The physician Luke wrote about, “And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, and set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceases not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us”, and in chapter six and verse fifteen of the book of Acts Luke shared how, “all that sat in the council … saw his face as it had been the face of an angel” where we read:
And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him,
saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
The verse begins, “And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, ...” Luke began with the words, “and all that sat in the council” which means “and each, every, the whole and everyone who was seated, fixed and established in the assembly or Sanhedrin which was known as the great council and consisted of seventy-one members who were scribes, elders, prominent members of the high priestly families and the high priest”, “looking steadfastly on him” or “fixing their gaze and eyes intently upon Stephen” saw the following. Luke shared how the whole “Sanhedrin” fixed their eyes upon “Stephen” and saw the following.
The verse continues, “... saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.” Luke added the words, “saw his face” which means “perceived, noticed, discerned and discovered Stephen's countenance” “as it had been the face of an angel” or “like it was the countenance and appearance of a spiritual messenger or envoy”. Luke shared how everyone in the “assembly of the Sanhedrin” saw “Stephen's” “face” which appeared to them like the countenance of an “angel”.
When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we learn after the testimony from the “lying witnesses”, the entire group of members of the “Sanhedrin” gazed intently at “Stephen” and saw his “face” shining as though it was the “countenance” of an “angel of God”. We can only imagine the impact this site had upon the assembly, and it indicates that God was indeed with “Stephen” even when he was in the midst of a trial. We might wonder, “what does our face look like when we encounter opposition to the ways of God?” God the Heavenly Father desires a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and when they surrender their lives to Him, He will forgive their sins, grant them everlasting life and produce in them an “angel like countenance” to keep them regardless of their opposition. Let everyone who reads these words be inspired by “Stephen” and seek the Lord for a beautiful “countenance” even in the midst of adversity.
Next time we begin a new chapter and see Luke share how the high priest asked Stephen, “are these things so?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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