New Life Bible Chapel - Friday Bible Study - The book of Acts by Ritchin Sen In Acts 5 we saw how

Ananias and Sapphira faced judgement because they tried to deceive God and how the Apostles escaped imprisonment, went on trial and then left free, after being beaten. Acts 6 I Problems Clarified (Acts 6:1-6) a. v.1 On reading v.1 it seems a considerable amount of time has passed since the events of Acts 5. During this time, a new sect of believing Jews had grown into a large group, namely the Hellenists. The Hellenists were Jews who dispersed or migrated to areas around Israel (Mainly the Mediterranean Basin) during the 2 century B.C. They were Greek speaking Jews who attended Greek-speaking synagogues. The Hebrews spoke Aramaic or Mishnaic Hebrew1 which was the Hebrew dialect found in the Talmud and they went to synagogues where the services were conducted in Hebrew. The Hellenists had affinities to the land they came from, that is the Mediterranean region, and the Hebrews were Palestinian Jews and most probably there were minor social and cultural differences between the two groups. Those who are here termed Grecians, , or Hellenists, were Jews who sojourned now at Jerusalem. It has been remarked that Greek words ending in imply inferiority. , Hellenes, was distinguished from : the former implies pure Greeks, native Greeks, who spoke the Greek tongue in its purity; and the latter, Jews or others sojourning among the Greeks, but who spoke the Greek language according to the Hebrew idiom. Pythagoras divided his disciples into two classes; those who were capable of entering into the spirit and mystery of his doctrine he called , Pythagoreans; those who were of a different cast he termed , Pythagorists: the former were eminent and worthy of their master; the latter only so so. The same distinction is made between those called and , Attics and Atticists, the pure and less pure Greeks, as between those called and , Hellenes and Hellenists, pure Greeks and Graecising Jews2. In the Jewish world there were tensions between these groups which could have followed in with the people who joined the Disciples. The problem that arose in this situation was more of a practical issue rather than that of a theological one and since it went on for some time it became a bad situation. The complaint that arose here was that one group was being favoured over the other. When all the disciples had put their property into a common stock, it was intended that out of it each should have his quantum of supply. The foreign or Hellenistic Jews began to be jealous, that their widows (widows formed a major part of the poor people) were neglected in the daily ministration, that they either had not the proportion, or were not duly served; the Palestine Jews being partial to those of their own country. The Hellenistic widows, it seems, were at a greater disadvantage, perhaps because the responsibility of money distribution was in the hands of the Hebrews3, 4. APPLICATION QUESTION 1: What situation caused the Apostles to take steps in optimizing the way matters were conducted in the early church? What did they do? b. v.2 The apostles, hearing of this murmuring, came to the resolution mentioned below from v.2 onwards. Here we see the Twelve acting the correct way when a problem arises. They do not put it aside to resolve later but act on it immediately. The distribution of money was in their hands and perhaps this
1Bruce, F. F. (1988). The Book of Acts, NICNT. Grand Rapids, MI :Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 2 See Jamblicus, De Vit. Pyth. cap. 18, and Schoettgen on this place. 3Bruce, F. F. (1988). The Book of Acts, NICNT. Grand Rapids, MI :Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 4Clarke, A. (1997). Adam Clarkes Commentary on the Bible. Nashville, TN :Thomas Nelson Inc.

situation that came up made the Apostles aware that they were not executing that responsibility the way they were supposed to because of their higher calling, that is teaching and preaching the gospel message (being a witness for Jesus Christ). That could be a reason why they wanted to select a few more helpers devoted to the task of overseeing the Church fund and the proceeds given out to the needy. The Apostles realized that supervising the finances was not their primary ministry as we can see from what they say in v.2, It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. This could be a way God was working to make the Apostles focus on their witnessing for Christ and at the same time, to bring new people on board for the new responsibilities that were coming up. APPLICATION QUESTION 2: What were the requirements for the workers who were needed in the church ministries? c. v.3 And so, the Twelve called the community together and asked them to select seven men from among them, whom they could appoint to this duty. They also gave the criteria that these men should have. They should be of good repute, that is their character should be of good testimony and they should be well known and accredited so that there is full confidence in them. They should be wise men, able to deal wisely with different situations and people. And they have to be men of God, filled with the Holy Spirit. The criteria listed out by the disciples can be taken as the ideal requirements for all church appointments5. d. v.4 These men were needed to take charge of the responsibilities so that the Apostles can devote all their time to prayer and ministry of the Word, that is preaching the Gospel, which was their primary ministry. e. v.5 The Apostles plan of action was met with approval. v.5 lists the seven men who were selected for this job and they appear to all be Hellenists (Greek names) and most probably, they could be the recognized leaders of the Hellenists in the church. Stephen and Philip play prominent roles later on in Acts but there is no mention of the other five anywhere else. APPLICATION QUESTION 3: What was the implication of laying hands on the chosen men in this situation? f. v.6 So it was the community who chose these seven men and set them before the Apostles but it was the Apostles who installed them in their new ministry. Anything important that had to be commissioned, which involved close association to the Church, Gods work etc., was done so by the Apostles themselves (which we will see later in Acts). Because of the authority they had, they were the ones who made the final decisions. The laying of hands and praying signified that the Apostles commissioned them for their ministrys work. Laying of hands has many implications in the OT like bestowal of blessing (Gen. 48:13-20), expressing identification, as when the sacrificer laid his hands on the head of the sacrificial victim (Lev. 1:4; 3:2; 4:4; 16:21, etc.), for commissioning a successor (Num. 27:23) etc. According to the Mishnah (it is the major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the Oral Torah. It is the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism[Mainstream form of Judaism since the 2nd century A.D.].), members of the Sanhedrin were admitted by the imposition of hands. Similarly, in the present situation the laying of hands was symbolic to appoint these seven men to their special duty. It did not, in any way, impart the gift of the Spirit, because v.3 clearly indicates that they were already filled with the Spirit6. II Results Realized (Acts 6:7)7, 8 g. v.7 Some scholars see this verse as Luke interrupting the flow of the ongoing narrative to give a brief report of progress. While it is a report of progress, I think it ties in with the ongoing events in the current
5Bruce, F. F. (1988). The Book of Acts, NICNT. Grand Rapids, MI :Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 6Bruce, F. F. (1988). The Book of Acts, NICNT. Grand Rapids, MI :Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 7E.S.V. Study Bible Notes 8Bruce, F. F. (1988). The Book of Acts, NICNT. Grand Rapids, MI :Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

and previous chapters, namely Chapter 5 and 6. Here Luke informs his reader that in spite of suffering and persecution (Acts 5:41), sin in the church (Acts 5:1-11) and in spite of conflict (Acts 6:1), the church continued to grow. The appointment of the seven men, to take care of the church funds, resulted in two advantages that were the main reasons for Gods Word and believers increasing greatly: - There was more time for the Apostles to focus on their ministry of preaching the Gospel to the Jewish people. They could do it with much more vigour because the responsibility that was taking their time was the allotment of funds to the needy and it was now being taken care of by the new workers. - The new workers (the chosen Seven) for the church had a more closer proximity to the poor people in the Christian community and influenced their thoughts because of their kind, caring attitude. As we can read from the passage, many of the temple priests became Christians. The temple priests were no doubt holy and humble at heart, like Zechariah (John the Baptists father) but they were poor. These priests were socially and in other ways far removed from the wealthy chief-priestly families, from whom most of the opposition to the gospel came. The lower ranks of the priesthood ranked in the thousands and since they were poor they might have been attracted to Christians by their charity and in turn would have come under the guidance of the newly appointed workers, who were persuasive about the truth of the gospel. III Opposition Intensified (Acts 6:8-15) h. v.8 Now the focus shifts to Stephen, one of the chosen seven. Here it says that he was, full of grace and power, and he was doing great wonders and signs among the people (ESV). APPLICATION QUESTION 4: For what ministry were the seven chosen? Did they stick within the boundaries of that ministry? Now wonders and signs mentioned in the Bible are usually similar in manner that they explained something supernatural (Acts 2:19, 5:12-16). Wonders is the amazement people experience when they see supernatural works or, what we call, miracles and signs are what points to the power of God that is behind these miracles. These marvels hold no value unless they point to God and His truth. These marvels are usually done by the Holy Spirit to authenticate the messengers of God and their message of truth (Gospel Message)9. i.v.9 While Stephen did things that brought marvel and happiness to many, he did do something else that provoked fierce hostility to some. We can see that Stephen got involved in a debate with people either from one synagogue or from different ones. Some scholars believe that it could have been the synagogue of the Freedmen and the other names mentioned were talking about the places where its members were from. Most scholars believe that this list makes mention of 3 different synagogues because of the cultural and linguistic differences among the people of the places mentioned. Freedmen would refer to Jews who had been enslaved and then granted freedom. Cyrenians and Alexandrians represent North Africa, while Cilicia and Asia represent the area covered by modern Turkey. These men disputed and in Greek, disputed means that they were debating formally.

9MacArthur, J (1997). The MacArthur Study Bible. Nashville, TN :Thomas Nelson, Inc.

j. v.10 It is not clear as to what the subject of their debate was but what we can see clearly from the passage is that Stephens opponents could not answer his arguments nor could they compare to Stephens wisdom because it was the Holy Spirit who was helping him. Maybe the nature of his arguments could be understood from the charges that were brought against him in the coming verses (v.13-14). The topic about Jesus being the Messiah would have most definitely been one of the topics discussed including the implications of that messiahship. k. v.11-12 Since Stephens opponents could not prevail over him in the debate they were having, they resorted to deceit and conspiracy. They secretly instigated or recruited men to bear false witness against Stephen, which is basically asking those men to lie about him. The charges were serious and deadly because it was one which would infuriate the people of Jerusalem. The punishment for blasphemy was punishable by death (Lev. 24:16). In v.12 we see Stephens opponents stirring up the people present there, as well as the elders and scribes, and they arrested him and brought before the council which is also called the Sanhedrin. APPLICATION QUESTION 5: Does the situation Stephen is in, (Acts 6:8-15) remind you of any one else in the Bible? l. v.13-14 And once Stephen was before the council, the witnesses gave their false statements against him. They were saying that Stephens teaching threatened the temple, which was the holy place, and the law of Moses. They continued stating that Stephen boldly stated that Jesus of Nazareth would destroy the temple. The witnesses also lied saying that they heard Stephen say that Jesus would even change the customs handed down by Moses. This situation is very similar to what Jesus also went through (Mat. 26:59-61). The false witnesses basically brought substantial lies which looked like the truth to the Sanhedrin. Jesus did talk something

about destroying the temple and Stephen most probably might have been teaching about Jesus prophesying about His own death and resurrection by quoting Jesus very words (John 2:19). What Stephen taught regarding the temple is made evident in the coming chapters. He was explaining that the temple order would come to an end with the coming of Christ. He was merely pointing out the fact that the gospel meant the end of the sacrificial system and the ceremonial law. Stephen, like many other believers, saw all those systems and laws as just outward and visible signs and could not go hand in hand with the wider scope of the salvation through Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself said that something greater than the temple had come (Mar. 12:6), something not made with hands, which is being built up like a spiritual house with living stones (1 Pet. 2:4-10) and in this place spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God, are offered through Jesus Christ10. m. v.15 After all this was said, all the members of the Sanhedrin looked at Stephen and saw that his face was like that of an angel. What Luke is trying to convey here is that Stephen was calm, his look was that of someone who was inspired by God having clear eyes burning with the inner light. Basically it was the look that reflects the presence of God like in Exodus 34:29-35, when Moses came down from Mount. Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony and his face was shining because he had been talking to God.

10Bruce, F. F. (1988). The Book of Acts, NICNT. Grand Rapids, MI :Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.