Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
When Stephen openly declared that he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at His right hand in heaven, his hearers shouted loudly to drown his voice, deliberately covered their ears so they would not hear him, and rushed upon him together in furious accord. It was no lawful sentence but a mob killing in and outside the judgment hall, driven by priests and rulers and men of sacred trust who were beside themselves with anger like wild beasts, while Roman authorities bribed to inaction made no effort to stop it. Unable by wisdom to answer his Spirit-filled arguments from Scripture and unwilling to bear witness to the One they had crucified, they shut themselves off from God's evidence and rejected the Holy Spirit's testimony that the crucified and risen Jesus is the Son of God. Saul stood by consenting, with the witnesses' clothes laid at his feet, at first closing his own eyes and ears and hunting the church, yet Stephen's steadfast faith, shining face, and prayer in death shook his prejudice and helped prepare him to recognize the truth and proclaim the same cause after Christ met him on the way to Damascus. This history will be repeated when religious leaders oppose God's servants as truth is presented, yet the persecutors can harm only the body and cannot take hope and eternal life, for heaven is opened to sustain the faithful as Christ stands ready to uphold them.
Immediate Setting and Actions
The outcry came the moment Stephen openly proclaimed that he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God in heaven, describing the glory of God and Christ beside Him. It was his triumphant testimony to the crucified and risen Saviour, and the declaration of the heavenly vision he saw opened before him. At that declaration his hearers shouted with a loud voice to drown his voice. They deliberately stopped or covered their ears so they would not hear him, and rushed furiously upon him together with one accord.
The setting was Stephen's trial, with his face shining with heavenly glory like an angel and calm with angelic light. From their faces and resistance and the tumult that broke out he recognized that his testimony was about to be silenced and that his words would lead to his death, and he abruptly brought his sermon to a close. They dragged him from the judgment hall, cast him out of the city to stone him, while the witnesses laid their clothes at Saul's feet.
No legal sentence was passed upon Stephen, for it was an unlawful mob killing. The Roman authorities had been bribed with large sums of money to make no investigation of the case. They made no special effort to stop the cruel work, secretly aiding the Jews to conciliate them and secure their favor.
Those acting included the priests and rulers and men bearing sacred responsibilities. They were beside themselves with anger, more like wild beasts of prey gnashing their teeth than human beings. The infuriated priests and excited mob rushed upon him gnashing their teeth.
Rejection of Evidence and Truth
The stopping of the ears was a deliberate and united refusal to listen to Stephen's triumphant testimony to the crucified and risen Saviour standing at the right hand of God. They cried out with a loud voice to drown his voice, covered their ears so they would not hear his words, and ran upon him together with one accord to cast him out and stone him. In doing so they shut themselves off from the evidence God had given them, including his angel-like face shining with heavenly glory.
They acted in rage, hatred and fury because they understood the force of that witness. They could not bear hearing of the One they had crucified, and they could not endure the heavenly vision of glory he proclaimed. The tumult that arose as he gave his final testimony showed they were turning against his message. Beside themselves with anger, they became more like wild beasts of prey gnashing their teeth than human beings.
They were unable by wisdom to resist the Spirit with which he spoke and unable to controvert his arguments from Scripture. They did not answer him, for his words of truth could not be refuted. Instead they sought to silence him with stones, joining together in violent opposition unto death.
In this they refused the Holy Spirit's evidence that Jesus, who had been crucified, is the Son of God, because they did not want to be convinced. Their rejection continued their rebellion against God, as men bearing sacred responsibilities ranged themselves on the side of the enemy to persecute one cooperating with Jesus Christ. It was rage and hatred worked by Satan in the children of disobedience. Stephen died vindicating that truth, after boldly presenting from prophecy the evidence that Jesus was the Son of God.
Saul Witnessed and Changed
Saul was present at Stephen's trial and death, standing by and consenting to the stoning though he did not himself cast the stones, while the witnesses laid their clothes at his feet. The death took place with no legal sentence passed, for the Roman authorities had been bribed to make no investigation and made no special effort to stop the cruel work. Saul consented to the death as blasphemy punished, yet after Christ was revealed to him Stephen's testimony about seeing the Son of Man in heaven became truth to him.
Saul had been educated by the most learned teachers of the age, taught by Gamaliel, and was a rabbi and statesman and a member of the Sanhedrin, very zealous for the suppression of Christianity. The priests and rulers convinced him that Stephen was a blasphemer for preaching Jesus Christ, that Jesus was an impostor, and that those ministering in holy offices were right. Once fully settled in that conviction he with decided mind and strong purpose became bitter in opposition and voluntarily engaged in persecution. Angered at his own secret conviction that Stephen was honored of God at the very time he was dishonored by men, he with frenzied zeal hunted down the church of God, seizing believers in their houses and delivering them to the priests and rulers for imprisonment and death, to the terror of the Christians in Jerusalem. He made havoc of the church, entering into every house and committing men and women to prison.
Stephen's death was triumphant, and his faith, steadfastness, words, and God-given glory greatly stirred Saul's mind and shook his prejudice against Christianity. The glory on Stephen's face as he looked toward heaven struck Saul and brought him, helpless, to Jesus. His witness displayed God's presence, which stirred Saul to doubt the cause he defended. That lasting impression made on those not hardened against the light contributed to Saul's conversion, in contrast to the crowd who in fury stopped their ears and rushed together upon Stephen. Saul nevertheless at first suppressed his conscience, took part in Stephen's trial and conviction, and became bitterly active in persecuting Jesus' followers.
Saul closed his eyes and ears to the compelling and most striking evidence given in Stephen's martyrdom and relentlessly led the van in the persecution of believers in Christ, carried away by the malice and prejudice of the priests and rulers. Stephen was sustained in death by a power higher than that of earth, yet Saul accepted the rulers' view that he was a blasphemer and Jesus an impostor. Afterward Saul remembered his guilt with bitterness, horror, torture of remorse, repentance and earnest prayer, seeing his former blindness of understanding. He grieved that he had closed his eyes and ears to compelling evidence and urged the persecution, knowing that prejudice and unbelief had clouded his perceptions and prevented him from discerning the truth Stephen had testified. When Christ was revealed to him he recognized that the dying Stephen had seen the kingdom of glory and that his testimony of seeing the Son of Man in heaven was truth.
Their violence did not defeat the gospel, for Stephen's shed blood was a witness for Christ and his death and prayer of compassion convicted Saul, who later became a messenger of Christ. Stephen died after boldly presenting from prophecy the evidence that Jesus was the Son of God, the same cause Paul later proclaimed in the synagogue. Though enemies killed him and made it appear that wicked men had triumphed and God's cause was failing, from this very event Paul was converted, and through his preaching thousands came to the gospel. The persecution scattered church members and helped carry the gospel beyond Jerusalem. Stopped in his career on the way to Damascus to arrest Christians, when light from heaven shone round him and Jesus spoke to him, he was blinded and led by the hand into Damascus, after which Saul converted was called Paul and united with the disciples among the chief of the apostles. Years later the place of Stephen's martyrdom in Jerusalem remained known, and seeing it recalled Paul's former life and bitter prejudice with anxiety and remorse, while the scene of the mob crying out and rushing upon Stephen rose vividly before him and made him ask if he was going forward to a similar fate in Jerusalem.
Warning and Assurance Today
This history will be repeated, for as truth is presented religious leaders will do all they can to oppose God's servants and would act as the priests and rulers did if they dared. Men bearing sacred responsibilities ranged themselves on the side of the enemy to persecute one who was cooperating with Jesus Christ, and when Stephen told the truth they refused to listen but cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran upon him together with one accord to cast him out and stone him.
Stephen had expected this outbreak and was not intimidated by it, remaining calm with a face shining with angelic light so that the infuriated priests and excited mob held no terrors for him. The priests and rulers were beside themselves with anger, more like wild beasts of prey gnashing their teeth than human beings, and when he proclaimed the glorious scene opened before him it was more than they could endure, so they covered their ears so they might not hear his words and with loud cries ran furiously upon him with one accord. The scene about him faded from his vision because the gates of heaven were ajar and he saw the glory of the courts of God and Christ as if just risen from His throne standing ready to sustain His servant who was about to suffer martyrdom for His name, and he was sustained in his death by a power higher than that of earth.
His enemies could harm his body but could not take away his hope or eternal life, though in killing one who remained faithful to Christ they made it appear that wicked men had triumphed and God's cause was failing. Even in such tribulation the Lord loves His people and all heaven is interested in the great work in which they are engaged. From this very event Paul was converted, and through his preaching thousands came to the gospel.
When Stephen openly declared that he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at His right hand in heaven, his hearers shouted loudly to drown his voice, deliberately covered their ears so they would not hear him, and rushed upon him together in furious accord. It was no lawful sentence but a mob killing in and outside the judgment hall, driven by priests and rulers and men of sacred trust who were beside themselves with anger like wild beasts, while Roman authorities bribed to inaction made no effort to stop it. Unable by wisdom to answer his Spirit-filled arguments from Scripture and unwilling to bear witness to the One they had crucified, they shut themselves off from God's evidence and rejected the Holy Spirit's testimony that the crucified and risen Jesus is the Son of God. Saul stood by consenting, with the witnesses' clothes laid at his feet, at first closing his own eyes and ears and hunting the church, yet Stephen's steadfast faith, shining face, and prayer in death shook his prejudice and helped prepare him to recognize the truth and proclaim the same cause after Christ met him on the way to Damascus. This history will be repeated when religious leaders oppose God's servants as truth is presented, yet the persecutors can harm only the body and cannot take hope and eternal life, for heaven is opened to sustain the faithful as Christ stands ready to uphold them.
Immediate Setting and Actions
The outcry came the moment Stephen openly proclaimed that he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God in heaven, describing the glory of God and Christ beside Him. It was his triumphant testimony to the crucified and risen Saviour, and the declaration of the heavenly vision he saw opened before him. At that declaration his hearers shouted with a loud voice to drown his voice. They deliberately stopped or covered their ears so they would not hear him, and rushed furiously upon him together with one accord.
The setting was Stephen's trial, with his face shining with heavenly glory like an angel and calm with angelic light. From their faces and resistance and the tumult that broke out he recognized that his testimony was about to be silenced and that his words would lead to his death, and he abruptly brought his sermon to a close. They dragged him from the judgment hall, cast him out of the city to stone him, while the witnesses laid their clothes at Saul's feet.
No legal sentence was passed upon Stephen, for it was an unlawful mob killing. The Roman authorities had been bribed with large sums of money to make no investigation of the case. They made no special effort to stop the cruel work, secretly aiding the Jews to conciliate them and secure their favor.
Those acting included the priests and rulers and men bearing sacred responsibilities. They were beside themselves with anger, more like wild beasts of prey gnashing their teeth than human beings. The infuriated priests and excited mob rushed upon him gnashing their teeth.
Rejection of Evidence and Truth
The stopping of the ears was a deliberate and united refusal to listen to Stephen's triumphant testimony to the crucified and risen Saviour standing at the right hand of God. They cried out with a loud voice to drown his voice, covered their ears so they would not hear his words, and ran upon him together with one accord to cast him out and stone him. In doing so they shut themselves off from the evidence God had given them, including his angel-like face shining with heavenly glory.
They acted in rage, hatred and fury because they understood the force of that witness. They could not bear hearing of the One they had crucified, and they could not endure the heavenly vision of glory he proclaimed. The tumult that arose as he gave his final testimony showed they were turning against his message. Beside themselves with anger, they became more like wild beasts of prey gnashing their teeth than human beings.
They were unable by wisdom to resist the Spirit with which he spoke and unable to controvert his arguments from Scripture. They did not answer him, for his words of truth could not be refuted. Instead they sought to silence him with stones, joining together in violent opposition unto death.
In this they refused the Holy Spirit's evidence that Jesus, who had been crucified, is the Son of God, because they did not want to be convinced. Their rejection continued their rebellion against God, as men bearing sacred responsibilities ranged themselves on the side of the enemy to persecute one cooperating with Jesus Christ. It was rage and hatred worked by Satan in the children of disobedience. Stephen died vindicating that truth, after boldly presenting from prophecy the evidence that Jesus was the Son of God.
Saul Witnessed and Changed
Saul was present at Stephen's trial and death, standing by and consenting to the stoning though he did not himself cast the stones, while the witnesses laid their clothes at his feet. The death took place with no legal sentence passed, for the Roman authorities had been bribed to make no investigation and made no special effort to stop the cruel work. Saul consented to the death as blasphemy punished, yet after Christ was revealed to him Stephen's testimony about seeing the Son of Man in heaven became truth to him.
Saul had been educated by the most learned teachers of the age, taught by Gamaliel, and was a rabbi and statesman and a member of the Sanhedrin, very zealous for the suppression of Christianity. The priests and rulers convinced him that Stephen was a blasphemer for preaching Jesus Christ, that Jesus was an impostor, and that those ministering in holy offices were right. Once fully settled in that conviction he with decided mind and strong purpose became bitter in opposition and voluntarily engaged in persecution. Angered at his own secret conviction that Stephen was honored of God at the very time he was dishonored by men, he with frenzied zeal hunted down the church of God, seizing believers in their houses and delivering them to the priests and rulers for imprisonment and death, to the terror of the Christians in Jerusalem. He made havoc of the church, entering into every house and committing men and women to prison.
Stephen's death was triumphant, and his faith, steadfastness, words, and God-given glory greatly stirred Saul's mind and shook his prejudice against Christianity. The glory on Stephen's face as he looked toward heaven struck Saul and brought him, helpless, to Jesus. His witness displayed God's presence, which stirred Saul to doubt the cause he defended. That lasting impression made on those not hardened against the light contributed to Saul's conversion, in contrast to the crowd who in fury stopped their ears and rushed together upon Stephen. Saul nevertheless at first suppressed his conscience, took part in Stephen's trial and conviction, and became bitterly active in persecuting Jesus' followers.
Saul closed his eyes and ears to the compelling and most striking evidence given in Stephen's martyrdom and relentlessly led the van in the persecution of believers in Christ, carried away by the malice and prejudice of the priests and rulers. Stephen was sustained in death by a power higher than that of earth, yet Saul accepted the rulers' view that he was a blasphemer and Jesus an impostor. Afterward Saul remembered his guilt with bitterness, horror, torture of remorse, repentance and earnest prayer, seeing his former blindness of understanding. He grieved that he had closed his eyes and ears to compelling evidence and urged the persecution, knowing that prejudice and unbelief had clouded his perceptions and prevented him from discerning the truth Stephen had testified. When Christ was revealed to him he recognized that the dying Stephen had seen the kingdom of glory and that his testimony of seeing the Son of Man in heaven was truth.
Their violence did not defeat the gospel, for Stephen's shed blood was a witness for Christ and his death and prayer of compassion convicted Saul, who later became a messenger of Christ. Stephen died after boldly presenting from prophecy the evidence that Jesus was the Son of God, the same cause Paul later proclaimed in the synagogue. Though enemies killed him and made it appear that wicked men had triumphed and God's cause was failing, from this very event Paul was converted, and through his preaching thousands came to the gospel. The persecution scattered church members and helped carry the gospel beyond Jerusalem. Stopped in his career on the way to Damascus to arrest Christians, when light from heaven shone round him and Jesus spoke to him, he was blinded and led by the hand into Damascus, after which Saul converted was called Paul and united with the disciples among the chief of the apostles. Years later the place of Stephen's martyrdom in Jerusalem remained known, and seeing it recalled Paul's former life and bitter prejudice with anxiety and remorse, while the scene of the mob crying out and rushing upon Stephen rose vividly before him and made him ask if he was going forward to a similar fate in Jerusalem.
Warning and Assurance Today
This history will be repeated, for as truth is presented religious leaders will do all they can to oppose God's servants and would act as the priests and rulers did if they dared. Men bearing sacred responsibilities ranged themselves on the side of the enemy to persecute one who was cooperating with Jesus Christ, and when Stephen told the truth they refused to listen but cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran upon him together with one accord to cast him out and stone him.
Stephen had expected this outbreak and was not intimidated by it, remaining calm with a face shining with angelic light so that the infuriated priests and excited mob held no terrors for him. The priests and rulers were beside themselves with anger, more like wild beasts of prey gnashing their teeth than human beings, and when he proclaimed the glorious scene opened before him it was more than they could endure, so they covered their ears so they might not hear his words and with loud cries ran furiously upon him with one accord. The scene about him faded from his vision because the gates of heaven were ajar and he saw the glory of the courts of God and Christ as if just risen from His throne standing ready to sustain His servant who was about to suffer martyrdom for His name, and he was sustained in his death by a power higher than that of earth.
His enemies could harm his body but could not take away his hope or eternal life, though in killing one who remained faithful to Christ they made it appear that wicked men had triumphed and God's cause was failing. Even in such tribulation the Lord loves His people and all heaven is interested in the great work in which they are engaged. From this very event Paul was converted, and through his preaching thousands came to the gospel.