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Acts 6: Bible Study, Commentary and Summary

Acts 6: Bible Study, Commentary and Summary

Last updated on: May 25, 2016 at 8:26 pm by Jack Wellman

Acts 6: Bible Study, Commentary and Summary 2016-05-25T20:26:58-05:00 Jack Wellman

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Here is a Bible study with commentary and a summary over Acts Chapter six.

Acts 6:1 “Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.”

The disciples and the church had a problem. They were having growing pains and having trouble serving the widows themselves, so they said “pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:3-4). This was to ensure that the Greek or Hellenistic widows would receive the support they needed, as apparently, only the Hebrew widows were being cared for at that time (Acts 6:1). This could have been because the early church was overwhelmingly Jewish. These kinds of problems come with church growth, and if you’ve read Acts chapter 3 – 5, you can see that the church was growing rapidly at this time, just as it says, “when the disciples were increasing in number” (Acts 6:1).

Why were the Hellenist widows being ignored?

Was it intentional?

What does it mean by requiring these “men be of good repute?”

Acts 6:7 “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”

When the church had settled the issue with caring for the Greek or Gentile widows, the church started another rapid growth period. The disciples increase in large proportion to the city of Jerusalem and even many of the Jewish priests, not just a few, came to believe and obey what they learned from the apostles. When church grow occurs, it usually means that they are devoting themselves to the apostle’s teachings and taking care of the widows, which to God is pure religion (James 1:17).

Can a church grow if they aren’t even taking care of their own widows?

What does it say that even “many” of the Jewish priests became obedient to the faith?

What does it mean that “the word of God continued to increase?”

Acts 6:10-11 “But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

Stephen was a powerful man of God, just as it says, he was “full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen” (Acts 6:8-9). It didn’t matter if he was outnumbered or had scholars debating him; none could withstand his wisdom from the Scriptures and with the empowerment of God’s Spirit, they were no match for Stephen.

What reasoning do you think Stephen used in proving Jesus is the Christ?

Why did they rise up and dispute with Stephen?

Do you think this took place in the synagogue?

Acts 6:11-12 “Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council.”

The Jews had become so wicked in trying to get Stephen stoned, that they went so far as to “set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law” (Acts 6:13), which was obviously false. They were willing to go to any measures; give false testimony before the council, spreading rumors and lies, and even accuse Stephen of speaking against God’s law, which he never did, nor would he ever do. Some of the Jewish “witnesses” even said “we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us” (Acts 6:14). This is also false because Moses actually prophesied about the coming of Jesus (Deut 18:15-19). They also accused Stephen of blaspheming Moses and God. Notice that they put Moses before God, indicating that they held the law in higher regard than they did God. They had their rituals and traditions, and teaching the Jews about Jesus was s threat to them.

What does it mean “the stirred up the people?”

Why would they accuse Stephen of blasphemy against God and Moses?

Acts 6:15 “And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”

What was it about Stephen’s look that appeared to them as the face of an angel? Why did Luke record this passage in such a way? Was it because he had complete peace about everything? Had the Spirit told Stephen that he would soon be with the Lord? We are never told why he had that look but we can assume that he was confident in his upcoming trial. We just don’t know with certainty.

What was it that Stephen’s face must have looked like an angel?

Was that because he had great peace or knowing he’d soon be with the Lord?

Was this why the crowd was “gazing at him?”

Summary

Acts chapter six is a great chapter because it shows that the church was growing and that the troubles caused by the growth were easily solved by the church. Growth is a very good problem to have. Even the persecution shows us that the church must have been doing something right because no one is persecuted unless they are speaking the truth. It is so true that the truth will set you free…or it will make you really made. You have both in the Jewish leadership and in the church of God.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.

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