Grief, stoning of Steve . devout men made loud lamentation over him (NASB)

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Feb. 9, 2018

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Bereavement


Acts  8:1-2 And Paul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him

 (NASB). The word lamentation  was an expression of deep, noisy sorrow over a godly man who was taken before his time.Some think that being strong' for the LORD in grief is to show little emotion in grief It is true that we must be trusting God in the dark valley. However the Scripture says that it  was godly men (devout) who men made loud lamentation over him. Loud here (megan) means great.  The word devout (eulabeis) denotes showing a  reverence for God and cautious about doing his will"         ( TNDT, volume 2:751). These godly men gave full vent  to their grief. 

The stoning of Stephen resulted in no quiet acquiescence to God's will. . I am speaking about the human response of grief and not the divine mystery of providence, which the Lord works His will out in the lives of His people.

Lindsay

 I remember, when I had just witnessed the death of our daughter in a head-on collision, a well meaning police officer upon seeing me crying said, "Come on now, you have to be strong' for your family."  I told him, "You be the cop and I will be the father." Being strong is not bottling up your emotions.  Lamentation in the above text.  The Greek  (kopetos) carries the idea of  wailing and beating on the breast (See Vines Expository Dictionary, p. 124, under bewail).

  The apostle Paul stated. but we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so  that you will  who have no hope. For we do not sorrow as some do without hope (1 Thessalonians 4:15, NASB).

This Scripture does not say we as believers in Christ do not have sorrow. It says, "we don't have a "hopeless sorrow.  And so it was with John the Baptist and his godly disciples who are now in endless glory, peace and joy.