CRITICAL REMARKS
Acts 7:45. Our fathers that came after should be simply our fathers. Jesus is Joshua, as in Hebrews 4:8. Into (lit. in) the possession of the Gentiles.—Meaning that the Ark was brought in to remain in the possession of the nations—i.e., in their land. The R.V. reads, “When they entered on the possession of the nations”; lit. “at” or “in” their taking possession of (the land of) the nations.
Acts 7:46. Tabernacle should be “habitation,” permanent abode, like “house” in Acts 7:47.
Acts 7:48. The prophet was Isaiah (Isaiah 66:1-2).
Acts 7:52. Which of the prophets, etc., echoed the words of Christ (Matthew 5:12; Matthew 23:31; Luke 13:34).
Acts 7:53. By the disposition of the angels is better rendered in the R.V., as it was ordained by angels, or as ordinances of angels; lit. unto ordinances of angels. Compare Galatians 3:19 and Hebrews 2:2.
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Acts 7:45-53
From Joshua to Jesus; or, the Downward Course of Israel
I. Joshua and the conquest.—
1. The clearing out of the nations from Canaan.
(1) Effected instrumentally by the swords of Joshua and his warriors. Stephen does not hint that the extermination of the Canaanites was a horrible impiety; this is mostly done by tender-hearted “moderns” who see nothing wrong in shooting down “inferior races” when they happen to be possessed of desirable lands.
(2) Sanctioned providentially and even commanded verbally by God Himself (Deuteronomy 7:1-2; Deuteronomy 32:49), so that Stephen represents the nations as having been thrust out by God before the face of the fathers of Israel. That God had a perfect right to eject the degraded Canaanites from their land, and to do so in whatever way He chose, no one can dispute. That He selected Joshua and his warriors for this purpose could not render the action wrong on God’s part, and was ample justification for Joshua 2. The entering in of Israel into their possession. This took place under the leadership of Joshua, who in conducting Israel to Canaan served as an eminent type of Christ. In taking over the soil the Israelites did nothing different from what has been going on ever since in the providence of God. Degenerate nations retire, go down, and become extinct before or are absorbed in superior peoples who are better able to occupy the land.
3. The establishment in Canaan of Jehovah’s worship. Stephen clearly believed that Moses had made a tabernacle in the wilderness, and that Joshua had fetched it into Canaan, setting it up first at Gilgal (Joshua 4:18-19), and latterly at Shiloh (Joshua 18:1; Joshua 19:51). In so doing Israel under Joshua began her national history well. Had she adhered to Jehovah and His tabernacle her subsequent fortunes, and perhaps the history of the world, would have been different.
II. David and the monarchy.—Two things noted.
1. Concerning David’s character. That he found favour in the sight of God, and was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22; 1 Samuel 13:14), who delighted to do Jehovah’s will (Psalms 40:8). This does not imply that David never fell into sin.
2. Concerning David’s request. To be allowed to find a habitation for the God of Jacob. This request, though denied him, was pronounced good and accepted as an evidence of his piety (1 Chronicles 22:7-8). In David’s days Israel’s national glory reached its zenith. In the next reign it began to decline.
III. Solomon and the temple.—
1. The honour conferred upon David’s son. He was permitted to carry out his father’s project and erect a house for the worship of Jehovah (1 Kings 6:8). A signal honour of which in his latter days he became unmindful (1 Kings 11:1-13). Eminent service in and to the Church is no certain guarantee against apostasy. For the notion that Stephen intended “to declare that Solomon built the temple without warrant, in place of the tabernacle” (Weizsäcker), there is not the shadow of foundation.
2. The silence preserved about his reign. It is significant that Stephen adds nothing more about David’s son; as if he desired to convey the impression that nothing more to Solomon’s advantage or Israel’s could be said. Possibly this was so. Nevertheless, Nihil nisi bonum de mortuis is an excellent maxim.
IV. Isaiah and Jehovah.—
1. The decline in religion after Solomon. Notwithstanding the magnificence of the temple worship, and perhaps partly because of its magnificence, it began to degenerate—drifting first into mere external ritual, and latterly terminating in shameful and shameless idolatry (see Isaiah 1:11-15; Isaiah 2:8).
2. The lofty doctrine of the prophets. That Jehovah was not a local divinity, but the sovereign of the universe; that He could not be confined to any material edifice, however imposing, since heaven was His throne and the earth His footstool; and that He could not be served by any mere bodily performance or visible ceremonial, but only by the true homage of the heart.
3. The evil fortunes of the prophets. The people, stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart, resisted the Holy Ghost who spake in them (2 Samuel 23:2; 2 Peter 1:21), and persecuted them, sometimes even unto death (Matthew 23:29-35).
V. Jesus and His contemporaries.—
1. Their exalted privileges.
(1) They had received the law, as it was ordained by angels, or as the ordinance of angels (Psalms 68:17).
(2) They had been honoured by the coming to them of the righteous One (John 1:11).
2. Their heinous sins.
(1) They had not kept the law (John 7:19).
(2) They had betrayed and murdered the righteous One (Acts 2:23).
Learn.—
1. The powerlessness of mere external privilege to save.
2. The heredity that shows itself in sin as well as in piety.
3. The criminality of those who know the truth, and do not walk in accordance therewith.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Acts 7:44-47. Four Old Testament Typical Persons.
I. Moses.—As
1. Deliverer.
2. Mediator.
3. Lawgiver.
II. Joshua.—As
1. Captain.
2. Conqueror.
3. Consolidator.
III. David.—As
1. Shepherd.
2. King.
IV. Solomon.—As
1. Builder of the Temple.
2. As Prince of Peace.
Acts 7:47. The House and its Dwellers.
I. The house.—There was on earth once a house which Jehovah called His own. Though the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, yet He chose for Himself a local habitation, and built for Himself a place of special abode. For many an age it was simply a tent, of stakes, and boards, and curtains; in after ages it was a palace, of marble, and gold, and cedar, and brass; but whether it was named Jehovah’s tent or Jehovah’s temple, it was still the place of His habitation.
II. The dwellers.—They of old were Israel. To them pertained the house, and the altar, and the mercy seat, and the glory.
III. The blessedness.—“Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house.” This blessedness is both negative and positive. It arises out of that which we are freed from, and that which we gain.
1. The negative. On entering the house of God, we are delivered from the dangers which beset all who remain outside.
2. The positive.
(1) Love. Jehovah’s house is specially the abode of love. It was love that thought of such a house for us; it was love that planned it, and love that built it. It is love too that fills it, and provides all its excellences.
(2) Companionship. It is not into a cell we enter—a prison, a desert, a place of isolation. It is into a home, a well-replenished habitation, a well-peopled city. Israel’s temple was such, to which the tribes went up. Much of life’s happiness is derived from the fellowship of heart with heart, and the communion of saints is no small portion of our joy, even here. Here, on earth, companionship is imperfect, and is sometimes a hindrance, a vexation. Not so hereafter, in the “house not made with hands,” the city of habitation, the eternal tabernacle.
(3) Service. “They serve Him day and night in His temple.” “His servants shall serve Him.” It is to serve, as well as to reign, that we are called. Such service is, in all its parts, blessedness. David knew the blessedness of service in his day.
(4) Glory. At present it is not glory, save in anticipation.—H. Bonar, D.D.
Acts 7:48-50. The Greatness and Majesty of God.
I. The throne of His glory.—Heaven. A throne.
1. Resplendent.—Filled with His presence.
2. Exalted.—High above this world (Psalms 103:19).
3. Powerful.—Wielding authority over all created things.
II. The footstool of His feet.—The earth. As such:
1. The work of His hands (Isaiah 48:13).
2. Under His rule (Psalms 110:1).
3. Destined to share His glory (Isaiah 60:13).
III. The place of His rest.—
1. The temple which Solomon built, symbolically (Psalms 132:14).
2. The universe, which He himself built, really.
Learn.—
1. The reverence due to God (Ecclesiastes 5:2).
2. The hopefulness of earth’s future (Isaiah 60:13).
3. The spirituality of divine worship (John 4:21-24).
Acts 7:51-53. A Terrible Indictment.
I. Jehovah’s law broken.—And that by men who had received it at the hands of angels.
II. Jehovah’s prophets murdered.—And that by the men they had come to instruct.
III. Jehovah’s Son slain.—And that by those who should have been His protectors.
IV. Jehovah’s Spirit resisted.—And that by the men who had been pledged to obey.