Acts 7 is About Jerusalem’s Rejection of the Spirit

Posted by©TheMusingsOfAnActs9DispensationalistPosted inThe Dispensation of Grace, The New Covenant, The Old CovenantTags:, , , , , , ,

Stephen wasn’t the first prophet Israel rejected. His stoning is akin to that of Zechariah in the Old Testament, but where it differs from Zechariah’s, is that it was the last straw so to speak due to Israel not only rejecting the law, the prophets and the holy place, but also God the Son, the kingdom and the New Testament.

⬇️ THE STONING OF ZECHARIAH

2 Chronicles 24:19-21
Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the Lord ; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear. And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord.

⬇️ THE STONING OF STEPHEN

Acts 7:53-54
Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

I am still not convinced Saul of Tarsus blasphemed the Holy Spirit when he stood by and witnessed the stoning of Stephen, and my stance is mainly due to the below mentioned scripture which states –

THE UNFORGIVEABLE SIN CAN BE SUMMED UP AS FOLLOWS ⬇️

1. Hebrews 10:26
For if we sin wilfully AFTER that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

2. Mark 3:28-30
Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: BECAUSE THEY SAID, He hath an unclean spirit.

3. Hebrews 6:4-6
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and WERE MADE PARTAKERS of the Holy Ghost, and HAVE TASTED THE GOOD WORD OF GOD, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God AFRESH, and put him to an open shame.

So one has to ask oneself, (a) who did Paul persecute, and (b) was he previously a partaker with this group of people in lieu of what Acts 8:1, Hebrews 10:26, Mark 3:30 and Hebrews 6:4-6 has to say about who can be guilty of committing this particular sin? Furthermore, (c) did Saul of Tarsus curse the Holy Spirit by calling Him evil?

THE ANSWER TO WHO SAUL PERSECUTED ⬇️

Acts 8:1
And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Acts 7 is a summary of Israel’s historical rejection of God the Holy Spirit up to the last prophet He sent them: Stephen ⬇️

Verses 7:8-16: They rejected Joseph.

Verses 17-41: They rejected Moses.

Verses 51-60: They rejected Stephen.

AND SAUL OF TARSUS WAS COMPLICIT IN HIS MURDER ⬇️

Acts 22:20
And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.

When Stephen died, God’s glory left Jerusalem as the powers of that time who were represented by Jerusalem, rejected the Holy Spirit, so Jerusalem (which the Book of Revelation refers to as the Harlot) was left in darkness. However, others still believed, as we can see in Acts Chapter 8.

Matthew 23:37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

This wasn’t the first time God’s glory left Jerusalem in darkness as can be testified by reading Ezekiel 8-11. So it goes without saying that the ministry of the 12 apostles started winding down from this point forward, as God’s glory eventually started to leave them too, and as we now know, God was about to reveal a mystery to Saul, (who was to become Paul) in Acts Chapter 9.

At the time of Acts 28, God’s glory had totally left all of Israel, including the twelve Apostles, and Pauls unique ministry was the only mainstay of salvation, as it still is today.

Rejection of the Spirit is different to that of blaspheming the Spirit.

Rejection is dismissing or refusing the Holy Spirit, whilst blaspheming the Holy Spirit amounts to cursing Him and/or reviling His work.

The unpardonable/unforgiveable sin does not apply today to us as Believers though as we aren’t having our sins imputed to us (2 Corinthians 5:18-19), which in turn means we have eternal security, so there is no way the Holy Spirit by who we are sealed can leave us if we do so happen to curse Him, BUT we are, however, capable of grieving Him or causing Him great distress in this the Dispensation of Grace, according to Ephesians 4:30.

Selah.