John Calvin Commentary Acts 7

There still appears some semblance of fairness in the high priest and in the council; yet, there is a most unjust prejudice in his words. For he does not ask him what reason he had to teach this way, nor does he allow him to defend what is right (which was, however, the main point); instead, he demanded precisely whether Stephen uttered these words, whatever they were. Just as the Papists today will not ask what the doctrine is, or whether it can be proven from the Scriptures, but inquire whether anyone dared to mutter against their superstitions, so that as soon as he is convicted, they may immediately burn him.

Furthermore, Stephen’s answer may seem absurd and foolish at first glance. He begins at the very beginning; afterwards, he provides a long narration in which, so to speak, there is almost no mention of the matter at hand. And there can be no greater fault than to speak many words that are not relevant to the matter. But whoever thoroughly considers this long speech will find nothing in it that is superfluous, and will clearly perceive that Stephen speaks very much to the point, as the matter requires.

He was accused as an apostate (or rebel) who attempted the overthrow of religion and the worship of God. Therefore, he diligently drives home the point that he retains the God whom the fathers have always worshipped, thereby refuting the charge of wicked backsliding.

He further declares that his enemies were spurred on by what they presented as nothing less than zeal for the law, for they put on a show of being wholly determined to increase the glory of God. Therefore, he strips them of this false boasting.

And because they always had the fathers on their lips, and because they were puffed up with the glory of their nation, Stephen also declares that they have no reason to be proud of this. Instead, he points out that the corruptions of the fathers were so great and so numerous that they ought to be ashamed and humbled.

Regarding the main point of the case, because the question concerned the temple and the ceremonies, he plainly affirms that their fathers were chosen by God to be a special people before there was any temple and before Moses was born; and to this end tends that exordium or beginning, which is drawn from so far back. Secondly, he tells them that all external rites which God gave through Moses were fashioned according to the heavenly pattern.

From this it follows that the ceremonial law points to another purpose, and that those who omit the truth and focus only on the signs act foolishly and improperly.

If readers refer Stephen's entire speech to these points, they will find that everything in it agrees very well with the case, as I will briefly declare again at the end. Nevertheless, this overview of the entire speech will not prevent us from briefly discussing all things worthy of note.

Men, brethren, and fathers. Although Stephen saw that those who sat in the council were, for the most part, the sworn enemies of Christ, yet because the ordinary government of the people belonged to them, and they had the oversight of the Church, which God had not yet cast off, he is therefore not afraid, for modesty’s sake, to call them fathers. He is not flatteringly purchasing favor by this; rather, he gives this honor to the order and government appointed by God, until their authority would be taken from them, the order being altered.

Nevertheless, the reverence for the position they held does not hinder him or stop his mouth, as he freely dissents from them. This shows how ridiculous the Papists are who want us to be so tied to mere and vainly invented titles that they can force us to subscribe to their decrees, however wicked they may be.

The God of glory. By this beginning, Stephen declares that he does not disagree or dissent from the fathers in the true religion that they followed. For all religion, the worship of God, the doctrine of the law, and all prophecies depended on the covenant that God made with Abraham. Therefore, when Stephen confessed that God appeared to Abraham, he embraces the law and the prophets, which flow from that first revelation as from a fountain. Moreover, he calls Him the God of glory, to distinguish Him from false and feigned gods, as He alone is worthy of glory.

When he was in Mesopotamia. It is well known that the land called by this name is that which lies between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Stephen previously says that Abraham dwelt in Charran, because Abraham, being warned by a divine message, fled from Chaldea to Charran. Charran is a city of Mesopotamia, famous because of the slaughter of Crassus and the Roman army, although Pliny says that it was a city of Arabia.

It is no wonder that Chaldea is here comprehended under the name of Mesopotamia because, although that region enclosed by the Tigris and Euphrates (Mesopotamia) is properly the land between two rivers, those who describe countries also call both Assyria and Chaldea by this name.

The sum is this: Abraham, being commanded by God, forsook his country. And so he was anticipated by the sheer goodness of God, even when he was seeking what was spontaneously offered to him at home. Read the last chapter of Joshua.

But it seems that Moses’ narration somewhat disagrees with this. For after Moses had declared, about the end of Genesis 11, that Abraham went into another country to dwell, having left his house, he adds in the beginning of Genesis 12 that God spake unto Abraham.

This is easily answered, for Moses does not recount in this latter passage what happened after Abraham's departure. Instead, so that no one would think that Abraham wandered into other countries, having recklessly forsaken his own house (as fickle and indiscreet men sometimes used to do), Moses shows the cause of his departure: namely, that he was commanded by God to move to another place.

And the words of the divine message imply this much. For if Abraham had already been a stranger in another country, God could not have commanded him to depart from his native soil, forsaking his kinsmen and father’s house. Therefore, we see that this passage agrees wonderfully well with the words of Moses.

For after Moses has said that Abraham went to Charran, to show that this journey was undertaken not through any human fickleness but by God’s command, he afterwards adds what he had previously omitted—a manner of speaking much used by the Hebrews.

Come out of your country. God uses many words, so that he might more deeply pierce Abraham's mind, as if it were not a sharp enough thing in itself to be banished from his own country.

And that served to test his faith, just as that other thing also: that God assigns him no land in which he may dwell, but makes him remain in doubt and wait for a time.

Therefore, Abraham's obedience was all the more to be commended because the sweetness of his native soil does not keep him back from willingly going, as it were, into exile; and because he does not hesitate to follow God, although no certain resting place appears, but is commanded to wander here and there for a time.

Since the showing of the land is deferred, it does not differ much from deceiving him.

Furthermore, we continually learn by our own experience how profitable it was for Abraham to be exercised in this way and, as it were, trained little by little. Many men are carried by a godly affection to attempt great things, but very soon, as soon as their enthusiasm has grown cold, they repent of their purpose, and they would gladly slip their necks out of the collar.

Therefore, so that Abraham would not faint when he was in the middle of his course, through remembering those things which he had left behind him, God sifts and tests his mind thoroughly, immediately after he had begun, so that he would not take anything in hand lightly and unadvisedly. The parable which Christ sets before us concerning the building of the tower serves this purpose (Luke 14:28). For he teaches that we must first count the cost, lest with shame we be forced to stop building after we have begun.

And though this was a particular thing for Abraham—in that he was commanded to go out of his own country and to go into a distant country, in that God moved him from place to place—yet, nevertheless, there is in these words some representation of the calling of us all.

We are not all simply commanded to forsake our country, but we are commanded to deny ourselves. We are not commanded to come out of our father’s house, but to bid farewell to our own will and to the desires of our own flesh. Again, if father and mother, wife and children, hinder us from following God, we must forsake them all.

The commandment is given simply to Abraham to move; but we are commanded to remain steadfast, under a certain condition. For if in any place we cannot serve God, we must rather choose exile than to stay in our nest, being slothful and sluggish.

Therefore, let us always have the example of Abraham before our eyes. He is the father of the faithful; he was tested in all kinds of ways. Does he forget his country, his friends, and himself, so that he may give himself over to God? (Romans 4:16–17). If we are to be counted the children of God, we must not fall short of his example.

Which I shall show you. We must note what I touched on a little before: that Abraham is kept in doubt so that his patience may be tested. And we must also apply this to our own lives, so that we may learn to depend wholly upon God. And surely, this is a principal exercise of our faith: to put our trust in God, even when we see nothing.

God, indeed, will often show us a land in which he grants us an abiding place; yet, nevertheless, because we are strangers in the world, we have no certain and continual place of abode anywhere. Again, our life, as Paul says, is hid (Colossians 3:3), and being like dead men, we hope for salvation, which is hidden in heaven.

Therefore, concerning our perpetual habitation, God causes us to depend upon his providence alone when he commands us, as it were, to wander in a strange country. Lest such deferring discourage us, we must hold to this general rule of faith: that we must go wherever God calls us, even if he does not show what he promises.

Then going out. The readiness and willingness of faith are commended in these words. For when he was called, he made no delay, but made haste and subdued all his inclinations, so that they might obey the holy commandment of God.

It is uncertain for what reason he stayed at Haran. It may be that his father's weakness caused him to remain there (who, as we read, died there shortly after). Alternatively, it could be because he dared not go further until the Lord had told him where he should go.

In my opinion, it is more likely true that he was delayed there for a while by his father's weariness and sickness, because Stephen plainly says that he was brought from there after his father's death.

Now follows the greatest wickedness of the nation of Israel: they conspired together to oppress their innocent brother, a cruelty that is contrary to nature. Nor could the Jews object that this was a private fault of only a few, for the infamy extends to all the people.

Since all the patriarchs, Benjamin excepted, had polluted themselves with that treachery, Stephen, by granting them an honorable name, actually contributes to the greater reproach of the nation. They boasted proudly of their fathers; he shows what kind of persons the chief among them were: namely, murderers of their brother, as much as was in their power.

For, besides slavery being a kind of death, we know what they intended at first and, secondly, what cruel punishments Joseph suffered, for all of which his brothers were guilty. From this it appears that God was generous and merciful to those who were, so to speak, unwilling, and who resisted Him.

They would have destroyed him who was about to be the author of salvation and help. Therefore, they did what they could to renounce all the benefits of God. So Stephen will declare afterward that Moses was rejected when he was offered by God to be a redeemer.

Therefore, the Jews have little reason to boast of the excellence of their ancestry. Instead, this alone remains for them: that, being ashamed, they confess that whatever they are, they are so purely through the mercy of God, and that they consider the law was given to make this known.

God was with him. God was not with him in such a way that He always displayed His power in helping him. For that is no small thing which is said in Psalm 105:18: That the iron went through his soul. Surely, it must be that he was in great sorrow when, lacking all help, he also suffered reproach together with bonds and the punishment of an ungodly and wicked man.

But God often is present with His own in such a way that He lies hidden for a time. And the end was an evident sign of His presence, which Joseph did not see at first.

Furthermore, we ought to remember this from time to time: Joseph was not delivered because he had called upon God in the temple, but far away in Egypt.