Bible Study Lesson for Acts 6:1-7: the Choosing of the Seven

Verses 1-7 describes the choosing of seven men to be in charge of the distribution of food to widows.
Verses 8-15 introduces us to Stephen and describes how he was arrested.

Read Acts 6:1. We don't know how much time has passed since the end of chapter 5. The church continues to grow, but with inevitable problems from both within and without. At this stage, the church is completely Jewish in composition, but there are two distinct sects of Jews at this time, the Grecian (or Hellenistic) Jews and the Hebraic Jews. The Grecian Jews were in the minority. These were Jews that were born outside of Palestine and spoke Greek language and were more Greek in their customs. The Hebraic Jews spoke Aramaic and/or the Hebrew languages of Palestine and preserved Jewish culture and customs. Even back then, in the early days of the church, there were sects and disagreements amongst Christians that followed political or cultural lines. (I can't help thinking of the Protestants and the Catholics and their long years of conflicts between them. There is nothing new under the sun!)

As in all cultures, there were widows in the church who did not have anyone to provide for them, so the church stepped in to take the responsibility of seeing that they were, at least, receiving food to eat. Paul, later in his first letter to Timothy, writes down some guidelines about the church's role in taking care of widows. Let's read just a portion of that passage. Read 1 Timothy 5:3-5, 16.

Apparently, during the early days of the church in Jerusalem, the Grecian Jews' widows were not being treated fairly, or so the other Grecian Jews believed.

Read Acts 6:2. As is proper when such a public issue is brought up in the church, the church leadership (the apostles) called a meeting for all the members (the disciples) to attend. The apostles are blunt and to the point: "God has called us to a ministry of preaching the word of God. We have not been called to hand out food." The apostles, at this point, were probably responsible for every leadership decision made in the church, including the care for the needy. As the church explodes in size, it becomes impossible for them to do everything, without burning out, or being disobedient to the primary call the Lord has placed on their hearts.

Read Acts 6:3-4. Here the apostles make a wise decision: they delegate the responsibility of caring for the needy to a committee of seven men, to be chosen by the men of the church. Here we have the first mention of deacons, though we don't see that title used until much later, in Paul's letters to the Philippians and Timothy. The number seven may have been chosen because this is considered "God's number" or a holy number. Many modern churches today select men to serve in positions of deacons, and confirmed by church vote. Their ministries are very different from the ministries of pastors whose emphasis should be on preaching, and deal with the practical, material aspects of the Christian walk.

Read Acts 6:5. Of the seven mentioned, only two of the deacons are mentioned again in the Bible, Stephen (as we will read extensively about in the verses and chapter that follows), and Philip. Many of us are already familiar with Philip because of the story (told in Acts 8) of his witnessing to the Ethiopian eunuch and of being teleported away by the Holy Spirit. A couple of other facts about Philip that perhaps are not as well know are told in Acts 21:8-9.

Read Acts 6:6. Though the men of the church, as a whole, had chosen the Seven, they still were under the authority of the apostles and brought them to them to be "ordained" as it were by the laying on of hands. By their acceptance of the Seven, the apostles proclaimed that the Seven were under their authority to do their work in caring for the needy, particularly the widows. Even back then, acknowledgement and submission to the authorities over you was very important.

Read Acts 6:7. I find this verse particularly encouraging because of the mention of the priests. I would expect that they would be most impacted by what was happening in Jerusalem, not only in seeing how the apostles had interacted with the Sanhedrin, but also heading the messages preached in the temple courts, and in seeing the evidence of the miracles all around them.

To be continued...

Source
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version