God’s Image Study • Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder
Jesus warned that people would kill his disciples while believing they served God. Stephen’s account now brings us to the treatment of a person speaking by the Spirit.
Before the stones were thrown
Acts identifies Stephen as a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. When opponents argue with him, they cannot withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by whom he speaks. Read Acts 6:5, 8–10.
What follows matters. Men are secretly induced to accuse him of blasphemy. The people and leaders are stirred up, Stephen is seized, and false witnesses are brought forward. Their accusations concern God, Moses, the holy place, and the Law. Read Acts 6:11–14.
The accusations sound like a defense of what is holy, yet the account identifies the witnesses as false. We must follow both the claim being made and the conduct accompanying it.
Resisting whom?
Stephen tells those before him that they:
“are always resisting the Holy Spirit.”
— Acts 7:51, LSB, excerpt
The Greek ἀντιπίπτετε — antipiptete, from ἀντιπίπτω — antipiptō (G496), means to resist or oppose. Stephen names the Holy Spirit as the one being resisted. He also speaks of their hearts and ears, comparing their conduct with that of their fathers. Examine Acts 7:51 in Greek.
The human speaker and the Spirit by whom he speaks remain connected in the account. Attacking Stephen does not make the source of his testimony disappear.
Persecution, killing, and murder
In the next verse, Stephen brings three expressions together:
ἐδίωξαν — ediōxan: they persecuted.
ἀπέκτειναν — apekteinan: they killed.
φονεῖς — phoneis: murderers.
He recalls the persecution and killing of the prophets who announced the Righteous One, then identifies his hearers as that Righteous One’s betrayers and murderers. Read Acts 7:52 and its Greek wording.
Stephen then distinguishes receiving the Law from observing it. His hearers had received it, yet had not kept it. Read Acts 7:53.
Ears closed, violence follows
The listeners become furious. Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, sees the Glory of God and Jesus at God’s right hand. When he speaks of what he sees, they cover their ears, rush at him, and stone him outside the city. Read Acts 7:54–59.
Stephen’s final appeal is:
“Lord, do not hold this sin against them!”
— Acts 7:60, LSB, excerpt
The account asks us to examine more than an accusation’s religious wording. It places testimony, resistance, false witness, and violence before us—and shows how Stephen responds.
Threads to Follow
Truthful and false witnesses: Compare the requirement for witnesses with the examination of false testimony. Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 19:15–19.
Love under persecution: Keep Stephen’s final appeal alongside Jesus’ instruction concerning enemies and persecutors. Matthew 5:43–48.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
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