Acts 7:59-60

Peace to you my brothers and sisters.

Today’s Bible Verse: Acts 7:59-60

Verse Text: [Acts 7:59-60 KJV] And they stoned Stephen, calling upon [God], and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts six and seven tells us of Stephen and his testimony.

[Acts 6:11-14 KJV] Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and [against] God. 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, And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.

In other words, they slandered Stephen.

[Acts 7:1 KJV] Then said the high priest, Are these things so?

And that opened the door for Stephen. He related the Torah to them from Abraham through Moses and then the Prophets and then the present time. The Pharisees should have understood that Stephen knew Torah and was not speaking against it.

[Acts 7:54 KJV] When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with [their] teeth.

But they did not.

[Acts 7:55-56 KJV] But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

This was the last straw for them.

[Acts 57-58 KJV] Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast [him] out of the city, and stoned [him]: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

They would not hear anymore and carried out their sentence on him. Note also that Saul (Paul) was a witness.

[Acts 59-60 KJV] And they stoned Stephen, calling upon [God], and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Stephen asked Jesus to receive his spirit. He also asked Jesus to not blame them. Then he died.

I pray that we all have the strength and conviction of Stephen in our time of persecution.

Go forth and spread this good news.

I hope this has been a blessing to you. May the rest of your day be blessed. Walk Torah-ly. Peace.