Yesterday we looked at Stephen from Acts. And of the many things I love
about Stephen from Acts 6-7, one of my favorite details about him comes from
Acts 6:15. In this verse of Scripture, Luke tells us that while the Jewish religious leaders were
trying to demonize Stephen, he simply sat in front of them with the “glow of God” on his
face. Luke says,
And
gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face
of an angel. Acts
6:15
These Jewish religious leaders hated Stephen, because
he was traveling around to their synagogues preaching Christ and was doing great wonders and signs among the people (6:8). And because Stephen was a disciple of Christ, these leaders of the synagogues charged him with being an enemy of Moses,
of God, of the Law and of the Temple. And we are told at the end of Acts 6 that as they are doing that, Stephen sits before them with a holy face.
What a rebuke!
Now what did his face look like? We don’t know for sure. We are not given a detailed description, but I
picture something similar to what Moses’ face looked like when he returned to
the Jewish people after spending time with God on Mount Sinai. Stephen, like Moses, had the “glow of God” on his
face. Dr. John Polhill said this about
Stephen’s countenance. He said,
Stephen’s
face is described as being like the face of an angel. There was apparently a
visible manifestation of the brightness of the glory of God on his face, as
there had been with Moses (Ex. 34:29–30, 35).
We learn in Exodus 34 that when Moses came down from
Mount Sinai carrying the Old Covenant, he had the “glow of God” on His face and
in Acts 6, Luke tells us that Stephen had the same glow. He was preaching on the New Covenant and
about how the old is fulfilled in Christ and God puts that same glow on him. Stephen was not Moses’ enemy,
but was God’s man--same as Moses. And he
like Moses was delivering a message from God. Moses' message was one of anticipation of Christ and Stephen's message was a message of fulfillment in Christ.
For more on Stephen, click HERE and listen to, “A
GREAT MAN WHOSE MINISTRY MADE A GREAT IMPACT.”
