Bible Study: Acts 7-8

     In this middle part of Acts, we start to see some of the well-known stories from this book, including the stoning of Stephen (ch 7), Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch (ch. 8), the conversion of Saul/Paul (ch. 9), and Peter’s vision and revelation about Gentiles (ch. 10-11).

Stephen

     Stephen’s story began in chapter 6, when he was among the seven deacons appointed to tend to the needs of the widows. He also preaches, and so is brought to the attention of the Jewish officials negatively, riling them up to violence in this chapter. Stephen’s “defense”, in answer to the query, “Is it true that you are turning people against the customs of Moses?” is a retelling of Jewish history from Abraham to Jesus. He recalls major scenes in Jewish history from Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Samuel, and Chronicles, in addition to referencing Amos, Isaiah, Psalms, and Luke.

     The purpose of this retelling is to demonstrate the conviction of the Jesus followers that the same God they have always known is doing something different, and that in Jesus they are not following a different God. Stephen also tells the story in a way that lines Jesus up with Moses: one who was not accepted in his homeland, who faithfully followed God but was not believed/trusted, who had the power of God to perform miracles, and who liberates the people through exodus or departure, taking them out of bondage (to Pharaoh/ to sin) and into the promised freedom of God (the promised land/ the reign of God).

     The end of Stephen’s story casts him in parallels to Jesus himself. His truth is rejected by the authorities, resulting in a public death scene, he sees the heavens opened (as Jesus did at his baptism), asks God to receive his spirit, and asks God to forgive those who are killing him. We are introduced here to Saul who approves of the killing and subsequently initiates a severe persecution of Christians in Jerusalem, dragging both men and women out of their own homes to imprison them.

To Samaria

     The stoning of Stephen and persecution led by Saul become the catalyst for moving out of the city of Jerusalem and north in to Samaria, as Jesus had told them they would do in ch. 1.

Geographically, Samaria was a region that separated Judea and Galilee. The former capital of the northern kingdom (1 Kings 16:24), it was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BCE. The upper classes of inhabitants were exiled, and foreigners occupied the land, intermarrying with the Jewish population that was left behind. When the exiles returned to reestablish themselves in Judea, they did not regard those who had stayed behind in Samaria as Jews anymore, and refused their assistance in rebuilding the temple (Nehemiah 2:17-20). The Samaritans constructed their own temple on Mt. Gerizim (about 35 miles NW of Jerusalem) and developed their own religious rituals. In Jesus’ time they are still regarded as outsiders to the Jewish faith, though they have a common ancestry in ancient Israel.¹

The Eunuch from Ethiopia

     This is the social setting into which Philip goes to preach about Jesus. On the road he encounters a chariot carrying a court official from Ethiopia—a eunuch who serves the queen, returning from Jerusalem, and reading a scroll of Isaiah as he travels.

There are several unusual details here: Being a castrated male, the eunuch would be qualified for specific duties for the Queen, such as overseeing her harem and household, but he would not have been allowed in the temple, according to purity codes. He’s coming from Jerusalem, suggesting he was there on pilgrimage, but he resides in Ethiopia (which is not the same country by that name today; rather this reference is to Nubia, a region of central Sudan and southern Egypt). He is reading a scroll, which would have been cumbersome due to its size, and costly; also, not many people could read at all. He may have been a diaspora Jew, one who lives outside of Israel. He was most likely reading in Greek, not Hebrew; thus a scroll of the Septuagint, rather than a Hebrew sacred text; and reading aloud, thus Philip heard him as they came near.

     The man’s conversion is immediate. Philip begins where he is—in a Greek version of Isaiah, and leads him to Jesus so convincingly that the man wishes to be baptized, as soon as he sees a puddle beside the road. Philip has evidently described a fully inclusive God in Jesus; restrictions that prevented him from fully participating in Jewish worship of the time do not hold for Jesus. His question, “What is to prevent me from being baptized?” indicates that he has noticed the difference—the prohibitions are gone with Jesus.

     As we leave Jerusalem, we see conversions happening in many ways, sometimes directly by God, sometimes through the interaction with believers. Once the spread of the gospel gets outside of the walls of Jerusalem, it travels far and wide, and quickly!

Remember our guiding questions:

1.     What is God doing?

2.     What are the people doing?

3.     What do we learn about being church?

1. New Interpreter’s Study Bible, footnote Acts 8:5-25, p. 1971.