Stephen’s Speech
In AD 30 the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem convinced the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, to execute Jesus of Nazareth. This started a period in history marked by The Acts of the Apostles as recorded by a physician named Luke. The book covers a period of almost 40 years. Near the beginning of this period the Apostolic leadership made a decision to anoint seven leaders that would be able to address the daily needs of the massively growing church. One of those leaders was a man named Stephen.
In chapters six and seven of the book of Acts we read the story of Stephen, a just man that was chosen by his peers to oversee the daily matters of the church and the distribution of necessities to the poor widows that were among the followers of Christ. Stephen, however, also received the gift of the Charismata that the Apostles had. He performed great acts of wonders and signs among the people by the Holy Spirit. One day the non-Christian Jews challenged him to a debate. They dragged him into the council of elders and Stephen produced one of the most dramatic and prophetic speeches in the bible. This speech is probably widely misunderstood by most people today but those that first heard it understood it correctly.
Using today’s futurist type doctrines, this speech makes no sense whatsoever. People are still scratching their heads wondering why Luke spent so much time recording a speech that does not supply time period information in it. However, if approached with a full preterist view point, the speech becomes monumental. There is so much information in this speech that you could write a book on it. I intend to only highlight it here.
As we begin to examine his speech we need to find out why he had to give it in the first place. Stephen was dragged into court, not just for what he was preaching, but what was commonly preached in those days and the days to follow especially by Paul and Peter. The accusers were attempting to prove blasphemy because Stephen was heard preaching “that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us” (Acts 6:14). Notice that he was not accused of preaching "the end of the world in the far future". That doctrine doesn't exist in the bible. Actually they were quite close in their accusations. It was common knowledge among the Christians that Jesus Christ has become the fulfillment of the law and that Jerusalem would be judged within that generation. In fact, Jesus is the one who started the conversation. We are all familiar with the time when the disciples came to him and pointedly asked him “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) Jesus made it clear that the temple would be destroyed not leaving even one stone left upon another. He called for a time of great tribulation and then wrath. He made it clear that he would not come back physically (Matt 24:13) but he would come in the clouds of judgment against those that killed the prophets and saints. He would also rapture any of his followers that were left after the great tribulation period. He even gave them a time frame for all of this to be completed in; within their generation (Matt 24:34). It could not be any clearer. He never once mentioned the end of the “world” and he never mentioned judgment against Russia, the United States, the Catholics or any other group other than those that killed the prophets and nailed him to the cross. This is the message that Stephen and all of the Apostles preached during those years. We can even read this same scenario preached in non-canonical writings such as in the epistle of Barnabas. There is no where in the bible that tells of a long waiting period for the second coming (Parousia) to occur. Now that we know what Stephen was accused of we now need to examine his defense.
As they gazed upon Stephen they were all amazed that his face began to exhibit the shekinah glory that once enlightened the face of Moses. This must have taken them back a little but their hatred for Jesus overcame their common sense and they continued their attack at which time Stephen began his important speech.
Stephen, like Paul did later, gave a typological lesson on how the old testament was a shadow of things to come when the Messiah appeared. He started by reminding them that Abraham did not receive his promise on his first visit but rather it was his posterity that enjoyed the land when they came back to it the second time. He also reminded them that the nation that they were in bondage to would be judged; perhaps a type of what was occurring at his time when the Jews would be judged for treating the Christians harshly. He then explained how Joseph’s important position would not be exposed until the second time when the brothers had to come to Egypt and bow low before him. He then moves on to Moses whom Stephen reminds them that they rejected him on his first visit; “For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand” (Act 7:25). After Moses attempted to befriend his Jewish brethren and perhaps attempt to deliver them, they did not recognize him for what he was and Moses fled fearing for his life. After 40 years he reappeared as both ruler and deliverer. Moses then predicted that God would send another just like him in the future; but would they recognize him on his first visit? Stephen then finished them off by comparing them to those that killed the prophets and compared them also to those that wanted to turn back to Egypt in the desert and create a false god out of gold. He reminded them that they had the blood of the Messiah on their very hands. However, the Jews did not understand the typology of the comparison with Moses . Moses re-appeared exactly 40 years after he was expelled from Egypt. It would be exactly 40 years from AD 30 that Jesus would reappear as judge, ruler and deliverer. It actually appears that Jesus began his Parousia about AD 66 and finished it in AD 70. There is no mention in the bible about another second coming in the far distant future. Peter, Paul and John warned the people about this time. In fact the book of Revelation was the announcement that the Parousia was at hand. From AD 63 to 70 all of the things in Revelation and in Matthew 24 occurred. Josephus records most of this in his writings. Reading it gives you a chilling account of the end times and the massive destruction, wars, deceit and abomination that went on during this period culminating in the end of the Jewish sacrificial system and the complete destruction of the Temple. The massive bloodshed was unheard of before this time. Any saint that was left was then raptured after the tribulation period and then the wrath was poured out on “Sodom and Egypt”.
Jesus once said that “heaven and earth would pass away but my word will never pass away”. This is what literally happened as heaven & earth (the entire Jewish world) passed away, Hades & death were thrown into the bottomless pit with the devil and the only thing left was the scriptures that the Apostles had left behind. The era between 63-70 Anno Domini is a time period that most “church goers” never even heard of let alone understand the significance of. In this short article I am only letting you know that it is a vital part of your understanding of eschatology and any serious student of the bible needs to make a study of it in order to understand the rest of scripture. That period is the time of the second coming of Christ. Once you understand this you will no longer need to make excuses for why scripture doesn’t make historical sense and you will no longer fall for those that prey on your ignorance making millions of dollars giving “last times seminars”. This viewpoint of fulfilled eschatology is known as full preterism and I encourage you to study it. Ed Stevens has done the best job so far in describing the events of the first century on his website www.preterist.org. Please let me know if you have any questions about this subject as it is vital to your understanding of end times events.
Great article!
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