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the original Hebrew, where we have the word Chiun instead of Rephan; nor yet exactly with the Greek translation, although evidently borrowed thence, in which we have Damascus instead of Babylon, but these variations are of little importance, where the inspiration of the speaker is not maintained, and may be easily accounted for by a failure of memory in Stephen.

44. Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen;

The tent or tabernacle of testimony was so called, because it contained the two tables of stone on which God had written, with his own hand, the ten commandments delivered in an audible voice from Mount Sinai, and which were to be kept as a memorial of that event to all future generations. A model of this tabernacle was shown to Moses on the mount, and he was directed to make it exactly after that pattern. Stephen seems to have introduced the mention of the tabernacle and temple, in order to show that he considered them as of divine appointment, and that the charge brought against him, so far as it respected these places, was without foundation.

45. Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus, "Joshua," into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;

46. Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

David was favoured with great success in the wars against the Canaanites, and wished to erect a temple for the ark of God from the spoils which he had taken from his enemies. But he was not permitted to accomplish his wishes, because he had been engaged in war, and his hands were stained with blood: the Divine Being choosing to express his dislike of war in this manner. This honour was reserved for the more peaceful reign of his successors.

47. But Solomon built him a house.

48. Howbeit, "though indeed," the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as saith the prophet,*

49. Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: What house will ye build me, saith the Lord? Or what is the place of my rest?

50. Hath not my hands made all these things?

*Isaiah lxvi. 1.

In this sublime language the Deity, by the prophet Isaiah, expresses his universal presence, and declares that the manifestation of his perfections cannot be limited to any place. This quotation was very properly made by Stephen, in order to convey to the Jews this useful admonition, that they set too high a value upon their temple, when they supposed that God could be worshipped in no other place.

REFLECTIONS.

1. THE strong tendency which the children of Israel discovered to forsake the laws and institutions under which they lived, affords a strong presumption that they were not at first chosen by themselves, but that they had a superior origin. Had they been devised by the people, they would have contrived something more agreeto their wishes and inclinations; and if they had been the contrivance of Moses, he would have taken care to give them what was more acceptable, and not have imposed a yoke which they were never able to bear. The truth is, that the institutions of Moses proceeded from the Divine Being himself, who, in giving them, consulted the benefit of the Israelites and the future good of mankind, rather than the wishes of the Jews. Hence it was that he required many things which they bore with great impatience, and which nothing could have induced them to submit to at all, but unquestionable evidence of divine interposition.

2. Let us ever keep in mind the representation here given of the universal presence of the Deity. He cannot be confined to any place, much less to such places as men erect for addressing him. He resides at the same time in every part of the universe, and may be worshipped every where. To him every place is alike, nor are prayers or praises offered to him in one place, more acceptable than those which are offered in another. If in former times he manifested himself in particular places only, it was not because his perfections were limited to them, but to accommodate himself to the weak conceptions of mortals. How venerable and awful is the Being who possesses this attribute of omnipresence! How infinitely exalted above human conceptions! Consider the works of God, and conceive, if you can, how great their number, how vast their extent; in them the Deity constantly resides, and manifests every where his vital energy. Stretch your thoughts beyond the visible creation, into boundless space, he follows you wherever you go, and exists beyond where your thoughts can penetrate. Who will presume to think that he can please such a Being by erecting a spacious temple for his worship, when the universe itself cannot contain him? Let us never approach him but with reverence, nor address him, wherever it may be, but with the profoundest awe.

HAVING given a brief account of the dispensations of God to his countrymen, and shown how ill they behaved under them, Stephen

proceeds to reproach the Sanhedrim, in very severe but just terms, with imitating the conduct of their ancestors.

51. Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye.

These are figurative or metaphorical terms, borrowed by Stephen from the Old Testament, to express the perverse and wicked spirit of the Jews. To be uncircumcised, was a reproach among that people, and therefore this term, like other terms of that nature, came, in course of time, to be applied to the disposition as well as the person. To be uncircumcised in heart and ears, is to refuse to hear the divine commands, or, when heard, to obey them. With this crime the Jews were justly chargeable, for rejecting Jesus of Nazareth, who came to them with a divine commission; and in doing this they copied but too closely the wicked example of their

ancestors.

52. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One," of the just man," of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers;

Jesus was put to death by Pilate the Roman governor; nevertheless, as it was done at the instigation of the Jews, and in opposition to his own judgment, repeatedly expressed, they might justly be called his betrayers and murderers. He is foretold by the prophet Isaiah, liii. 11, under the character of the righteous servant of God, and it is to him, probably, that Stephen refers, when he says that they slew those who foretold the coming of the Just One.

53. Who have received the law by the dispensation, "by the ministrations," of angels, and have not kept it.

I have already had occasion to observe to you, in the course of this chapter, that the Jews called any instrument employed to execute the divine purposes, or to communicate the divine will, an angel; and that Stephen uses the term in this sense, when he calls the voice that spake to Moses from the bush, and from Sinai, an angel of God. In the same sense, the law may be said to be received by the ministration of angels, because it was communicated to the children of Israel, or to Moses, by these miraculous voices. To violate a law delivered to them in this extraordinary manner, was a great aggravation of their offence.

54. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart; and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

55. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked

up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

56. And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

What Stephen saw was no real appearance, but merely a visionary representation, existing wholly within his own mind, intended to express the divine approbation of his present conduct, and to furnish him with fortitude for his approaching trial. He was now standing before the Jewish Sanhedrim, in a covered room, where the sky, probably, was not visible. We are told, indeed, that he looked towards heaven; but no more was meant by this, than that he directed his eyes upwards. That it was a divine vision, is sufficiently intimated by its being said that he was full of the Holy Spirit, that is, abounded in miraculous communications; the very same phrase that is applied by Luke to Christ before the vision of the temptation in the wilderness. In this vision Stephen seemed to see some glorious symbol of the divine presence, and Jesus standing on, or at, the right-hand of God. That one who had reproved them with so much severity for their vice should pretend to divine visions, was more than they could bear.

57. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

38. And cast him out of the city, and stoned him :

This was an act of popular fury, without any legal conviction, and therefore, in the highest degree, disgraceful to a court of justice.

And the witnesses, i. e. the false witnesses, upon whose accusation Stephen was brought to the council, laid their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

This is the first time that the name of this illustrious person occurs in this history, and on this occasion not much to his honour. He took care of the clothes of those, who, with savage fury, put Stephen to death.

59. And they stoned Stephen, crying out, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, "receive my life."

The word God has been very improperly inserted in this verse in our translation, as it is not found in the original. Stephen, having just been favoured with a vision in which he saw Jesus, and retaining the impression of it still strong upon his mind, perhaps, still seeing him at the moment when he was dying, is naturally led to address him, requesting him to accept of his life, which he sur

rendered in his house. But no argument can be adduced, from the extraordinary circumstances in which Stephen was at this time, for addressing prayers to Christ in general.

60. 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. And Saul was consenting unto his death.

This was sufficiently evident from what was before said of his taking care of the clothes of the witnesses. This sentence, which begins the next chapter, ought to have closed the seventh.

REFLECTIONS.

1. THE courage and intrepidity of Stephen deserves particular notice. We hear him charging the whole Jewish council with being the betrayers and murderers of the Just One, a righteous man and eminent prophet. What could induce a private individual, standing alone and unprotected, to accuse his judges, who had his life in their hands, of so base a crime, when their conduct towards his Master had afforded such evidence of their disposition? Surely nothing but a full conviction of the divine mission of Jesus, and of his being himself countenanced by divine authority, could induce him to make so bold and dangerous a declaration. And his faith in the truth of the gospel is the best foundation for ours. For men will not expose their lives to destruction for facts about the truth of which they have never inquired; much less will they do this for a known falsehood. Here then we see what benefit the world derives from the blood of the martyrs, and how the providence of God is justified in permitting their death. Their testimony in favour of Christianity confirms the faith of many of their brethren, who were before wavering, and inspires them with courage to act the same part. The violent death of an excellent man cannot fail to attract the attention of unbelievers, and to lead them to inquire into the cause of so extraordinary an event; and inquiry must end in conviction. In this manner the martyr makes more proselytes, and does more good by his death than he could have effected by his instructions, if he had lived many years. Such are the benefits arising from martyrdom to persons living in the same age; but the advantages resulting from it to posterity are incalculable. It affords better proof of the truth of the Christian religion than any other evidence. Men may pretend to divine revelations who have no authority for their pretensions; they may swear falsely in a court of justice, where there is no opportunity of detecting and punishing their falsehood; hut they will not deliberately throw away their lives for an imposture, in any circumstances.

2. We see what a noble spirit is communicated to those who feel the influence of the gospel. It teaches them to overlook and forgive the greatest personal injuries; to regard with sentiments

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