The Accusations
Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.” They put forward false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law ; for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us.”
Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these accusations true?”
Acts 6:11-14, 7:1
Stephen’s Defence
And he said, “Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
and said to him, ‘LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR RELATIVES, AND COME INTO THE LAND THAT I WILL SHOW YOU.’
“Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.
“But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, even when he had no child, He promised that HE WOULD GIVE IT TO HIM AS A POSSESSION, AND TO HIS DESCENDANTS AFTER HIM.
“But God spoke to this effect, that his DESCENDANTS WOULD BE ALIENS IN A FOREIGN LAND, AND THAT THEY WOULD BE ENSLAVED AND MISTREATED FOR FOUR HUNDRED YEARS.
” ‘AND WHATEVER NATION TO WHICH THEY WILL BE IN BONDAGE I MYSELF WILL JUDGE,’ said God, ‘AND AFTER THAT THEY WILL COME OUT AND SERVE ME IN THIS PLACE.’
“And He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father ofJacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
“The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt.YetGod was with him,
and rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household.
“Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers could find no food.
“But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.
“On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh.
“Then Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all.
“And Jacob went down to Egypt and there he and our fathers died.
“From there they were removed to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
“But as the time of the promise was approaching which God had assured to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,
until THERE AROSE ANOTHER KING OVER EGYPT WHO KNEW NOTHING ABOUT JOSEPH.
“It was he who took shrewd advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers so that they would expose their infants and they would not survive.
“It was at this time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home.
“And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son.
“Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.
“But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel.
“And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian.
“And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.
“On the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?’
“But the one who was injuring his neighbour pushed him away, saying, ‘WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND JUDGE OVER US?
‘YOU DO NOT MEAN TO KILL ME AS YOU KILLED THE EGYPTIAN YESTERDAY, DO YOU?’
“At this remark, MOSES FLED AND BECAME AN ALIEN IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN, where he became the father of two sons.
“After forty years had passed, AN ANGEL APPEARED TO HIM IN THE WILDERNESS OF MOUNT Sinai, IN THE FLAME OF A BURNING THORN BUSH.
“When Moses saw it, he marvelled at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord:
‘I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC AND JACOB.’ Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look.
“BUT THE LORD SAID TO HIM, ‘TAKE OFF THE SANDALS FROM YOUR FEET, FOR THE PLACE ON WHICH YOU ARE STANDING IS HOLY GROUND.
‘I HAVE CERTAINLY SEEN THE OPPRESSION OF MY PEOPLE IN EGYPT AND HAVE HEARD THEIR GROANS, AND I HAVE COME DOWN TO RESCUE THEM; COME NOW, AND I WILL SEND YOU TO EGYPT.’
“This Moses whom they disowned, saying, ‘WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND A JUDGE?’ is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.
“This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.
“This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN.’
“This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you.
“Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but repudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,
SAYING TO AARON, ‘MAKE FOR US GODS WHO WILL GO BEFORE US; FOR THIS MOSES WHO LED US OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT–WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM.’
“At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.
“But God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘IT WAS NOT TO ME THAT YOU OFFERED VICTIMS AND SACRIFICES FORTY YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS, WAS IT, O HOUSE OF ISRAEL?
‘YOU ALSO TOOK ALONG THE TABERNACLE OF MOLOCH AND THE STAR OF THE GOD ROMPHA, THE IMAGES WHICH YOU MADE TO WORSHIP. I ALSO WILL REMOVE YOU BEYOND BABYLON.’
“Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen.
“And having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David.
“David found favour in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.
“But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.
“However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:
‘HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND EARTH IS THE FOOTSTOOL OF MY FEET; WHAT KIND OF HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD FOR ME?’ says the Lord, ‘OR WHAT PLACE IS THERE FOR MY REPOSE?
‘WAS IT NOT MY HAND WHICH MADE ALL THESE THINGS?’
“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.
“Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become;
you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”
Acts 7:2-53
Here are the Jewish accusations against Stephen (the Hellenist) and Stephen’s defence in stark contrast. I have picked out the crux of the issue for you and highlighted it. Now read through Stephen’s response a number of times over the next days. (As many times as you are able!) Then colour the segments of Stephen’s speech in sync with the accusations. What you find may surprise you. Keep your eyes open and your brain sharp. You may notice other things as well.
Have fun! If nothing else, you get to play colouring in. Now you can’t tell me you don’t like to colour in. Everybody, no matter what the age, loves to colour in.
There are a number of Gems readers who have written and asked if they could have more time to do this exercise. Your wish is my command. I will give you until the next Gem. After that you will be able to proceed at your own pace by simply reading each Gems when you are ready to carry on. There are many people who save each Gems to a folder on their computer and work on each successive Gems when they have completed the one before it.
In the meantime, let me state clearly that the accusations made by the members of the Synagogue of Freedmen against Stephen are addressed at length in Stephen’s speech. Make sure you pay careful attention to what is said in the context of the allegations made against him. Remember, the focus of the allegations are that Stephen was blaspheming against Moses and God and was speaking against “this holy place” and the Law and the customs of Moses. So simply take the time to investigate the speech in the light of these accusations. As I suggested in the quotes I attached to Gems 1474, colour the segments of the speech to match the themes of the allegations. As the High Priest asked “Are these allegations true?” The Freedmen think so, the Sanhedrin think so. What do you think? Note the similarities between Moses, Joseph, the prophets and Jesus. Each was rejected by his own family and countrymen, vilified and opposed and finally rejected. The Jews treated Joseph, Moses, the prophets and Jesus the same.
Look beyond the speech to some of the personal things that Stephen says as well. The way in which he addresses the High Priest (i.e. Council) and his accusers. Take note of the fact that Stephen is not actually responding to the High Priest or the Council. The thrust of his comments go far beyond the immediate context.
Artists can colour the sky red because they know its blue. Those of us who aren’t artists must colour things the way they really are or people might think we are stupid.
Jules Feiffer
Colour is uncontainable. It effortlessly reveals the limit of language and evades our best attempts to impose a rational order on it . . . To work with colour is to become acutely aware of the insufficiency of language and theory – which is both disturbing and pleasurable.
David Batchelor
Set your thoughts flowing with some splashes of colour.
Ian Vail
The soul becomes dyed with the colours of its thoughts.
Trudy Vesotsky