Verse 1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
Which days? The early days of the Church before the Apostle Paul came on the scene, days in which the ministry was primarily in Jerusalem. People hearing the Gospel message were being converted, baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost/Spirit, but not all of them would be called to be in the ministry, so it would take some time for the disciples to multiply.
There were two types of Jews in the days of the early Church: Hebraic and Hellenistic. Hebraic Jews were born and raised in Israel and spoke Hebrew, and Hellenistic Jews were Jews who had been born and lived outside of Israel and then returned and who spoke Greek which was the language of the day much as English is the international language of today. Perhaps the Hellenistic Jewish converts were viewed as foreigners and not treated equally or perhaps the early Church was growing so fast that the leadership could not keep up with all the issues that came with all the people converting and becoming part of the Kingdom of God. Regardless, some widows were being neglected. And the early Church under the leadership of the Apostles who had been with Jesus knew that widows and orphans had to be cared for by the Church. “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this; To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27
Verses 2-4 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
The Church leadership made up of the twelve apostles called a meeting and came up with a plan to solve the problem. To “serve tables” did not mean to just serve meals to widows and orphans, but referred to taking care of business in general. If the twelve apostles started to spend their time on tasks and decision making that could be done by others who had not been with Jesus and who did not have the doctrinal background of the apostles, then the job of teaching and preaching the Word of God would suffer and the disciples being added to the Church would not get grounded in the New Covenant and the teachings of Jesus Christ. The twelve apostles knew they were to spend their time and energy on following the commandment of the LORD Jesus Christ to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.
Application: One of the ways Satan tries to slow down or derail Christian ministry is to bring multiple tasks into believers’ daily lives that detract from what they are supposed to be doing for the furthering of the Kingdom of God. This was what was happening with the early Church as recorded in the verses above. This writer can attest to this tactic. This writer has been called to complete this web site project and every day things happen that keep this writer away from the computer and the Word. It becomes very frustrating as those things which the enemy brings every day usually need to be addressed and interventions need to be made. So the Christian believer needs to always prioritize their 24 hour day so that God always receives a portion of that time, be it for something like this web site ministry, volunteering at the local homeless shelter, ministering to children or just engaging in personal prayer and Bible study time. Like the apostles in the verses above, there needs to be a workable plan that frees one up for the ministry to which one has been called.
Verses 5-6 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: 6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
Remember that in the early Church every one was of one accord as stated in verse 14 of chapter one of this book or epistle. And in their decision making they were also of one accord and agreed with the twelve apostles’ suggestion. So men were chosen to attend to the everyday needs of the people and the apostles were free to preach, teach, and witness to the unsaved. The name Stephen means “crowned” and this man was the first Christian martyr, killed at the hands of the religious Jews in Jerusalem. The name Philip means “lover of horses”. The name Prochorus means “leader of the chorus”. The name Nicanor means “conqueror”. The name Timon means “honourable”. The name Parmenas means “abiding”. The name Nicolas means “victor of the people”.
Application: Satan has complicated everything that mankind endeavors to do. The early Church merely prayed over people and laid their hands on them and they were in ministry because they, like Stephen, were full of the Holy Ghost. Today, people spend large sums of money on tuition, books, lodging and so forth to attend seminaries to learn how to minister in the Church. Why? If God has called an individual to minister and if He has promised to put the necessary words into the mouth of His servants like He was doing for the Apostle Peter and the other apostles who were laborers and not educated scholars, why subject oneself to years of listening to others and their opinions on Scripture and so forth? This writer attributes most of the understanding of Scripture to a pastor who did not attend an organized seminary or religious institution in order to be a pastor, but who relied solely on the Holy Ghost/Spirit to provide that which he needed to bring forth a sermon to his church congregation, and he never used any notes. His sermons were recorded and sent all over the world and he preached and taught Jesus for 40 years. Think about it.
Verses 7-8 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. 8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
The blessing here is that many of the Levitical priests were converted from Judaism to Christianity. Remember that the Apostle Paul, although not of the house of Levi and therefore not a priest, was a Pharisee and he was eventually converted and became the main writer of the New Testament books. Scripture does not bear record of how many Jewish leaders may have abandoned the Babylonian religion they were professing and decided to follow Jesus.
Verses 9-10 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. 10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
It did not take long for opposition to come to the new Church in Jerusalem. The Greek word translated as “wonders” in the verse above is “teras” and it means miracles. The Greek word translated as “miracles” in the verse above is “semeio” and it means unusual occurrences transcending the common course of nature, and that by which God authenticates the men sent by Him or by which men prove that the cause they are pleading is God’s. So even though Stephen was, through the power of the Holy Ghost/Spirit, performing that which these men from the synagogues could not perform, they still chose to dispute or question what God was doing through His servants. Instead of falling to their knees in humility and praising and thanking God for His miracles and signs, they rejected the power of God and thought only of attempting to disprove the Gospel.
Synagogues appear to have been a product of the Babylonian exile as they are not mentioned in the Old Testament except one time in Psalms 74:8. A synagogue could be a gathering of men, or a building in which was held a gathering of men. These Jewish synagogues were used for prayer, for reading some of the Old Testament and for reading the writings of their rabbis, for holding trials, and for inflicting punishment. They were located in both Jewish and Gentile cities where there were Jewish inhabitants. The Libertines were thought to be Jews who had been made captives of the Romans, were later freed, and who chose to live in Rome. Apparently they had built a synagogue in Jerusalem which they used when in the city. The other synagogue members were from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and other towns in Asia which may have been the region that today is known as Turkey.
Verses 11-15 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. 12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, 13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: 14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. 15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. (Acts 6)
The Greek word translated as “suborned” is “hupoballo” and it means to bribe or instruct someone to commit an unlawful act or to give false testimony (perjury). So these paid actors lied about Stephen and the results were chaos and the arresting of Stephen and bringing him into the Temple meeting place of the Sanhedrin or council. The penalty for blasphemy was death, so of course, the charge had to be blasphemy just as it had been when Jesus was brought illegally before the council. As stated before, Satan works in patterns and hence the repetition seen here and throughout history. Imagine the surprise of these evil men when instead of witnessing a frightened man subject to their laws and punishment, they saw a man, composed and without fear, so much so that his face had a noticeable difference to the faces of those around him. This writer has no idea what the face of an angel looks like, but wonders if this was reminiscent of Moses’ face when he came down from the mountain where he had been with the LORD forty days and forty nights and he had to veil his face so that the people could look at him. “And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.” Exodus 34:30