Notes on Acts 6-9 "What Wilt Thou Have Me to Do?", CFM lesson for July 8-14

Seven Deacons Chosen, Acts 6:1-7

• The Greek-speaking Jews complained that their widows were not getting the same care as the "Hebrews," most likely those native to Jerusalem.  This was likely a bit of a barrier between the two, having grown up in two different cultures.  It's easy to picture the language differences and the differences in culture, language, and background causing some difficulties in unity.
• This story reminds me of Moses, whose father-in-law worried about his daily ministrations to his people, saying, "Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone." (Exodus 18:18).  Jethro counseled Moses about choosing "able men, such as fear God, men of truth"  to help him with the many affairs of the people.  In the same way, the Apostles had been given the commission to take the gospel to all the world.  Much as they probably wanted to serve and do everything for everyone, it seems like they might have been dropping some proverbial balls.  "It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.  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"  Wayment points out that all seven have Greek names.  I wonder if they were all Greek-speaking, or if Luke simply referred to them by their Greek name.  
• It's been my lot in life to have always more that I want to do than can possibly be done.  I've had to make some difficult sacrifices to decide where my priorities need to be.  Like the Apostles, we each need to evaluate the many tasks we take on and make sure we make time for what is most important.  What that is may be different at different seasons in our lives and for different people, but I believe God has a work for each of us to do, and while it is good to "serve tables," it may not be the better or best choice in the use of our time.  It can be hard to say "no" to good things, but it is part of mortality to recognize our own limitations.
• Note that the seven men chosen were set apart by the laying on of hands.
• The text notes that there was a great company of priests who were obedient to the faith.  Wayment says that these priests "would be Levites like Zechariah."  I wonder if that detail comes into play with the increasing persecution going on.  It can't have pleased the Jews to be losing all the workers at the temple to this new movement.

Stephen's Arrest, Acts 6:8-15

• It seems these seven good men didn't just distribute food to widows.  Stephen did miracles and taught the gospel with great power.
• A synagogue of freed slaves who worship together (Libertines or Freedmen) begin to stir up the people against Stephen and bribe false witnesses to slay him.  You have to wonder at why this specific group was so mad.  Had they lost some of their number to the Christians?  Had Stephen offended them in some way?  
• The charges against Stephen are that he has spoken blasphemy.  He has spoken against Moses and the Law, and that he has claimed that Jesus would destroy the temple and change the customs that Moses set up.  Some of these charges have got to be correct.  Though it seems it wasn't quite as clear now as it would be later, the Christians knew that Christ came to fulfill the law of Moses and they would teach that the old laws were done away.  And Christ had prophesied of the destruction of the temple that was to come in 70 A.D., though not at the hands of Christ or the Christians.  
• Stephen's face glows like an angel as he speaks.

Stephen's Speech, Acts 7:1-53

• Stephen's speech is interesting in light of the charges made against him.  He recounts the basic Jewish history, giving particular attention to Moses.  Instead of defending the specific charges against him, he shows them that the Christians are really the ones who are following Moses and that the people charging him are like the ones who turned back to Egypt and corrupt Gods instead of following the prophet who had delivered them.  He emphasizes the initial rejection Moses received after he killed the overseer, and points out all the times the people turned away from following Moses.  Then he reminds them of the prophecy made by Moses that a prophet like him would be raised up.  But "our fathers would not obey [Moses], but thrust him from them and in their hearts turned back to Egypt."  They built idols like the ones they knew from Egypt.  
• In what ways do we reject the prophets and turn our hearts figuratively back to Egypt?  This talk by Kerry Mulhestein is one of my favorites as it points out that while we, like Stephen's accusers, might try to separate ourselves from the human nature of the past, we probably do similar things in our lives, too:  "During the two decades I have been teaching the Old Testament, I have found that for most of us it just seems weird when we read about ancient Israel’s struggles with idolatry. We cannot imagine why they would stop worshipping Jehovah and instead worship things carved from wood or stone or molded from metal. We ask ourselves, “What were they thinking? What is wrong with them?” Yet I have found that we should never ask ourselves, “What is wrong with them?” Instead we should ask, “What is wrong with them and me?” If ancient Israel struggled with something, surely we struggle with it as well. We should not ask ourselves if we struggle with the things that tempted them; rather, we should ask how we do the same thing. . . . Now that we know ancient Israel was worshipping both the true God and false gods at the same time, our task is, as I said earlier, not to ask ourselves if but instead how we do the same thing. I believe there is no doubt that we all worship more than one god. For some of us, instead of worshipping both Jehovah and Ba’al, we worship Jehovah and footba’al. For others it is video games, material possessions, or a whole host of other things. Yet over the last twenty years, as I have tried to observe the ways in which we struggle with idolatry, I have become convinced that on the whole we struggle with one kind of false god more than any other. We tend to worship the ideas of the world, and, like those who pull on the waterski rope, we don’t even realize we are doing it.
  
  The problem is that the world has been shouting its ideas at us loudly and incessantly from the time we were very small. We encounter these ideas in our schools, from kindergarten through college. We are inundated with them as we read newspapers, watch TV and movies, or listen to the radio—and in a hundred other ways. Many of the concepts we encounter are harmless enough, but most of the time we are not very careful in sifting through the ideas we hear, and I am certain we have all swallowed a lot of fallacious and dangerous ideas without even realizing it."
• Stephen seems to be saying something similar to his accusers.  They think they are the ones embracing Moses and the law, but he says to them, " as your fathers did, so do ye.  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers"  Even more, he says that they have not kept the law, just like their fathers.  They are accusing him of trying to change the very laws that they don't keep. 

Stephen is Stoned, Acts 7:54-60

• This enrages the council.  While they rail and gnash their teeth on him, he is full of the Holy Ghost and declares that he sees God in heaven with Jesus standing on the right hand.  All three members of the Godhead are present and separate beings.
• Nevertheless, they grab him and take him out of the city and stone him.  There is no verdict or trial before the Romans, just a gruesome death (fair warning:  the Bible video depiction of this is probably only for the 12+ crowd.  It's really hard to watch.).  Like the Savior, he asks for the Father to "lay not this sin to their charge."

Saul's Early Persecution, Acts 7:58-8:4

• And now we meet Saul for the first time.  The men lay their cloaks at his feet while they stone Stephen.  Lest we get the idea he was a neutral observer, Luke says, "And Saul was consenting unto his death."  There's so much of the New Testament, and Acts, that revolves around Saul/Paul.  At this point, he is horrible, making "havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison."
• The believers flee from Jerusalem, but rather than shut down the movement, this broadens it, as they that are scattered "went every where preaching the word."

Conversions in Samaria and Simon the Magician, Acts 8:4-25

• Philip, presumably one of the seven mentioned in Acts 6, goes to Samaria to preach.  Christ had taught three days in Samaria at the beginning of his ministry and had success, beginning with the woman at the well, but it appears from Luke 9:51-56 that towards the end of his ministry, the Samaritan leaders, if not the people, rejected him.  (this is what I wrote about that section:  It says the Samaritans "did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem." (Luke 9:53).  I'm not sure exactly all that entailed, but it could have been because of their rivalry with Jerusalem (see my notes here for some background on that) and their unwillingness to accept someone who had embraced their perceived enemies or who accepted the temple at Jerusalem as legitimate.  Or it could have been that the people of Samaria didn't want to anger the Romans by harboring someone who might seem to be an enemy of the regime.)
• Now, however, the Samaritans seem eager to embrace the gospel taught by Phillip.  Luke uses the phrase we saw five times in last week's reading "with one accord" to describe how the people "gave heed unto those things with Philip spake, hearinga nd seeing the miracles which he did."  Philip presumably did not hold the Melchizedek Priesthood, because he only baptized the people and it wasn't until Peter and John came that the gift of the Holy Ghost was given.  However, he still had great power and many miracles and healings took place.  I love verse 8, "And there was great joy in that city."
• One convert was a magician named Simon.  He evidently had developed a following in previous times with his spells but was converted, at least partially to the Church.  When Peter and John come and give the gift of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands, Simon offered money so that he could have this power himself.  Peter rebukes him for this wickedness and tells him to pray for forgiveness for the wicked thought of thinking that the priesthood power of God is a commodity to be bought and sold.  This clearly teaches that we are accountable not just for our actions but also for the desires and thoughts of our hearts.  Simon asks Peter to pray for him and we hear nothing more of him.

The Ethiopian Eunuch, Acts 8:26-40

• Wayment and others note that "Ethiopian" at the time would have been understood to refer to someone with black skin.  
• I love how many times we see in the scriptures that the Lord seeks after the one.  This story is one of those, where a great missionary is led by the Spirit to someone at just the right time.  The Spirit directs Philip to go south on a certain desert road.  Here we see the pattern of Nephi, that Philip is led by the Spirit, not knowing why or what he will encounter until later.  God often shows us just a few steps ahead in our journey and lets the rest unfold.  On the road, Philip meets a eunuch Jew, in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia.  He is returning to his homeland from Jerusalem and reading.  The Spirit directs Philip to go and talk to him and Philip, hearing him read from Isaiah, asks him if he understands it.  I had to chuckle to myself and think, "It would be Isaiah he can't understand!"  Half the time I read Isaiah, I feel the same way as the eunuch, "How can I [understand this], except some man should guide me?"
• Elder Dale G. Renlund says of this passage, "The question asked by this Ethiopian man is a reminder of the divine mandate we all have to seek to learn and to teach one another the gospel of Jesus Christ.3 In fact, in the context of learning and teaching the gospel, we are sometimes like the Ethiopian—we need the help of a faithful and inspired teacher; and we are sometimes like Philip—we need to teach and strengthen others in their conversion.  Our purpose as we seek to learn and to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ must be to increase faith in God and in His divine plan of happiness and in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice and to achieve lasting conversion. Such increased faith and conversion will help us make and keep covenants with God, thus strengthening our desire to follow Jesus and producing a genuine spiritual transformation in us—in other words, transforming us into a new creature, as taught by the Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians.4 This transformation will bring us a more happy, productive, and healthy life and help us to maintain an eternal perspective. Isn’t this exactly what happened to the Ethiopian eunuch after he learned about the Savior and was converted to His gospel? The scripture says that “he went on his way rejoicing.”5"
• Not only was the Eunuch reading Isaiah, he was reading the passage about the suffering servant, prefiguring Christ.  What a great missionary moment for Philip, who immediately began teaching him about Jesus, beginning with the scripture he was asking about.  The end of this passage is that Philip and the man go into the water and the eunuch is baptized.
•  Lynn Wilson notes some of the significance of the man being a eunuch, "This traveling Ethiopian had a position of great authority; he was in charge of the national treasury. His office was like a national cabinet member, or a court official. Often chief attendants to the king or queen were emasculated to insure they would not be seduced or abuse a woman in the court. In the Old Testament, eunuchs could not fully belong to the congregation (Deuteronomy 23:1). Yet, in Jesus’ restored higher law, and with angelic guidance, Philip had no hesitation about teaching this man."
• We also see that in Isaiah 56, the prophecy is that the Lord says of eunuchs who are faithful in taking hold of the covenant "I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off."  Luke was likely aware of this prophecy and wanted to show that with Christ's coming, this was beginning to be fulfilled. 

Saul's Conversion, Acts 9:1-22

• And now we have the first of three accounts in Acts of Paul's conversion. 
• It seems that Saul was uniquely prepared for the mission he would take in life from this point forward.  Robert Matthews says, "At this juncture we see the mission of Saul (whom we will hereafter call Paul) begin to unfold. A person was needed who could bear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to the gentiles in non-Jewish lands, who could withstand the criticism of his own countrymen (even in the Church), and who had the knowledge and training to teach both Jews and gentiles of all social levels throughout the Roman empire what the gospel of Jesus Christ really is and what man’s responsibility is concerning it. There were many who could do some of these, but Paul could do them all magnificently well. 
  
  Paul was born of Jewish Pharisee parents in Tarsus, a gentile city. His parents sent him to Jerusalem as a youth to become a rabbi. He was well acquainted with Jewish and gentile customs and beliefs. His father was a citizen of the Roman empire; how he acquired this is not known, but Paul inherited this citizenship from his father, which was a great aid to preaching in Roman areas. (See Acts 16:37–39; Acts 22:25–30.) 
  
  Paul spoke and wrote in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, which gave him an indispensable cultural advantage living and teaching in the Mediterranean areas. He knew the Old Testament thoroughly, having learned it not only as a child at home and in the synagogue school at Tarsus, but also at the feet of Gamaliel in Jerusalem as a rabbinical trainee.
  
  Paul was by disposition a strong-willed individual, who, once he knew what he wanted to do, was determined in his motives and principles. This caused him, as a young man, to relentlessly persecute the early Church. But that same vigor of mind and will also helped him to be stalwart in the Church."
• I don't feel uniquely prepared for an enormous responsibility like Saul, but nevertheless, I have been given talents and opportunities that I need to use in the Lord's work.  Am I living up to the Lord's purposes for me?  Are you?
• Matthews goes on to describe how Paul used these talents on behalf of the Church after his conversion:  "Paul was peculiarly suited for bearing testimony to kings and rulers, not only among the Jews, but especially among the gentiles. He was not a man of ordinary accomplishments and training. During his lifetime he taught the Roman deputy of Cyprus (Acts 13:6–12) and also stood before the Roman magistrates of Philippi (Acts 16:35–39). He gave his testimony and defense before the Sanhedrin, the highest court of Judaism (Acts 22:30; Acts 23:1–9), and before the Roman-appointed governors of Palestine, Felix and Festus (Acts 23:24–25:12).
  
  Paul likewise stood before Agrippa, the Roman-appointed king of the Jews. (Acts 26.) Last, he stood before the Roman emperor himself. (See postscript following 2 Timothy.) In addition he traveled thousands of miles by land and sea and mingled with Jews and gentiles, both leaders and populace, throughout Palestine, Syria, Galatia, Cyprus, Greece, and Rome. He called himself the “apostle of the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13) and had been given that charge by the Brethren (see Gal. 2:7–9).
  
  In addition, Paul suffered imprisonments, whippings, cold, hunger, thirst, stoning, shipwreck, and other perils. (See 2 Cor. 11:23–27.) He suffered also the loss of all physical goods (see Philip. 3:8) and eventual martyrdom (see 2 Tim. 4:6–7). Only a certain kind of disposition could tolerate such a life for a period of twenty-five or thirty years. Through all that time, he built up the Church throughout the northern Mediterranean and wrote many epistles to the branches there, some of which are preserved in our present New Testament."
• But before all that could happen, this zealous persecutor, who consented to Stephen's death and put men and women in prison for their beliefs, needed to be converted.  
• It is instructive that Christ's words to Saul are "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"  There are a lot of other words Christ could have used to rebuke Saul.  He could have asked why he was persecuting the Church or the kingdom of God or the good people.  He could have simply said something about how evil Saul was.  Instead, He shows that Saul's persecution is against Him specifically.  I believe it shows how Christ really does bear our griefs and carry our sorrows.  When someone has done something evil to the least of His followers, He feels it, too.  And Saul, who with his training should have recognized the true Messiah, instead was persecuting Him.
• I love the two questions Paul asks.  The first, "Who art thou, Lord?" and the second, "What wilt thou have me to do?"  The answer to the second is to go into the city and wait to be told what to do.  This is a pattern I've seen the Lord use in my life.  When I ask the Lord what He wants me to do, He usually gives me just the next step.  When I act in faith, I then see the next step illuminated and the next.  
• Saul follows the counsel and is three days without sight.  He doesn't eat or drink either.
• Meanwhile, a disciple named Ananias has a vision of the Lord, who tells him to go find Saul and give him his sight.  Ananias' reaction is incredulity.  He seems to be saying, "Wait, who?  Don't you remember all the awful things that man is doing?"  But the Lord assures him, "Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake."  Saul the persecutor will become Saul the persecuted.  
• This reminds me that our views of others are not God's.  How many of us would choose out one of the worst of sinners to carry Christ's name to kings?  It reminds me that we should never dismiss someone as too far gone or unable to come to God.  Repentance is real, as is the power of a personal encounter with Christ.  Usually, that encounter won't be as dramatic as Saul's, but nevertheless, God loves all of His children, even the ones we might see as our enemies.  For a modern-day Saul story, I love this one.  It's worth the read.
• Saul was baptized and then it says that "straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues," and the people hearing the message were amazed, given the identity of the messenger. 

Saul's Escape from Damascus and Travels to Jerusalem, Acts 9:23-31

• After Saul's preaching in Damascus, the Jewish leaders want to kill him, so he escapes by night over the wall in a basket.  Acts then shows us what happened when Saul came to Jerusalem to the Church leaders.  In Galatians 1:17-18, we learn that this was actually after spending three years in Arabia.  Why Saul went there first, we can only speculate.  No doubt it was a time of preparation for him.
• When he arrives in Jerusalem, the leaders don't believe he is actually a disciple until Barnabas vouches for him.  Saul preaches "boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus," and the "Grecians" want to slay him.  Grecians were Greek-speaking Jews and these were likely the same people who Saul was previously aligned with and who killed Stephen.  They probably took Saul's change of heart as a betrayal.
• The Church leaders send Saul to Tarsus and there is peace in the Church for a time and it grows.  It almost seems like that without Saul's offensive presence there, the persecutors lose interest.  

Peter Heals AEneas and Raises Tabitha, Acts 9:32-43

• The rest of chapter nine shows us two miracles of Peter.  The first is a palsied man in Lydda, who is made whole.  This miracle starts the conversion process for "all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron"
• And then in Joppa, a woman full of good works named Tabitha has died.  Peter is sent for and he raises her from the dead.  Peter continues the works Christ did in His ministry.
• I love how so many of the encounters of Christ and his disciples are one-on-one.  We each need to also be part of this one-by-one work.

Videos for the Week

Note:  I'm indebted to Thomas Wayment for many of my section divisions and headings on this post and others.  If you haven't checked out his New Testament translation, it is well worth it!