms, 1.7.52. 3 Vits Moys. 18. 334 Moses marveled at the amazing sight that bore a living portrait of the incarnation of the Word of God, when humanity was not consumed by the fire of the unapproachable Deity. That sight also represents the Church of God, in both the Old and the new testaments. As Israel in the Old Testament has been in the midst of the fire of persecution in Egypt, and was not consumed, for God sent to them Moses, the symbol of the Lord Christ, as a Savior; So also the Church of the New Testament shall remain in the midst of tribulations, which is incapable of consuming her. That sight also refers to St. Mary, who, bearing the Word of God, the consuming fire in her womb, was not consumed, having been sanctified by His Holy Spirit, and prepared for the dwelling of the Word in her, and for receiving a body from her. The prophet did not see the divine Essence, but saw the bush burning with fire, a symbol of the divine incarnation, yet he heard the voice of God, and recognized it. “Saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’, and Moses trembled and dared not look” (Acts 7: 32). God addressed Moses, “I am the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”, as though He took Moses’ memory back to the divine promise to those fathers beloved to Him. Moses trembled, not daring to lift up his eyes to look at the scene. It is as though God was proclaiming to Moses, “As I am the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the Grantor of the promises, and the covenants to them, I am the God who sets His promise with you. The death of those fathers did not invalidate that covenant, as although they were dead, I am alive, and can restore them to life. In My sight, they are not dead but living.” The ground became holy, qualified to worship God on it, and not to tread on it with the sandals. Moses enjoyed worshipping by Spirit and truth, not by the literacy and formalities of worship. Moses trembled and did not dare to look at the scene, as he realized that the Speaker was the Lord, the Grantor of the promises to his fathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses enjoyed the voice of the Lord, and realized that through it, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would realize His promises. St. Stephen was accused of blaspheming against God and Moses (Acts 6: 11), because the Jews almost worshipped Moses like God, with all respect and reverence to the prophet Moses. He reveals here that he was only human, unable to look even to the burning bush, and trembled when he heard the divine voice. He submitted to sufferings, especially to fear, when the glory of God was transfigured, and his splendor was revealed before him. St. Gregory of Nyssa sees in the burning bush the shining of the divine light upon us, through the incarnation of the Word, who became flesh, to cast His light upon mankind. He also says: So as not to assume that that light did not come from some matter, it did not shine from one of the stars, but from an earthly bush; and its splendor surpassed all the heavenly stars. From this we also learn the secret of the divine light that shone from the Virgin St. Mary upon the human life, through giving birth to the Son of God. The same way the burning bush was not consumed by the fire, her virginity was kept intact by giving birth1. 1 Vita Moys. 20,21. 335 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground” (Acts 7: 33). Taking off the footwear bears a symbolic meaning that we have already explained in our commentary on the book of Exodus (3), and on the book of Deuteronomy (25: 7- 10). The scholar Origen sees in it a reference to forsaking the dead temporal things, as the footwear are mostly made of slain animal skins, and a reference to forsaking the love of showing off, in that the animal skin is also used to make drums that produce high sound with little real work. Also it came in the law that if someone refused to marry the widow of his brother, to raise up a name for his deceased brother, his sandals would be taken off, and his house would be called in Israel, "the house of him whose sandals are removed" (Deut 25: 5-10). It is as though when Moses removed his sandals, he proclaimed that he was not the Church’s groom, The same way the bishop, the priest, or the deacon, when they take off their footwear before entering the holy Altar, they likewise proclaim that Christ alone is the Church’s Groom. Although the word “temple” was not mentioned, the place became holy through the presence and work of the Lord, more so than the holy of holies, as it was never mentioned in any other place, that God so appeared, or was ever said that Moses so trembled. Look how God, by His compassion, as well as by His chastening and His signs, intended to draw them near to Him, but they stayed where they were. They should learn that God is omnipresent. Let us hasten to Him in our tribulations. St. John Chrysostom The Light teaches us what we should do when we stand within the rays of the true light, as it is not possible for the feet wearing sandals made of animal skin to ascend to such heights. Where the light of the truth is to be seen, the earthly and dead animal skin has to be removed from the soul, by which our nature was initially clothed when we became naked, because of our rebellion against the divine will. When we do this, the knowledge of truth will fruit and proclaim itself1. St. Gregory of Nyssa “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt, I have heard their groaning, and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt” (Acts 7: 34). The Jews cherish and highly esteem the prophet Moses, as the great leader who saved their fathers from the bondage of Pharaoh, to set forth with them through the wilderness, to inherit the Promised Land. Now, the secret behind Moses’ strength, and his love and care for his people was revealed, to be of God Himself, who came down to His people, when He saw their oppression, and heard their groaning. As for Moses, he was actually sent as a tool in God’s hand: “Now come, I will send you to Egypt” (Acts 7: 34), and supported him with successive conquests and success to realize his mission. St. Stephen presents a summary of what the prophet Moses stated in detail in (Exod 3: 7-10). God sent him to Egypt to confront Pharaoh, not by his personal strength and capabilities, but by the work of God in him. When God saw the oppression the people suffered, and heard their groaning that went up to heaven, He sent Moses to set 1 Vita Moys. 22. 336 forth with His people to the wilderness, to wander for forty years, until the generation that bore the idols of Egypt in their hearts were all dead, and a new generation born in the wilderness was found worthy of entering the Promised Land. Whereas man may forget God and disregard Him, God will never forget man wherever he may be. He came down to listen to their groaning and to save them, according to His promises to their fathers. ”Therefore also from the beginning He said to Adam: “In the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread” (Gen 3: 19). Also (it was) in order that having come out of much suffering into rest, they might give thanks to God. For affliction is a great good. For hear the Prophet saying, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted” (Ps 119: 71). But if to great and wonderful men affliction be a great (good), much more to us"1. "Let us apply ourselves to Prayer. It is a mighty weapon if it be offered with earnestness, if without vainglory, if with a sincere mind. It has turned back wars, it has benefited an entire nation though undeserving. “I heard their groaning" He says "and have come down to deliver them” (Acts 7: 34). It is itself a saving medicine, and has power to prevent sins, and to heal misdeeds"2. St. John Chrysostom “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush” (Acts 7: 35). St. Stephen was accused of blasphemy against Moses. Now he proclaimed that Moses was blessed by God when He sent him, while the persistent and serious opposition came from their fathers, who rejected him as their ruler and judge. In the hardness of hearts and stiffness of necks, they murmured against him all the time, and even plotted to kill him more than once. St. Stephen did not blaspheme against Moses, but revered him and admired his forbearance of their opposition, without thinking of forsaking them. When Moses introduced himself to his people, and stretched his hand to begin working for them, they hastened to reject him as a ruler and a judge. But once God proclaimed His fiery presence, He granted Moses the mission of leadership and salvation, being a symbol of the true Savior – the King of kings. The Jewish people had been stiffnecked and rebellious since the time of Moses, so what they did in the time of the apostles was not something new to their nature. Moses came as a symbol of the Lord Christ, who would be rejected by the builders, to become the Corner Stone (Acts 4: 21). What their fathers did to the prophet Moses, the rulers did to Jesus Christ. As their fathers denied the burning Bush, and rejected Moses’ leadership and his work as a judge and a redeemer from the bondage of Pharaoh, their descendants rejected the cross, shining with light, denied the incarnation of the divine Word, and did not recognize Jesus as a King and a Redeemer to their souls. They are opponents, and sons of opponents. "So habitual a thing was it for Jews to wrong (their benefactors) when in the act of receiving benefits!" 3. St. John Chrysostom 1Hom. On Acts. Hom. 16. 2Homilies on Hebrews. Hom. 27.9. 3Hom. On Acts. Hom. 16. 337 “He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years” (Acts 7: 36). God came down to save His people, when they were in Egypt, then cared for them while crossing the Red Sea and wandering in the wilderness. They did not have to go first to Jerusalem, to build the temple, before He would dwell among them, and work in them. Divine signs and wonders went along with them: In Egypt He sent ten strikes, to save them with a strong hand and a mighty arm (Exod 4-12). He divided the Red Sea, for His people to cross safely, while Pharaoh and all his men perished in it (Exod 14-15). In the wilderness, and for forty years, He granted them Manna from heaven, to eat, and water from the rock to drink (Exod 16, 17). Moses did not resort to his old military experience, but God granted him signs and wonders, to terrify the heart of Pharaoh and the hearts of the Egyptians (Exod 3: 19-21). And these weapons remained in Moses’ hand, to lead the people cross the Red Sea, and to wander in the wilderness for forty years. 5- THEIR FATHERS’ opposition to MOSES “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord, your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear” (Acts 7: 37). So St. Stephen reached to what he intends to say, that Moses who was rejected by their fathers is the leader called by God, and supported by signs and wonders. And what happened to Moses happened to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, who came to His own, and His own rejected Him. Having proved that he never blasphemed Moses, but he rather criticized those who rejected his leadership, He clarified to them that as Moses himself, whom they cherished and trusted, had prophesied the coming of Christ (Deut 18: 15, 18), they were committed to hear and to obey, by accepting the One prophesied by him. The Lord Christ Himself had previously proclaimed that if they believed in Moses, they were committed to believe in Him (John 5: 46). (We have already dealt with this prophecy in our commentary on the book of Deuteronomy). Moses called the Son of God ‘an angel’, and also called Him ‘a man’. He appeared to him in the wilderness, and not in a temple. Notice that with all those wonders, the words ‘temple’ or ‘sacrifice’ have not been mentioned, neither in the episode of the burning bush, nor in the wilderness. St. John Chrysostom "but let that "like me" be reserved awhile to be examined in its proper place But when does this Prophet that is expected come? Recur, he says, to what has been written by me: examine carefully Jacob's prophecy addressed to Judah: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples” (Gen 49: 8, 10). He gave, therefore, as a sign of Christ's advent the cessation of the Jewish rule. If they are not now under the Romans, the Christ is not yet come: if they still have a prince of the race of Judah and of David he is not yet come that was expected. But He that comes as the expectation of the Gentiles, 338 what further sign then does He have? He says next, “Binding His donkey to the vine” (Gen 49: 11). You see that foal which was clearly announced by Zechariah"1. St. Cyril of Jerusalem Beside being the Lord of the prophets, who sanctifies them and realizes the prophecies, He is also a Prophet. He is like Moses, according to the flesh, yet not according to the greatness2. St. Augustine "Like, namely, as to the form of the flesh, but not in the eminence of His majesty. Accordingly we find the Lord Jesus called a Prophet"3. St. Augustine "Moses says, speaking of Christ, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren, Him you shall hear” (Acts 7: 37). Therefore they, who do not obey Him, transgress the Law"4. St. John Chrysostom “This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us” (Acts 7: 38). St. Stephen refers here to the ecclesiastical meeting that Moses held, by God’s command, with all the people and the heads of the tribes, in Horeb, when the Lord appeared to them and gave them the law. Moses received the law, while the people declined to listen to God’s voice (Deut 18: 15-16). It was an ecclesiastical meeting realized on Mount Horeb, a Church with no pillars, roof, courts, or alters, a living Church through God’s dwelling among His people, a unique Church in the wilderness. St. Stephen intended to draw the hearts of his listeners to the essence of the Church set upon the presence of God. The goal of the ecclesiastical meeting is the enjoyment of the living words of God. The people in the wilderness enjoyed the living words of God, or the Mosaic laws, received by Moses through the ministry of angels (Acts 7: 53; Heb 2: 2). They enjoyed those exalted blessings in the wilderness, outside the Promised Land, and without temples. “Whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt” (Acts 7: 39). He did not say “Your fathers”, but “Our fathers”, who, rebelled against God and Moses, rejected the divine leadership, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. “They said to one another, ‘Let us select a leader and return to Egypt'. And all the congregation said to stone them (Moses and Aaron) with stones” (Num 14: 4, 10). That was the decision taken by our fathers in the days of Moses. The decision of the Sanhedrin, against Jesus, came conforming to that of their fathers. The fathers could not stone Moses and Aaron, while the members of the Sanhedrin practically realized what was in their hearts, by crucifying the Lord Christ. 1 Catechetical Lectures. 2 in Joan. tr. 24.7. 3 St. Augustine. On the Gospel of St. John. Tract. 15.23. 4 Commentary on Galat. 2. 339 "Wherefore, if we are anxious to attain true perfection, we ought to look to it that as we have outwardly with the body made light of parents, home, the riches and pleasures of the world, we may also inwardly with the heart forsake all these things and never be drawn back by any desires to those things which we have forsaken, as those who were led up by Moses, though they did not literally go back, are yet said to have returned in heart to Egypt; viz., by forsaking God who had led them forth with such mighty signs, and by worshipping the idols of Egypt of which they had thought scorn, as Scripture says, “In their hearts they turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us” (Acts7: 39, 40). for we should fall into like condemnation with those who, while dwelling in the wilderness, after they had tasted manna from heaven, lusted after the filthy food of sins, and of mean baseness, and should seem together with them to murmur in the same way (Exod 16: 3; Num 11: 5, 18). A form of speech, which, although it referred primarily to that people, we yet see fulfilled today in our own case and mode of life: for everyone who after renouncing this world turns back to his old desires, and reverts to his former likings asserts in heart and act the very same thing that they did"1. Abbot Paphnutius They regretted their exodus from Egypt, and longed for the Egyptian food, even if it was just the smell of pots. Their depths, as well, were connected to the Egyptian worship, like worshipping the calf Ibis, and their behavior was connected to the Egyptian customs and ethics. “Saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us, as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands” (Acts 7: 40-41). Despite all those blessings, delivered from God by Moses’ hands, their fathers rejected Him and His prophet. They longed to turn back to Egypt. They asked Aaron to make them a golden image of the calf Ibis the idol of the Egyptians (Exod 32: 16, 18), justifying their action by saying that Moses disappeared, and they did not know what had become of him. As in the days of Moses, the people made for themselves a golden calf to worship, and to offer sacrifices to it; in the days of the Lord Christ, they sought Caesar as their king, rejecting the spiritual kingdom of Christ. He was as though rebuking them: Who is now blaspheming against God and Moses? Is it I, who accepted the One about whom Moses prophesied, of whom he was himself a symbol? Or are they your fathers who rejected Moses’ leadership, regretted their exodus from Egypt, longed for the Egyptian food that they used to offer to the slaves (the smell of pots), worshipped the calf, broke the law, and opposed the living words of God? “Then God turned and gave them up to worship the hosts of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?’” (Acts 7: 42). St. Stephen quoted this prophecy from the book of Amos (5: 25), to reveal to them their diversion, through the words of the prophets themselves. 1 Conferences of John Cassian, 3.7. 340 They chose to turn their back to God, and wished to go back to Egypt, to the life of bondage, So God granted them their wish. He turned His back to them, and delivered them to the lust of their hearts. “Yes, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, images which you made to worship; and I will carry you away beyond Babylon” (Acts 7: 43). Worshipping the stars of heaven was connected to the worship of the two gods Moloch and Remphan. Moloch: quoted from both the Hebrew and the Arabic, meaning (king), the king of the Ammonites, to whom they used to offer human sacrifices. Moses, in several occasions, warned the people against offering their children sacrifices to the god Moloch, or passing them through fire (Lev 18: 21, 20: 2-5). The Israelites did worship Moloch after they entered the Promised Land. Solomon built a temple for him on the Mount of Olives (1 Kings 11: 7). And Manasseh passed his son through the fire in reverence to this idol (2 Kings 21: 3, 6). That idol was made of brass, with his hands stretched as though seeking to embrace the child offered as a sacrifice. They used to make a fire beneath the statue until it becomes completely red hot, then put the child on the red hot arms, amid the beats of drums and violent dancing, until it is utterly consumed. Some believe that those rites were done in reverence to the star Saturn, god of agriculture for the Romans, to the sun, and to the star Mercury (the messenger of gods, and god of commerce, eloquence, shrewdness, and robbery for the Romans), or to the star Venus, goddess of love and beauty for the Romans, etc. “And the star of your god Remphan”: it is quoted by St. Stephen from the Septuagint Version. The word ‘Remphan’ in the Coptic language refer to the star Saturn. Having reached the climax of rebellion, preferring the worship of idols to that of the living God, God gave them the wish of their hearts, bringing them up to captivity in Babylon, a great center of idol worship (Amos 5: 25-27). 6- THE TABERNACLE OF WITNESS IN THE WILDERNESS After parading that painful history that revealed the persistence of their fathers on rebellion against God, albeit the existence of a faithful few, sanctified to the Lord, who were not bound to the deadly letter, but to the practical living faith, like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the other prophets, He started to talk about the tabernacle and the temple. That tendency to worship idols, infiltrating to the Hebrews along all their history, reached a climax during the Babylonian captivity. They used to follow the lead of their neighbors surrounding them, in worshipping the stars of heaven (Deut 4: 19, 17: 3; 2 Kings 2: 13, 5, 23: 4, 5; Jer 8: 2, 19: 13; Zeph 1: 5). "Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen” (Acts 7: 44). The pagans used to take their idols with them wherever they went, putting the small statue in a little temple or a little tent. To keep His people from idol worship, God showed Moses a heavenly pattern, to make according to it the tabernacle of Meeting (a tent) that includes the Ark of the Covenant. The tabernacle was carried by the people across the wilderness, to be set up wherever they dwelt, as a sign of God’s presence (Exod 25: 9, 40, 26: 30, 27: 8). 341 “Which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David” (Acts 7: 45). The fathers brought the tabernacle of meeting with them to the Promised Land, under the leadership of Joshua son of Nun, that, after driving out the pagan nations, the land of Canaan would be cleaned of every trace of pagan worship, to leave the tabernacle of meeting alone, as a sign of the divine presence, of their unity with God, and their acceptance of Him as a King, who satisfies their depths, and controls their life. The secret of the importance of the tabernacle of meeting was that it was made by Moses according to the pattern he had seen; I.E. it carried the shadow of the heavenly places. When Moses saw what was made without human hands, he presented a shadow of it on earth, for the believers to experience the shadow of heavenly places. Although St. Stephen talked to the rulers assembled about the tabernacle of meeting, to draw their hearts up to the heavenly thought, they persisted on setting the tent of Moloch in their hearts. 7- GOD DOES NOT DWELL IN TEMPLES MADE BY HUMAN HANDS “Who found favor before God, and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob” (Acts 7: 46). David found favor before God, who poured on him His blessings, and granted him conquest over his enemies. David’s reaction was that his heart yearned to build a permanent temple, to embrace the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of the divine presence (2 Sam 7: 1; 1 Chron 22: 7). “But Solomon built Him a house” (Acts 7: 47). "They thought Solomon was great: (as he built the temple) but that he was not better than his father, nay not even equal to him, is manifest. Nay, not even these (buildings) are worthy of God, forasmuch as they are made, seeing they are creatures, the works of His hand"1. St. John Chrysostom “However the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says” (Acts 7: 48). St. Stephen annulled the accusation made against him, that he spoke against the temple, as he revealed that, although it was the wish of the righteous king David to build it, yet it was built through a divine command. At the same time, he confirms that God does not limit Himself by that temple, made with hands, as He is in no need of it, having His throne in heaven. Although St. Stephen holds great regard for the temple of Jerusalem, what preoccupies the heart of God is to have all nations receive the living faith, and not to limit the worship to Jerusalem or the temple of Solomon. (On the occasion of the dedication of a church): All of us brethren, before being baptized, have been temples for the devil, Then Baptism made us worthy of becoming temples for Christ. If we contemplate carefully on the salvation of our souls, we shall realize that we are the temples of the living God. God 1Hom. On Acts. Hom. 17. 342 does not only dwell in buildings made with human hands, out of stone and wood, but He, before everything else, dwells in the soul, created in the image of God, and shaped by the hands of God Himself. That is why the blessed apostle Paul says, “The temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (1 Cor 3: 17). These temples are made out of stones and wood, for assembling the living temples (the souls) in it, in order to become together the temple of God. An individual Christian is a temple of God, and the several Christians are temples of God. How beautiful is the one temple formed by these individual temples! As several members form one body, so also several temples form one temple. Now these temples of Christ, the souls of faithful Christians, are scattered all over the world, but on the Day of Judgment, they gather together, and form one temple in an eternal life. Let us rejoice that we became worthy of being God’s temple, Yet, let us fear lest we defile God’s temple by evil deeds. Let us fear what the apostle says, “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him” (1 Cor 3: 17). God, who easily could create heaven and earth by the power of his word, planned to dwell in you. Therefore, you should act in a way that would not offend such Dweller. May God not find in you, in His temple, anything defiled, dark, or haughty, as once He gets uncomfortable there, He will promptly depart, and once He departs, the devil will approach. How miserable would be the soul, when this happens! Such a soul would be deprived of light, filled with darkness, deprived of sweetness, and filled with bitterness. In short, life would be devastated, and paradise would be lost1. Caesarius, Bishop of Arles “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? Says the Lord, or what is the place of My rest? Has My hand not made all these things” (Acts 7: 49, 50). If God allowed for making the tabernacle of meeting, then for building the temple, yet His rest is not in a particular place, but in His presence among His people. He carries His people up to what is above the letter, and the matter, to enjoy the Spirit and the heaven. 8- THEIR FATHERS PERSECUTED THE PROPHETS AND DID NOT KEEP THE LAW “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did, so do you” (Acts 7: 51). The temple, as a building, was not bringing pleasure to God, and those worshipping in it were not righteous in His sight, having been literal and without spirit. St. Stephen describes them as stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, because they resist the Holy Spirit, and persecute the Holy One, following the lead of their rebellious fathers. Responding to their accusation of speaking blasphemy against the Law of Moses, St. Stephen says that it was not him who committed this sin, but the Jews who did not believe in what the Law had provided them, those who, since the days of Moses, were resisting the word of God. Responding to their accusation of blasphemy against God by 1 Sermon 229.1-2. 343 disregarding the temple, he said that the history of Israel itself confirms that the temple is nothing but a temporary institution, not essential for the true worship of God. “You stiff-necked”: Those people were so called by God several times in the days of Moses (Exod 32: 9, 33: 3, 5, 34: 9; Deut 9: 6, 13). It describes the Jewish people in their rebellion against God, and their rejection of commitment to the divine commandment. It is a symbolic expression referring to oxen that resist, and refuse to submit to the yokes put on their necks. “And uncircumcised in heart and ears”: Circumcision was the sign that designated the Jew who submitted to the authority of the law, for the sake of enjoying the divine promise. It was a reference to inner purity, and to the rejection of every defilement and abomination. Uncircumcision of the heart refers to the rejection of man to internal submission to the law, and not caring for the enjoyment of the divine promises. God wanted them to be circumcised in heart and ears (Deut 10: 16; Jer 4: 4, 9: 26). The uncircumcised in heart and ears is he, who does not enjoy the covenant with God, being as though referred to the Gentiles, and not referred spiritually to Israel. “Uncircumcised in ears” means that man refuses to listen to the voice of God (Lev 26: 41; Jer 9: 26). “You always resist the Holy Spirit”: They confronted the love and mercies of God with resistance, “In all their afflictions He was afflicted, and the angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and in His pity He redeemed them, And He bore them and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit, So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them” (Isa 63: 9-11). Like their fathers, they cared for the circumcision of the flesh, and not for the spiritual circumcision of the heart and the ears; that is why their hearts got filled with hatred against the Holy Spirit, and that turned into a serious behavior: Their fathers killed the prophets in whom the Spirit worked. And here they were consummating the measure of their fathers by resisting the Holy Spirit working in the apostles and ministers of Christ. Nay, their evil even surpassed that of their fathers, as they betrayed and killed the righteous Messiah. Here, he presents against them the most horrible crime committed by man since the day of his creation until the end of ages, a crime that they could not deny. Having realized that those rulers did not care for the facts of the Scripture, as their thought was confined in only one thing, getting rid of the name of Jesus, and proving themselves innocent in their verdict to crucify Him, he moved from defense to offense. He revealed to them that the members of the Sanhedrin who condemned the Lord Christ to crucifixion bore the same spirit of rebellion that had been in the people since the day of their exodus from the land of Egypt. St. John Chrysostom believes that they, like their fathers, resisted the Holy Spirit: When they were commanded to offer animal sacrifices, they did not; and when commanded to refrain from offering animal sacrifices, because the sacrifice of Christ had already realized the goal, they intended to offer animal sacrifices. When they were commanded to worship God in the temple, they worshipped the idols together with the Gentiles; and when commanded not to be preoccupied with the temple, but to worship God with Spirit and Truth, they preoccupied themselves with the temple1. 1Hom. On Acts. Hom. 17. 344 "Such is the boldness of speech of a man bearing the Cross. Let us then also imitate this: though it be not a time of war (persecution), yet it is always the time for boldness of speech (testifying for Christ). For, “I will speak" says one, "Your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed” (Ps 119: 46). If we chance to be among heathens, let us thus stop their mouths. Without wrath, without harshness. The boldness is a success: the anger is a failure. Therefore, if we are to have boldness, we must be clean from wrath that none may impute our words to that. No matter how just your words may be, when you speak with anger, you ruin all. See this man, how free from passion as he discourses to them! For he did not abuse them: he did but remind them of the words of the Prophets. For, to show you that it was not anger, at the very moment he was suffering evil at their hands, he prayed, saying, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin” (Acts 7: 60). So far was he from speaking these words in anger; no, he spoke in grief and sorrow for their sakes"1. St. John Chrysostom St. Paul, likewise, revealed that the Jews were guilty: While proclaiming that they lived according to the law of God, and defending their privilege of the worthiness of their fathers, they actually did wrong to the reputation of the grace of God, having taken lightly the promise that was presented to their fathers2. Ambrosiaster "And if by grace, it will be said, how came we all not to be saved? Because ye would not. For grace, though it be grace, saves the willing, not those who will not have it, and turn away from it"3. St. John Chrysostom "it (grace) is bestowed on us, not because we have done good works, but that we may be able to do them, - in other words, not because we have fulfilled the law, but in order that we may be able to fulfill the law"4. St. Augustine “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers” (Acts 7: 52). That expression is firm and definite. There was not a single prophet not persecuted by the Jews, as though the persecution of the prophets had become part of the nature of that people along the generations, and flowing in their blood. Their fathers killed the prophets, whose main mission was to proclaim the coming of the Messiah, the Savior of the world. And their transgressions had become immensely grave, when they killed the apostles of God, who proclaimed the greatest of blessings enjoyed by the nation, and even by the whole world. If that was the crime of their fathers, their children surpassed them, when they killed the Messiah Himself. Here, he addressed them frankly and boldly, accusing them of being the children of the murderers of the prophets, who prophesied about the Just One Jesus Christ. Here 1Hom. On Acts. Hom. 17. 2 Comm. On Paul’s Epistles (Rom. 3:2). 3Hom. On Rom. Hom. 18. 4 The spirit and the Letter, 16. 345 they shared with their fathers the shedding of the blood of the prophets; and they even consummated their measure by delivering the One, the subject of the prophesies of the prophets. He charged them of the same charge directed to them by the Lord Christ Himself (Matt 23: 29-34). St. Stephen did not fear them, as he counted it as a great honor, to be treated the same way their fathers treated the prophets, and to partake of the passions of Christ. For they killed the prophets, and were guilty of shedding the blood of many righteous saints, they were told clearly: “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?” And, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets, and stones those. Who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate” (Luke 13: 34, 35). Their wicked deeds were not just directed to the holy prophets, but extended even to the Lord of the prophets, to Christ. In haughtiness, and as though proud of being stiff-necked, they did not care to be committed to believe in Him, but shrewdly resisted His public teachings, and rebuked those who wished to be always with Him, who were thirsty for His teachings1. Because their wicked deeds did not only extend to the holy prophets, but to the Lord of the prophets, to Christ, they were not given the privilege of the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven, But we were those rather blessed with it, we who are more ready to receive the faith2. St. Cyril the Great “Who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it” (Acts 7: 53). The word ‘diatages’: (order) is used in the military system, where everyone knows his rank, with the extent and limitations of its authority. It is as though the angels, each one in his rank, stood in awe before God’s love for man, as He delivered to them His law, namely, His living word. The angels were witnesses to that amazing divine work. Some believe that the angels, in their ministry to God the lover of mankind, received the law, then delivered it to men, to let him partake of their praise, and of their spiritual worship of God. And as the word “angels” means (messengers), some believe that he means here those whom God sent, and entrusted to proclaim His word to His people along the generations. Others believe that the lightening, thunder, smoke, and earthquakes that accompanied the delivery of the law were all meant by God to let the people get in touch with the awe of the law. These are all called the angels or messengers of God. Finally, consummating the measure of their fathers by shedding innocent blood, they broke the law they received by the direction of angels. Receiving the law by the direction of angels is a Jewish tradition based on what came in (Deut 33: 1-4) (the Septuagint Version). That notion was also adopted by St. Paul (Gal 3: 19; Heb 2: 2). All the ordainments of the Old Testament were given through angels, sometimes working personally, and other times through the Person of God3. St. Augustine 1 Comm. On St. Luke. Hom. 41. 2 Comm. on Luke. Sermon 41. 3 Epistle of Galatians, 24.3.19-20. 346 By the angels, it is meant God’s messengers, namely Moses, Joshua son of Nun, and other prophets up to John the Baptist. Through those messengers, the law and prophets were set and ordained through God, by the hand of the Savior, by His power. He is the Intercessor, who reconciled God the Father with mankind, to save those who will, among those who received the law from the angels1. Ambrosiaster "And everywhere he says it (the Law) was given by angels (Acts 7: 53; Gal 3: 19; Heb 2: 2). Some indeed say that Moses is signified; but without reason. For here he says Angels in the plural: and the Angels too which he here speaks of, are those in Heaven"2. St. John Chrysostom 9- THE OPEN HEAVEN “When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth” (Acts 7: 54). Having been accused of blasphemy, they were unable to respond to St. Stephen, as all his speech was from the Scripture. Unable to control their hatred and rage they gnashed their teeth at him, and harbored bitterness toward him. The Greek word (deprionto), translated as “cut to the heart”, is the same translated as (sawn) in (Heb 11: 37). The evil in them had not only filled their hearts with hatred and incited their rage, but cut their hearts as though with a saw. Lack of faith together with envy kills the heart, while faith working with love heals the heart, and provides it with peace in the Lord. “They gnashed their teeth at him” as a sign that they were completely unable to listen to him. They started to gnash their teeth at him like vicious beasts about to attack their prey, thirsty for its blood. They were not preoccupied with his face, shining like an angel, but counted his speech as an attack against the Jewish religion since its beginning, having counted their fathers as the killers of prophets. He also spoke of the temple, saying that God does not dwell in a house built by human hands, which is counted as the worst of insults against the temple, the highest honor for the whole nation. That is why they plugged their ears, were cut to their hearts, and gnashed at him with their teeth. Finding him worthy of being stoned, in human zeal, they rushed to execute their job, assuming that there is no time to waste, issuing a verdict against him. “But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7: 55). Whereas their hearts were full of hatred, his was lifted up with love toward humanity, even toward his own persecutors. He gazed into heaven to see the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Why did he gaze into heaven? Certainly, as they gnashed their teeth at him, and their intention to have him stoned became apparent on their faces, God drew his heart as well as his eyes to the divine glory. Affliction is the fertile medium, in which God entrusts the believer to behold heavenly visions of divine glories, with no fear that he would fall into pride or self-esteem. 1 Ep. to Gal. 3.19.2. 2Homilies on Hebrews. Hom. 3.6. 347 “at the right hand of God (the Father)” does not imply that the Father has right and left, but the term “right” refers to glory and power, That is why the Lord Christ is portrayed as standing at the right hand of the Father (Ps 110: 1; Heb 1: 13). Being full of the Holy Spirit, St. Stephen’s eyes concentrated, neither upon the opposition of the rulers, upon their fierce countenance, nor on the stones they carried to stone him, but upon the open heaven, to see the glory of God shining on him, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, as though presenting His divine power to the martyr, to bring him over to paradise. In our study of martyrdom, we realize an important fact, that during the eve before the execution, the light of God often shone in the prisons; and those about to be killed often enjoyed divine visions and dreams. Sometimes the martyr was granted to behold the Lord Christ coming to be with him at the time of his departure. That is why the word 'martyr' means also in Arabic ‘a witness’, as he is a witness to the Truth, a beholder of the true Christ; and Christ would testify to him as well, before the Father, and before all the heavenly hosts. Having followed the lead of his Lord in His deeds and words, St. Stephen lacked nothing, delivering himself to God. Moreover, the maturation of his perseverance made him worthy of beholding the divine glory, “He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7: 55). This is the glory that the Savior presented to the martyr, to make him more dignified than the angels themselves. He saw the Subject of his love Himself, whom the angels desire (and fear) to behold (1 Pet 1: 12); and before whom the Seraphim cover their face, not daring to look at Him. He lifted up his eyes to an exceeding height, to become more exalted than the angels, higher than the principalities, and ahead of the thrones, because the voice of the Lord promised him: “Where I am, there My servant will also be” (John 12: 26). He was the first minister. He preceded Paul to cry out: “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Cor 11: 1). I am the first to strive together with the Teacher, and the first to behold the hidden things in heaven. Yes I beheld the Son standing at the right hand of the Father. I actually beheld what is said, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool” (Ps 109; Matt 22: 44; Mark 12: 36; Luke 20: 42, 44; Acts 2: 34-35; Heb 1: 13) 1. St. John Chrysostom "Standing and sitting, I apprehend, indicate the fixity and entire stability of the nature, as Baruch, when he wishes to exhibit the immutability and immobility of the Divine mode of existence, says, "For you sit for ever and we perish utterly." (Bar 3: 3). Moreover, the place on the right hand indicates in my judgment equality of honour"2. St. Basil the Great When the prophets happened to behold the glory of God, the scene was usually accompanied with a vision of angels, or one of the heavenly ranks like the Cherubim or the Seraphim. Yet here, St. Stephen saw none of those, probably because beholding the splendor of the Lord Christ and His exalted light made all his being preoccupied with Him, to see no one else of those around him, Or because the Lord Christ intended to tell 1 PG 59.701-702. 2 on the Holy Spirit, 8.15. 348 Stephen that the moments of his stoning were indeed moments of great glory, that made the Lord Christ more preoccupied with supporting and welcoming him, than with His heavenly servants. “Look, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7: 56). Whoever opens his heart by the practical giving love, for the sake of his faith in his beloved Christ, will find the heavens opened for him, and the Son of Man preoccupied with him.Who told the Evangelist Luke about what the martyr St. Stephen has seen in his last moments? His peaceful countenance and humble voice must have pierced the hearts of many of those present, especially that of Saul of Tarsus who was content with having him stoned; and probably some of those devoted have been so affected by the angelic countenance of St. Stephen, to share with him his vision, and see what he saw. It is as though the martyr St. Stephen had testified to the resurrection of the Lord Christ, until the last moments before his crossing over from this world to paradise. What the prophet Daniel saw in the sixteenth century BC (Dan 7: 13-14) was also seen by Stephen in the first half of the first century AD. The long centuries could not separate the saints of God, or change the amazing divine truth. The Holy Spirit who granted St. Stephen the strength to testify to the word, and an enlightenment to speak the words of the prophets, has also opened his insight, to behold the heavenly Truth, to testify before those who were stoning him, that the rejected Christ, the Subject of joy of the prophets and the heavenly creatures, is standing in heaven on the right hand of God the Father. While the rulers condemned him to be stoned, charging him of blasphemy against the temple, they heard him saying that he was seeing God, the God of their fathers, opening to him the temple of heaven, to behold the Messiah standing at the right hand of glory, waiting to encounter him face to face. It is actually a bold and living heavenly testimony, that the glory of God, having departed from their temple, is filling the souls of believers with its splendor, and setting by His Holy Spirit His temple inside them. "He sits as Judge of quick and dead; He stands as His people's Advocate. He stood, then, as a Priest, while He was offering to His Father the sacrifice of a good martyr; He stood, as the Umpire, to bestow, as it were, upon a good wrestler the prize of so mighty a contest"1. "Let Him therefore stand in your midst, that the heavens, which declare the glory of God, (Ps 19: 1), may be opened to you, that you may do His will, and work His works"2. "Jesus was standing as his advocate, He was standing as though anxious, that He might help His athlete Stephen in his conflict, He was standing as though ready to crown His martyr"3. "Let Him then be standing for you, that you may not be afraid of Him sitting; for when sitting He judges, as Daniel says (Dan 7: 9-11)"4. 1Of the Christian Faith, 3.17 (137). 2 Epistles, 63.5. 3 Epistles, 63.5. 4 Epistles, 63.6. 349 St. Ambrose In a letter of condolence to Ostochium on the occasion of the departure of her mother, St. Jerome says, "And when the pain which she bore with such wonderful patience darted through her, as if she saw the heavens opened she would say “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! For then I would fly away and be at rest” (Ps 55: 6)"1. St. Jerome 10- THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN “Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord” (Acts 7: 57). They cried out with a loud voice to cover up his voice, and stopped their ears to keep them from getting defiled by his alleged blasphemy. Signs of anger appeared on the countenances of the members of the Sanhedrin, They incited the people to cry out, and to move to kill, without even caring to issue a verdict. Having got the green light, the people moved to realize the intention in the hearts of the members of the assembly. The members of the Sanhedrin accused him of blasphemy and pointed out that what he said was a proof for their accusation. “And they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul” (Acts 7: 58). The members of the Sanhedrin became in a condition of great agitation and disturbance. They counted what St. Stephen has just uttered as blasphemy, that they would not allow entering their ears lest they become defiled. The Sanhedrin turned from being a high court of Justice, that should issue its verdict after meditation, into a body of executioners to stone the accused without even caring to issue a formal verdict for doing that. Stoning has been the punishment for blasphemy (Lev 24: 16). And, according to the law, the witnesses start the process of stoning. As for casting him out of the city, that was natural, as, according to the Book of Leviticus, he who is under curse should be taken outside the camp (Lev 24: 14). Saul considered the stoning of Stephen as a realization of the dream of his life, as he for so long hoped to get rid of the one who kept arguing and debating with him, counting that action as a service to God, to purify the people of the spirit of blasphemy against God, and against the law, Moses, and the temple. But, how could they stone him without resorting to the Roman law, having previously said to Pilate, during the trial of Jesus Christ, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death” (John 18: 31)? It is claimed that stoning Stephen happened while Pilate was out of the country. The witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul of Tarsus, to be the first ones to cast a stone on the accused, as a confirmation of the truth of their testimony. Saul of Tarsus had for several times debated with Stephen, as he was a member of the Synagogue of Cilicia (Acts 6: 9). It was the wish of Saul’s heart to get rid of Stephen, who managed to overcome many members of the Synagogues in debate. Some believe that because Saul had the 1 Letter 108 to Eustochium, 1. 350 upper hand in the decision to stone Stephen, he came later on to hear the divine voice, saying, “Why do you persecute Me” (Acts 9: 6)? The portrait of the angelic face of Stephen never disappeared from the eyes of Saul of Tarsus, the apostle Paul. His speeches became a Theological program for him. He admitted that, “When the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him” (Acts 22: 20). “And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit’” (Acts 7: 59). St. Stephen’s life, full of the Holy Spirit, was a continuous prayer. In the few months of his ministry, he lived as a man of prayer, even in the moments of his stoning. The fruits of the Spirit in him were so abundant, that by his martyrdom, he drew the heart of Saul of Tarsus to search for the truth. "You have heard therefore how Stephen was severe (Acts 7: 51-52); now hear how he loved. He offended those whom he was rebuking, and was stoned by them. His last prayer was for his enemies. Learn hereby to have "the wedding garment" (love for the enemy)"1. St. Augustine "Oh, happy also he who met all the violence of the devil by the exertion of every species of patience!" 2. Scholar Tertullian “Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not charge them with this sin’, and when he had said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7: 60). St. Stephen ended his life with an exalted farewell prayer, presenting an intercession to God for the sake of his persecutors. Confronting death, St. Stephen testified to the Lord Christ, that He is one with the Father, and to Him he commended his Spirit. He became like his Master who cried out in the moments of His crucifixion, “Father, into Your hands I commend My Spirit” (Luke 23: 46). The Psalmist had likewise cried out: “Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for you are my strength. Into Your hand I commit my spirit” (Ps. 31: 4-5). Led by the Holy Spirit, he knelt on his knees to die while praying. The Spirit gave him the strength to cry out with a great voice, when his body was extremely weak under the impact of the falling stones, and revealed as well his spacious heart, when he, like his Master on the cross prayed: “Do not charge them with this sin”. Finally, “when he had said this, he fell asleep”. He did not die, but fell asleep in the darkness of the night of this world, to wake up in the light of the day of God, who wipes out his tears, and brings him up into the joy of his Lord, to share with the heavenly hosts their joy and rejoice. “When he had said this he fell asleep”. How blessed is this sleep, and how real is this rest! Do you see how man can rest happy when he prays for the sake of his enemies? 3. 1 Sermons on N.T. Lessons, 40.9. 2 on Patience, 14 3 Sermon 220.2. 351 By loving your enemy, you become a friend of God, and even His son, according to the words of the Lord Himself: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, and do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you. That you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matt 5: 44-45) 1. Let us strive to be like physicians toward the wicked, Let us hate their evil works, but not hate them. Let us pray for all the good people, to keep on rising up to a better life, and for the wicked, to enjoy soon a good life through the (medications) of repentance. If we pray for this, we shall be so granted2. Stephen grieved for the sake of their sins more than for his wounds. He grieved for the sake of their evil more than for his death. He was in this on the right path, as, in their evil deeds, there is what warrants grief; whereas, in his death, there is nothing to warrant grief. Eternal perdition followed their evil, while his death was followed by an everlasting life. May we love our brethren in the Church, with the same Spirit, by which Stephen loved his enemies3. Although Stephen was ordained a deacon by the apostles, yet he came ahead of the apostles themselves by his victorious blessed death. Who was of a lesser rank became superior in passion. And who was a student became a teacher by his martyrdom, consummating what the blessed prophet said in the psalm, “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me” (Ps 116: 12)? 4. Caesarius Bishop of Arles Christ Himself has been a role model for us: While on the precious cross, and amid the mocking words of the Jews around Him, He prayed to God the Father for their sake, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23: 34). So did the blessed Stephen, who, while being stoned, knelt on his knees saying, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin” (Acts 7.60). And the blessed Paul, likewise says, “Being reviled we bless, being persecuted, we endure it” (1 Cor 4: 12) 5. St. Cyril the Great "If your Lord be too high an example for you, turn your thoughts upon your fellowservant. The holy Stephen was being stoned, and as they stoned him, on bended knees did he pray for his enemies, and say, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin”. They were casting stones, not asking pardon, yet did he pray for them. I hope you were like him; reach forth. If you can not love him in his violence, love him at least when he asks pardon"6. St. Augustine "Instead of praying against them, he prayed for them. You, instead of praying for them, utter imprecations against them. You then are wicked in the degree that he was excellent. What punishment do we deserve? You think indeed that you are inflicting a blow upon another, but in truth you are thrusting the sword against yourself. You 1 Sermon 219.3. 2 Sermon 219.3. 3 Sermon 219.1-2. 4 Sermon 219.1. 5 Comm. On St. Luke. Hom. 29. 6 Sermons on N.T. Lessons, 6.16. 352 suffer not the Judge to be lenient to your own offenses, by this way of urging Him to anger against others. “For what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Matt 7: 2). Let us therefore be disposed to pardon, that God may be so disposed towards us"1. "The Holy Spirit dwells not where wrath is: cursed is the wrathful. It cannot be that something wholesome should approach, where wrath goes forth. For as in a storm at sea, great is the tumult, loud the clamor, and then would be no time for lessons of wisdom (filosofein): So neither in wrath"2. Once the voice of Stephen became silent, that of Paul set off like a trumpet3. St. John Chrysostom Thus was Christ behavior, above all, to set before us an example. While he was still on the cross, while the Jews were mocking at him, He prayed to the Father for their sake. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." (Luke 23: 34) Blessed Stephen also, while being stoned, knelt down praying for them. “Lord, do not charge them with this sin” (Acts7: 60) The Blessed Paul also says, "Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure" (1 Cor 4: 12). You may protest within yourselves, saying, "Christ forgave His enemies, and prayed for them on the cross, because He is God; but as far as I am concerned, I am only human, with a weak mind, helpless to resist the attacks of lust and pain." You may be talking sense, as man’s mind easily slides to error. And yet I tell you, that God did not leave you denied of His mercy, You acquire Him inside yourself by the Holy Spirit, You are His dwelling place, as He dwells in the souls of those who love Him. He grants you strength to endure nobly whatever comes upon you, and to resist like a man the attacks of temptations. So, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12: 21) 4. St. Cyril the Great As the disciples followed the example of the Lord Christ, when they suffered like Him, they prayed for those who killed them5. "It behoved the first martyr of Christ thus to be, who, fore-running the martyrs that should follow him in a glorious death, was not only the preacher of the Lord's passion, but also the imitator of His most patient gentleness"6. Martyr Cyprian The law of the Lord surpasses that of nature, and that proclaimed by Moses, as “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18.27). Yet Christ did not give us laws that are impossible to follow, as demonstrated by St. Stephen at the time of his sufferings, when he knelt on his knees and prayed for his persecutors, and by Paul, who prayed for the sake of the Jews under whom he suffered much. The 1Hom. On 1 Tim. Hom. 6. 2Hom. On Acts. Hom. 17. 3Hom. De Covers, Sancti Pauli. 4 Comm. on Luke. Sermon 29. 5 Recognitions of Clement, 6.5. 6 Treatise 9 on the Advantage of Patience, 16. 353 scarcity of these things does not imply that they are impossible, as the majority of people assumes, because they actually lack the wish to strive to reach the summit of virtue1. Theodore, Bishop of Heraclea St. Stephen chose, even in the moments of his stoning, to kneel on his knees, regarding not the stones that were falling on him, but praying for the salvation of his persecutors. St. Stephen fell asleep, with a heart full of love, and a soul full of exalted peace. He was neither preoccupied by his soul coming out of his body, nor by the horrible pain inflected on his body during the stoning. But, having experienced the heavenly life, it was impossible for death, or for any other power, to make him lose his peace, until his last breath. There is great difference between the death of the wicked, and the departure of the saints. The wicked become terrified during their last moments, as they enter into the unknown; whereas the saints rejoice, as their souls have, for so long, yearned for those happy moments. 1 Theodore of Heraclea. Fragment, (c. 355) 40. 354 AN INSPIRATION FROM THE BOOK OF ACTS 7 WHEREVER I GO, I BEHOLD YOU WITHIN ME POURING YOUR SPLENDOR ON ME Your name is joyful, O God of Glory. You have proclaimed Yourself to my father Abraham, Not to glorify You, but to enjoy the splendor of Your glory. He had not seen You in Jerusalem, or in the temple, But enjoyed You in Ur of the Chaldeans, the pagan country. Although You promised him the land of Canaan, yet You did not give him even enough to set his foot on, To let him seek the new land and the new heaven. You promised him that his descendants would enjoy the Promised Land, But not before they got into bondage for 400 years. I wish to endure every pain and temptation, To enter into, not the Promised Land, but into the heavenly Canaan. Grant me, together with the righteous Joseph, the heart spacious enough to accommodate those who hate me; To believe, that, even if they sell me as a slave, It would be for my glory and their salvation. Let them close the gates of their hearts, But my heart will always be spacious for them. Let them plot evil, For You would turn their evil into what is good for me and for them. Send me as a slave to the land of Egypt, To see You there, O Creator of all, who became a slave for my sake. Moses’ parents could not keep him for more than three months, When their human hands proved helpless, Your hands stretched to save him. You cared for him in Pharaoh’s house. Your strength did not forsake him. You presented to him the uncorrupted milk of Your holy Church, As his own mother nurtured him in the midst of the heathen atmosphere. He was learned in all the wisdom and philosophy of the world, Yet he disregarded all the royal glory and knowledge, For the sake of the reproach of Your cross. Rejected by his own people, he fled to the wilderness, Where he forgot all about the pleasures and wisdom of the world, Where he retreated to Your presence, O Holy One, Where he shepherded his senses, feelings, and all his energies, as Your holy flock, In the stillness of the wilderness of his soul. He saw You in the bush burning with fire. What no prophet or high priest has ever seen in the temple, Your prophet has seen in the stillness of the wilderness. He took his sandals off, as he stood on a ground, holier than the holy of holies. Grant me by Your Holy Spirit, to take off all what is dead in me, 355 To be qualified to enjoy the light of your sacraments. The people opposed him and tried to kill him, Even in the moments of his good deeds as a leader working by Your power. His heart remained open to his opponents, until his last breath. Solomon, who built a temple for You, With all the glory he earned, has he reached the level of David his father? Although Solomon was the one who built the temple, David’s heart was like Yours. Grant me to behold You in me. Pour the splendor of Your love and glory in my depths, To enjoy the new land together with my father Abraham, And the spacious heart together with the righteous Joseph, And the realization of Your secrets together with the prophet Moses, And the purity of heart together with king David.
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