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Su

pp

lemen

tal No

tes:

The B

ookof

Acts

Chuck Missler

© 1997 K

oinonia House Inc.

Au

dio

Listin

g

Acts 1

Introduction. Ascension. E

lection of Matthias.

Acts 2

Pentecost. Peter’s First Sermon .

Acts 3

Lam

e man healed. Peter’s Second Serm

on. Jubilee Year.

Acts 4 - 6

Peter before the Sanhedrin. Ananias &

Sapphira.

Acts 7

Stephen addresses the Sanhedrin. First Martyr.

Acts 8 - 9

Philip and Ethiopian. Saul’s conversion..

Acts 10 - 12

Peter’s vision. Ministry to the G

entiles.

Acts 13 - 14

Paul’s first missionary journey. Paul turns to G

entiles.

Au

dio

Listin

g

Acts 15

Council at Jerusalem

. Paul and Barnabas separate.

Acts 16 - 17:15

Paul’s Second Missionary Journey. G

alatia. Philippi.

Acts 17:16 - 18

Athens and Paul on M

ar’s Hill. C

orinth.

Acts 19 - 20

Third M

issionary Journey. Galatia, E

phesus.

Acts 21 - 24

Tyre. Paul in Jerusalem

. Paul’s defense.

Acts 25 - 28

Paul before Festus, Agrippa. Shipw

reck. Rom

e.

Ep

ilog

ue

Letters to

Seven

Ch

urch

es (Part 1)

Letters to E

phesus, Smyrna, and Pergam

os.

Letters to

Seven

Ch

urch

es (Part 2)

Letters to T

hyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea.

Page 4

“Do and to teach” - note the order of these verbs, do first, teach second.

The subject of V

olume 2 is the sam

e as Volum

e 1. Same w

riter: Luke;

same reader: T

heophilus; and same subject: Jesus C

hrist. Note that

this book is about Jesus Christ, and not the H

oly Spirit. The H

olySpirit is very prom

inent and we w

ill learn a great deal about Him

, butas is consistent w

ith His M

ission, He bears testim

ony of the Son, Jesusof N

azareth!

The B

ook of Acts is continuing. It is a transition betw

een the Kingdom

message and the C

hurch. The K

ingdom w

as offered to Israel first andthey rejected it. T

hat opened the door to the Gentiles and the story of

the Book of A

cts is all these different things that occur to fulfill theprom

ise of God to all flesh, not just Israel.

How

ever, don’t fall into the trap that the promises of G

od to Israel areforfeited; they are yet to be fulfilled. (See T

he Prodigal H

eirs for acom

plete study of the Church and Israel.) If the book of A

cts is atransition from

the Kingdom

to the Church, the B

ook of Revelation

is a transition form the C

hurch back to the Kingdom

.

40-Day M

inistry

2]“T

aken up” - occurs four times in this chapter alone, refers to the

ascension.

3]Forty days - only place that m

entions the period of time betw

een theresurrection and the ascension. For forty days Jesus w

as among them

,(the E

mm

aus Road and several tim

es to the disciples). Some of these

incidents are recorded, some are not.

4]T

o wait in Jerusalem

, they were to tarry. For w

hat?

Luke 12:49-50. Jesus w

as constrained as a man; for exam

ple, hecould only be in one place at a tim

e. Yet, in A

cts, Jesus is free of thatrestraint through the pow

er of the Holy Spirit.

John 16:7-11. Jesus continues to talk of His “going aw

ay.” Jesusneeds to go aw

ay to allow the H

oly Spirit to come. T

he Holy Spirit

is seen from the beginning (G

en 1:2). All through the O

ld Testam

entthe H

oly Spirit is very busy, He doesn’t just appear in A

cts, He is busy

from the beginning. H

owever, Jesus does note that the H

oly Spirit is

Th

e Bo

ok o

f Acts

Intro

du

ction

The “A

cts of the Apostles” is an unfortunate label because there are

only two apostles that feature prom

inently in the book. The first

twelve chapters feature Peter, w

hile Chapters 13-28 feature Paul.

The B

ook of Acts is a fragm

entary, incomplete book. In the concep-

tual sense we can say that it is still continuing, as it ushers in the

Church, the ecclesia, the “called-out ones,” and this is continuing.

Ch

apter 1

Th

eop

hilu

s

1]T

he writer is L

uke. He w

rote the Gospel according to L

uke and theB

ook of Acts.

“Former T

reatise” refers to the Gospel of L

uke.

“Theophilus”- nam

e means “lover of G

od”; may have even been his

nickname.

Luke 1:1-3. L

uke has an agenda with this G

ospel. “Most excellent

Theophilus” is a title generally used of a R

oman official. H

e probablyw

as a governor of a province. Theophilus m

ay be an intimate nam

eand not his form

al name.

One speculation is that L

uke Volum

e 1 (the Gospel) and V

olume 2

(Acts) w

ere written to T

heophilus, who prepared the accounts neces-

sary for Paul’s appeal to Rom

e. One of the undercurrents seen

throughout the book of Acts is the continual uprisings that occur. T

hebook m

akes it clear that Paul was not the instigator of these riots. A

lsothroughout both books, R

omans are not portrayed as “the bad guys,”

but rather as the good guys.

In Acts 1:1, L

uke does not include the words “m

ost excellent” before“T

heophilus.” This m

akes some scholars presum

e that he probablyw

as a believer or had become one by reading V

olume 1, because L

ukeis m

ore intimate here.

Page 6

Jerusalem and Judea -

Acts 1 through 7

Samaria -

Acts 8 through 12

Utterm

ost parts -A

cts 13 - 28 and continuing!

“Be m

y witness” - note that H

e doesn’t say “witness,” but “B

E m

yw

itness.” Be H

is evidence, His credentials, H

is arguments.., be H

isrepresentative!

Th

e Ascen

sion

9]A

pparently on the Mount of O

lives (we know

this from other

passages).

While H

e was speaking to them

, He w

as taken up and a cloud receivedH

im out of their sight. T

his is important as this is how

He is com

ingback!

11]See Z

echariah 14:4.

“Tw

o men in w

hite apparel”- Moses and E

lijah? They are seen in R

ev11, perhaps also in G

en 18? We don’t know

for sure who these m

enare in this scene, but it is an interesting thought. T

wo is the num

berof w

itness and it may be nothing m

ore than that.

They do give us this interesting prophecy that apparently, Jesus w

illcom

e in the same w

ay He left! H

e will com

e in a cloud, and when H

isfoot touches the M

ount of Olives there w

ill be an earthquake, and itw

ill split (Zech 14:4).

Th

e Up

per R

oo

m

14]Scholars are divided as to w

here Chapter 2 happens, som

e feel thatbecause of this verse, it happened in the U

pper Room

. Other scholars

believe that while they abode here, they had their m

eetings in theT

emple. O

ne reason for the Tem

ple stance is that it would have to be

a place where you could baptize 3000 people, that w

ould be a bit toughin the U

pper Room

.

The disciples are listed here. N

ote that Bartholom

ew and N

athanielare tw

o names for the sam

e guy. Philip is the “press agent,” as everytim

e you see him he is introducing som

eone to Jesus Christ. T

homas

is the skeptic.

sent in a very special and unique way to the C

hurch. (For a complete

study of the Holy Spirit, see our B

riefing Package, The T

rinity.)

5]“N

ot many days hence” - 10 to be exact.

Who is going to be B

aptized with the H

oly Spirit? The A

postles, 120of them

? The B

aptism is of the B

ody of Christ on Pentecost.

6]“R

estore at this time” - M

any promises in the O

ld Testam

ent of theK

ingdom, this w

as a natural question for them to ask. T

his makes it

clear that they did not know H

is plans, nor were they equipped for

what is com

ing.

7]“N

ot for you to know” - M

t 24, “No m

an knoweth the day or the hour,

only the Father.” Notice how

this verse is recorded in Mark 13:32.

“No m

an” nor the angels, neither the Son! That m

eans there issom

ething that the Father knows that the Son doesn’t, at least at that

particular time.

Note that Jesus did N

OT

cancel the Kingdom

of Israel. The issue here

is the timing, not the event. T

here are promises to Israel that are yet

to be fulfilled, Jesus is yet to sit on David’s T

hrone. (See our Briefing

Package on The P

rodigal Heirs for a com

plete study.)

Matthew

10:5-6. Jesus sends the disciples out on a field trip,specifically sent to Israel, and not to the G

entiles. This is in contrast

to the mission w

hich they are about to get, which w

as to go intoJerusalem

and Judea first, then into Samaria, then to the utterm

ost partof the w

orld.

The K

ingdom m

essage was first of all aim

ed at Israel exclusively.John 1:11 states that Israel did not receive it, and because they rejectedH

im, Israel is set aside for aw

hile (see Rom

ans 11:25).

Acts is a transition betw

een the Kingdom

message, w

hich is theprim

ary thing we see in the G

ospels, and the peculiar mystery w

hichw

e call the Church. T

he Book of R

evelation is going to be thetransition from

the Church (C

hapters 2-3) and the ushering in of theK

ingdom.

8]“Shall receive pow

er after..” - Didn’t they already have pow

er? They

went around Judea casting out dem

ons, healing the sick...

Page 8

Corinthian letters, E

phesians, all start off by Paul having to establishhis apostleship.

How

ever, others appropriately point out that Paul was clearly ap-

pointed apostle of the Gentiles (A

cts 9:15; Rom

11:13; 15:16).

Ch

apter 2

Pen

tecost

One of the seven Feasts of M

oses (Lev 23), three occur in the first

month of the ecclesiastical year: Passover, Feast of U

nleavenedB

read, and Firstfruits; three occur in the seventh month: Feast of

Trum

pets, Yom

Kippur, Feast of T

abernacles; leaving one which

happened between, actually 50 days after Firstfruits: Feast of W

eeks(or also called Feast of Pentecost). Pentecost m

eans “Fifty.” Sevensevens plus one - L

ev 23:9-22.

Each feast had several roles besides their cerem

onial role. Each of the

feasts had a historical comm

emorative effect and also a prophetic

role.

For a complete study of the feasts of M

oses, do see our Briefing

Package, The F

easts of Israel.

The Feast of Firstfruits is celebrated the day after the Sabbath after

Passover. This is not linked to a day of the w

eek because Passover isthe 14th day of N

isan and that could be any day of the week. A

fterPassover there is a Sabbath, the day after that Sabbath is the Feast ofFirstfruits. (T

his would be our Sunday). T

he Feast of Firstfruits was

prophetic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus w

as resurrected onthe m

orning when they w

ere celebrating the Firstfruits in the Tem

ple.

The first three feasts in the first m

onth speak of Jesus Christ’s first

coming. T

he three feasts in the seventh month relate to Jesus’ second

coming. In betw

een there is the Feast of Pentecost.

Every able-bodied Jew

ish male w

as required to be in Jerusalem to

celebrate these three festival seasons, if it were at all possible. T

hus,in this chapter, because it w

as the Feast of Pentecost, Jerusalem w

ascrow

ded with people there to celebrate the Feast.

“With his brethren” - Jesus did have brothers and sisters (M

t 13:55;M

ark 6:3). John 7:5 notes that they did not believe in Him

, yet afterH

is resurrection two of them

become very prom

inent, James and

Jude.

Mary (Jesus’ m

other) is praying with them

to the Father, NO

T praying

to Mary! (A

nd this is the last time w

e read of her.)

Jud

as’ Rep

lacemen

t

Matthew

19:27-28. Tw

elve thrones judging the twelve tribes of

Israel.

Zech 11:12-13. N

otes the betrayal for thirty pieces of silver and thatthe m

oney would end up in the hands of the Potter. It is called the field

of blood for two different reasons: one because it w

as bought with

blood money, and the second because that is w

here Judas hunghim

self and his blood was spilled.

Jesus said of Judas, “Better for him

had he not been born.”

Peter quotes from Ps 69:25; Ps 109:8 (from

the Septuagint version).

Peter argues from the Scriptures that Judas’ place (his office) is to be

filled as there is to be twelve and not eleven.

22]Peter assum

es that it must be som

eone who had been there for the

whole tour of duty.

26]Proverbs 16:33 ordains the use of the lot in the O

ld Testam

ent. Often

when they had som

ething to decide they would cast lots. T

hey castlots for the land w

hen Joshua conquered the land and had to divide theland, they did it by casting lots.

Most scholars believe that this w

as a gigantic mistake because they

believe that the one God had appointed w

as Paul who w

as yet tosurface. So m

ost scholars view Paul as the tw

elfth apostle and notM

atthias.

Acts 2:24 speaks of “the eleven,” and not “the tw

elve.”

Also Paul w

rote 14 epistles, nine of them begin w

ith the defense of hisapostleship. For exam

ple, Galatians 1:1, and also R

omans, both of the

Page 10

5]“E

very nation” - 16 listed here, yet more than are listed. R

emem

berthat all w

ere there as it was required for the Feast of Pentecost.

To lift from

men the curse of B

abel?

6]“N

oised abroad” - does not mean the rum

or mill, they heard the

hurricane! It was the w

ind that caused attention.

“Multitude cam

e together” - came together because they heard the

wind.

“Confounded” - because each heard it in their ow

n language.

7]“A

ll Galileans” - obviously the eleven w

ere, but there was 120 there,

so there must have been m

ore down from

Galilee.

9]“A

sia” - not what w

e now consider as the continent, at that tim

e Asia

referred to a specific Rom

an province.

11]T

he group was speaking of the w

onderful works of G

od. They w

erepraising G

od! The crow

d heard the praise each in their own tongue.

This is a different thing than the gift of speaking in tongues, w

hichcom

es up later.

12]Pattern of “am

azement, perplexity and then criticism

” occurs againand again throughout the book.

Out of w

onder worship is born. W

hen wonder ceases, w

orship ceases.

Peter’s F

irst Serm

on

Peter’s sermon answ

ers their question of “What m

eanest this?” This

sermon is an intricate m

asterpiece of organization and is well w

orthstudying carefully. A

lso in this sermon w

e can see the infilling of theH

oly Spirit of Peter. In the four gospels we see Peter speaking w

ithoutthinking, but this serm

on is presented elegantly and skillfully.

The serm

on is not about the Holy Spirit, it is about the Son of G

od.

Seven “Firsts”:

1) First Impression

2) First Message

The Feast of Pentecost anticipates the C

hurch. The C

hurch is theL

ord’s Body of believers. O

ne would start a study of the C

hurch inthis chapter—

this is where it m

akes its appearance.

Leviticus 23:15-17. N

ote that Pentecost is 50 days after the day afterthe Sabbath. T

hat puts it at 50 days after the Resurrection! Pentecost

is measured from

and relates to, not the Lord’s death, but H

isR

esurrection.

Leaven

At Pentecost, a new

meat offering is to be offered, and note verse 17,

with L

EA

VE

NE

D bread! A

ll the other feasts and offerings arerequired to deal w

ith UN

LE

AV

EN

ED

bread. In Exodus and L

eviticus,leaven is not to be in the house during these feasts, except Penetcost.

The idea of leaven is alw

ays used negatively. Levitically, leaven is

a type (or symbol) of sin because it corrupts by puffing up. W

hat isthe source of all sin? Pride. G

od hates pride. Rem

ember that it is

through pride that Lucifer fell (1 C

or 5:6-8).

Gen 18, three m

easures of meal is offered as a m

eal offering. Fromthat point on, three m

easures of meal is a fellow

ship offering, always

to be unleavened.

In the prophetic picture of Pentecost, thus the Church, w

e have leavenas an im

age or symbol. U

nfortunately, the Church is not perfect, and

leaven is an appropriate type. (Study the Seven Letters to Seven

Churches in our R

evelation Com

mentary series or in our B

riefingPackage, L

etters to Seven Churches.

The Feast of Pentecost prophesied the advent of the C

hurch, and thestart of the C

hurch occurred on the very day they were celebrating this

Feast!

Mig

hty W

ind

2]“M

ighty wind”- John 3:8, reference to the H

oly Spirit and the wind.

(Hebrew

= ruack, G

reek= pneum

a). This w

ind is much w

ilder, like ahurricane, so strong that it caused attention throughout the tow

n.

Tongues w

ill be discussed in Chapter 10.

Page 12

Spirit on AL

L flesh, not just Israel... m

eaning the Gentiles as w

ell asIsrael.

Furthermore, the idea of prophesying is no longer lim

ited to the officeof the prophet. T

hey were used to having a prophet, a priest. Joel says

“Your sons and daughters shall prophesy.” It doesn’t denote just the

Levites, or those ordained in the office of a prophet. E

ven servantsand handm

aidens. To the Jew

s this must have been very strange.

20]H

as this occurred yet? No. T

his is obviously speaking of very end-tim

e issues.

Here in A

cts 2, the Day of Pentecost has been announced. H

ow long

does it last? Until the C

hurch is gone. The C

hurch is the Body of

Christ, O

ne Body.

Cf. R

ev 12:1-9. The w

oman is Israel, not the C

hurch. The 12 stars

are the Mazzeroth, standing for the 12 tribes of Israel (interpreted for

us by Jacob when Joseph has his dream

s). The w

oman is Israel in the

sense that she starts with E

ve, the Messianic line. T

he dragon is Satan(see verse 9). T

he mission of the dragon is to destroy the m

anchild,w

ho is Jesus. Rev 12:6 on talks about the tribulation. B

etween verses

5 and 6 is one of these gaps, and this gap has lasted 1900 years.

Penber, Earth’s E

arliest Ages. R

ev 12:5, when w

as Jesus caught upto G

od? The ascension? Penber suggests that this is the rapture.

Perhaps, both.

Occu

rrences o

f “Disp

ensatio

nal B

reaks”

Book

Gap E

vident1)

Gen 1

1,22)

Ps 22

21,223)

Ps 118m

iddle of v. 224)

Isa 9:6after first clause

5)Isa 53

middle of v. 10

6)Isa 61

middle of v. 2

7)L

am 4

21,228)

Dan 9

26,279)

Dan 11

20,2110)

Hos 2

13,1411)

Hos 3

4,512)

Am

os 910,11

3)First O

pposition4)

First Discipline*

5)First Persecution

6)First O

rganization (deacons)7)

First Martyr....

* “What m

eanest this?”: Peter’s sermon.

14]“Standing” - T

eachers sat, heralds stood. For example, Jesus in

Nazareth, H

e sat down to teach. Peter is standing, he is a herald, he

is going to announce something.

“Eleven” - not tw

elve?

“Men of Judea” - Peter is addressing Jew

s, his whole presentation is

aimed in that direction.

15]Peter is attem

pting to answer their accusation of the m

en being full ofnew

wine. N

ote, he doesn’t say that they were not drunk, but not

drunk “as ye suppose.” A different kind of spirits here. E

ven Paullinks the idea of being filled w

ith the Spirit in contrast to being filledw

ith new w

ine (Cf. E

ph 5:18). Peter might be being facetious or he

might be playing a pun (Joel 2:28-32).

16]Peter quotes Joel 2:28-32. Peter picks out a verse that is not the earliestnor the latest, but the m

ost crisp passage that deals with the prom

iseof the H

oly Spirit. Note that in the H

ebrew B

ible, this passage is inC

hapter 3 (just divided differently), in the Hebrew

Bible this passage

is a chapter of its own. T

here is the promise of the H

oly Spirit and itis follow

ed by end-time prophecy. Peter quotes from

the Septuagintversion (the G

reek translation of the Old T

estament). Peter speaks of

this event which they just w

itnessed as being that which w

as proph-esied by Joel. H

e is not implying that the total prophecy w

as fulfilledon this day, but that prophecy in Joel included that w

hich they had justseen happen.

“In the last days” - the scope of this prophecy is far broader than theexperience that they had just w

itnessed. (It has lasted at least 1900years...)

17]T

his passage destroys every major H

ebrew prejudice. If you w

ereJew

ish, hearing Peter, you probably would get em

otional when you

heard Peter talk. Note that this verse says that G

od will pour out H

is

Page 14

For years the Church has prom

oted the heresy that the Jews are to

blame for Jesus’ death. T

his way of thinking lead to the H

olocaust.A

s Chuck Sm

ith said, “If you want to blam

e someone for the death of

Jesus Christ, blam

e me, because it w

as my sins that put H

im on the

Cross.” See H

al Lindsey’s book, T

he Road to H

olocaust, which gives

you the history of Christian doctrine prom

oting this heresy.

24]4) T

his person raised from the dead.

Psalm

16

25]Psalm

s 16:8-11.

Acts 2:25, 26a

Life:

Psalm 16:8,9a

Acts 2:26b, 27

Death:

Psalm 16:9b, 10

Acts 2:28

Resurrection:

Psalm 16:11

Th

reefold

Victo

ry Over S

in

1)O

riginating evil: (v. 25) mystery of evil in the universe is older

than man... Isa 14; E

zek 28...2)

Evil from

without: “I H

ave not (been) moved.”

3)A

ssuming responsibility: “rest in hope...” death cannot hold

Him

: John 10:17,18.

29]Peter’s point is that this psalm

cannot apply to David because it speaks

of his not seeing corruption. Death has no hold on him

.

31]T

his could not be David, it is prophecy of Jesus C

hrist.

If you really understand the nature of Jesus, the concept of Him

suffering death is unthinkable.

33]Jesus C

hrist was prom

ised the Holy Spirit, from

the Father (John 16;Joel 2:28ff). So Peter is saying that w

hat the people are seeing is JesusC

hrist receiving the promise of the Father being fulfilled; i.e., T

heH

oly Spirit.

Peter’s central theme is the study of the person of Jesus C

hrist: His

role, mission, character, and nature of the M

essiah.

13)M

icah 52,3

14)H

ab 213,14

15)Z

eph 913,14

16)Z

ech 109,10

17)M

t 10m

iddle of v. 2318)

Mt 12

middle of v. 20

19)L

k 131,32

20)L

k 418-20 (quoting Isa 61:1,2)

21)L

k 21m

iddle of v. 2422)

Jn 15,6

23)1 Pet 1

middle of v. 11

24)R

ev 125,6

For a complete study of this chapter, see our E

xpositional Com

men-

taries on Revelation.

22]Jesus is the prim

ary subject (not the Holy Spirit).

Seven

Po

ints

1) Nam

ing the Person: “Jesus of N

azareth.”

Philip first designatedJn 1:45:

Dem

on possessed man

Mk 1:24

Trium

phal Entry

Mt 21:11

Pilate: affixed to the crossJn 19:19

Resurrection: angel at tom

bM

k 16:6T

wo m

en: Em

maus R

oadL

k 24:19

Peter - the 8th - the new beginning!

2) Approved (dem

onstrated) of God as a perfect M

an. “I donothing of M

yself...” God dem

onstrated as approved by God through

miracles and w

onders and signs to you...

23]3) R

eferred to the death of this person.

“Determ

inate” - Greek =

horizons.

Peter makes it clear that this w

as not a mistake, but that this w

as in theplan of G

od, within the boundaries of G

od’s purpose. (For a study offree w

ill verses predestination, see our Briefing Package, T

he Sover-eignty of M

an.

Page 16

41]3000 added!! Som

e scholars believe that this was in the T

emple

because they have the facilities for ritual imm

ersion.

The B

ody of Christ: from

120 to 3000 in one sermon!

Ch

apter 3

In the previous chapter we had the First Im

pression of the Church and

the First Sermon.

Th

e First M

iracle

1]Peter and John seem

to be paired up in these early chapters. It isinteresting to note that they are m

entioned seven times in the book of

Acts. A

lso interesting is that John seems to be subordinate to Peter,

it is always “Peter and John.”

3]W

e find out later that this man w

as lame for 38 years (John 5).

The m

an is asking for alms, not to be healed. It w

as not the man’s faith

that healed him.

6]Jesus C

hrist of Nazareth, appears in the B

ook of Acts 7x.

7]Feet =

base or heel; anklebone (Gr. sphuron, only here). V

erytechnical term

, but we should not be surprised as L

uke who is w

ritingthis w

as a doctor by profession.

In John 5, the lame m

an who w

as healed, the Pharisees sought to kill(John 16, 18). L

ater on we find that this situation gave rise to an

inquiry by the Sanhedrin. The inquiry never denies the reality of the

miracle, they couldn’t: the m

an was standing there.

Tw

o ideas embodied in this m

iracle. One is that it is a natural

continuity of the work of Jesus C

hrist. In this case through the Holy

Spirit through Peter and John. So on the one hand it is continuous, itw

as a continuity of what started in the gospels. It also w

as acom

mencem

ent, it was the beginning, it w

as the first miracle of the

period we call the C

hurch, from Pentecost on.

“In the Nam

e of Jesus Christ” - his declaration, his authority.

(Continuation of the Seven Points):

5)...exalted.

6)R

eceived the fulfillment of the ancient prom

ise of Jehovah(L

k 24:49; Act 1:4; Joel 2:28).

7)“P

oured forth this”: The Spirit.

34]H

e goes on concluding the fact that Psalm 16 did not apply to D

avid.

Psalm 110:1. “Jehovah said to A

donai...”

35]Jesus said this in M

t 22:42-45. Note in M

atthew that Jesus has just

established himself as the final political, theological and ethical

authority .

Political:Pharisees, H

erodiansT

ributeT

heological:Sadducees

Resurrection

Ethical:

Law

yersShem

a

“Until”- not w

hile. Christ’s enem

ies WIL

L be m

ade His footstool

post-rapture, in Rev 6-19 (w

e are still in Rev 1-3).

For a study of the pre-tribulation and post-tribulation views, do see

our Expositional C

omm

entary on Revelation (V

ol. 3) or our Briefing

Package, From

Here to E

ternity.

36]C

limax of Peter’s serm

on. He has quoted from

three different potionsof Scripture, and has built this serm

on on the person of Jesus Christ.

Note that the w

hole issue is the person of Jesus Christ, not a study of

the Holy Spirit. T

he fulfillment of the prom

ise of the Holy Spirit given

to Christ is one of Peter’s seven points and it does give rise to this

sermon, but the study is on the person of Jesus C

hrist.

This is the key Pentecostal proclam

ation: Jesus is Lord and C

hrist!(Isa 53; Isa 61).

39]H

ere in Peter’s own w

ords he is acknowledging that the call is not only

to Israel, although it takes him aw

hile before he realizes that he issuppose to go to the G

entiles also.

Page 18

So during the life of Christ H

is conflict seemed to be in large m

easurew

ith the Pharisees, because that was the pow

er ruling block at thetim

e.

In the time shift here betw

een that era and now, the prim

ary power

group were the Sadducees in the Sanhedrin. T

hey were the ones that

got unglued with a display of the supernatural. C

ertainly, the healingw

as a problem; but even m

ore so the presentation that Jesus Christ

rose from the dead w

as something that the Sadducees clearly could

not handle. It went com

pletely contrary to their whole position.

“Killed the Prince of L

ife” - “Prince” really means file leader or

author, or originator. “The one w

ho goes first” is part of the thoughtbehind that.

17]Peter is saying that they are accountable, responsible, yet donethrough ignorance. R

emem

ber Jesus prayed, “Father forgive themfor they know

not what they do...”

The significance behind this idea is that ignorance m

akes the differ-ence betw

een premeditated m

urder and manslaughter. For m

an-slaughter the rem

edy is a City of R

efuge (Num

bers).

19]“T

herefore” - all that Peter has said up to this point, supports what he

is about to say. “Therefore”- because of this...

22]Peter ascribes D

euteronomy to M

oses.

23]D

eut 18:19.

24]Sam

uel was regarded as the next great prophet after M

oses.

25]“In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed” - not just theIsraelites.

The m

ain thrust of Peter’s sermon is that this is the natural outcom

eof their history. T

o the extent that they understood the Old T

estament,

they should not be surprised.

No evidence in the Scripture of faith on his part. H

e was there seeking

alms, not healing. Peter asserted the authority of Jesus C

hrist and hehealed him

.

What does this have to do w

ith us, you and me? T

he lameness of

humanity is the C

hurch’s opportunity. Christianity is not com

e intothe presence of the w

orld’s woes to give out doles in order to help bear

its limitations. T

hey came to give m

en life, to put them on their feet

and to enable them to do w

ithout alms. T

hey did not just give him an

handout, they empow

ered him. T

hey gave him a gift that canceled

disability, comm

unicated ability and created worship.

Peter’s S

econ

d S

ermo

n

Peter’s sermon w

as a response to their amazem

ent. If they understoodhistory they should have expected this. Peter’s serm

on is very Jewish:

first he is presenting it in the Tem

ple; secondly, the very terms of his

address are distinctly and uniquely Israel.

12]“Y

e men of Israel” - talking to Jew

s.

“Why w

onder ye” - if strangers were present they should be am

azed,but not the Jew

s.

Note he points out that this m

iracle should NO

T be ascribed to them

.

13]“...his Son” - the w

ord should actually be translated “his Servant” (Cf.

Isa 53).

Pilate tried to let Jesus go, but the crowd w

anted Barabbas. T

he crowd

said of Jesus “Let his blood be on us and on our children” (M

t 27:25).H

is blood is on all of us, not just the Jews, it is our sins that put Jesus

on the Cross.

15]Pharisees are the legalists, the literalists. T

hey, to a fault, tried to takeevery detail of the L

aw and m

ake a burden out of it. They w

ere theextrem

ists.

Sadducees were the opposite kind, they w

ere the modernists, the

liberals. They did not believe in the resurrection, and did not believe

in angels, and did not believe in the supernatural.

Page 20

The T

rump - Isa 27:12-13; Joel 2:15-16; Isa 26:19-21; 1 T

hess 4; 1C

or 15. There is going to be a trum

pet which is going to cause som

einteresting things to occur. T

here is a major com

mandm

ent uponIsrael by G

od that relates to trumpets, but it is a different w

ord, theY

obel, the Jubilee trumpet.

The Jubilee year starts in the seventh m

onth. The E

cclesiastical yearstarts w

ith Passover (the 14th of Nisan is Passover, a M

osaic Feast),and N

isan is the first month. In the 7th m

onth of the Ecclesiastical

year, Tishri is the 1st m

onth of the Civil year.

The Sabbatical year w

ould be the first of Tishri, R

osh HaShannah.

After the 7th Sabbatical year (7 X

7 years) plus one, is the Jubilee year.T

he Jubilee year would begin on Y

om K

ippur, the 10th of Tishri.

Ecclesiastical Y

earC

ivil Year

1. Nisan

1. Tishri

2. Iyar2. H

eshvan3. Sivan

3. Kislev

4. Tam

muz

4. Tevet

5. Av

5. Shevat6. E

lul6. A

dar7. T

ishri7. N

isan8. H

eshvan8. Iyar

9. Kislev

9. Sivan10. T

evet10. T

amm

uz11. Shevat

11. Av

12. Adar

12. Elul

Why does the Jubilee Y

ear start on Yom

Kippur, 10 days A

FTE

R the

beginning of the year?

The Sabbatical year and the Jubilee year m

ake no sense until theIsraelites are in the land, ie. Joshua. For a com

plete study of the bookof Joshua, do see our E

xpositional Com

mentary series on Joshua.

The Jubilee year is tied to Joshua’s conquest of the land.

Jesus opened his ministry in L

uke 4:16-20, quoting from Isa 61:1-2.

Note that Jesus stopped at a com

ma. Jesus uses som

e examples that

get the crowd upset, L

uke 4:25-27. He is teaching them

the doctrineof election. E

ach example H

e uses is a Gentile. It appears that this w

asabout the 29th or 30th Jubilee (roughly about 1500 years since Joshuaconquered C

anaan).

Restitu

tion

21]“U

ntil” - until the times of the R

estitution of all things.

Lev 25:8-55; 27:16-25.

(Cf. N

um 36:4, daughters of Z

elophehad.)

The concept of a Sabbatical year, a w

eek of years (i.e., 7 years) likea decade being 10 years (L

ev 25:1-7).

The B

abylonian captivity was due to the failure to keep the Sabbatical

year (2 Chr 36:21). For 490 years Israel failed to keep L

ev 25! Thus,

God used N

ebuchadnezzar as his mechanism

of judgment and took

them slaves into captivity for 70 years to the very day. For a com

pletestudy of this prophecy, see our B

riefing Package, Daniel’s 70 W

eeks.

Th

e Jub

ilee Year

Lev 25:8-55. W

hen is the Jubilee Year? T

he rabbis can’t agree on theform

ulas to figure it out!

Restitution of all things:

1) All debtors forgiven;

2) Slaves released from bondage;

3) Liberty to all captives;

4) All fam

ilies reunited;5) L

and reverts to original owners.

Lev 25:47-55 discusses the role of the G

oel, and the kinsman-

redeemer.

Num

36:3-6 - the daughters of Zelophehad. T

he Jubilee Year issue

triggers the problem w

ith the inheritance of the land. This exception

to the rule, is present in Jesus’ lineage through Mary.

The Jubilee year is very im

portant to God. T

he Sabbatical year was

so important the G

od put Israel into slavery for 70 years for notobeying the law

. God cares about this piece of land as it is all tied up

in the covenant with A

braham.

lbe/y- (Yobel) a ram

’s horn. It became synonym

for the year and for thisspecial kind of trum

pet.

Page 22

6]A

nnas was of the A

aronic priesthood, but he was deposed by the

Rom

ans, and Caiaphas w

as put in his place. Caiaphas w

as the actinghigh priest, but appointed by the R

omans; he w

as not of the line ofA

aron. Caiaphas w

as in power for the R

omans, but not really

accepted by the Jews. A

nnas is still of powerful influence, although

not officially in power.

Sanhedrin: 71 mem

bers; 24 was a quorum

. They are follow

ing theinjunction of D

eut 13: that if there is a teacher doing miracles, the

question is he drawing them

towards or against Jehovah. T

hey arefollow

ing what D

eut 13 tells them to check the prophets.

7]C

f. Deut 13.

Peter B

efore th

e San

hed

rin

11]Q

uotes Ps 118:22. This is the psalm

that they sang on Palm Sunday,

“Blessed is the K

ing that cometh in the nam

e of the Lord,” the H

allelPsalm

. Peter is highlighting the Messianic reference of Ps 118:22. H

eis pointing out that this m

iracle tieing Jesus Christ and the w

orship ofJehovah. (A

nswering their question in v. 7).

12]O

nly one way!

13]“Ignorant” - really im

plies a comm

on, or plebeian. Not ignorant in the

sense of dumb, but rather com

mon, of the street.

“They saw

that they had been with Jesus” - that is alw

ays theim

pression given if you are filled with the Spirit.

14]If you’ve been healed shouldn’t you be standing w

ith them!

They never deny the m

iracle. They never deny the resurrection. T

heydon’t challenge it, they can’t deny the m

iracle as the guy is right there.

16]L

ater they consult Gam

aliel for advice on how to handle.

24]L

ord = absolute ruler, final sovereignty.

Prayer meeting of praise.

“Hast m

ade heaven, and earth...” - different opening than they usually

We are about to enter the 70th Jubilee. Is this significant propheti-

cally? 40 is the number of testing, the C

hurch has been on the earthapproxim

ately 40 Jubilee years. 70 is the number of fulfillm

ent, Jesusopened his m

inistry at about the 30th Jubilee year. That puts us about

the 70th Jubilee year! How

ever, we are not sure w

hich year will be

the Jubilee year. The rabbis have lost count as to w

hich Jubilee we are

at. You w

ill see charts, none of them agree, as to w

hen the Jubilee yearis. It becom

es very technical with part of the problem

being do youcount the 50th year as part of the next seven.... In any case w

e shouldbe approaching the 70th Jubilee...

See Rom

8:19-22. There is m

ore to Redem

ption than just you and I.T

he Redem

ption is what the B

ible is all about. The w

hole creationw

as subject to the curse and the bondage of corruption, so it is notsurprising that G

od would link a prophetic horizon to the land.

Ch

apter 4

First P

ersecutio

n

1]Pharisees w

ere the legalists. The Sadducees w

ere the rationalists, them

odernists; they did not believe in the resurrection.

Pre-resurrection opposition was from

the Pharisees.Post-resurrection opposition w

as from the Sadducees.

At this tim

e the power group is the Sadducees. T

hey were the

aristocrats, the money people. T

hey were the m

odernists, did notbelieve in the supernatural, did not believe in the resurrection. T

heyhad a strong em

phasis on free will. T

hey were very oriented into the

ethics, rather than the theology. They held the Pharisees in contem

pt.

2]T

he Sadducees were particularly upset w

ith the resurrection. The

Pharisees were not as upset, w

hile they did not want to acknow

ledgeJesus C

hrist as the Messiah, the w

hole emphasis on H

is resurrectionis som

ething that the Pharisees tended to side with and later you w

illsee Paul taking advantage of that. B

ut for the Sadducees the idea ofthe resurrection goes against everything that they believe.

4]M

ost assume that this 5000 is 2000 on top of the 3000 from

Chapter

2 (not bad for a chapter!).

Page 24

this sort of pooling of belongings, note that they were very intim

ate.A

lso, this does cause some problem

s later. (We are still fighting w

ithour flesh, R

om 7.)

33]T

his intimacy did bear fruit. T

hey were of one m

ind, one soul. They

were so effective, not because they pooled their goods, but because

they were that unified as a pow

erful fellowship.

Voluntary sharing am

ong believers. Cause of subsequent poverty of

the Church at Jerusalem

?? Result: A

nanias and Sapphira?? No

compulsion, rules, regulations....but rather selfless koinonia.

36]Joses - his property w

as in Cyprus, prem

ium land. H

e put it inJerusalem

, which w

as in deep trouble. The city w

as ready to bejudged. H

e was the brother of M

ary, the wealthy m

other of Mark,

probably, Mark’s uncle.

“Nabas” =

consolation, paraclete..

Ch

apter 5

First D

isciplin

e

1]“B

ut” - note that this is connected to the verses before.

The C

hurch has never been harmed from

without;

perpetually harmed and hindered by perils from

within.

“It is more blessed to give than to receive” - Jesus’ w

ords in Acts

20:35.

“I am the T

ruth.”

Whenever Jesus cam

e upon an adulteress, or murderer, H

is responsew

as always com

passion and forgiveness, with one exception. T

hereis one sin that he invariably used the harshest w

ords against: the sinof hypocrisy. (C

f. Mt 23:13-31; Jn 8:18-19, 41-44, 56-58).

God hates a lie. W

ith Ananias and Sapphira, it appears that their sin

was a lie.

did, why? T

he Sadducees are materialists. T

hey are challenged by therationalists. T

he Sadducees put their faith in the material w

orld. Sothey are praying to G

od who m

ade the very material w

orld to which

the Sadducees relied upon.

Psalm

2

25]Ps 2, T

rinity speaking.

Verse 3, w

orld speaking “we have no king but C

aesar.”V

erse 4, the Father speaking.V

erse 7, the Son speaking.V

erse 10, the Holy Spirit is speaking.

27]“C

hild” - should be “servant.”

“Herod” - the H

ebrew authority.

“Pilate” - the Rom

an authority.“T

he nations” - the Gentiles.

“People of Israel.”

All sides of the coin: Jew

and Gentile, ruler and group.

28]W

hatever was decided w

as determined before to be done. T

hecrucifixion of C

hrist did not surprise God, it w

as ordained before thecreation of A

dam.

Their prayer is based on:

1) The Sovereignty of G

od2) T

he Wisdom

of God

3) The A

ctive Governm

ent of God

They are conscious of the danger, but they take it and they give it to

God.

30]“H

oly child” - should be “servant.”

31]“B

oldness” - the sign of the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

First R

ealization

of F

ellow

ship

32]T

his is an intimate, totally unified atm

osphere. Before one undertakes

Page 26

33]“B

eing a witness” - does not m

ean that you win them

over, but you justdeclare the w

ord of God.

Gam

aliel’s Co

un

cil

34]G

amaliel - Saul’s teacher.

37]H

is point was that there w

ere guys who w

ould rise up and get afollow

ing; but if God is not behind it, it gets dispersed. It com

es andgoes, don’t overreact.

39]W

e don’t know if this hints that G

amaliel m

ight lean to the possibilitythat this could be the M

essiah, however it is good advice.

Ch

apter 6

Satan: Inward dissension is m

ore effective than outward persecu-

tion...

Grecian

s vs. Heb

rews

1]“G

reeks” - Hellenistic Jew

s. Traditional rivalry betw

een PalestinianJew

s (Hebrew

s, Jewish Jew

s) and Hellenists.

The w

orld outside of Palestine spoke Greek. It w

as for this reason that285 years before C

hrist was born that the Jew

ish establishment

empaneled 70 scholars in A

lexandria, a major city and a m

ajor Jewish

center, to translate what w

e call the Old T

estament, into G

reek. This

is called the Septuagint version (meaning 70 scholars). T

his tookplace from

285 to 270 B.C.

A Jew

in those days spoke Greek, one m

ight learn Hebrew

to be ableto participate in the local synagogue. Israel did not speak H

ebrewafter the B

abylonian captivity, they spoke Chaldean A

ramaic. H

e-brew

was reestablished in 1948.

The H

ellenistic Jews w

ere Jews born outside Israel w

hich spokeG

reek, they were still Jew

ish, but looked down upon by the native-

born Jews.

5]Peter w

as probably just as surprised as everyone else. Peter justconfronted him

with the issue and the guy died!

The error w

as not the gift, not the sale of the land. And the error w

asnot in giving it to the C

hurch. The error w

as playing it one way and

presenting it another. Basically the sin of hypocrisy. T

here may be

something deeper, as verse 3 notes that “Satan had filled thine heart

to lie...” This m

ay be a hint of something m

ore than a simple

hypocrisy.

11]“C

hurch” - first appearance of the word.

12]“Solom

on’s Porch” - a region of the Tem

ple which has seen a lot of

action in the last few chapters.

13]“Join him

self to them” - probably m

eaning to the apostles as v. 14notes that m

ore were added to the believers.

15]“Shadow

of Peter” - note does not say that the shadow of Peter

actually healed them, it m

ight have, but it doesn’t say that. It isdescriptive of the attitude of the people, but not necessarily a decla-ration of a belief.

16]C

hurch was obedient =

> C

hurch was Spirit filled.

Church w

as Spirit filled =>

Church w

as pure.C

hurch pure =>

Church w

as powerful.

Seco

nd

Persecu

tion

17]T

his was not the total Sanhedrin, but the Sadducees w

hich were the

power group that controlled the Sanhedrin. T

he healings were an

embarrassm

ent to them as they denied the supernatural.

21]T

he council and the senate, the whole group.

28]Progress report through the hands of the enem

y:“Filled Jerusalem

with your teachings...” H

igh Priest“It is expedient for one m

an to die for the people.” Caiaphas in

John 18:14.“B

ehold I have betrayed innocent blood.” Judas in Mt 27:4.

30]Peter never m

entions Jesus Christ w

ithout blaming them

for thecrucifixion.

Page 28

Com

paring Jesus’ death with Stephen’s. Jesus said, “Father forgive

them for they know

not what they do.” Stephen says, “L

ord, lay notthis sin to their charge.” Jesus said, “Father into thy hands I com

mend

my Spirit.” Stephen says, “L

ord Jesus, receive my spirit.” T

here isa parallel betw

een the two.

Ch

apter 7

Missio

n Im

po

ssible

Stephen is a new C

hristian, and yet his insights and background arestaggering. H

e is going up against the Sanhedrin, the elite rulingecclesiastical people of Israel. T

he Sadducees dominate this group.

Stephen has been accused of espousing a separation from the law

ofM

oses, and he is going to answer his accusations in such a w

ay thatshow

s he is more Jew

ish than they are! He is not a m

artyr because hedied, rather he died because he w

as a martyr, w

hich actually means

witness.

Stephen’s presentation gives a summ

ary of the whole O

ld Testam

ent.A

cts 7 is my favorite O

ld Testam

ent Com

mentary.

2]“G

od of glory” - Chapter 7 begins and ends w

ith.

Who is on trial? It appears to be m

ore like the Sanhedrin!

No direct defense: K

ey points:1) A

ppropriate flow of their history - G

od’s persistent purpose;2) M

oses’ himself foretold the com

ing of Christ;

3) History characterized by rejection first tim

e, acceptance the second tim

e...

Stephen clearly understands grace as opposed to the Law

, and that lineof teaching could give rise to their accusations. Stephen starts w

ithA

braham as he in a sense w

as the first Jew.

Th

e Call o

f Ab

raham

4]“A

braham” - call of w

as in Ur, not H

aran (Haran w

as only 50 miles

up river); Cf. G

en 12:1-3. Abraham

was called in U

r and he moved

Deaco

ns

3]T

he start of “deacons” - men w

ho serve.

7]“Priests”- they actually converted m

embers of the priesthood.

Note that the w

hole congregation, not just the apostles, made the

selection of the deacons.

4 criteria:1) from

among you, no outsiders.

2) of Good report, good w

itness (word is m

artyr).3) full of the Spirit.4) full of w

isdom (sophia) - sanctified com

mon sense.

Notice w

ho they picked:

All w

ere Grecian Jew

s except Nicolas w

ho was a proselyte (converted

Gentile). Interesting that it w

as the Hellenists w

ho felt that they were

getting short changed, yet all seven picked were non-Palestine Jew

s.

Step

hen

8]T

his deacon, who w

as called to wait tables, is starting to dem

onstrategreat spiritual pow

er.

10]Stephen w

as effective in his speeches.

11]N

ot true statements, m

ade by false witnesses.

A G

limp

se Ah

ead to

the F

irst Martyr

(Stephen’s speech is discussed in the next session.)

Skip to Acts 7:54.

v. 55- Jesus is standing, standing is the role of the priesthood. Jesusis in the role of a priest of the order of M

elchizedek.

Stephen becomes the first m

artyr, but that is backwards, not “m

artyr”because he died, but he died because he w

as a martyr. M

artyr means

to be a good witness right to the end.

Page 30

Stephen is going to point out, again and again, that the very guy which

God sent, their forefathers beat up! H

ere Joseph was hated by his

brothers and they sold him into slavery. Y

et, this was in G

od’s planall along. G

od’s plan was executed in spite of, or in anticipation of,

the reaction of his brethren.

Israel’s misapprehension of G

od’s purposes and opposition to them,

in spite of which, and by m

eans of which, they w

ere accomplished.

10]“...m

ade governor”: “The Stone w

hich the builders rejected hasbecom

e the head stone of the corner.”

Arthur W

. Pink, Gleanings in G

enesis, lists 101 ways that Joseph is

a type of Christ (below

):

JOS

EP

H A

S A

TY

PE

OF

CH

RIS

T(A

fter A.W

. Pink; see biblio)

Genesis

Type

Fulfillment

1)30:24

Meaning of his nam

e: Joseph (“adding”)John 12:24; 14:3

41:45Z

aphnathpaaneah (“Revealer of Secrets”)

Luke 2:34, 35

[Heart of G

od, John 1:18; Heart of brethren)

2)37:2

Occupation: Shepherd

Psalm 23

(Abel, Jacob, Joseph, M

oses, David...)

3)37:2

Opposition to evil

John 7:7

4)37:3

His father’s love

Matt. 3:17

(Solomon: Prov 8:22,30)

Matt. 17:5

Son:John 10:17

Nam

e:Phil. 2:9R

ev. 3:21

5)37:3

Relation to his father’s age

John 17:5Jesus: Son of Father’s E

ternityC

ol 2:9;1 T

im 3:16

Micah 5:2

to Haran, and did not m

ove again til 25 years later when his father

died! He didn’t really do w

hat God called him

to do, until his fatherdied. 25 years of disobedience? (G

en 11:31). His sin is blotted out

(Heb 11:8). For a com

plete study of Abraham

, see our Expositional

Com

mentaries on G

enesis.

Discrepancy about ages occurs only if A

bram is T

erah’s firstborn;listing first (G

en 11:27) does not imply order of birth, but rather

importance:

Shem, H

am and Japeth

Ham

was youngest (G

en 9:24)Japeth w

as oldest (Gen 10:2, 21

Jacob & E

sauE

sau was older

Moses and A

aron (Ex 5:20)

Aaron w

as older (1 Chr 6:3)

Ephraim

& M

anassehM

anasseh was eldest (G

en 48:1)

There also m

ay have been other sons of Terah:

Nahor:

because Rebekah w

as his Granddaughter (G

en24:25,24).A

nd Rachel w

as his great-granddaughterH

aran:because he w

as father of Lot.

So Stephen’s point is that there was a lapse of faith on A

braham’s part.

5]R

ecognize that the land was prom

ised to Abram

’s seed, when both he

and Sarai were beyond childbearing age.

6]430 year total (E

x 12:40,41; Gal 3:17). Stephen alw

ays quoted fromthe Septuagint. W

hy is there a discrepancy?

Three answ

ers:1) round num

bers. As is G

en 15:13 were it m

entions 400 years.2) the last 400 of the 430 w

ere the ill treatment.

3) if you count from the recognition of Isaac in G

en 21:12 it turns out to be 400 years.

8]Jacob’s 12 sons becom

e the head of the 12 tribes, the Patriarchs.

9]Joseph w

as hated by his brothers.

Page 32

18)37:18

Conspired against

Matt. 12:14

19)37:19-20

Words disbelieved

Matt. 27:39-43

John 3:18, 36

20)37:23

Insulted; strippedM

att. 27:27, 28John 19:23

21)37:24

Cast into a pit (no w

ater)Z

ech. 9:11M

att. 12:40

22)37:28

Bodily lifted up out of the pit

I Cor. 15

23)37:25-27

Hypocrisy m

ingled with hatred

Matt. 27:35, 36

(Brothers heard cries: 42:21)

John 18:28

24)37:28

Sold (Judah negotiates bargain)Z

ech. 11:12, 13(Judas = A

nglicized Greek equivalent) M

att. 26:14-16

25)37:31-32

Blood presented to father

Hebrew

s 9:12, 23Sin offering. C

f. Deception of Isaac

Chapter 38: In C

anaan.C

hapter 39: In Egypt.

Cf. H

os 11:1;M

att 2:15

26)39:1

Becom

es a servantPhil. 2:6, 7

Bondservant (E

x 21:5,6)Ps 40 (ears digged)

27)39:2, 3

Prospers as a servantPsalm

1:3Isaiah 53:10Isaiah 52:13

28)39:4

Master w

as well pleased w

ith himJohn 8:29

29)39:5

Made a blessing for others

30)39:6

A goodly person, w

ell favoredM

att. 27:54

31)39:7-12

Sorely tempted, yet sinned not

Luke 4

In Egypt (w

orld). 2 Tim

2:22.Ps 105:19

32)39:16-19

Falsely accusedM

att. 16:59, 60

6)37:3

Coat of m

any colors (distinction)Judges 5:30

Long robe w

ith sleeves2 Sam

. 13:18

7)37:4

Hatred of his brethren

John 1:11B

ecause of Who H

e Was

John 5:18; 6:41;10:30,31; 1 C

or16:22; Psalm

2:12

8)37:4,5,8

Hated because of his w

ordsJohn 7:7;John 8:40

9)37:11

Prophetic futureIsaiah 9:6, 7L

uke 1:31-33

10) 37:7, 9Future sovereignty foretold

Matt. 26:64

Earthly &

Heavenly

Rev. 12:l, 5

2 Pet 3:4

11)37:4, 11

Envied by his brethren

Matt. 27:17, 18

Mark 12:6, 7

John 12:18, 19A

cts 7:9

12)37:13

Sent forth by his father1 John 4:10H

ebrews 10:7

13)37:14

Seeks welfare of his brethren

John 1:11D

efinite object of mission

Matt 15:24

John 3:17R

om 15:8

14)37:14

Sent forth from the vale of H

ebronPhil 2:6, 7

Servant; fellowship, com

munion

15)37:14

Cam

e to ShechemG

al. 4:4Shoulder, saddleback(divide w

aters: Jordan and Mediterranean)

Place of sin (34:25-30)

16)37:15-16 B

ecame a w

anderer in the fieldM

att. 13:38(N

o place to lay his head)John 7:53; 8:1

17)37:17

Seeks until he finds his brethrenM

ark 9:8(in D

othan = law

, custom)

Page 34

:32D

oubling: Verily, V

erily; Am

en, Am

enG

al 1:8,9

47)41:33-36

Wonderful C

ounselorC

ol. 2:3“D

iscrete”: only here in OT

[Diligently, direct, discern, eloquent, feel, inform

,instruct, have intelligence, know

, look well to, m

ark,perceive, be prudent, regard, skill, teach, think; to get,give or have understanding; view

, deal wisely...]

48)41:37-39

Counsel com

mended to officers

Matt. 7:28, 29

Matt. 13:54

John 7:46

49)41:39, 40

Exalted and set over all E

gypt1 Peter 3:22R

ev 5, 20

50)41:40-43

Seated on the throne of anotherR

ev. 3:21[D

istinction between Father &

Son’s thrones]

51)41:38

Exalted because of personal w

orthiness and servicePhil 2:6-9

52)41:42

Invested in positional insigniaA

cts 5:31H

eb. 2:9R

ev. 1:13

53)41:43

Authority and glory publicly ow

ned Acts 2:36

Phil 2:10

54)41:45

Received a new

name

Phil. 2:9, 10M

att. 1:21R

ev. 3:12

55)41:45

Has a w

ife (Gentile) given to him

Rev. 19:7, 8

Tam

ar - Canaanite

Rahab - A

morite

Ruth - M

oabiteB

athsheba- Hittite

56)41.45

Marriage arranged by Pharaoh

Matt. 22:2

(Cf. Jer 3:14,20; E

zek 16:3, 31,32; Jer 2:3)Jerem

iah 31:31-34

33)39:19

No defense presented

Isaiah 53:7

34)39:20

Cast into prison, w

ithout verdictJohn 18:38

35)Suffers though innocent

Acts 7:9,10

Psalm 105:17, 18

Isaiah 53:7-9

36)39:20

Suffers at the hands of Gentiles

Acts 4:26, 27

37)39:21

Won respect of his jailor

Luke 23:47

Potiphar = C

aptain of the guard

38) 40:1-3N

umbered w

ith the transgressors(T

wo)

Isaiah 53:12

39)40:13, 19

Means of blessing to one;

Gen. 49:10-12

judgment to the other

Gal. 3:13

3 days; hung on tree as cursed

40)40:8

Know

ledge of future from G

odJohn 12:49

Every believer obligated to set

1 John 1:3forth the truth he has

1 Pet 4:11

41)40:20-22

Predictions came true

Matt. 5:18

42)40:14

Desired to be rem

embered

Luke 22:19

This do in rem

embrance of m

e..

43)41:14

Delivered from

prison, in due time

John 20:6, 7 :20

Pharaoh’s birthday; 3rd dayA

cts 2:242 C

or 1:9

44)45:7-9

Delivered by the hand of G

odA

cts 2:24, 322 years later: patience

Acts 10:40

45)45:16, 25

Seen as a Revealer of Secrets

John 12:4945:28

[Whole counsel of G

od, Acts 20:27]

John 8:28; Isaiah46:10; A

mos, John

17:8; Rev. 1:1

46)41:25-36 W

arnings of Danger: urged provisions

Matt. 24 &

25

Page 36

67)42:6, 8

Unknow

n & unrecognized by brethrenJohn 1:11

[20 years later]R

om 11:25

68)42:7

Brethren seen &

recognizedJer. 16:17H

os. 5:3Ps 103:14

69)42:7, 17

Brethren punished

Hos. 9:17

[v13: thought dead, but still in family]M

att. 23:38,39[Sim

eon ringleader? Gen 49:15]

Matt. 23:35,36

70)42:17-19

Made know

n to them a w

ay of deliveranceA

cts 2:21-4142:24

through substitution

71)42:25

Made provision for his brethren w

hile they were in a

strange landJer. 30:11E

zek. 11:16

72)45:1

Made know

n to his brethren at the second time

Acts 7:13

Isa 65:1

[Alw

ays at 2nd time:]

Moses E

x. 2:11,12L

uke 19:14 E

x. 2:14Joshua N

um. 13

Deut. 34:9

David 1 Sam

17:17-18 1 Sam

. 17:28

73)44:16

Brethren confess their guilt in the sight of G

odE

zek. 20:42, 43H

osea 5:15[Israel to repent before H

e returns]A

cts 3:19, 20

74)45:3

Brethren w

ere initially troubled in his presenceZ

ech. 12:10

Tw

o sons:“forgetting” N

. Kingdom

, pastE

zek. 16:62, 63“fruitful” S. K

ingdom, future

Hosea 2:19-23

Isaiah 54:5-8

57)41:46

Thirty years old w

hen began work

Luke 3:23

58)41:46

Went forth on his m

ission from Pharaoh’s presence

Luke 3:22

59)41:46

Service was active and itinerant

Matt. 4:23

Matt. 9:35

60)41:47-49

Exaltation follow

ed by season of plenty2 C

or. 6:2John 12:24

61)41:53

Exaltation follow

ed by season of famine

Rom

ans 11:25[7 years: Jacob’s T

rouble: Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12:1; M

ark13:19, 20; Isa 55:6; Jer 8:20; A

mos 8:11, 12; Isaiah

55:6; Jer. 8:20; Rev. 3:10]

62)41:55

Dispensing to a perishing w

orldJohn 14:6R

omans 11:11

63)41:55

Alone dispenses the B

read of Life

Acts 4:12

John 6:26-59John 14:6

64)41:57

A Savior to all peoples

John 3:16[E

very tribe...]R

ev. 5:9

65)41:49

Unlim

ited resources to meet the needE

ph. 1:7; 2:7; 3:8C

ol. 2:9R

omans 10:12

Disp

ensatio

nally C

on

sidered

:

66)42:1-3, 5

Brethren driven out of ow

n landG

en. 15:13D

eut. 28:63-68

Page 38

86)42:17

Cast into prison 3 days

Isaiah 42:6, 7Isaiah 61:1Psalm

142:7

87)42:21

Smitten of conscience

John 8:9(C

f. Ex. 9:27, E

zra 9:6; Psalm 40:12, D

an. 5:6)

88)42:25

Makes know

n that deliverance is by graceE

ph. 2:8, 9

89)42:26

Enjoys a brief respite

90)42:27-28

Superficial peace disturbedH

eb. 12:6-11(R

eplenished: 43:1, 2)

91)43:11,15

Brethren continue to m

anifest legal spiritG

al. 3:3(D

oubled the money)

Luke 14:17

92)43:16

Brethren dine w

ith him and m

ake merry

43:33, 34M

att. 13:20, 21

93)44:1, 2

Joseph determined to bring his brethren into the light

John 1:4, 7-9II Peter 3:9

94)44:4, 16

Brethren take their true place before G

odI John 1:7-9

95)45:1

Makes him

self known (alone)

I Cor. 13:12

96)45:4, 7

Invites brethren to come near to him

Matt. 11:28-30

97)45:10, 11 B

rethren told of full provision for themPhil. 4:19

98)45:15

Gives proof that he is fully reconciled to them

Rom

8:31-39

99)45:16

Joy shared by othersR

ev. 5:9-13

75)45:4, 5

Dem

onstrated marvelous grace

Zech. 13:1; 45:15

Isaiah 54:7, 8

76)45:1-2

Revealed as a m

an of compassion

John 11:35W

ept seven times:

When brethren confessed

42:24W

hen he beheld Benjam

in43:30

When he m

ade himself know

n45:1, 2

When brethren reconciled

45:15O

ver his father, Jacob46:29

At the death of his father

50:1W

hen his love was questioned

50:15-17

77)45:1

Revealed to Judah &

brethren before rest of Jacob’shousehold

Zech. 12:7

78)45:18

Jacob then sent forIsaiah 66:20

79)45:9, 13

Brethren go forth to proclaim

his gloryIsaiah 66:19M

icah 5:7

80)46:29

Goes forth in his chariot to m

eet JacobIsaiah 66:15

81)47:27

Settles brethren in land of their own

47:6(T

he best land)E

zek. 48

82)50:18-19

Brethren prostrate them

selves before himIsaiah 9:6,7; 25:9

as a representative of God

Phil 2:10,11

Evan

gelically C

on

sidered

:

83)42:5

Brethren dw

elt in a land of famine...John 6:33, 35

42:2T

hat we m

ay live and not die...

84)42:3

Brethren w

ished to pay for what they rec’d.

Gal 2:16

85)42:7-11

Brethren assum

e a self-righteous attitude before thelord of E

gyptG

al. 2:20, 21

Page 40

18]Som

e significant period of time occurs betw

een Joseph and Pharaohof the exodus.

“Another w

ho knew not Joseph”- G

reek heteros = different; not allos

= sam

e kind. Assyrian (Isa 52:4), the Pharaoh that oppressed the

Hebrew

s was A

ssyrian!

20]“N

ourished up” - medical technical term

in Greek. T

here are 3 or 4places in this chapter w

ere the term used is one that only a doctor

would use, w

hich is interesting in that Acts w

as written by L

uke, aphysician.

22]Philo points out that M

oses was tutored by the m

ost celebrated foreignschools in arithm

etic, geometry, m

usic, philosophy, hieroglyphics,arts and sciences. Josephus points out that he w

as mighty in m

ilitaryarts. M

oses was groom

ed for leadership in Egypt.

“Mighty in w

ords” - but he lied in Ex 4:10.

25]“U

nderstood not” - this insight is not clear from the account in

Exodus. Stephen’s point is that here again, Israel is slow

to apprehendthe D

ivine purposes of love. Again, rejecting their leader.

27]C

f. Christ: “B

y what authority...” M

att 21:23.

29]Israel had to stay in E

gypt 40 years longer because they did notrecognize M

oses as their deliverer the first time.

The im

plication here is that if they had accepted Mosses then, that

God m

ight have delivered them then. B

ut because they rejectedM

oses the first time, they w

ere stuck with another 40 years of

bondage.

“Who m

ade ye a ruler over us” - echoes from M

t 21:23 and also Hosea

5:15, John 1:11.

30]B

urning Bush:

Acacia =

‘thorn bush of the desert’T

horns:Sym

bol of the curse (Gen 3:18);

Born on H

is brow (M

t 27:29).Fire:

Symbolizes Judgm

ent.N

ot consumed:

Grace.

100) 45:9-13B

rethren now go forth seeking others (“H

aste” twice)

Acts 1:8

101) 45:24A

dmonition as they go forth

II Tim

. 2:24

* * *

13]Stephen’s point is that again, Israel does not recognize him

til thesecond tim

e. If history is their guide, then Israel will not recognize

their Messiah until the second tim

e!

14]“T

hreescore and fifteen souls” - Stephen was quoting from

theSeptuagint w

hich has 75 souls. The H

ebrew B

ible says 70. All the

scholars believe that the 5 difference is additional kindred of the 70that w

ent there, but they can’t agree on which are the 5.

Bu

rial Sites

16]C

onfusion over burial sites! Most com

mentators say that Stephen

made a m

istake. But it turns out that there are 2 different burial sites

in Genesis, one bought by A

braham and one bought by Jacob:

Bought by:

Abraham

JacobW

here:M

achpelahShechem

From w

hom:

Ephron, H

ittiteSons of H

amor,

Shechem’s father

Gen 23:17

Gen 33:19

Who buried:

Abraham

& Sarah

Joseph (Jos 24:32)Isaac &

Rebekah

12 Patriarchs?Jacob &

Leah

[No m

ention of the 12 patriarchs burial by Hebrew

writers since it is

in Samaria. Jerom

e and others record...]

Alternatives:

1) Error?

2) Abraham

originally purchased (Gen 12:6) and Jacob repur-

chased. His altercation w

ith the sons of Ham

or over property bequeathed to Joseph: G

en 49:22.

Don’t be too quick to accept som

e comm

entator’s view that there is an

error, not that there aren’t occasional textual problems. Praise G

od forapparent contradictions, as behind the resolution w

ill be a discovery.

Page 42

Five planets + Sun, M

oon = 7 days of the w

eek; 7th day = Saturn’s day

= Saturday. [G

od ordains as Shabbat.]

Astrology started as B

abel. But the idea of a horoscope and that

somehow

your future and character are determined by the position of

the stars at the mom

ent you were born is not an idea that goes back that

far. That particular style of astrology turns out to first show

up underPtolem

y in 130 A.D. Astrology is a form

of deception far broader thanthat and obviously all m

ixed up with ancient cultic literature. (A

sksom

eone who is into astrology if they had to redo all the horoscopes

since the discovery of Neptune....)

Astrology is prohibited by G

od in the Old T

estament.

44]M

oses was given, along w

ith the Ten C

omm

andments, detailed

information on the T

abernacle. Here Stephen points out that M

osessaw

it, perhaps in a vision or something.

45]“Joshua” is H

ebrew for the G

reek word Jesus. Stephen here is talking

about Joshua, the son of Nun w

ho was the successor to M

oses.

48]T

hey originally accused him of desecrating the T

emple, and he is not

disparaging the Tem

ple, but is pointing out that God does not dw

ellin a house m

ade with hands (quoting from

Isa 66:1-2).

51]“Y

ou are just like your fathers were...” U

ses Moses’ very w

ords (Ex

33:3,5).

“Uncircum

cised in heart” - from L

ev 26:41; Deut 10:16; Jer 9:26; E

x44:7.

Cf. Paul: R

om 2:28, 29; Phil 3:2,3; C

ol 2:11.

52]N

ational trait: deadly hostility to the messengers of G

od.

53]M

ajor climax:

Matt 23:37-39

Purpose of all historyv. 37

Tragedy of all history

ye would not, v. 38

Trium

ph of all historyv. 39

Jesus Him

self summ

arizes the exact point that Stephen is making

before the Sanhedrin.

The thorns are a sym

bol of sin, or God’s curse on the earth. T

he fireis a sym

bol of God’s judgem

ent. And here w

e have God’s judgem

entnot consum

ing the bush, perhaps a Levitical pun of grace. W

hatattracted M

oses to the bush was not G

od’s holiness, but His G

race!

33]“Shoes” sym

bol of:C

alling (no shoes in Tabernacle)

Divine provision in the w

ildernessB

oaz’ marriage license (R

uth 4)Sym

bol of Stature: John the Baptist

35]Second trip M

oses was accepted!

37]M

oses’ prophet (quoting Deut 18:15), w

here Moses predicts the

Messiah.

38]Stephen’s point is that M

oses himself predicted the very person w

homthey are now

rejecting. This w

hole passage is Stephen veneratingM

oses even more than they do!

39]D

eepest dishonor from the nation that professes greatest jealousy for

his honor.

42]“G

ave them up to serve the host of heaven” (Ps 81:12) m

eaning starsand planets. Idol w

orship is still in their blood, and these idols arelinked to the planets!

Mo

loch

and

the S

tar of R

eph

an

43]A

mos 5:25-26.

Star of Rephan (L

XX

for Heb. C

hiun), Coptic nam

e for Saturn.

Saturn: associated with the w

orship of Moloch, idol of the A

mm

onitesand Phoenicians, w

ith the Solar Bull (T

aurus); brass statue with

human body, bull’s head, arm

s outstretched; worshiped by putting

your children in his arms of brass w

ith fire all around, the childrenw

ould roll off into the fire, child sacrifice!

[Babylonian ideograph for planet =

sheep + dead =

a dead sheep was

a sign of augury, or omen. T

he planets were view

ed as a mechanism

of forecasting in the astrological sense, and here it shows up even in

the very linguistic structure.]

Page 44

1]“A

nd” - connects events of Chapter 7 and 8.

“His death” - w

hose death? Stephen’s. Rem

ember that the chapter

breaks are man’s invention.

The persecution caused them

to spread out into other regions.

4]Saul w

as intensely devoted to what he believed w

as right, sincerity isnot enough. Z

eal without know

ledge... (another example is Sim

onM

agus).

“Scattered abroad” - actual Greek is “passed through”; it occurs 43x

in the New

Testam

ent, 31x in Acts and L

uke.

Ph

ilip’s M

inistry

5]“Philip” - N

ot the apostle, this is the same guy that w

as one of thedeacons.

Philip was introduced in A

cts 6:3-6; and as an evangelist in Acts 21:7.

Meantim

e Saul’s persecution drove Philip to Samaria.

The Sam

aritans were looked dow

n upon by the Jews; they w

eresom

etimes view

ed as half-Jews. So Sam

aria was not a choice district

to go out and evangelize in.

9]“B

ut” - note opposition.

Sim

on

the S

orcerer

“Simon M

agus” - a magician.

13]O

ne can believe a great deal about Christ, and yet not be saved. (N

oreason to say that Sim

on was insincere!) Sim

on was baptized, but not

saved?! (Clearly self-deceived.)

14]“Peter and John” - alw

ays paired together. This is the last tim

e youread about John, he disappears from

the narrative record, but shows

up, of course, in Revelation on Patm

os and the letters.

17]H

ow could the Sam

aritans be saved, and yet not have received theH

oly Spirit at the mom

ent they professed faith?

54]“G

nashed”- medical term

s in Greek.

55]“Standing” - Priesthood, is the role of the priest. N

o chairs in theT

abernacle. Standing used twice in this verse.

56]T

hey heard this before from Jesus in the trial: “T

he next time you see

me you are going to see m

e in glory” (Mt 27:64; M

k 14:62; Lk 22:69).

“Son of Man” - O

ur Lord’s usual designation of H

imself, this is the

only place where that is used by som

eone other than Jesus.

First M

artyr

58]“Saul” - this isn’t casual, not just a bystander, im

plies that he was one

that did some of the accusing. Saul never forgave him

self for this, seeC

hapter 8. He grieves in his letters of this incident (2 T

im 1:12).

60]Jesus

Stephen“Father, forgive them

“Lord, lay not this sin

for they know not w

hatto their charge.”

they do.”

“Father, into thy hands“L

ord Jesus, Receive m

y spirit.”I com

mend m

y spirit.”

“Stephen” = crow

n in Greek (stephanos).

Turning point in A

cts, Saul persecutes the Church, w

hich causes theapostles to m

ove out. Now

into phase 2, Samaria. T

hen later inC

hapters 9, 10 and on, we m

ove to “the uttermost parts of the earth.”

Ch

apter 8

Center of attention is shifting aw

ay from Jerusalem

, to Samaria, and

later to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Sau

l’s Persecu

tion

Saul, Philip, and Simon...persecution, pow

er and peril.

Page 46

27]E

thiopian caravan with a treasurer, this w

as the treasurer of all thetreasure of the Q

ueen of Ethiopia.

“Eunuch” - in the ancient tim

es officials in the palace were eunuchs

to protect the harem. B

ut as time w

ent on that title tended to be anoffice, not a condition im

posed biologically. Deut 23:1; eunuchs

were not allow

ed in the congregation of Israel, but this guy was

worshiping.

Falashas: an E

thiopian of Jewish faith. “B

eta Esrael”: T

he origin ofthis group goes back to the days of Solom

on. The Q

ueen of Shebavisited Solom

on, and in those days Ethiopia included Saudi A

rabia,so the Q

ueen of Sheba was E

thiopian. They had a son, M

enelik , who

grows up there for a w

hile and then returns to Ethiopia, and he brings

with him

, Judaism. H

e is the founder of a group called Falashas. They

consider themselves Jew

s (about 30,000 of them today). T

heyobserve the Sabbath, circum

cision, dietary laws, ritual cleansing, etc.

They have a B

ible written in G

e’ez which is a derivative of the

Septuagint.

When M

enelik leaves the Tem

ple to go back to Saudi Arabia, he takes

with him

a replica of the Ark of the C

ovenant. There is folklore that

he switched them

, that he left the replica and took the real Ark to

Ethiopia.

For a complete study of the various A

rk stories, do see our Briefing

Package, The M

ystery of the Lost A

rk.

28]A

uthorship of Isaiah, see John 12:38-41.

Also the book of Isaiah is quoted 21x in the N

ew T

estament in 6

different books (10 from Isaiah “1”, and 11x from

Isaiah “2”). 4x byJesus (3x from

Isaiah “1”, and once Isaiah “2”), Matthew

2x (oneeach), L

uke 4x, John 3x, Paul 6x quoting Isaiah “1” and “2” as theSA

ME

Isaiah. There are 300 w

ords and expressions that are comm

onto Isaiah “1” and “2”, and these 300 w

ords are NO

T found in D

aniel,H

aggai, Zechariah, and M

alachi.

For a complete study of this deutero-Isaiah theory do see our E

xpo-sitional C

omm

entaries on Isaiah.

30]“H

eard him” - reading out loud.

Cf. John 4:3-24. N

ote that the issue for her was w

hich temple to

worship at! For 500 years tem

ples in South at Jerusalem and in the

North at M

t Gerizim

had been rivals.

If the Spirit had imm

ediately fallen on these Samaritan believers, the

Body m

ight have suffered division through the centuries...

But w

hen the apostles from Jerusalem

came and identified them

selvesw

ith the believing Samaritans, the w

ork was recognized as of O

neB

ody. God’s intention w

as to build a single Body of C

hrist, not piecesand parts (1 C

or 12:13).

18]Sim

on offered money! H

e didn’t ask for the Spirit himself, he w

antedthe pow

er to give the Spirit.

“Simony” - buying and selling position and office w

ithin the church...the purchase of spiritual things.

22]Sim

on still has the opportunity to repent.

24]Sim

on doesn’t repent, he wants the apostles to pray for him

thinkingthat their pow

er would be greater. T

his is the last place we read of

Simon in the Scriptures. Y

et, we read a lot about him

in the earlychurch w

ritings, he became the first anti-christ, one that fought the

church, going from place to place opposing the G

ospel.

Difference betw

een believing about Christ, and totally trusting H

imw

ith you life, FAIT

H.

Don’t let m

iracles or supernatural events fool you because Satan is notonly capable of it, but prophecy says he w

ill deceive many in the end

times. Y

our protection in the Word of G

od, remem

ber Acts 17:11

always.

Do see our E

xpositional Com

mentary on Jude for a study on false

teachings.

Th

e Eth

iop

ian

26]G

aza was one of the five cities of the Philistines w

hich was destroyed

by Alexander.

Page 48

Tarsu

s

Free Greek city, having received its liberty from

Mark A

ntony;received title of “m

etropolis” of Cilicia, as w

ell as other privileges,conferred by A

ugustus. The great university of its tim

e; surpassedeven A

thens and Alexandria in its zeal for philosophy; derived its

civilization, and its origin, from G

reece, having been founded by anA

rgine colony.

Sau

lFather and mother: H

ebrews; Pharisees (not Sadducees).

Raised in the H

ellenistic culture. Yet, sent to Jerusalem

to study underG

amaliel. Saul is a Pharisee to the core! H

e is on the Sanhedrin,Sanhedrin governs not only over Jerusalem

, but over all Judaism.

1]“A

nd Saul” - again the connective.

“Breathing out” - really says, “B

reathing hard still.” He has m

otiva-tion behind his com

mitm

ents.

2]L

etters: Sanhedrin had jurisdiction beyond Jerusalem. D

amascus

was the capital of Syria.

“This w

ay” - 4x used: here, 19:9, 23; 24:22. Speaking of theC

hristians.

Sau

l’s Co

nversio

n

5]A

cts 22 and 26 recount this experience and includes some details not

recorded here.

“I am Jesus” - nam

e from before birth.. “A

t the name of Jesus, every

knee should bow...”

“Whom

thou persecutest”:1)

Christ and H

is people are one.H

e felt every throb of Stephen’s pain.2)

..that against which you are fighting is not the zeal of

mistaken fanatics; it is the m

arch of God through

history.

31]“G

uide” - medical technical term

. Authorative teacher. C

hristreference to blind guides.

Reading the G

reek translation of Isa 53.

Both the E

unuch and Philip are prepared by the Holy Spirit for this

interview.

39]T

his does not have to be a miracle. M

aybe the Spirit just led him, or

maybe it w

as a miracle.

40]“A

zotus” = ancient A

shdod.

Caesarea Sebaste - B

uilt by Herod in honor of A

ugustus (Greek

Sebastos). Betw

een Carm

el and Joppa, 55 mi N

W of Jerusalem

.R

oman procurators resided there; present ruin has an inscription of

Pontius Pilate. (Not C

easarea Phillipi, which north of the Sea of

Galilee.)

Ch

apter 9

Heb

raism vs. H

ellenism

Hebraism

- those born in Israel. Hellenistic Jew

s - born in the Greek

empire, but Jew

ish.

“I will stir up thy sons, O

Zion, against thy sons, O

Greece” ( Z

ech9:13).

(For example: Judas M

accabeus against Antiochus E

phiphanes.)

Sadducees - were H

ellenists (materialistic, w

orldly, deny the super-natural.

Pharisees - were the H

ebraists (strictly adhered to the Law

, espousedM

oses, believed in angels and resurrection, they were the supernatu-

ralists).

Page 50

Thorn in the Flesh: m

entioned in 2 Cor 12. H

int in Gal 4:13-15 that

it is an eye problem. (A

lso in Gal 6:11; 2 T

hess 2:2) Perhaps, he neverfully recovered from

this Dam

ascus road blinding.

11]“Street called Straight” - G

oes East and W

est between the gates.

Divided by C

orinthian columns into three avenues: center for foot-

men; one for eastern traffic; one for w

estern traffic.

18]C

f. Acts 22:12-21

20]“Son of G

od” - word appears in John’s epistles 23x; Paul’s epistles

29x; Peter’s confession at Caesarea Phillipi 1x.

23]T

here is about a three-year gap missing here. A

t least two years of

which he goes to A

rabia (Gal 1:15-18; 1 C

or 15:1-4).

The Sinai desert preparation w

as for both Moses and E

lijah, and Paulalso. Paul insists that w

hat he preaches he got directly from Jesus, not

from Paul or the apostles. W

hen? Probably in Arabia.

God never uses for the great w

ork of interpreting His K

ingdom any

man w

ho has not been definitely called and spiritually trained.

Jerusalem vs. A

ntioch: Gal 4:25.

Saul returns to Dam

ascus, escapes to Jerusalem; then returns to

Tarsus. (L

ater because of a new m

ovement in A

ntioch, Barnabas goes

to Tarsus to find him

.) Betw

een Dam

ascus road apprehension andJerusalem

was three years.

24]“G

ates” ordered to be guarded by the King (2 C

or 11:32,33).

Barn

abas

27]B

arnabas: a Levite; a native of C

yprus (annexed as a Rom

an province,near coast of C

ilicia where Saul w

as born. Both w

ere Hellenistic Jew

sand em

inent in their respective localities; he may have know

n himbefore.

29]“D

isputed” (only here and 6:9 in Acts) w

ith Hellenistic Jew

s. Saulpicks up the m

inistry of Stephen, the very man to w

hose death heconsented.

“Goads” - Saul w

as sincere, fighting whom

he believed was an enem

yof Judaism

, the Law

of Moses. T

his hints that there is a pricking goingon inside Saul (perhaps the argum

ents of Stephen still echoed in hisears).

Cf. 6:8,9. Stephen’s conflict w

as with the H

ellenists, not with the

Hebrew

s: his fight was w

ith the Sadducees. Saul was a m

ember of the

Sanhedrin, Saul heard Stephen’s presentation.

Saul went to the Sadducean H

igh Priest for letters of authority againstthose w

ho, while antagonistic to the ancient ritual of his people,

nevertheless held to the spiritual verities of which he him

self held...

Christ spoke to him

in the Hebrew

tongue (Cf. 22:6-16; 26:9-18).

Saul saw as w

ell as heard: v. 17, v. 27; 22:14; 26:16.

Saul never forgave himself: 1 C

or 15:9; Gal 1:13.

Saul was not the first of his fam

ily to be saved: “My kinsm

en...who

also were in C

hrist before me” (R

om 16).

Every conversion is a m

iracle.

8]D

amascus w

as one of the first cities that Alexander had conquered.

Saul means “destroyer,” Paul m

eans “builder.”

9]T

hree days:

Abraham

(Isaac dead to him for)

Joseph (dreams in prison)

Esther (fasted 3 days)

Jonah (in the fish)C

hrist (in the tomb)

Nation Israel (asks Jesus to return, H

os 6)

What did Paul do for these three days? H

e did not eat nor drink,probably a lot of thinking (Phil 3:7; G

al 2:20).

Gal 2:20: “I have been crucified w

ith Christ.”

(Hebraism

)“and it is no longer I that live”

(Hellenism

, culture)“but C

hrist liveth in me”

(Christianity)

Page 52

41]Peter did exactly w

hat Jesus did to his mother-in-law

.

Christ raised from

the dead only on 3 occasions:Jairus’ daughterW

idow of N

ain’s sonL

azarus

Peter continuing the work of C

hrist as a mem

ber of the Body.

43]Sim

on the Tanner: abhorrent profession to the Jew

s as it deals with

contact with dead anim

als, blood, etc. The law

said that he had to beoutside the city.

First insight that Peter to some extent is overcom

ing prejudice, by hisvery w

illingness to stay with Sim

on the Tanner.

For a complete study of the gifts of the Spirit, see our B

riefingPackage, T

he Spiritual Gifts.

Ch

apter 10

To

the U

ttermo

st Parts: G

entiles

The B

ook of Acts shifts from

the Jews (Jerusalem

and Judea), to thehalf-Jew

s (the Samaritans), then to the utterm

ost parts of the earth (theG

entiles).

About eight years after Pentecost.

Peter, not Paul, is to be the “door opener” to the Gentiles. [H

ad Paulbeen the prim

e move tow

ard uncircumcised G

entiles into the Church,

the Jewish contingent, w

ho were never friendly to him

, would have

acquired such strength to bring a disastrous schism in the C

hurch.]

1]“C

aesarea” - not Caesarea Phillipi, w

hich is in the north. This

Caesarea is on the coast, sort of the headquarters for the R

oman

establishment.

“Cornelius”! - a centurion of an Italian cohort, serving under H

erodA

grippa, the representative Rom

an power in the district.

30]V

ision sends him aw

ay. Acts 22:17-21.

[Direct: Sail from

Caesarea N

. To C

ydnus, the harbor for Tarsus;

however, G

al 1:21: “came into regions of Syria and C

ilicia”: landedat Seleucia and proceeded by land to A

ntioch, then North to C

ilicia,ending in T

arsus.]

31]C

hurches had “rest”:

Em

peror Caligula’s persistent determ

ination to have an image of

himself set up in the T

emple of Jerusalem

; influential Jewish deputa-

tion continually attempted to prevent this from

happening. Petronius,governor of Syria ordered to m

ake war on the Jew

s to force them to

put the image of C

aligula in the Tem

ple. Thousands im

plore him not

to do this, offering their own lives. E

ven Herod A

grippa, who w

asvery influential at the tim

e, intercedes, but probably ineffectually.B

ut for Caligula’s death, the m

easure would have succeeded.

This w

hole distraction between the Jew

s and Caligula over the im

ageissue m

ay have been part of why the church w

as a second priority fora w

hile.

Peter’s M

inistry

From here to C

hapter 12 is Peter’s ministry. Paul’s m

inistry is inC

hapters 13-28.

32]L

ydda: 12 miles Southeast of Joppa.

Believers - result of Philip’s results (A

cts 8:40).

33]A

enas: no evidence that he was a believer, it w

as not his faith thatm

ade this happen.

35]Joppa =

modern Jaffa; 45 m

iles Southeast of Jerusalem; Jonah’s

seaport.

Tabitha - Syro-C

haldaicD

orcas- Greek for antelope, gazelle

Sounds like she had the gift of helps; 1 Cor 12:28.

Page 54

19]N

ot only did he have a vision, but the Spirit was talking to him

.

23]T

wo visions bring together 2 m

en 30 miles apart. 10 m

en journeyed:2 household servants and a soldier; the apostle Peter; 6 C

hristian Jews

(11:12). 10 is the number of w

itness: Boaz in R

uth, etc.

25]O

beisance misunderstood (E

astern custom) how

ever, Peter refused.

27]Q

uite a group was form

ing: Peter’s 10 and Cornelius’ gang. R

emem

-ber a Jew

is not even supposed to enter the house of a Gentile.

28]Show

s Peter finally understood the vision, he broke the code.

43]N

ote that Peter is talking to a Gentile group, he is opening the door to

them!

Peter’s speech is interrupted...Gift of Praise. T

here was a m

anifesta-tion of the supernatural and the G

entiles were included!

47]B

aptism in w

ater was an act of profession, not to be confused by the

giving of the gifts or the “baptism of the Spirit.”

Gifts o

f the S

pirit

1 Cor 12, 13 and 14.

1 Cor 12:N

ot everyone receives the same gift;

Gives them

all severally as He w

ills; 1 Cor 12:4-11.

Body consists of a variety of m

embers; 1 C

or 12:27-30.R

om 12:3-8: Y

our gift is a key to your calling.1 C

or 14:Speaking in unknow

n tongues.N

o two spiritual gifts are the sam

e.1 C

or 13:T

he rebuttal: “A M

ore Excellent W

ay.”(13:10: “that w

hich is perfect.”)Perm

anent: “without repentance”;

Rom

11:29.

No gift to be put above another.

(Centurian does not m

ean hundred. Rom

e had a total of 28 legions,a legion being 5500. E

ach legion had 59 centurions and consisted of10 cohorts. T

he first cohort was larger than the others, it w

as dividedinto 5 double centuries of about 800 m

en total. Cohorts 2 thru 10 w

ere6 centuries, about 80 m

en each. Since each legion also had about 120horsem

en, the total legion was about 5500 m

en. So a centurian was

a rank of officer of nominally a hundred, if you w

ere in cohorts 2 thru10 it w

as about 80, the first cohort being about twice that. If you

signed up with the R

oman legions you signed up for 25 years, it w

asa very serious obligation.)

2]“G

odly” but not a proselyte: outside the covenant.

Peter’s V

ision

3]9th hour =

3 in the afternoon.

4]H

is alms and prayers are accepted before G

od.

5]Joppa is about 30 m

iles away, south of C

aesarea.

6]“Sim

on the tanner” - a tanner was despised. [If a girl w

as betrothed toa tanner w

ithout knowing he w

as a tanner, the betrothal was void.] H

ishouse had to be at least 50 cubits outside the city.

7]household (of 3) shared...

8]“D

eclared all these things” - he apparently explained to them, they

must have been devout also.

9]“Sixth hour” =

about noon.

Peter must be overcom

ing some of his prejudices as he is staying w

itha tanner.

11]a vast “tarpaulin.”

12]L

ev 11, read Levitical law

s of clean and unclean.

14]“N

ot so, Lord” - is an oxym

oron (a self-contradictory phrase).

Yet, to an observant Jew

, to eat a Levitically unclean anim

al isunthinkable (C

ol 2:14, 16, 17).

Page 56

19]P

hoenicia: strip of Mediterranean coast betw

een Caesarea, north-

ward 100 m

iles, ½ w

ay to Antioch.

Cyprus: rich and productive island Southw

est of Seleucia.

Antioch: 3rd greatest city, after R

ome and A

lexandria. N of D

am-

ascus from the m

ountain range of AntiL

ibanus flows the ancient river

Orontes, flow

ing N 200 m

iles bends westw

ard by the mountain chain

of Am

anus, after SW less than 20 m

iles it empties into the M

editer-ranean. A

t the bend of this river, on its left bank, Seleucus Nicator,

one of Alexander’s greatest generals and successors, and the founder

of the Seleucidae dynasty of Greek kings of Syria, built the city of

Antioch in 300 B.C. as the capital of the Syrian em

pire. Enjoying

unequaled advantages—natural and geographical—

it rose to be theQ

ueen of the East. (H

arbor at Seleucia on the Mediterranean; open

country lying to the east of Lebanon range) G

rove of Daphne; m

ainstreet w

as 4 miles long...

[Work at A

ntioch comm

enced without Jerusalem

.]

20]C

yrene lay on the south shore of Mediterranean, betw

een Carthage

and Egypt.

Simon of C

yrene, who carried Jesus’ cross, w

as from here.

23]E

xhorted them. B

arnabas = “son of com

fort,” “son of exhortation.”

25]B

arnabas is the first to recognize the genuineness of Saul’s conver-sion. It is interesting that w

hen he goes to Antioch and sees action he

does not return to Jerusalem, instead he tracks dow

n Saul in Tarsus.

26]Probably on an evangelistic tour.

On his previous trip from

Caesarea to T

arsus he appears to have takenthe land route through Syria and C

ilicia (9:30). Afterw

ards sent with

Judas, Silas, and Barnabas w

ith the letter from the C

ouncil ofJerusalem

(25:23) “unto the brethren of the Gentiles in A

ntioch andSyria and C

ilicia...”

“Christians”: G

reek word w

ith a Latin term

ination...no longer a sectof H

ebraism. M

ight have started in a derogative way.

The G

ifts Are for T

oday!:

1) Our L

ord announces them in John 14-17; w

ithout termination!

2) No doctrine to be built upon “com

pletion of the canon”:a) 1 C

or 13:10: “That w

hich is perfect is come...” Seven

thunders uttering their voices - Rev 10.

b) 66 books (not 70)!

3) One valid exam

ple destroys “theological” rebuttals..

Suggested reading: Charism

ania: Fact or F

iction? by Chuck Sm

ith.For a com

plete study of the Gifts do see our B

riefing Package, The

Spiritual Gifts or our E

xpositional Com

mentary on F

irst Corinthians.

Are w

e a Contradiction?

Union

Without

Com

munion?

ProfessionW

ithoutE

xperience?L

ifeW

ithoutH

ealth?M

ovement

Without

Progress?B

attlesW

ithoutV

ictory?Service

Without

Success?T

rialsW

ithoutT

riumph?

Are w

e on the right side of Easter...

But on the w

rong side of Pentecost?O

n the right side of Pardon...B

ut on the wrong side of Pow

er?Justified but not sanctified?

Ch

apter 11

An

tioch

The real m

inistry to the Gentiles em

erges out of Antioch.

First 1-18 verse are a recap of Chapter 10.

15]W

hat is implied in C

hapter 10 is stated here. As verse 18 notes “then

hath God also to the G

entiles granted repentance unto life.”

Page 58

Paul’s visit, compelled to seek R

oman protection for his life (C

hapters21,22).

Hero

d A

grip

pa I

1]H

e is the nephew of H

erod Antipas w

ho murdered John the B

aptist.H

e is the grandson of Herod the G

reat, the son of Aristobulus and

Bernice of the M

accabean or Hasm

onean line; he was the m

urdererof the innocents at the birth of our L

ord. (Paul will m

ake hiscelebrated defense in C

h 26 before his son, Herod A

grippa II.)

Herod A

grippa was brought up in R

ome w

ith Caligula and C

laudis.O

n the accession of Caligula to the em

pire, he obtained from him

thedom

inions of this uncles, Philip and Herod A

ntipas - Batanaea,

Tachonitis, and A

uranitis (after the death of Philip); Galilee and

Peraea (on the banishment of A

ntipas to Gaul); and A

bilene with the

title of the King.

On the accession of C

laudius he was further invested w

ith thesovereignty of Sam

aria and Judea; thus having at length all thedom

inions over which his grandfather (H

erod the Great) had reigned,

and from w

hich he derived an imm

ense revenue.

He w

as of Rom

an habits: lived for 30 years in Rom

e; boon companion

in every kind of vice of the son of the emperor. Y

et, he also had Jewish

interests. He interceded w

hen Caligula w

anted to set up an image of

himself in the T

emple; A

grippa did try to persuade him not to!

Here w

as their last king, the sycophant of a child of Rom

anvoluptuousness, an E

domite, attem

pting for political purposes toretain Jew

ish power, suprem

ely given over to all manner of G

reekfrivolity; this m

an is the representative of the people whom

God had

offered to rule; this was the m

an who stretched forth his hand to vex

the church of God and one of the first things he does is kill Jam

es.

2]Jam

es, the brother of John, also surnamed “B

oanerges” (Son ofT

hunder). He is at the T

ransfiguration, the raising of Jairus’ daughterand at the G

arden of Gethsem

ane.

Herod A

grippa kills James w

ith a sword. E

ven though he had Rom

ebehind him

, he was an E

domite and w

as anxious to win favor w

ith theleadership of the Jew

s.

“If any man suffer as a C

hristian, let him not be asham

ed” (1 Pet 4:16).

28]Four specific local fam

ines under Claudius:

1st & 2nd years, at R

ome

4th year, in Judea9th year, in G

reece11th year, in R

ome

29]First spontaneous gatherings of voluntary relief for their brethren inJudea.

30]Saul assists B

arnabas for at least 1 year.

Su

mm

ary Co

mm

ents

Continuity:

Stephen’s martyrdom

spreads efforts;Peter’s vision =

church’s eyesight;Saul’s apprehension =

Antioch’s supply.

Absolute freedom

, independent actionsM

en of Cyprus, C

yrene preach to Greeks;

Sending of Barnabas by apostles;

Finding of Saul by Barnabas;

Collection for Judea =

spontaneous.

Unity“O

ne Lord, one faith, one baptism

; one God and Father of all,

who is in all, and through all” (E

ph 4:5,6).

Perpetual varietyA

postolic gift, evangelistic gifts, prophetic gifts, and the pastoral gifts (C

f. Eph 4:11).

No one m

an can win a soul.

Ch

apter 12

Antioch w

ill now be the center, not Jerusalem

. Jerusalem, as the

center of the Church’s operations, passes out of sight. It appears only

two m

ore times: C

ouncil regarding Gentile obligations (C

h 15); and

Page 60

24]H

erod is dead.

Barnabas, Saul, and M

ark (nephew to B

arnabas) are on their way to

Antioch... 300 m

iles before them; Jerusalem

is behind them, in m

orew

ays than one...

End of the First half of A

cts (Peter’s half)!

Similarities:

PeterPaul

First Sermon

213

Lam

e man healed

314

The Sorcerer

Simon, 8

Elym

as, 13Influence

shadow, 5

handkerchief, 19L

aying on hands8

19W

orshiped10

14R

aisedT

abitha, 10E

utychus, 20Im

prisoned12

28

Chapters 1-12: Jerusalem

, Judea, and Samaria.

Chapters 13-28: U

ttermost part of the earth.

Ch

apter 13

This chapter starts the second m

ajor division in the Book of A

cts (Paulvs. Peter):

Chapters 1-12: Jerusalem

, Judea, and Samaria

Chapters 13-28: U

ttermost part of the E

arth

Or:

Jews first, then Sam

aritans, then the Gentiles.

It is interesting that the Lord uses Peter to open the door to the

Gentiles, but it is really Paul that continues the G

entile evangelism.

1]A

ntioch of Syria is now the center to the G

entiles.

(Re: G

reek text:) These five m

en being the “(3) prophets + (2)

teachers” (not one lone minister).

...the first three may have been converts at Pentecost, and the founders

of the church at Antioch...

4]Q

uarternioins: squads of four men each (third tim

e for Peter).

“Easter” - Passover in the original.

5]Peter is in prison but there are tw

o forces at work:

Kept in prison by H

erodPrayer m

ade earnestly of the Church.

6]C

f. A sinner’s condition: asleep, indifferent, bound in the chains of

our sins, guarded by Satan’s emissaries, doom

ed to die. He can do

nothing for himself; saved by a m

essenger from heaven...

Peter R

eleased fro

m P

rison

12]M

ary, mother of the w

riter of Gospel of M

ark. Her brother w

asB

arnabas (Col 4:10), also a m

an of substance (4:37).

17]Jam

es - different one, this is the Lord’s brother.

Peter departs and went to another place. A

ll history of Peter hereterm

inates in Acts.

19]Im

potent vengeance! Certificate of D

ebt digression here: tetelestai!

Hero

d’s B

lasph

eme an

d D

eath

23]H

erod’s grandfather, Herod the G

reat, died of the same horrible

disease.

Josephus: “Herod w

as at Caesarea, presiding over the gam

es in honorof C

aesar. On the second day of the gam

es, Agrippa entered at

daybreak, clothed in a robe of silver, on which the rays of the m

orningsun w

ere alighting, he appeared as if all irradiated with glory;

numerous voices saluted him

as a god; and on his making an oration

to them they shouted, ‘W

e have taken thee for a man, but henceforth

we recognize in thee a god!’ T

he king rebuked them not, nor show

edany displeasure at this im

piety; he saw an ow

l perched on a rope overhis head, and im

mediately, taking this for an ill om

en, he was filled

with rem

orse, and was seized w

ith violent pain in his bowels,

exclaiming to his friends, ‘Y

our god is already come to his life’s end,

and he who you saluted im

mortal is going to aw

ay to die.’ To such

a height did the pain rise that he had to be carried hastily into thepalace, w

here, after 5 days torture, he expired in his 54th year.”

Page 62

Cyprus w

as put directly under the Rom

an Senate.

Confirm

ed by Archaeology: Inscription w

ith both title and name

found on a coin of 52 A.D. in Cyprus. Sir W

illiam R

amsey also

uncovered evidence that his entire family becam

e prominent C

hris-tians after this event.

Sergius Paulus - first Gentile convert on their first m

issionary journey.

Elym

as

8]E

lymas: A

rabic name (“all know

ing one, wise one”), hiding his

Jewish nationality. T

his sorcerer deliberately tries to obstruct theW

ord of God w

ith the most senior R

oman official in the area!

9]“Paul” from

here on.C

omm

emorates conversion of Paulus?

Signifies “little”?1 C

or 10:1?H

ebrew =

> R

oman nam

e

10]“Son of the D

evil”: The Spirit of G

od never used a term like that of

ordinary unsaved men (C

f. John 8:44).

The severest w

ords of the Bible are reserved for:

Those w

ho stand between m

en and truth...T

hose who stand betw

een men and G

od.E

ight woes: not upon sinning m

en, but on false teachers...Mt 23:13-

29. Cf. Jannes &

Jambres w

ithstanding Moses before the Pharaoh of

Egypt (2 T

im 3:8).

The opposition of the supernatural and the occult is one of the gravest

perils threatening the Christian faith. See B

eautiful Side of Evil by

Johannah Michealson.

Pau

l’s First M

iracle

11]Paul’s first m

iracle. He m

akes this guy blind. Blindness is a natural

symbol of m

an’s spiritual condition. This guy is blind for a season,

which im

plies an opportunity for repentance.

This m

iracle is Paul’s first act as an apostle, he shows that he is m

orethan a teacher.

Barnabas, the L

evite: man of property on C

yprus; sold all his landand put everything he had into the w

ork of the Lord.

Simeon called N

iger (Nigeria): (N

o race prejudice!) Very possibly

the Simeon (Sim

on) who w

as forced by the Rom

ans to bear the crossof Jesus.

Lucius of C

yrene (also black, a Gentile.) Sam

e as ref in Rom

16:21?M

ay have been one of the Cypriots by w

hom the G

ospel was first

brought to Antioch in 11:20.

Manaen: B

rought up in royal court as foster-brother of Herod, the

Tetarch (now

occupying a higher honor than Herod ever obtained!).

(Cf. Johanna, w

ife of Chuza, H

erod’s steward, L

k 8:1-3.)

Paul: listed as a teacher, not yet as an A

postle (until the first miracle

of his first missionary journey), also here still called Saul.

3]Sent by the H

oly Ghost (not sent by, nor ordained by the church!). “I

have called them...”

First M

ission

ary Jou

rney

5]Salam

is = G

recian capital of Cyprus, E

ast side.. (Cyprus had tw

ocapitals, the other, a R

oman capital called Paphos.)

Note they start in the Jew

ish synagogues.

John - actually John Mark, w

e know as M

ark.

6]Paphos =

Rom

an capital of island, where the proconsul resided, w

estside, 100 m

iles along the south shore..

“Barjesus” - in the G

reek: “son of Jesus.” This guy goes by tw

onam

es: Barjesus and E

lymas (A

rabic name); he is trying to hide his

Jewish nationality.

7]A

nthupatos, proconsul: for settled provinces, placed directly underthe R

oman Senate by E

mperor A

ugustus. (Title never given to Pilate,

Festus, or Felix, who w

ere but procurators, or subordinate administra-

tors, of unsettled, imperial, m

ilitary provinces.)

Page 64

19]O

ne verse summ

arizes the whole book of Joshua.

20]450 years (=

Abraham

’s covenant until Judges):

Or: E

xodus to building of Tem

ple, 591 years,less,

40 years wilderness,

25 years of Joshua’s rule,40 years of Saul,40 years of D

avid’s 1st 4 years of Solom

on to the Tem

ple =

442 or “about 450 years”

21][B

oth “Saul’s” were of the tribe of B

enjamin...]

22]D

avid as a man after G

od’s own heart: Ps 89:20, 1 Sam

13:14, (Ps78:70-72?) D

avid asked for Fellowship.

28]Sin blinds m

en’s eyes to the truth.

30]Paul is telling them

the whole story, but from

an Old T

estament

perspective as a fulfillment, and here even all the things they did he

highlights showing in the global sum

mary that that w

as predicted. He

is wrapping up w

ith Ps 22 and Isa 53.

33]Ps 2 (delete “again”).

35]Ps 16, can’t apply to D

avid literally; it applied to the Messiah out of

David.

Justified

by F

aith

39]G

rand gospel statement...

“Justified” - first use of the word. H

e is saying that you could not bejustified by the L

aw of M

oses. And his point is that all that believe are

justified from all things, from

which they could not be justified by the

Law

of Moses.

Shattering to men w

ho honored Law

of Moses!

Paul =>

“justified,” not just forgiven.......in such a w

ay that God’s honor and integrity are preserved

(Rom

5:1).

13]“Paul and C

o.” - left Cyprus. B

arnabas, now in the background w

illlater visit again and spend som

e time there. It w

as his original home.

Note that “Paul and com

pany” shows that Paul had becom

e the leader.

Perga the principal metropolis in Pam

phylia, situated on the riverC

estrus, 7 miles N

from A

ttaleia.

Why did M

ark leave?B

lamew

orthy (son of a rich wom

an?)R

esented change in leadership?U

nattracted to difficulties ahead?Paul did not approve (15:38).B

arnabas did quite share Paul’s view.

Paul later receives Mark (2 T

im 4:11).

14]A

ntioch at Pisidia (not Antioch at Syria). Part of the ancient R

oman

province of Galatia (includes: A

ntioch, Iconium, L

ystra, and Derbe).

Three influences:

Rom

an government

Greek m

ental mood

Hebrew

religious influences

Due N

orth of Perga...mountainous country, difficult to reach; hang-

out of robbers, etc., re: 2 Cor 11:26.

Pau

l’s Presen

tation

16]Paul’s first recorded address: contrast w

ith Peter’s (only) address toG

entiles(Cornelius, still very Jew

ish).

vs. Paul’s while although m

odeled after Stephen’s address, Jewish

phraseology avoided, he presents the Gospel w

ith no reference toH

ebrew history or H

ebrew Scriptures: m

eets Gentiles on G

entileground. (C

f. 1 Cor 9:20-22).

God’s G

overnment

God’s G

race

18]“Suffered he their m

anners in the wilderness”: =

(1 letter in Greek: as

in some m

anuscripts: “He bare them

as a nursing Father..”) cf. Deut

1:31; Num

11:12.

Page 66

Ch

apter 14

Three cities in G

alatia: Iconium, L

ystra, and Derbe.

Icon

ium

1]“A

great multitude believed”: L

uke gives us fruits only from here on...

“Disbelieving (unpersuadable) Jew

s...”

3]W

hen they encountered resistance they spent MO

RE

time there.

Possibly in Iconium 6 m

onths.

4]G

ospel is intended to be divisive (Mt 10:34).

Apostles? See v. 14.

Lystra an

d D

erbe

6]T

here might not have been a synagogue at L

ystra as they start out rightaw

ay to preach the gospel.

Lystra: 20 m

iles to the South.D

erbe: 60 miles to the E

ast of Iconium.

Lycaonia - a w

ide district of Asia M

inor, lying between Phrygia,

Cilicia, and C

appadocia.

10]Physical, em

otional or spiritually lame: Y

ou are held in bondage untilyou begin to obey the W

ord of God about it..

12]T

his area carried the legend that Jupiter and Mercury had descended

to this area.

Jupiter (Rom

an), Zeus (G

reek): father of the gods, tall and dignified.M

ercury (Rom

an), Herm

es (Greek): (w

inged feet..) Attendant and

messenger of Jupiter: spokesm

an.

[Ovid: legend that tem

ple erected at Lystra in m

emory that Jupiter and

Mercury had descended there long before...]

14]“T

ore their clothes” - classic Jewish w

ay of showing grief, or upset.

Paul’s paradigm: (H

ab 2:4)T

he Just shall live by faithR

om 1:17

The Just shall live by faith

Gal 3:11

The Just shall live by Faith

Heb 10:38

41]Solem

n word of w

arning! Hab 1:5

You w

ill never be the same again after you have heard the m

essage:A

cceptance: justificationR

ejection: Condem

nation is greater!

42]T

he Gentiles w

ant to hear more!

46]A

ll that hate me love death: Prov 8:36.

47]Isa 49:6. C

omm

ission as Authority to go to the G

entiles.

48]N

ote: Divine ordination is the cause, not the effect, of believing!

51]Iconium

: populous city, 45 miles southeast from

Pisidian Antioch, at

the foot of Mt T

aurus, on the borders of Lycaonia, Phrygia, and

Pisidia; in later times, contributing to the consolidation of the T

urkishem

pire.

“Dust” - L

uke 10:10-11.

Similarities:

PeterPaul

First Sermon

213

Lam

e man healed

314

The SorcererSim

on,8

Elym

as, 13Influence

shadow, 5

handkerchief, 19L

aying on hands8

19W

orshiped10

14R

aisedT

abitha, 10E

utychus, 20Im

prisoned12

28

Page 68

Bib

liog

raph

y

Barnhouse, D

.G., A

cts, Ministry R

esources Library, Z

ondervan Publish-ing H

ouse, Grand R

apids, MI, 1979.

Bullinger, E

.W., T

he Com

panion Bible, Z

ondervan Bible Publishers,

Grand R

apids, MI, 1958.

Bullinger, E

.W. W

itness of the Stars, Kregel Publications, G

rand Rapids,

MI, 1893.

DeH

aan, M.R

., Pentecost and A

fter, Zondervan Publishing H

ouse, Grand

Rapids, M

I, 1970.

Gaebelein, A

rno C., T

he Acts of the A

postles, Loizeaux B

rothers, Neptune,

NJ, 1961.

Gloag, Paton J., A

cts of the Apostles, K

lock & K

lock Christian Publishing,

Minneapolis, M

N, 1870.

Henry, M

atthew and T

homas Scott, C

omm

entary on the Holy B

ible,T

homas N

elson Publishing Com

pany, NY

, 1979.

Ironside, H.A

., Book of A

cts, Loizeaux B

rothers, Neptune, N

J, 1943.

Jamieson, R

ev. Robert, R

ev. A.R

. Fausset and Rev. D

avid Brow

n, AC

omm

entary Critical, E

xperimental, and P

ractical on the Old and

New

Testam

ents, vol. VI, W

illiam B

. Eerdm

an’s Publishing Com

-pany, G

rand Rapids, M

I, 1948.

Lindsey, H

al, The R

oad to Holocaust, B

antam B

ooks, New

York, N

Y,

1989.

Missler, C

huck various Expositional C

omm

entaries (Isaiah, Revelation,

Joshua, Jude, Genesis) and B

riefing Packages (The P

rodigal Heirs,

The F

easts of Israel, Seven Letters to Seven C

hurches, The Spiritual

Gifts, F

rom H

ere to Eternity, D

aniel’s Seventy Weeks, M

ystery of theL

ost Ark, Sovereignty of M

an); Koinonia H

ouse, Coeur d’A

lene, ID.

Morgan, G

. Cam

pbell, Acts of the A

postles, Fleming H

. Revell C

omp.,

MC

MX

XIV

.

Apostles? M

ore than the 12+ Paul...

15]“V

anities” - expressive name for idols of every sort (Ps 146:6).

Paul’s 2 points:1) creation =

one “living God...”

2) free choice = allow

s evil...

[No single reference to H

ebrew Scripture, history.]

17]R

ain is very scarce in Lycanoia.

19]Paul stoned: (20 years later: 2 C

or 11:25.)

[Out of body experience? 2 C

or 12:2-4.]

Bears m

arks:Gal 6:17.

20]T

imotheus m

ay have been among them

(Re. 16:1-3)

21]In D

erbe, the apostle gains a friend, companion, and fellow

-helper:G

aius (Rom

16:23; 1 Cor 1:14; 3 John 1).

Return via L

ystra (20 miles)

Iconium (40 m

iles) andA

ntioch (60 miles)

Rather than the quick (and safe) sea route hom

e.....confirm

ing, exhorting, organizing...

25]A

ttaleia: seaport on the Gulf of Pam

phylia, which drew

comm

ercefrom

Egypt and Syria.

27]“A

ll that God had done w

ith them...”

[No num

bers: Gentile converts are never counted!?]

(2:41 and 4:4 = 3000, 5000: Jew

ish only are numbered.)

Mystery: Fullness of the G

entiles - Rom

11:25.

28]L

ong time: 4-5 years; journey 2 years.

Page 70

Acts 15

Intro

du

ction

One of the m

ost difficult things for us to grasp:

The “freeness” of G

od’s salvation: Grace.

Nothing can be added. (B

lasphemy to try!)

[Even the devil know

s a man w

ill be saved if he will believe (M

t13:19).]

Backg

rou

nd

: Galatian

s 2

Peter sensitive because of Cornelius, etc. (C

h 10). Apostles agreed

that Peter to remain in Jerusalem

to minister to the Jew

s (Gal 2:7,9).

Peter visits Antioch, fellow

ships with the G

entiles there; withdraw

sw

hen legalistic Jews visit from

Jerusalem (G

al 2:11-14). Tensions

mount; split threatened (A

ntioch as the “parent” of Gentile C

hristian-ity, threatens to eclipse Jerusalem

as the “mother” church...)

Tw

o B

ig Q

uestio

ns

1)A

re the Gentiles under the L

aw?

2)W

hat about the Messianic K

ingdom?

Restoration of Israel? C

hrist on David’s throne in

Jerusalem? Is the church “spiritual Israel”?

(Acts 1:6 Issue w

as not denied...only timing.)

....Vital issues in the B

ody TO

DA

Y....

cf. “Synagogue of Satan” Rev 2:9, R

om 2:28, 29. False T

eacherscontinue to be an issue (John 8:44).

Ch

apter 15

First A

po

stolic C

ou

ncil

Council held in Jerusalem

about 52 A.D., 20 years after the Ascension.

[Not an authorative, “governing” body: Paul w

as probably prepared

Phillips, J.B., T

he Gospels, M

acmillan C

ompany, N

Y, 1953.

Pink, Arthur W

., Gleanings in G

enesis, Moody B

ible Institute of Chicago,

IL, 1922.

Pink, Arthur W

., Gleanings from

Paul, M

oody Press, Chicago, IL

, 1967.

Powell, Ivor, T

he Am

azing Acts, K

regel Publishing, Grand R

apids, MI,

1980.

Scofield, C.I., T

he New

Scofield Study Bible (K

JV), O

xford University

Press, New

York, 1967.

Smith, C

huck, Charism

a versus Charism

ania, Harvest H

ouse, Eugene,

OR

, 1983.

Spence, H.D

.M. and Joseph S. E

xell (editors), The P

ulpit Com

mentary,

vol. 18 - Acts, W

illiam B

. Eerdm

ans Publishing Com

pany, Grand

Rapids, M

I, 1961.

Steadman, R

ay, Birth of the B

ody (Acts 1-12), G

rowth of the B

ody (Acts

13-20), and Trium

phs of the Body (A

cts 21-28), Vision H

ouse Pub.,Santa A

na, CA

, 1981.

Thom

as, David, A

cts of the Apostles, K

regel Pub., Grand R

apids, MI,

1980.

Page 72

“After this” refers to the calling out of the G

entiles. After that he w

illreturn. W

ho? Jesus.

Rom

ans 9, 10, 11 - Paul deals with the future role of Israel. D

o see ourB

riefing Package, The P

rodigal Heirs, for a study of the C

hurch andIsrael.

Rom

ans 11:25 - “until” implies that the blindness w

ill be lifted.Fullness of the G

entiles is that group of people that God, in his

foreknowledge, has predestinated to be in the C

hurch.

Postponement of the K

ingdom and the calling out of the church: “a

mystery” (E

ph 3:3-6).

Thus, “after this” is after the fullness of the G

entiles. After this, tw

othings happen:

1) Blindness is relieved from

Israel;2) T

he return of Jesus Christ.

Bible does not prom

ise a conversion of the world in this age: only a

remnant (alw

ays, only a remnant).

Tabernacle of D

avid? (1 Chr 15:1). “R

uins” = things dug dow

n.

Fu

ture R

ole o

f Israel

Dan 9; Isa 63; Z

ech 12, 14; Rev 12; H

osea 5...

An understanding of G

od’s Word w

ith respect to the future of Israelw

ill avoid the current heresies of:

“Kingdom

Now

”, “Dom

inion Theology”, “R

econstructionists” etc.D

o read Road to H

olocaust by Hal L

indsey.

Promise to M

ary: Throne of D

avid, Lk 1:32,33.

20]Jam

es is concluding that the Gentile converts are not to be burdened

with the yoke that Israel has had to bear. T

here is no reason for themto, because Israel and the C

hurch are separate entities.

Idolatry and fornication: two chief sins of the G

entiles. Things

strangled and from blood are tw

o things which w

ould be particularlyoffensive to a Jew

.

to defy all 12 apostles and the whole C

hurch of Jerusalem if they had

disagreed with him

!]

Probably quite a discussion.

2]T

hey decide to send a leadership - Paul and Barnabas and “certain

others” = T

itus, an uncircumcised G

reek (Gal 2:4-6).

5]T

he issue was not just circum

cision, it is only the representative issue.U

nlike today where circum

cision is done for health as well as other

reasons, then the idea was to be under the covenant of A

braham.

7]“A

good while ago”: about 13 years before.

11]Peter is m

agnificent: “We shall be saved, even as they” (last recorded

words of Peter recorded in A

cts).

[Note change since being filled w

ith the Spirit; in the Gospels, he only

opened his mouth to change feet...]

One of the biggest argum

ents is implied here. T

hese Gentiles w

eresaved, they w

eren’t circumcised, and this had been happening for

years. The G

entiles were already saved—

why w

ould they have to becircum

cised?

“We believe that through the grace of our L

ord Jesus Christ w

e shallbe saved, even as they are.” N

otice the inversion, “we Jew

s can besaved even as the G

entiles are...”

12]N

otice that it is here stated: “Barnabas and Paul,” w

hy, when Paul is

usually noted first? Barnabas is better know

n to this group.

13]Jam

es, the brother of our Lord Jesus. (T

here are four differentJam

eses.)

Fu

llness o

f the G

entiles

14]fullness of G

entiles (Rom

11:1...25-27).

16]“A

fter this I will return...” Q

uoting Am

os 9:11, 12.

He is answ

ering the implied question: If a G

entile does not have tocom

e under the Law

, what is the future of Israel?

Page 74

“A brother offended is harder to be w

on than a strong city” ( Prov18:19).

Aren’t you glad that B

arnabas gave Mark another chance? M

arkbecam

e Peter’s amanuensis and converted Peter’s gospel from

theA

ramaic to the G

reek which gave us the G

ospel of Mark!

39]B

arnabas disappears from the record...

Ch

apter 16

Th

e Invasio

n o

f Eu

rop

e

When Paul and his gang (Silas, T

imothy and L

uke) crossed theD

ardanelles, they changed the whole course of W

estern Civilization!

1]B

ack at Lystra, w

here Paul had been stoned;

Tim

oth

y

Tim

othy: from this tim

e on, closely associated with Paul (R

om 16:1).

Convert from

previous visit (16 years old?) 14:7.

His m

other Eunice (2 T

im 1:5) as w

ell as her mother, L

ois, hadinstructed T

imothy in Scriptures from

infancy (2 Tim

3:15). His

mother w

as Jewish but his father w

as a Greek, yet brought up in the

Scriptures.

Tw

o of Paul’s letters addressed to him:

“My ow

n son in the faith”(1 T

im 1:2, 18; 2 T

im 1:2)

In 6 of Paul’s Epistles, T

imothy is joined in salutation.

Tim

othy was w

ith Paul on his 2nd missionary journey:

...at Ephesus during the days of strife;

...with him

on last journey to Jerusalem;

...with him

on his first imprisonm

ent;...Paul sent for him

in the loneliness of his 2nd imprisonm

ent;...his son, his child, his com

rade in the fight..

Prohibition of eating of blood antedated the Law

by almost 900 years

(Gen 9:4).

No Sabbath....?! N

o Circum

cision...

Blood =

murder?

21]Ignoring one very “stubborn” fact: these G

entiles were already saved.

22]N

ot to be confused with Judas the brother of Jam

es, etc. (Nothing

more know

n than here.)

Silas (= Silvanus in the epistles): Paul’s close com

panion on hisSecond M

issionary journey.

Syn

ago

gu

e of S

atan

24]D

oes “Judaizing” end?“Synagogue of Satan” R

ev 2:9-10

Rom

2:28, 29; Deut 30:6; Jer 4:4; D

eut 9:24-26 (Circum

cision is ofthe heart, far beyond the sym

bol of the circumcision of the flesh.)

John 8:12-44; Luke 10:49-59. N

ote: Sincerity not enough: they were

sincere...

31]R

ejoicing as a division of the church was avoided!

35]T

ime is sum

marized. A

substantial amount of tim

e goes by before v.36.

Th

e Seco

nd

Missio

nary Jo

urn

ey

36]Paul “m

others” the churches, he prays for them, w

rites them, keeps in

touch with them

, counsels them...

Co

ntro

versy over M

ark

37]John M

ark, Barnabas w

as his uncle and he had left earlier.

38]Paul w

on’t give Mark a second chance.

Page 76

Ph

ilipp

i

Philippi: scene of decisive battle ending the Rom

an republic, 42 B.C.

Brutus &

Cassius, m

urderers of Julius Caesar, defeated by the

combined forces of M

ark Antony and O

ctavian, who later becam

eE

mperor A

ugustus.

Because of their assistance, O

ctavian granted Rom

an citizenship tothese Philippians w

hen he became em

peror.

First of the district, a city of Macedonia, a colony (A

mphipolis had

been chief city, still a rival).

[Note Paul’s ellipsis: “O

ur citizenship is in heaven...” Phil 3:20.]

Wh

y Do

esn’t G

od

Gu

ide like in

the B

oo

k of A

cts?

Paul must have been puzzled:

Quarreling w

ith Barnabas, he parted from

him;

He w

anted to preach the Gospel, so he passed through Syria and

Cilicia, and cam

e to Derbe and L

ystra, and there he met T

imothy.

He w

anted to go on to proconsular Asia, and he could not do it.

He w

as sick, he was ill, an infirm

ity of the flesh was upon him

andhe could not go.

It was necessary to that he should take another direction and he

went into G

alatia and preached there.

Then he turned back again. T

here was no reason that he could

understand. It is a picture of cross currents, of difficulty,perplexity and darkness.

Then he felt the lure of B

ithynia; he would go there.

No, he m

ust go west and on he w

ent, perplexed.

Then cam

e the vision of the man of M

acedonia; (and when he

talked it over with L

uke in later days, and Luke w

ould write the

story with hindsight.)

3]C

ircumcised him

so as not to offend Jewish prejudices; som

ething hew

ould not have done if he were a G

entile, like Titus. It w

as for theirm

inistries sake that they wanted him

accepted by the Jewish audi-

ences.

Iconium, L

ystra, Derbe: w

orshiped as gods; then stoned to death...These

were the G

alatians of Paul’s later letter...

6]G

alatia = Iconium

, Lystra and D

erbe in this province.

(This proscribed region is w

here the “Seven churches” of Revelation

are located. For a complete study of these churches do see our tw

ofinal bonus tapes of this set, tape num

ber 7 and 8.)

Everything in due tim

e...

7]B

ithynia - southeast shore of Sea of Mam

ora, South shore of Black

sea.

8]A

lexandreia Troas, port on coast of M

ysia, 30 miles south of the

Dardanelles.

9]M

acedonia is across the Dardanelles; in is in G

reece; it is what w

ew

ould call Europe. T

he Dardanelles is the classic dividing line

between A

sia and Europe.

10]“W

e” = L

uke joins here. This is the first place in A

cts where the w

riterincludes him

self.

Was L

uke the man in the vision?

11]Sam

othracia: highest in elevation of northern Aegean islands, m

id-w

ay between T

roas and Philippi.

Neapolis: harbor of Philippi, 10 m

iles inland favorable wind: 2 days;

later it took 5 days.

12]Paul alw

ays focused on strategic centers.

(He arrives about 20 years after the foundation of the church at

Jerusalem.)

Page 78

equivalent to soothsaying demon (today’s “channel”, et al.) She w

asA

pollo’s “channel” (nothing “new” about the “N

ew A

ge.”)

2 Cor 2:11; 1 T

im 4:1-3.

17]O

ccult is always m

otivated by self-interest.

Even “truth” is used to “suck them

in”; soon it is mixed w

ith error,...etc. O

n each previous occasion (Mark &

Luke), Jesus com

manded the

acknowledging dem

on to silence.

18]“A

nnoyed” = deeply troubled.

If our infiltration doesn’t work, then direct oppression. O

utrightviolence dem

onstrates that one of the enemy’s strongholds w

as beingattacked (2 C

or 10:4; Eph 6).

Note that her statem

ents were true. T

he occult is always m

otivated byits ow

n self-interests (here her owners m

onetary gain). Here even

more insidious is that the occult is an arm

, an agency, an organizationw

hich is under Satan’s comm

and. The dam

age here is taking a bit oftruth and slow

ly turning off course.

22]T

he lectors who attend on the praetors carried rods or staves for the

purpose, and were called rod-bearers (2 C

or 10:3-4).

25]A

doration and worship. (N

ot, “deliver your servants.” etc.) Cf. Ps

113; 115:11; 116:3,4,15,17; 118:6, 29; 114:7.

A concert that w

as so successful that it brought the house down!

Other prisoners “attentively listening...”

Suffering is part of the program (Phil 1:29).

27]C

ertificate of Debt—

prison guards were responsible for the sentences

of their prisoners, if one escaped, they would have to pay the debt.

When prisoners w

ere done with their tim

e, the court would sign their

Certificate of D

ebt as “Paid in Full” (Tetelestai).

Thus, this jailer w

as going to kill himself as he thought all the

prisoners were gone, and thus, he him

self would have to fulfill all their

sentences!

The Spirit forbade him

preaching is Asia. T

he Spirit of Jesus drovehim

ever and ever on toward T

roas. The guidance of the

Ho

ly

Spirit is validated by the results:

Philippi, Thessalonica, B

erea, Athens, C

orinth.

The guidance of the Spirit w

as subsequently recognized by these men:

..not always by flam

ing visions;..not by w

ords articulate in human ears;

but by circumstances,

by comm

onplace things,by difficult things,

By dark things,

By disappointing things.

The m

an the Spirit will guide is the m

an who is in an attitude in w

hichit is possible for the Spirit to guide him

....an attitude of life; of loyalty to the L

ord, faith in the guidanceof the Spirit, and constant w

atchfulness.

It is the watcher for the L

ord who sees the L

ord.

Lyd

ia and

“the C

han

nel”

13]T

en adult male Jew

s needed to make a synagogue; otherw

ise, usuallym

et near a body of water for prayer, fellow

ship, worship, ritual

washings, etc. It w

as through a wom

en’s prayer group that the gospelentered E

urope!

14]C

elebrated purple dye was m

ade from the m

urex, a shellfish. (Ref. B

yH

omer)

Thyatira: inscriptions of the guild of dyers have been found at

Thyatira. (T

hyatira was one of the cities Paul had to om

it on his way

to Troas.)

15]“C

onstrained” - only here and at Em

maus R

oad...

Note the victory: Phil 1:3; 4:15.

16]“A

spirit, a Python” - Python = (G

reek mythology) serpent destroyed

by Apollo, w

ho was hence called Pythius; a priestess at the fam

oustem

ple at Delphi w

as called the Pythoness. Term

Python became

Page 80

Am

phipolis = 33 m

iles southwest of Philippi, N

orth coast of Aegean;

Apollonia =

30 miles Southw

est Am

phipolis;T

hessalonica = 37 m

iles west A

pollonia, northwest extrem

ity ofA

egean.

1]T

hessalonica = strategic center: capital city of M

acedonia (200,000?).

2]Forceful teaching (1 T

hess 1:8).

3]E

xpositional approach: texts, relationships... Gospel defined in 1 C

or15:1-4.

Used O

ld Testam

ent (Ps 16; 22; Isa; Hosea, etc.) E

mm

aus roadexam

ple.

Worked at tentm

aking (1 Thess 2:9; 2 T

hess 3:7,8).

5]Jason m

ay have been kinsman (R

om 16:21).

6]“R

ulers” - (Greek) politarch, used now

here else; found on inscriptionon m

arble arch in Thessalonica, including seven nam

es of founders.

“Turned right side up”? T

estimony of their enem

ies (Cf. Judas,

Caiphas, et al.)

All the persecution that follow

s Paul is caused by the Jews. (N

oteL

uke’s emphasis.)

7]U

nder the emperors, it w

as declared high treason to violate them

ajesty of the state.

9]Security: to keep peace; leave tow

n?

Paul desired, expected soon to return (1 Thess 2:17, 18).

Tim

othy, left at Philippi, sent to them (1 T

hess 3:5-7).

10]Sm

all out-of-the-way tow

n, off the beaten path, in foothills ofO

lympic M

ountains, 60 miles southw

est of Thessalonica.

(Paul not a healthy man; a fugitive that needed continuing assis-

tance...)

29]Irony: stocks becom

e their throne; their jailer lies suppliant at theirfeet!

30]“Sirs” =

“Lords...” Jailer is the first m

ale convert in Philippi, first inE

urope. [Was he the M

acedonian in the vision?]

Household is saved w

hen they believe. (Not just saved because he

was; they w

ere saved because they all believed.)

37]R

oman citizens w

ere entitled to trial, and should never have beenbeaten or im

prisoned without due process. Im

prisoning Rom

answ

ithout due process exposed them all to jail or w

orse!

40]“B

rethren”: Other prisoners w

ho were listening? ...results of the

wom

en witnessing?

Letter to Philippians, w

ritten from Paul’s R

oman prison, is full of

triumph, encouragem

ent, etc. [Paul left Luke behind here; rejoins in

the 20th chapter. We get these inferences from

the use of pronouns,but it doesn’t show

in the English.]

Ho

w G

od

Gu

ides

ProblemSolution

Understanding doctrine

Unanim

ous agreement

No sense of direction

Persistent obedienceR

elations with others

Responsible concern

Irreconcilable differencesC

ordial separationC

ustoms, rituals

Important principle

Directions to take

Sense of PeaceM

ajor changeV

ision or call

Ch

apter 17

Th

essalon

ica

Tim

othy and Luke left behind in Philippi. Paul and Silas used fam

ousR

oman road: V

ia Egnatia, w

hich crossed Macedonia, connecting the

Adriatic Sea w

ith the Black Sea. (G

reek extension of the Via A

ppia).

Page 82

There probably is no tem

ple, altar, or idol of Athens that is not

reproduced in our cities today:

Athene, the m

other of the mental

Dem

eter, mother of the earth,

Zeus, the god of force

Rum

or, the base goddess had her Scriptures issued every m

orning until the very life of man is m

ade restless by her lying..Sham

e, Philanthropy, et al..

We are still idolaters... E

x 20:3-6; Isa 44:9-20; Jer 10:3-5; 1 Cor 1:21.

4 Majo

r Gro

up

s at the T

ime

Epicureans: atheistic m

aterialists; universe is the product of chance;denied G

od’s existence and life after death. Pleasure is the chief endof this existence. M

ore sober disciples interpreted in a refined sense;they w

ere not hedonistic; existentialists, living for the experience ofthe m

oment. [E

picurus, 342 - 270 B.C.]

Stoics (equally celebrated, but opposite): followers of the C

yprioteZ

eno, who lectured at the stoa, or portico. Pantheists: E

verything isgod, god is everything. A

fter death, life is fungible. Result: attitude

was one of ultim

ate resignation, apathy, take whatever com

es, fatal-istic, passionless conform

ity. [Zeno, 340 - 265 B.C.] H

allmark: spiri-

tual pride.

Epicureans m

ore popular among the G

reeks; Stoics more com

fort-able to the R

oman m

ind. Both are hostile to the G

ospel.

[Other sects:

Peripatetics, disciples of A

ristotle, at the Lyceum

.A

cademicians, disciples of Plato, at the A

cademy.

(Both situated outside the city.)

Seed-picker (“nitpicker”?), eclectic dilettante.

As w

e find today:R

eligious odd-balls, remote from

life and powerless to affect it;

Thoughtless idolaters, sunken in superstition, living lives of

quiet desperation;A

theistic existentialists;Self-sufficient fatalists...

11]T

hessalonica were persuaded (by argum

ent); Bereans believed—

spiritually apprehended; searched (like stalking game), John 5:39.

Without Scriptures, w

e are lost in a sea of relativism...

Never follow

a single man: C

ephas, Apollos, Paul...or especially

Chuck M

issler!!

We do not read of any other city w

herein he was given so fair a

hearing, wherein people w

ere so honest in seeking to know w

hetherthe W

ord was really in accordance w

ith the Scripture or not...

(Sopater became ardent helper..A

cts 20:4)

13]U

pper classes of these European G

reek and Rom

anized towns w

ereprobably better educated than those in A

sia Minor.

15]Silas and T

imothy left behind to establish a church.

Ath

ens

At the tim

e of Paul’s visit to Athens, C

orinth was the com

mercial and

political center under the Rom

an Caesars. (A

thens belonged toprovince of A

chaia, whose capital w

as Corinth.)

Athens still the university center, heir to the great philosophers —

thecity of Pericles and D

emosthesnes; of Socrates, Plato, A

ristotole,Sophocles and E

uripides — m

en who established patterns of thought

that have affected human learning for centuries.

400 years after the golden age of Greece, but still a center for art,

beauty, culture, and knowledge. Still the m

ost sacred shrine of the fairhum

anities of paganism...

Paul left alone (Luke left in T

hessalonica; Silas and Tim

othy left inB

erea...)

Sent for Silas and Tim

othy (heading for Corinth). W

hen Tim

othyarrives, he is im

mediately sent back to T

hessalonica (1 Thess 3:1-2).

18]Sight-seeing: tem

ples of the Acropolis, crow

ned by the Parthenon;tem

ples, theaters, marketplace (the A

gora) 30,000 “gods.”

Page 84

23]“Ignorantly” =

“not knowing him

...”

24]C

reation testimony—

Rom

1 [The idea of creation is now

here to befound in classical literature and ancient philosophy...]

[No one is ever going to believe in the resurrection if he does not

believe in creation.]

25]G

od does not live in temples m

ade with hands. Paul probably pointed

to the Parthenon, home of A

thene, the goddess for whom

the city was

named.

Giver, w

ithout needs Him

self. Neither buildings for w

orship norpriest to m

inister with hum

an hands.

26]O

ne race, one source, one species. God draw

s men; does not seek to

evade them! Search: H

eb 11:6; Jer 29:13,14.

“Hath determ

ined”: opposes both. Stoical fate and Epicurean chance,

ascribing to periods and localities his sovereign will and prearrange-

ments (D

an 2:21).

27]“Feel”: only N

ew T

estament occurrence.

God is searchable (Jer 29:13-14; H

eb 11:6).

28]“live...m

ove...have our being” - Epim

enides, 606 B.C. (also quoted inT

it 1:12).

“We are his offspring”: A

stronomical poem

of Aratus, a G

reekcountrym

an of Paul’s, and his predecessor by 300 years; Religious

hymn of C

leathes of Troas, a contem

porary of Aratus, a m

ostcelebrated Stoic w

ho taught at Athens; Paul also quotes M

enander..1C

or 15:33.

29]M

an is God’s offspring.

Image of G

od:Passion for lifeR

evolt against death, boredom, frustration...

Seize hold of life, dominion, desire to succeed, reach out and try

something new

, accomplish new

objectives, conquernew

territory...

Invictu

s by W

illiam E

rnest H

enley

Out of the night that covers m

e,B

lack as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods m

ay beFor m

y unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbow

ed.

Beyond this place of w

rath and tearsL

ooms but the H

orror of the shade,A

nd yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how

strait the gate,H

ow charged w

ith punishments the scroll,

I am the m

aster of my fate,

I am the captain of m

y soul.

Arch

itecture

Aeropagus: court of the judges (W

here Socrates was tried and put to

death 400 years earlier.) Still the name of their Suprem

e Court today.

It was a rocky hill northw

est of the Acropolis.

Pausanias: the “stone of Im

prudence.”

[Not a trial: contem

ptuous dilettante curiosity.]

21]T

he whole atm

osphere in Athens w

as very much like a university

atmosphere, the public pastim

e was to exchange ideas and traffic in

new thoughts.

22]“Superstitious” - m

istranslated in English, “very religious” w

ouldbetter fit Paul’s intent.

Paul begins where the people are... did not denounce them

, did notattack their idolatry; you are “extrem

ely devout,” “very god-fearing.”A

n altar to the Unknow

n god: how this voices the agony of hum

anity!

Page 86

Ch

apter 18

Co

rinth

Corinth, 50 m

iles W of A

thens, the center for sensuality.

On the isthm

us which connects the Peloponnesus w

ith the rest ofG

reece, separating the Aegean from

the Ionian Sea. Tw

o ports:C

enchraea on the east, on the Aegean tow

ard Asia, 8 m

iles distant;L

echeum, on the w

est, or Ionian Sea toward Italy, 1 ½

miles distant.

Hill, C

itadel Acrocorinthus, 2000 ft high.

Julius Caesar, appreciating its natural m

ilitary and comm

ercial poten-tial, m

ade it a Rom

an colony, and capital of the Rom

an province ofG

reece, Achaia.

Seaport: goods between orient and R

ome passed through (Farrar).

Arabian balsam

, Egyptian papyrus, Phoenician dates, L

ybian ivory,B

abylonian carpets, Cicilian goats, L

ycaonian wool, P

hrygianslaves...m

arkets at Corinth.

Art capital: sim

ple Doric and Ionic colum

ns developed in the Corinthian

column; architecture achieved the highest ever in history...

Center of w

orship of Aphrodite, goddess of Sex. 1,000 tem

pleprostitutes (R

om 1:21-32).

Proverbial: “He corinthinizes...” (1 C

or 6:9-11).A

thens: Minerva, the goddess of w

isdom;

Corinth: V

enus, the goddess of love.

[2 enslaving twins: A

thens: intellectual pride; Corinth: sensual lust.]

...emptiness and lack of purpose paganism

produces... like our own

cities today...

2]C

laudius Caesar banished Jew

s (disturbances instigated by Chresto(?).

Paul speaks of relatives who “w

ere in Christ before m

e” Rom

16:7.

Aquilla &

Priscilla - interesting couple: later more to E

phesus (v. 19)and still there w

hen 1 Cor w

as written (1 C

or 16:19). Later back in

Rom

e (Rom

16:3). Later back in E

phesus (2 Tim

4:19).

Create, invent, produce, fashion, shape, m

ake...

...man’s greatest dignity.

30]“T

imes of ignorance”: m

an’s responsibility.

“Call m

en everywhere”: universal character of C

hristianity. Aim

edat everyone.

Duty =

“repent.”

Man retreats to intellectual excuses for refusing m

oral demands... Ps

14:1, 53:1.

31]T

hree key points:

1) Inescapable day: God has fixed as the tim

e when H

e will judge

the world. E

very life evaluated.

2) Unchallengeable judge.

3) Irrefutable fact: resurrection

32]M

ocking is always the defense of pride (U

niversity city more

resistant to the Gospel) 1 C

or 1:23, 24.

33]Paul had no patience w

ith intellectual flippancy and moral dishon-

esty.

34]D

ionysus, the Areopagite (tradition, other non-B

iblical sources:placed over the flock at A

thens).

1st Century: Publius, Q

uadratus, Aristides, A

thenagoras, and otherbishops, m

artyrs.

4th Century: B

asil and Gregory.

[The church that Paul founded in G

reece was the lineal predecessor

of the Greek O

rthodox Church, w

hich has now becom

e sunken inapathy, liturgy, ritual, and dead orthodoxy, and is now

persecuting thefresh, alive evangelical church in those areas.]

Page 88

16]V

ery important decision! Paul w

as now free to preach the gospel

throughout the Rom

an empire w

ithout being charged with breaking

the law. (G

allio declared, in effect, that Christianity w

as, in the eyesof R

omans, officially a Jew

ish sect.)

17]S

osthenes apparently succeeded Crispus after his conversion.

Sosthenes also later converts. (Beating is not recom

mended m

ethodfor evangelism

...) 1 Cor 1:1.

18]Syria =

Antioch. Silas, T

imothy, C

aius, and Aristarchus also accom

-pany him

, as well as A

quilla and Priscilla.

Of Silas as Paul’s’ com

panion we read no m

ore. He apparently

accompanies him

as far as Jerusalem (from

which he initially had

come to A

ntioch as one of the deputies of the council). He later

appears to put himself w

ith Peter (1 Pet 5:12).

Cenchrea: E

astern harbor of Corinth.

Vow

: not a Nazarite vow

(Num

6)(“eucheen” =

prayer or vow: Jas 5:15)

A Jew

ish way of giving thanks, etc.

Shorn: upon release of the vow (1 C

or 11:14)Sacrifice w

ithin prescribed 30 days possible reason for Paul’s haste to leave E

phesus to Jerusalem (v. 21)

(Similar vow

: 21:23,24.) [Christian does not take a vow

? John 15:5.]

19]N

ever forgot his friends (Rom

16:3; 1 Cor 16:19; 2 T

im 4:19).

21]L

ater returns and spends two years.

22]4th visit to Jerusalem

.

Th

ird M

ission

ary Jou

rney

To strengthen..teach.. the existing churches (his last days at liberty...).

Threat of Judaizing teachers (G

al 2:21, 4:4). Galatians w

ritten on 2ndvisit to E

phesus.

23]“In order”: nothing haphazard; he planned every m

ovement.

How

could a sick man accom

plish so much? (Phil 4:12-13).

3]E

arned his own w

ay. 2 Cor 11:9. T

ents made from

hair from a special

breed of goats in Cilicia...

5]Paul “pressed in the Spirit”? “E

ngrossed in the word,” N

IV “devoted

himself exclusively to preaching.”

Tim

othy brings love offerings from T

hessalonica which m

ay haveallow

ed Paul to minister full tim

e (1 Thess 3:6).

6]O

ur ancestors living on acorns and raw m

eat in the Germ

an forest:hadn’t learned to cultivate fields. (N

orwegian, Sw

edish, Danish,

Germ

an, English, Scotch, Irish, D

utch, et al...barbarians.)

7]N

ow independent; m

oved closed to danger.

8]C

rispus (& G

aius & household of Stephanas) baptized by Paul

himself (1 C

or 1:14-16). Crispus w

as the head of the synagogue!

“To the Jew

s, a stumbling block...” 1 C

or 1:23, 24.

9]Pattern developing (of Jew

s resisting), but he is to keep right onspeaking...

He suffered just as w

e do, with apprehensions, forebodings, etc. 1 C

or2:3.

11]R

ead 1 & 2 C

orinthians to see the impressive results of his efforts in

that vile city.. (Or for an in-depth study of these letters do see our

Expositional C

omm

entary on First and Second C

orinthians.)

During this period, he w

rote the Thessalonian letters. H

e wrote the

Epistle to the R

omans from

Corinth.

12]Proconsul. (T

iberias had changed this province from a senatorial to

an imperial one, accordingly “procurator” w

ould be the correct term.

Claudius restored its senatorial character, its proper governor w

ouldbe, as here stated, a proconsul.)

Gallio, ruler of G

reece, originally known as M

arcus Annaeus N

ovatus;adopted by R

oman orator called L

ucius Junius Gallio. G

allio was

brother to the celebrated philosopher Seneca, Nero’s tutor, w

how

ould become the em

peror after Claudius (and w

ho afterwards

passed the sentence of death on both of them).

Page 90

27]C

apital of Achaia: C

orinth.

He becom

es the subject of schisms: 1 C

or 1:10-17;A

pollos not the cause: 1 Cor 3:6; T

itus 3:13;H

e resists Paul’s requests to revisit: 1 Cor 16:12.

Ch

apter 19

Th

ird M

ission

ary Jou

rney (C

on

tinu

ed)

Apollos: indebted to a “plain m

arried couple.”

2]“T

he Holy Spirit did ye receive on believing?” (R

om 8:9).

4]John’s baptism

: Christ and H

is salvation was rather expected than

actually come... faith in the R

isen Christ!

Old T

estament ended in L

uke 16:16.

Ho

ly Sp

irit

5 verbs:(Singular:)B

orn of the Spirit into the family (John 3:6)

Baptized of the Spirit into the body (2 C

or 12:13)Indw

elt by the Spirit, living in us (Rom

8:9)Sealed by the Spirit unto redem

ption (Eph 1:13; 4:30)

(Frequent:)F

illing by the Spirit (Eph 5:18)

Are w

e a Contradiction?

Union

without

Com

munion?

Professionw

ithoutE

xperience?L

ifew

ithoutH

ealth?M

ovement

without

Progress?B

attlesw

ithoutV

ictory?Service

without

Success?T

rialsw

ithoutT

riumph?

Raising of contributions a key part of cem

enting the Jewish and

Gentile factions: G

al 2:9,10; 1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 C

or 8,9; Rom

15:25,26.

Tim

othy, Erastus, G

aius, Aristarchus (and probably T

itus) accom-

pany him on this journey.

Ephesus: O

utstanding church; 2 letters addressed to it: the Lord’s and

Paul’s. Paul’s summ

it.R

omans =

foundation truths.C

orinthians = correction of failures

Ephesus =

sublimest truths of the C

hurch.

Given to idolatry, dem

onism, w

itchcraft, sorcery. Tem

ple of Artem

is,or D

iana.

Ap

ollo

s

(A parenthetical anecdote in anticipation of 19:1-7.)

24]A

lexandria: southern shore of the Mediterranean in E

gypt. Foundedby A

lexander the Great, m

ajor Greek and H

ebrew cultural center.

Source of the LX

X. Philo reckons population about 1,000,000.

25]“fervent” =

boiling hot. “Way of the L

ord” (Matt 3:3; Isa 40:3).

26]Providential that Priscilla and A

quila left in Ephesus. (R

ight people,right place, at the right tim

e.)

John the Baptist =

three great truths:

1) Forgiveness of sins (only) on the basis of repentance.2) E

xpression through baptism.

3) One w

as coming w

ho complete their salvation.

Missing:

4) Cross.

5) Resurrection.

6) Holy Spirit’s baptism

.

How

impressive that A

pollos was open to correction. T

he teachablew

ill be humble...A

pollos received that and became a m

ighty evange-list, he then w

ent on to Achaia.

Page 92

Seven

So

ns o

f Sceva

13]“Jesus I know

”: deep, instinctive, innate knowledge.

“Paul I am acquainted w

ith...”

(Note personality of Satan’s forces...they are personages that are

sentient, knowledgeable, and very resourceful.)

4th Satanic encounter:Sim

on Magus

Elym

as/ Bar Jesus

Philippian PythonessC

f. Matthew

12:22-23

14]G

ramm

ar implies only tw

o of the seven.

19]T

he point is clearly what they brought w

ere their artifacts and booksand such of the occult; these w

ere weapons of Satan’s w

arfare.

“Entries” are no laughing m

atter: Ouiji boards, horoscopes, etc.

20]W

eapons of Satan’s warfare. H

uman beings not easily invaded;

requires “entries.”

21]V

astness of Apostle’s plans...

Paul intensely conscious of needs of believers in Judea (1 Cor 16:1-

9; 2 Cor 9:1; R

om 15:25).

Up

roar at E

ph

esus

23]A

trade union for promotion of industry...

24]A

rtemis =

Greek; D

iana = L

atin, Rom

an.

Large industry as everyone that w

ould visit would buy a m

emento of

Diana or A

rtemis.

27]R

eligious zeal is always the hypocritical pretext: self-interest is real

cause...

Are w

e on the right side of Easter...

...but on the wrong side of Pentecost?

...on the right side of Pardon...but on the w

rong side of Power?

...justified but not sanctified?

For an in-depth study of the Gifts of the H

oly Spirit, do see ourB

riefing Package, The Spiritual G

ifts.

9]“Spake evil of the W

ay”... Rev 2:2.

“I am the W

ay”... John 14:6.

10]H

e may have had an unrecorded visit to C

orinth, since the one nextrecorded is tw

ice called his third visit (2 Cor 12:14; 13:1).

During the close of this long stay, he w

rote 1 Corinthians (1 C

or 16:8),and possibly G

alatians (Gal 1:2).

Most productive period in Paul’s life...

Just as at Corinth, Paul’s greatest success w

as after his withdraw

al toa separate place of m

eeting (18:7-10).

Paul rented the shop from “the fifth to the tenth hour” (11 till 4); siesta

pattern: leisurely meal, nap, sports...reopened until 9:30 at night...

Faithful helpers: Epaphras, A

rchippus, Philemon (C

ol 1:7; 4:12-17;Philem

23).

Erastus, G

aius, Aristarchus, T

itus, Trophim

us and Tychicus...assist

established churches eastward: C

olosse (Epaphras and Philem

on),L

aodicea, Hierapolis... and probably Sm

yrna, Thyratira, Pergam

um,

Philadelphia, Sardis... Rev 2 &

3.

Paul worked at tentm

aking (Acts 20:33-34); probably stayed w

ithPriscilla and A

quila (1 Thess 2:9); also pastored from

house to house(A

cts 20:20).

12]E

xtraordinary.“H

andkerchiefs” = sw

eat bands. “A

prons” = leather w

ork aprons.Sym

bols: cf. Moses’ rod, et al.

God w

rought the miracles...

Page 94

Pau

l’s Min

istry thro

ug

h M

acedo

nia in

to G

reece

Luke’s brevity requires culling details from

epistles. Many visits not

recorded: Albania and Y

ugoslavia (Illyricum).

Paul had dispatched Titus to C

orinth, but now anxious to m

eet him in

Troas (anxious to know

what effect his first epistle had); his concern

for his being overdue causes Paul to leave for Macedonia; he lands at

Philippi. At length, T

itus arrives, with better tidings than Paul had

dared to expect (2 Cor 7:6,13).

Paul writes his 2

nd Epistle to C

orinthians, dispatching Titus w

ith it (2C

or 2:12, 13; 7:5-8).

2]Six years had elapsed since Paul’s 1st visit to M

acedonia.

3]E

pistle to the Rom

ans written from

this stay at Corinth.

4]Seven com

panions (messengers? 1 C

or 16:3,4) (Messengers of seven

churches?) Carrying love offerings (protect vs. robbers). Fellow

ship,assistance, etc.

Tychicus w

as the bearer of the Epistles of the C

olossians andE

phesians (Col 4:7,8; E

ph 6:21,22).

Trophim

us was, according to tradition, one of the seventy disciples,

and after the death of Paul, was beheaded under N

ero.

Slaves numbered their children: Secundus (2nd), T

erius (3rd) etc..

5]“U

s” = L

uke rejoins. Constant com

panion; at the end, “only Luke is

with m

e...” (2 Tim

4:11).

Eu

tychu

s’ Fall F

rom

Grace

7]First day of the w

eek: Saturday night?

9]N

umerous lights: large group (also note that the lights w

ould beconsum

ing oxygen).

Paul addressed for six hours! (Preaching = art of talking in som

eoneelse’s sleep.)

Agora: 300 ft sq.; vestibule >

400 more.

The G

ymnasia (5) 450 x 377 ft, to 925 x 685. 15 acres of ground!

29]T

he theatre was 660 ft. in diam

eter (2 football fields or 40 ft. > than

major axis of the C

oliseum) 56,700 seating capacity. T

emple: one of

the seven wonders of the w

orld; built in 550 B.C., pure white m

arble,burned on the night of the birth of A

lexander the Great, 356 B.C.,

rebuilt even more splendidly. 425 ft. x 220 ft.; 127 colum

ns, 60 ft.high, each a gift of a king, 36 of them

ornamented.

Paul eludes again!

Fellow travelers also m

entioned in 20:4; 27:2; Rom

16:23; 1 Cor 1:14

(3 John 1?).

[If Paul was house of A

quilla and Priscilla (whom

he left at Ephesus

on his first visit) his asylum w

ould explain Rom

16:3,4.]

All that happened at E

phesus is not known... “I have fought w

ith thebeasts of E

phesus” (1 Cor 15:32; cf. 2 C

or 11:24-27).

Alexander =

Alexander the coppersm

ith? (1 Tim

1:19-20; 2 Tim

4:14). Tim

othy had become a bishop of the church at E

phesus.

35]A

rtemis fashioned from

a meteorite? [Jupiter w

as their supreme god.]

Asiarchs, political rulers of the province of A

sia, who w

ere respon-sible to the R

omans w

ere concerned, and sent word to Paul not to

venture into the Theater. R

omans w

ould not tolerate civil disorder;in danger of losing their status as a free city, unencum

bered by directR

oman rule.

41]C

lerk’s speech: uproar undignified, unjustifiable and unnecessary.

Ch

apter 20

1](Inappropriate chapter division, verse 1 should be part of C

hapter 19.)

Exhortation: sufficiency not of ourselves (2 C

or 1:8-11).

Page 96

(Doctrine of the N

icolaitans? Rev 2:6; w

here’s their lightstand? Rev

2:1-7.)

Epistle to the C

olossians, written at the sam

e time as the one to its

neighbor, Ephesus, evidence the propagation of G

nostic errors inProconsular A

sia.

32]N

ot just initial stages of salvation, but the subsequent stages of “up-building,” even to consum

mation of final inheritance, is here ascribed

to the ability of God to bestow

it as in Rom

16:25; Eph 3:20; Jude 24.

(Same ascribed to C

hrist, 2 Tim

1:12.)

Four Ways:

1) Adm

onish with tears, speaking the truth in love..

2) Use the W

ord3) B

e selfless in your ministry

4) It is better to give than to receive

(Vs. “T

he giver is foolish, but the receiver is fortunate.” Athenaeus,

8:5.)

34]Paul notes that he earned his ow

n living.

35](N

ot found among the recorded sayings in the G

ospels...)

38]D

id see his face once more: 1 T

imothy hints that he did end up going

back once more.

They did try to respond to Paul’s adm

onition as they did cast out theliars (R

ev 2:2,4,6).

(John spent his final years a Bishop of E

phesus.)

Ch

apter 21

1]“A

s when w

e had at last torn ourselves away from

them.”

4]Paul’s biggest m

istake of his life? If he hadn’t gone to Jerusalem, he

would not have been im

prisoned for two years!

Greek: Plainly indicates that he w

as taken up lifeless.

10]Paul’s approach of falling on this young lad is the sam

e thing that:

Elijah, dead son of w

oman of Sarepta (1 K

gs 17:21);E

lisha, dead son of Shunamm

ite (2 Kgs 4:34);

Jesus, (Mk 5:39; L

k 8:52).

12]T

he Greek im

plies that he was raised from

the dead, not just uncon-scious.

13]35 m

iles by sea (around Cape L

ectum); 20 by land: desire for privacy,

prayer and solitude.

15]Paul chose a ship that deliberately did not stop at E

phesus. He goes

to Miletus and sends for the E

phesian elders.

16]O

verland trip due to plot discovery. Paul was too hasty: trip to

Jerusalem cost tw

o precious years of his life.

17]M

iletus 15 miles south of E

phesus. Stayed for 3, 4 days.

Farew

ell Ad

dress to

the E

ph

esian E

lders

Most poignant of all his utterances.

18]M

et in home...

19]C

ondition of the apostle in Ephesus w

as one of great danger (1 Cor

15:31, 32; 2 Cor 1:8-10).

20]N

ote here Paul notes that he preached house to house.

22]Paul’s ow

n spirit...

27]“w

hole counsel of God.”

29]G

rievous wolves; perverse m

en. Tw

o classes of enemies: external

and internal.

30]N

o fewer than six false teachers from

Ephesus: H

ymeneus (1 T

im1:20); A

lexander (1 Tim

1:20); Phygellus (2 Tim

1:15); Herm

ogenes(2 T

im 1:15); Philetus (2 T

im 2:17); and D

iotrephes (3 John 9).

Page 98

Ch

apter 22

Pau

l’s Sp

eech to

the P

eop

le

First of five sermons (R

om 9:3).

3]R

abban Gam

aliel I, president of the council after the death of his own

father, Rabban Sim

eon, son of Hillel. Paul’s m

aster, 35th receiver ofthe traditions.

Acts 5. Paul’s sister lived in Jerusalem

, and may have reared her

young brother.

11]Follow

s Chapter 9 account. Paul w

as sought; he did not seek Christ.

14]“C

hosen” = proexeirisato =

“appointed” (3x in NT

) implies fore-

knowledge, predestinated...

“The Just one” appears 7x in Scripture:

“The Just O

ne”A

cts 22:14Pilate’s w

ife “have nothing to do”M

att 27:19Pilate, w

ashing his handsM

att 27:24C

enturian at the crossL

uke 23:46-47Peter’s serm

onA

cts 3:14Stephen before the council

Acts 7:51-52

Peter’s letter: just for unjust1 Pet 3:18

17]V

eiled reference? 2 Cor 12:1-4.

24]Foolish; futile; fatal.

25]C

enturion probably did not understand Aram

aic; confused. If a riotdam

aged property, he could be held responsible. If he were proven

neglectful, he could lose his post.

25]A

n edict of Caesar A

ugustus stipulated that all Rom

an citizens were

to be exempted from

flogging, and that, prior to any trial beforem

agistrate, a formal charge had to be m

ade against them.

Any official perm

itting such floggings was publicly executed! (cf. 2

Cor 11:24-25).

7]A

lways m

et with C

hristians: Work of Philip?

[Philip: one of the original seven deacons; evangelized in Samaria;

baptized the Ethiopian treasurer.]

Or possibly converts from

Pentecost, 26 years earlier...

10]A

gabus; Acts 11:28.

11]Sam

e style of presentation in Jer 13:4; 27:2-3; Isa 20:3-4.

15]60 m

iles from C

aesarea to Jerusalem.

16]O

ld = “ancient”; original C

ypriot won on day of Pentecost? (A

cts 2:8-11).

18][Presented gifts; a great fam

ine had impoverished local believers...]

20]E

ven though the Jews are free from

the law if they are C

hristians, thatdoesn’t m

ean that they can’t observe it, they are no longer under thelaw

(Cf. G

alatians).

23]N

azarite vow (N

um 6). 30 days; last 7 in T

emple courts; cut hair and

burn it; offer a prescribed offering: 4 he-lambs of the 1st year.

[Expensive: loss of trade for a w

eek + offerings: sponsorship deem

edpraisew

orthy.]

26]M

istake for Paul to undertake this vow? Paul is still a Jew

, andaccom

modating this is a ritualistic, custom

ary thing.

27]Introduction to the closing section of L

uke’s account.

Many visitors in Jerusalem

: Feast of Pentecost.

33]C

laudis Lysias, the C

hief Captain.

38]D

angerous Egyptian: (Josephus) cam

e out of Egypt, claim

ed to be aprophet, advised a m

ultitude of followers to go w

ith him to the M

ountof O

lives, and at his comm

and the walls w

ould fall down. Felix

informed; soldiers w

ith weapons attacked; the E

gyptian escaped.

39]C

f. Rom

9:3.

Page 100

Paul’s lack of recognition of High Priest:

1)Poor eyesight? “T

horn in the flesh”?2)

Uncertain identity at the tim

e: Ananias, dism

issed fromoffice, had been to R

ome to answ

er charges made against

him and only recently returned to Jerusalem

. Paul had beenaw

ay for several years and would not have know

n the rulinghigh priest.

3)N

ot being a properly convened assembly of the national

council, hurriedly arranged in response to Lysias; therefore,

high priest probably not wearing robes of office.

5]Q

uotes Ex 27:28.

10]L

ast sermon Paul w

ould preach in Jerusalem. N

ever again to set footin the C

ity of David.

Third tim

e the Rom

ans rescue Paul..

11]D

arkest night of Paul’s life:

No prayer m

eeting (re: Peter’s imprisonm

ent, Acts 12).

“The L

ord stood by him” judged in faithfulness, not by success.

He is to spend tw

o years in prison in Caesarea; w

hen he arrives inR

ome, he is to spend another three years.

12]V

ow precedent: 1 Sam

14:24.

15][N

ever underestimate the ability of m

en to rationalize!]

Regret: tendency for religious people to becom

e instruments of evil

and ruin the cause they profess to cherish...

16]“A

secret is something you tell one person at a tim

e...” [What a

“coincidence” that Paul’s nephew w

as able to overhear the plot, etc.]

God’s use of children:

Captive m

aid2 K

gs 5:2W

illing ladJohn 6:9

28]Paul’s parents had been R

oman citizens, and it becam

e inherent rightof descendants.

(In 171 B.C., when T

arsus became a free city, m

any of its prominent

citizens were aw

arded citizenship.)

29]“O

ne who w

ould have examined him

,” means flogging him

.

Ch

apter 23

1]G

entile officers were never perm

itted to participate in the delibera-tions of the Jew

ish Sanhedrin. Lysias had been appointed by C

aesarand w

as responsible for the protection of any person who claim

ed tobe a citizen of R

ome. T

herefore, he comm

anded the Jewish rulers to

appear before him w

here he could not be excluded.

“Brethren” =

offensive to them.

Fifth time there is a defense of C

hrist to the Sanhedrin.

An

anias

2]A

nanias reference check (re: Josephus). Glutton, tyrant, bigot and

murderer. H

e defrauded impoverished priests of tithes and sent paid

servants to the threshing floors to steal corn Any w

ho resisted were

bludgeoned to death.

The T

almud speaks of unpardonable conduct w

hen what rem

ained ofthe sacrifices w

as completely devoured so that nothing rem

ained forthe hungry priests.

Eventually sent by Q

uadratus, the governor of Syria, to answer for his

deeds before Caesar. A

pparently, the emperor gave his support to the

priests, who returned to resum

e his work in Jerusalem

. Traitor to his

own nation and puppet of the R

omans.

3]“W

hited wall” - calling him

a grave.

“Barefaced hypocrite”: Prophecy fulfilled as according to Josephus.

Ananias later dragged from

a sewer in w

hich he was hiding and killed

by an assassin’s dagger.

Page 102

Felix

24]Felix really w

as after a bride.

Felix was first slave to be freed and becom

e a Rom

an Governor.

His w

ives:1) Princess2) G

randdaughter of Anthony and C

leopatra3) D

rusilla. (Daughter of H

erod Agrippa)

Had been the w

ife of another king.

Delays Paul in prison to try and figure out w

hat to do with him

. Then

he gets replaced by Festus, the new governor.

Acts 9:15. Paul does testify before kings.

Ch

apter 25

Festu

s

Festus has a unique problem, he is the new

governor and here is a guyw

hom the Jew

s hate, who is appealing to C

aesar. So, he should sendPaul to R

ome, yet on w

hat charges?

3]T

he Jews say that they w

ant to examine Paul, but really it is just a ploy

to get him back to Jerusalem

so they can kill him.

10]Paul’s appeal to C

aesar.

Ag

ripp

a

13]A

grippa is the last of the Herods. T

he dynasty of the Herods w

ereE

domites, he w

as Idumean (he cam

e from E

dom). T

he Edom

itescam

e from E

sau, the rival brother of Jacob (whom

the Jews cam

efrom

). The R

omans had established the E

domites on the throne,

which created a strange situation because, w

hile they were fam

iliarw

ith the customs of the Jew

s, they were not Jew

ish.

Herod attem

pted to win the favor of the Jew

s by rebuilding theT

emple.

19]“T

ook him by the hand” im

plies a young child. If a Rom

an citizen was

murdered the consequences w

ould be grave...

22]Junia m

ay have been the sister (Rom

16:7).

23]G

arrison at Antonia approxim

ately 1000 men.

Spearmen =

dexiolabous: graspers, lance-men.

25]B

ut it does amount to a letter of acquittal of any serious charge against

Paul!

Felix

26]R

eference Check (Felix):

(Pilate’s successor as Governor of Judea): M

ade a free man by

Antonia, m

other of the emperor, C

laudius. Brother of another

liberated slave, Pallas.

Tacitus: Felix =

master of cruelty and lust, w

ho exercised powers of

a king in the spirit of a slave.

Scoundrel who exploited political situation; encouraged conflicts and

confiscated any loot that became available. D

uring his rule, thecountryside becam

e a center of anarchy and the mountains of Judea

became havens from

which guerilla fighters operated. H

ated byeverybody.

31]C

aesarea = 60 m

iles from Jerusalem

.

Antipatris, 35 m

iles from Jerusalem

, between Joppa and C

aesarea.T

wo kinds of provinces: Senatorial and Im

perial. Cilicia, being an

imperial province under direct control of the em

peror himself. T

hesteps are being laid to bring Paul face-to-face w

ith emperor N

ero...

Ch

apter 24

1]A

nanias’ speech.

9]Paul’s defense against Felix.

Page 104

18]G

reatest synopsis of the Gospel m

essage.

24]Paul never gets to finish a serm

on! He is alw

ays interrupted.

28]V

ery controversial phrase. Many get the im

pression that Agrippa w

asalm

ost persuaded. Other scholars feel that it is a m

ore cynicalcom

ment than that.

Ch

apter 27

1]“W

e” - Luke is tagging along! Paul w

ill go to Rom

e, spend some years

there in prison, finally get to see the emperor, and w

e don’t know from

Scripture, but we have other reason to believe that the case w

asdism

issed; he was freed, w

ent on to other things, Spain, Britain; gets

arrested again, back to Rom

e in prison again, and finally taken outsidethe city and beheaded. L

uke was w

ith him right to the end!

Many scholars believe that Paul had illness and infirm

ities and thatL

uke was his personal physician.

This chapter discusses an enorm

ous amount of technical details about

sailing techniques of the period (inferred through the Greek). T

heships w

ere single-masted, they did not have a single rudder; instead

two paddles on either side, w

hich they used to maneuver.

2]A

ristarchus - may have been Paul’s slave. H

e certainly spent a lot oftim

e with Paul. In C

hapter 19 he was the one that the m

ob grabbedin the w

hole scene; and he was also the one w

ho was w

ith Paul on hislast visit to Jerusalem

; and he is mentioned in Paul’s letter to the

Colossians as a very dear.

3]E

ven though Paul is a prisoner, Julius gives him the freedom

in Sidonto visit the believers of the area. Julius trusts that Paul w

ill not flee.

4]T

he Jewish belief is that you couldn’t really navigate those w

atersafter the Feast of T

abernacles, they are running out of time, and

running into storm season.

6]A

larger vessel, typically carrying grain from E

gypt to Italy.

Herod the G

reat was the one w

ho killed the babes in Bethlehem

.

Herod A

ntipas was the one w

ho beheaded John the Baptist w

henSalom

e danced for him.

Herod A

grippa I is the one who put the apostle Jam

es to death with

a sword.

Herod A

grippa II is the one seen here.

Bernice w

as sister of Drusilla (w

ife of Felix), yet she was also her

husband’s sister. Incest on the throne! Agrippa and B

ernice, husbandand w

ife, and brother and sister!

23]T

his must have been quite a scene w

ith Festus in his Rom

an robes, andK

ing Agrippa and B

ernice with all the royal cerem

ony, and in comes

Paul, probably in his prison clothes!

Ch

apter 26

Pau

l in F

ron

t of K

ing

Ag

ripp

a

3]Paul is pleased that he is not dealing w

ith a Rom

an, but with som

eonethat know

s the customs, the law

s, the traditions of the Jews.

5]Pharisees w

ere as strict as one could get.

7]Paul is claim

ing to be accused of being a good Jew.

10]“...gave m

y voice against them” in the G

reek actually says “gave asm

all pebble.” The point of this is that the Sanhedrin’s practice w

asto vote w

ith small stones. B

lack and white. G

uilty or not guilty.

From this m

any scholars believe that Paul was once a m

ember of the

Sanhedrin. If he was, he had to have been m

arried, because you hadto be m

arried to be on the Sanhedrin. From 1 C

or 7:7 we infer that he

was m

arried but became a w

idower.

Cf. R

ev 2:17 White stone. O

ne possible meaning is a favorable vote,

after the tradition of the Sanhedrin.

Page 106

5]M

ark 16:17-18.

8]T

he wording here im

plies an instantaneous healing.

9]T

he word “healed” here is a different w

ord in the Greek, im

plying agradual healing.

11]C

astor and Pollux - these were tw

in sons of Zeus in m

ythology. (We

would know

them as G

emini.)

25]Isa 6:9-10; cf. John 12:36-40.

31]In this period is w

hen Paul writes the letter to the Philippians, the letter

to the Ephesians, the letter to C

olossians, and the letter to Philemon:

the so-called prison epistles.

According to tradition (not found in the B

ible), Paul did appear beforethe em

peror, and the case was dism

issed. He w

ent back to Crete w

hereT

itus was left in charge; he also probably visited E

phesus where

Tim

othy was left in charge. T

here is some evidence that he visited

Spain, and some scholars believe he even visited B

ritain. But Paul

was arrested again and did som

e more tim

e in prison in Rom

e. (Where

he probably wrote the 2 T

imothy letter, his last letter.) O

ne day he was

taken outside the walls of R

ome and beheaded.

Co

nclu

sion

Acts is an unfinished book, it has continued for the last 1900 years.

Revelation is, in a sense, a continuation.

The last w

ord in the book of Acts is “unhindered.”

* * *

9]“T

he fast was now

already past” - Yom

Kippur had apparently gone by.

10]Paul is prophesying.

12]T

his small tow

n probably could not support 276 people for winter.

13]“South w

ind” is a favorable wind, contrary to the norm

al winds there.

14]“E

uroclydon” - the name of the w

ind!

17]“Q

uicksands” are a form of sand bar.

20]R

emem

ber that they did not have compasses. T

hey used the sun andthe stars for guidance, and w

hen they were blocked, they had no w

ayto know

where they w

ere.

38]T

hey ate what they could and threw

the rest overboard to lighten theship.

43]R

oman soldiers could sw

im, it w

as part of their training, but theprisoners w

ere on their own.

Why did the shipw

reck occur? Was Paul in G

od’s will? or w

as itSatanic opposition... G

od’s strengthening is made perfect in m

an’sw

eakness.

We find from

2 Cor 11:25 that Paul w

as in TH

RE

E shipw

recks!

Ch

apter 28

Melita o

r Malta?

1]M

elita is Malta.

2]“B

arbarian” - Term

is misleading as w

e use it in a different way than

the Rom

ans did. A barbarian m

eant that one didn’t speak Greek or

Latin!

3]T

here are no snakes on Malta any m

ore. The books are full of things

about this, but remem

ber that it was 2000 years ago, as things get

cultivated, the snakes are gone.

Page 108

A V

iew o

f Ch

urch

Ag

es

Letter

Church A

geD

ates (A.D

.)E

phesusA

postolic Age

<100

Smyrna

Age of Persecution*

100-313Pergam

osIm

perial Church

313-590T

hyatiraA

ge of Papacy590-T

ribulationSardis

Reform

ation1517- T

ribulationPhiladelphia

Missionary C

hurch1730-R

aptureL

aodiceaA

postate Church

1900-Tribulation

*Rom

an Persecutions(10 “D

ays”?)

Em

perorD

ate1.

Nero

542.

Dom

itian81

3.T

rajan98

4.H

adrian117

5.Septim

ius Severus193

6.M

aximin

2357.

Decius

2498.

Valerian

2549.

Aurelian

27010.

Diocletian

284

Th

e Ch

urch

at Ep

hesu

s

Revelation 2:1-7.

Backg

rou

nd

Histo

ry: Ep

hesu

s

Tacitus records that the city w

as founded in 1400 B.C., with an early

temple to the M

other Goddess and ancient H

ittite fertility deity who

subsequently became identified w

ith Diana. Ionian colonists from

Athens settled there about 1100 B.C.

In the middle of the 6th century B.C., the L

ydians captured the city.C

roesus, their king, was routed by the Persians in 541

B.C. andE

phesus was joined to other cities in the Ionian confederation. It w

as

Seven

Letters to

Seven

Ch

urch

es

These tw

o bonus tapes are to supplement the A

cts study with a precis

study of the Seven Letters to Seven C

hurches from the B

ook ofR

evelation. For an in-depth study of these letters, do see ourR

evelation Expositional C

omm

entary series, which covers the letters

on five tapes (vs. this precis, which is done in tw

o tapes).

Why these seven? W

hy not the very significant churches at:

Jerusalem?

Rom

e?A

ntioch?G

alatia?C

olossae?Philippi?

Iconium?

Lystra?

Derbe?

Miletus?

Fo

ur L

evels of A

pp

lication

1)L

ocal: actual, historic churches; with validated needs, etc. A

rcheo-logical discoveries have confirm

ed this.2)

Adm

onitory: “Hear w

hat the Spirit says to the churches.” Applies to

all churches throughout history. Any church can be “m

apped” interm

s of these seven characteristics.3)

Holim

letic: personal. “He that hath an ear let him

hear...” Each letter

applies to each of us. There is som

e element of each of the “churches”

in everyone of us; perhaps the most im

portant application of the entirebook.

4)P

rophetic: These letters describe, w

ith amazing precision, the un-

folding of all church history. In any other order, this would not be true.

(This chronicle fills the “gap” betw

een the 69th and 70th week of

Daniel. T

he Book of A

cts covers about 30 years; Chapter 2 and 3 of

the Book of R

evelation covers the next 2,000.)

Backg

rou

nd

Ephesus

Acts 18-20; E

phesians;Sm

yrnaA

cts 15; Philippians;Pergam

osN

um 22-24; 33; A

cts 15;T

hyatira1 K

ings 16; 21;Sardis

Galatians;

Philadelphia1 &

2 Thessalonians;

Laodicea

Colossians.

Page 110

Paul’s visit was brief and w

as directed toward the Jew

ish comm

unity;he later m

ade a second visit — he w

as driven from the synagogue and

settled in the school of Tyrannus for tw

o years until the uproar in 58A.D. (A

cts 19:24-41; 20:1). Ephesus later becam

e the center form

issionary operations throughout Asia. Im

itators followed, but

without pow

er. (Seven sons of Siva: Acts 19:12-17). A

fter Paul leftE

phesus and journeyed through Macedonia, he returned (to M

iletus)for his fam

ed farewell to the E

phesian elders.

Tim

othy is alleged to have become its first bishop (1 T

im 1:3). It is

here that we find A

quila, Priscilla and Apollos. 1 C

orinthians was

penned during his second visit. (Paul’s Epistle to E

phesus was w

rittenfrom

Rom

e.) John is said to have spent time in E

phesus with M

ary,the L

ord’s mother. A

ccording to Eusebius and others, John returned

there in 95 A.D. after Patmos, and spent his closing years there. H

isG

ospel was apparently w

ritten from there. H

is tomb is there. T

hereputed hom

e of Mary is now

a shrine.

Later H

istory

The bishop of E

phesus was accorded rank and authority of a patriarch

over the churches in the province of Asia. In 431 A.D. E

mperor

Theodosius II called a general church council at E

phesus to considerthe hotly argued question of the tim

e whether V

irgin Mary should be

described as the mother of G

od, and 200 bishops at this Third

Ecum

enical Council decided in the affirm

ative.

Its chief rival city was M

iletus, but alluvial deposits gradually siltedup the garbor of M

iletus; Ephesus (for a w

hile) eclipsed its rival inim

portance. (The R

omans stripped the land of its w

ooded mountain

ranges; soil eroded and the resulting silt transformed the harbor to a

swam

p; today 20 miles of land has cut off the city from

the sea. (Even

in the first century, Paul landed at Miletus - after one of the m

anydredgings - in A

cts 20.)

(Jesus’ letter about 35 years after Paul’s departure.) For backgroundread A

cts 18-20, Paul’s Epistle to the E

phesians, and John’s Epistles.

[Please refer to the Chart D

esign Structure of the Letters to Seven

Churches included w

ith these notes.]

at this time that the tutelary deity becam

e identified with D

iana (orA

rtemis). E

phesus was involved to its ow

n disadvantage in thePeloponnesian and Persian w

ars and served as a key naval base. In334 B.C. it fell to the M

acedonians under Alexander. A

fter his death,L

ysimachus becam

e the master of the city and added great im

prove-m

ents.

Ephesus unw

isely sided with A

ntiochus of Syria against the Rom

ans.It eventually becam

e the Rom

an capital of the province of Asia. B

utas a free city, E

phesus had its own m

unicipal government and senate

(mentioned both by Strabo and Josephus).

Arch

itecture

Architecturally superb, its theater w

as 495 feet in diameter and held

25,000 people (Acts 19). T

he Marble W

ay, lined with statues and

fountains, ran from the tem

ple of Artem

is through the city to theM

egnesia Gate. T

he Arcadian W

ay, another main road from

thetheater to the harbor, w

as 1735 feet long and 70 feet wide, lined w

ithcolum

ns and shops and illuminated at night. T

he most outstanding

architectural feature was the tem

ple of Diana (daughter of Z

eus, sisterof A

pollo).

The tem

ple of Diana, one of the “seven w

onders” of the ancient world,

was four tim

es as large as the Parthenon at Athens, and stood on a

platform 425 feet by 220 feet. T

he building itself was 340 feet by 165

feet, had 120 Ionic columns, each 60 feet high.

Ecstatic, sexual rites took place at the tem

ple, involving both male and

female prostitutes. Its incom

e was threatened by Paul’s preaching -

this lead to his departure. The tem

ple was also an asylum

for thecrim

inals. The first bank (in the w

orld?) functioned at the temple

under the chief priests.

New

Testam

ent P

eriod

In the New

Testam

ent period Ephesus w

as the largest city of its day.A

s the harbor gradually became unusable, traffic diverted to Sm

yrna.

Ephesus w

as the center for the study of arts and magic; renow

ned overthe w

orld for talismans, incantations, books, charm

s, etc. (Burnings,

Acts 19:19).

Page 112

scribed it as the most beautiful city in the w

orld. It was about 42 m

ilesnorth of E

phesus and possessed an excellent double harbor. The outer

harbor was a deep w

ater mooring ground; the inner (now

silted in) hada narrow

entrance that could be blocked with a chain.

The city suffered m

any vicissitudes. In the reign of Tiberius, it w

asalm

ost blotted out by an earthquake. Betw

een 178 and 180 A.D. itsuffered a succession of seism

ic disturbances which again reduced

the vulnerable city to ruins. Marcus A

urelius once more restored it

(and parts of the new agora are still standing). In 378 another

earthquake demolished the city, but the intrepid Sm

yrneans againrebuilt. E

ven today, bustling Izmir has been term

ed the “Paris of theL

evant.”

Pag

an W

orsh

ip

Smyrna w

as richly embellished w

ith temples and splendid buildings,

and the perfection and symm

etry of those encircling Mount Pagos

resulted in the title “the crown of Sm

yrna.” At the foot of the

mountain stood the tem

ple of Zeus, the father of the gods, reputed to

be the lord of the sky, rain, clouds, and thunder. Along the G

oldenStreet stood the shrines of A

pollo the sun-god, Aphrodite the goddess

of love and beauty, Aesculapius the god of m

edicine, and finally,close to the sea, C

ybele, a Phrygian nature goddess. At the A

gora (thecom

mercial and political center) w

ere statues of Poseidon the sea-god, and D

emeter the goddess of corn.

The priests of the various deities w

ere termed stephanophori, in

reference to the laurel or golden crowns w

hich they used to wear in

public processions. They w

ere awarded this honor at the end of their

year in office. (The term

stephanos is alluded to in Rev 2:10.)

The tutelary goddess of Sm

yrna was C

ybele (later, the Greek R

hea,the daughter of the sky and the earth and the m

other of Zeus, Poseidon

and Hades). H

er worship w

as wild and unrestrained. A

s the giver ofw

ealth, she became recognized in the great cities as the goddess of the

settled life and of towns, hence her crow

n of walled cities. She

appears on Smyrnead coins depicted as enthroned and w

earing acrow

n of battlements and tow

ers. [Goddess of fortresses, (“god of

forces”) Daniel 11:38?]

In addition to the usual deities, Smyrna readily accepted C

aesarw

orship. In 196 B.C. the Smyrneans erected a tem

ple to Dea R

oma,

Th

e Ch

urch

at Sm

yrna

Revelation 2:8-17.

Backg

rou

nd

Histo

ry: Sm

yrna

Today Sm

yrna is called Izmir, and it is the third largest city in T

urkey(pop. 300,000; N

T: 100,000?). It exports tobacco, grapes, figs,

cotton, olives, and olive oil.

Smyrna possesses an excellent harbor and is encircled by cypress-

clad hill (Catalkaya, Pagos or K

adifekale, Nif or K

emalpass, and

Yam

anlar).

Smyrna w

as inhabited by the Asiatic L

eleges in about 3000 B.C., with

indications of later Hittite influence. In the 11th century B.C. A

eoliancolonists from

Cym

e settled in the area. About 900 B.C., according to

Herodotus, the area fell into the hands of the Ionians from

Colophon,

and there comm

enced the most glorious phase of Sm

yrna’s history.D

uring this period the poet Hom

er was born, lived and died in

Smyrna. T

hree centuries of greatness ended, however, w

ith the attackof the L

ydians.

Smyrna stood at the entrance to the broad fertile valley of M

ermus, at

the mouth of the river M

eles, and on the well sheltered gulf of Sm

yrna.It w

as strategically placed for trade between E

urope and Asia. It w

as,thus, a rival to Sardis and the L

ydian kingdom.

An expedition under G

yges was defeated and driven back, but a later

one under Alyattes, then king of L

ydia, was successful. Sm

yrna was

devastated and ceased to exist for three centuries. A pathetic end to

a history of two and one-half m

illennia.

In the 4th century, Alexander the G

reat, in response to a dream,

ordered Lysim

achus, one of his four generals, to build a strong, well-

planned city, the most beautiful in Ionia, w

hich became know

n as “theflow

er of Ionia.” It prospered into one of the greatest of the known

world.

Smyrna cam

e under control of the Rom

ans in 27 B.C., having proveda faithful ally to R

ome in the Syrian and M

ithridatic wars. From

27B.C. to 324 A.D. she enjoyed great m

aterial prosperity. Strabo de-

Page 114

allying himself w

ith Seleucus, Lysim

achus’ rival. Subsequent rulersskillfully established them

selves as a dominant pow

er in Asia M

inorand one of the principal centers of H

ellenistic culture. Wisely allying

with R

ome, it becam

e an extremely w

ealthy and prosperous city, andfor tw

o centuries it became the official capital of the R

oman province

of Asia. L

acking proximity to the key trade routes, it eventually yields

economic advantages to its better located rival, E

phesus.

Pergamos is about 18 m

iles from the sea, about 80 m

iles north ofSm

yrna. The present city of B

ergama has a population of only

200,000 of old).

Zeus is said to have been born there. T

he great altar stood on afoundation 125 ft by 115 ft, over 50 ft high, set in a colonnadedenclosure (Satan’s throne? R

ev 2:13).

Aesculapium

- health institutions before the scientific medical prac-

tice begun by Hippocrates - prospered for eight centuries. Function-

ing mostly by psychiatry and suggestion; sleep w

as induced andpriests used their ow

n methods (drugs and others) to cause patients to

dream, and then interpret, etc. B

athing, whispered consultations,

music, plays, and other techniques w

ere employed as therapeutic aids.

Long before the N

ew T

estament days, A

esculapius had been recog-nized as a god (the son of A

pollo and the virgin Cornois). H

e was

termed “Savior” and it w

as claimed that he had the pow

er to avertdeath. H

e was originally represented by the A

natolians as a serpent,and the G

reeks later depicted him holding H

ermes’ staff (the C

adu-ceus) w

ith the two-headed snake. [T

he original idea emerging from

the brazen serpent of Num

bers 21:8,9; John 3:14; (also, 2 Kgs 18:4).]

The C

aduceus is the official emblem

of the city. [Herm

es is the godof com

merce...]

Although not the seat of im

perial and judicial authority, Pergamos

became the center of the official religion of em

peror “Caesar”

worship. A

ugustus inaugurated emperor w

orship in order to give theem

pire a bond of comm

on sentiment, and the first tem

ple of this cultw

as erected at Pergamos in 27

B.C. Under V

espasian and hissuccessors, it becam

e a test of one’s faith if one would or w

ould notoffer incense to the statue of the em

peror.

Aesculapius w

as identical to Phaethon - or Nim

rod - who founded the

original Babylonian religion - eventually developing into the w

orship

the goddess of Rom

e, and they subsequently built one to Tiberius.

The w

orship of the emperor w

as compulsory. E

ach year a Rom

ancitizen had to burn a pinch of incense on the altar and to acknow

ledgepublicly that C

aesar was suprem

e lord. In return, he received a formal

certificate that he had done so. Originally the action w

as intendedsim

ply as proof of political loyalty, since the individual was perm

ittedto w

orship whatever god or goddess he chose once he had offered to

Caesar. T

his was a m

eans of unifying and integrating the many and

varied elements in the vast em

pire of Rom

e. How

ever, this act ofw

orship presented a vital test for the Christian, and m

any who refused

perished at the stake or by wild beasts in the arena.

In 169 (155?) A.D., the bishop of Smyrna, Polycarp, refused to recant.

“Eighty and six years have I served H

im, and H

e never did me w

rong.H

ow can I now

speak evil of my K

ing who has saved m

e?” The old

man w

as burned at the stake of the Sabbath day, an object of Jewish

hatred as well as from

the Rom

an persecutions.

Th

e Ch

urch

at Perg

amo

s

Revelation 2:12-17; Pergam

os - the city of the Serpent.

Backg

rou

nd

Histo

ry: Perg

amo

s

[Pergamos is the fem

inine form; Pergam

um is the neuter form

of thenam

e; both were used.] Pergam

os was located 70 m

iles north ofSm

yrna. Smyrna w

as the great comm

ercial center; Ephesus, the great

political center; Pergamos, the great religious center.

Its early history is obscure; there are evidences that it was occupied

during the stone and bronze ages, but prior to Alexander the G

reat,Pergam

os was little m

ore than a castle on top of a hill.

Its foundation is ascribed to Arcadian colonists under the H

eracleidT

elephus (who routed the A

chaeans on their landing in Mysia to

attack Troy). Its nam

e is said to have been derived from the son of

Pyrrhus and Androm

ache who m

ade himself king of T

euthrania bykilling the king in single com

bat. After the defeat of A

ntigonus atIpsus in 301 B.C., the northw

est Asia M

inor was united to the T

hraciankingdom

of Lysim

achus. Its impregnable position lent itself to its use

as a treasury. How

ever, Philetaerus betrayed Lysim

achus’ trust by

Page 116

It was originally a L

ydian town bearing the nam

e of Pelopia, thenSem

iramis, and then E

uhippia. It was taken by the Persians and then

Alexander, and is ultim

ately passed to the possession of Lysim

achus,one of A

lexander’s four generals. In 301 B.C., however, L

ysimachus

was defeated by his rival Seleucus I (N

icator) and it thus became part

of Syria. The city w

as converted into a frontier fortress to guard thew

ay to Pergamos.

Nicator nam

ed it “Thyatira” (G

reek, thygater, for daughter) on beinginform

ed that a daughter had been born to him; cf. “Jezebel.”

[Another m

eaning is “continual sacrifice,” which m

any scholarsassociate w

ith the doctrine of the mass.]

Grow

ing in comm

ercial importance, T

hyatira became a w

ell-known

center for trade guilds. Mem

bership in these was com

pulsory andessential if one w

as to pursue a trade. These w

ere well-organized

corporate bodies, providing specific benefits and taking actions toprotect their interests, often ow

ning considerable property. Each

guild was under the patronage of som

e pagan deity, and all proceed-ings and feasts com

menced w

ith paying homage to the patron god or

goddess. The dilem

ma of the C

hristian tradesman continues in our

own day: Is it necessary for the believer to participate in the produc-

tion of films, plays, books, or m

usic which have an essential appeal

to the flesh? It is a choice between C

hrist or the world.

Thyatira w

as known for its dyes - particularly its purple (w

hich was

scarlet rather than purple, derived from the m

adder-root, which is

prolific in the area. (Alternatives also included the m

urex, a shell-fishfrom

whose throat a drop of dye could be extracted.) cf. L

ydia, aw

ealthy sales rep for Thyatira dw

elling in Philippi (acts 16:14,15).

Thyatira portrays the m

edieval papacy from 600 to 1500 A.D. T

hedream

to establish and enforce the pretensions of the Rom

an churchconstitute the m

ajor part of the history of the Middle A

ges.

The C

haldean priest who interpreted the esoteric doctrines of the

Babylonian m

ysteries was called Peter (i.e., “T

he interpreter”). He

wore an insignia of the tw

o keys of Janus and Cybele, w

hich stillappear on the Papal arm

s as symbols of spiritual authority.

The danger to the church at T

hyatira did not arise from the persecu-

tions of imperial R

ome nor from

the animosity of Jew

ish attitudes. It

of his widow

Semiram

is and his posthumous son (the A

shtoreth andT

amm

uz of Phoenicia, Isis and Horus of E

gypt, Aphrodite and E

rosof G

reece, Venus and C

upid of Rom

e, etc.) (Hislop).

When C

yrus conquered Babylon, they founded a new

center atPergam

os and that king became P

ontifex Maxim

us, the high priest ofthat pagan system

. (Pember).

Both H

islop and Pember trace the subsequent transfer of the cult from

Pergamos to R

ome, w

ith the appointment of successive C

aesars ashigh priest and ultim

ately, to that office in 378 A.D. of Dam

asus, theB

ishop of Rom

e, with the com

plete and permanent absorption of

“Babylonianism

” into the Rom

an Church (re: T

hyatira).

In 312 A.D., Constantine set out to defeat the forces of M

axentius, hisrival, for suprem

e power in the em

pire. His father had prospered

when he had prayed to the G

od of the Christians, and C

onstantine, inhis extrem

ity, resorted to the same action. It is said that on the next

day he saw a shining cross in the sky w

ith an inscription above it: inhoc signo vinces, “In this sign thou shalt conquer.” H

e defeatedM

axentius at the Milvan bridge, and im

mediately declared his con-

version to Christianity. H

e assumed headship of the church, repealed

the persecution edicts of Diocletian, and advanced C

hristians to highoffice in the state.

Heathenism

was C

hristianized; pagan temples becam

e Christian

churches; heathen festivals were converted into C

hristian ones; paganpriests slipped into office as C

hristian priests. Change w

as mostly

nomenclature.T

he C

hu

rch at T

hyatira

Revelation 2:18-29.

Backg

rou

nd

Histo

ry: Th

yatira

The road from

Istanbul to Izmir runs through the sm

all and unattrac-tive tow

n of Akhisar (population: 30,000), w

hich now occupies the

site where once stood the im

portant military city of T

hyatira. In New

Testam

ent times, the city stood at the junction of three m

ain roadsleading to Pergam

os, Sardis, and Smyrna.

Page 118

could find a way of scaling the apparently unscalable cliffs. O

ne ofhis soldiers, H

yeroeades, noticed a Lydian soldier accidentally drop

his helmet over the battlem

ents and noted his path to retrieve it, thusrevealing an unguarded oversight. In the darkness of the follow

ingnight, H

yeroeades and a Persian party climbed the cliff and clam

beredover the unguarded battlem

ents to take the city.

But the Sardians did not learn their lesson: in 214 B.C. the form

idablecliffs again proved susceptible to a hazardous clim

b when L

agorasrepeated the exploit of H

yeroeades and the city was sim

ilarly taken byA

ntiochus. Hegel said “H

istory teaches that man learns nothing from

history.” The Sardians w

ere not watchful.

New

Testam

ent P

eriod

By the N

ew T

estament tim

e, most of its earlier dignity and splendor

had disappeared. An severe earthquake in 17

A.D. caused major

damage. T

oday the little town of Sart has only fragm

ents of its proudhistory.T

he C

hu

rch at P

hilad

elph

ia

Revelation 3:7-13. Philadelphia - the C

hurch of love.

Backg

rou

nd

Histo

ry: Ph

iladelp

hia

The youngest of the cities, now

known as A

lashehir, was built in the

area acquired by Pergamos in 189 B.C. K

ing Eum

enes II, King of

Pergamos, had a younger brother, A

ttalus II, who w

as his successor,and w

on the cognomen Philadelphus (“O

ne who loves his brother”),

after which the city w

as named, for his loyalty and affection for

Eum

enes. Philadelphian coins show the tw

o brothers as completely

alike in height, features, and dress.

The area w

as well favored for w

ine production (Dionysys, the god of

wine, w

as the principal deity) and the city was w

ell situated on theim

perial post road from R

ome and T

roas to Pergamos, Sardis and to

the interior of Phrygia. It was a virtual gatew

ay to the high centralplateau of A

sia Minor and thus becam

e a missionary center for

spreading the Greek language and m

anners into the eastern parts of

arose from w

ithin the church itself- all the more serious and dangerous

to deal with.T

he C

hu

rch at S

ardis

Revelation 3:1-6.

Backg

rou

nd

Histo

ry: Sard

is

Seven hundred years before this letter was w

ritten, Sardis was one of

the greatest cities in the world. It is reputed to be one of the oldest

cities of Asia. A

eschylus, Thucydides, and other G

reek writers

mention it as a city of renow

n. It probably dates back to before 2000B.C. Sardis w

as the ancient capital of the Lydian em

pire (1200 B.C.)and residence of the royal dynasty of the M

ermnades.

A strategic travel location betw

een Pergamos, Sm

yrna, Ephesus,

Philadelphia and Phygia, Sardis favored comm

erce and it became a

very wealthy city. G

old and silver “Lydian Staters” w

ere the firstcoins in the w

orld - in about the sixth century B.C.

At its zenith, C

roesus, its king, (and also its river, Pactolus) became

proverbial for riches. Its patron deity was the goddess C

ybele,(know

n as Diana in E

phesus) whose son, M

idas, was the w

ealthy buteffem

inate king of Phrygia. He is fabled as the one w

hose touchturned everything to gold, etc.

Sardis was situated on a hill 1000 feet above the broad valley of the

Herm

us at the foot of Mt T

molus. It appeared to be im

pregnable.H

owever, the sheer precipitous cliff w

as clay, which suffered con-

tinual erosion and the untrustworthy m

ud left occasional cracksw

hich could be exploited.

This false confidence w

as reflected in the character of the inhabitants:false confidence, appearance w

ithout reality, promise w

ithout perfor-m

ance, outward appearance of strength betrayed by w

ant of watchful-

ness and diligence.

An exam

ple: When besieged by the Persians in 549 B.C., C

roesus, thenking of L

ydia, left unguarded the precipitous cliffs on three sides ofthe city. A

fter a 14-day siege, Cyrus offered a rew

ard to any man w

ho

Page 120

A highly successful com

mercial and financial center, rem

ains of atheater, aqueducts, baths, gym

nasium and stadium

still survive totestify of its form

er luxury.

Histo

ry

It was never m

ilitarily defendable, so its strategic posture was one of

comprom

ise.

The city w

as originally founded by the Ionians about 2000 B.C. as arelatively sm

all town of D

iospolis, but in the 19th century B.C. theH

ittites added it to their expanding empire. A

thousand years later itw

as captured by the Phrygians and soon afterwards by the L

ydians.It w

as renamed R

hoas, but in about 250 B.C. it was taken by the

Syrians, and Antiochus II rebuilt the tow

n and renamed it after his

wife, L

aodice.

It became part of the K

ingdom of Pergam

os about 190 B.C. and

ultimately passed into the hands of the R

oman E

mpire. A

ccording toJosephus, there w

as a large Jewish colony there.

Ch

urch

Histo

ry

The church there w

as probably founded by Epapras. C

ol 2:1 implies

that it was not visited by Paul, although he addressed a letter to it (C

ol4:12-14), w

hich may very w

ell have been a circular letter, a copy ofw

hich has been preserved for us as the epistle to the Ephesians. O

nthe other hand, Paul’s first letter to T

imothy w

as written by him

fromL

aodicea (1 Tim

6:21). Some 30 years earlier Paul had w

arnedA

rchippus (thought by some to have been the son of Philem

on) to bem

ore diligent in fulfilling his ministry (C

ol 2:1; 4:16, 17). There is a

tradition that Archippus had becom

e the bishop of Laodicea. It m

ayhave been his w

eakness which contributed to the spiritual condition

of the church here.

Eco

no

my

At the junction of roads leading from

Ephesus and Sm

yrna andhandling caravan trade as far east as the Y

ellow R

iver in Punjab by theC

hina Sea, much w

ealth flowed through L

aodicea. It was a city of

merchants, bankers, and gold refiners. C

icero held court there and didhis banking there.

Lydia and Phrygia. T

his missionary character of the city seem

s to bestressed in the letter to the church of Philadelphia.

The area (called K

atakekaumene, “T

he Burned L

and”) was a highly

volcanic region and suffered repeatedly from earthquakes. It w

asalm

ost completely destroyed in the disaster of 17 A.D., w

hich devas-tated Sardis and ten other cities. (T

remors w

ere reported for yearsafterw

ards). Civic and econom

ic disruption lasted for more than

twenty years.

Generous assistance and financial relief from

Tiberius caused the

citizens to name the rebuilt city N

eo-Caesarea (“N

ew C

ity of Cae-

sar”). Later, in the tim

e of Vespasian, it w

as changed to Flavia, hisfam

ily name. T

he name changes w

ere short-lived and the old name

Philadelphia was soon revived. Prosperity w

as never fully regained.T

he city was under a legal jurisdiction of w

hich Sardis was the center.

The church suffered at the hands of the large Jew

ish comm

unity in thecity. Ignatius, the bishop of A

ntioch, writing to the Philadelphian

church a few years after John’s R

evelation referred to the Jews, w

hohad so long persecuted the C

hristians there, as being converted andturning in contrition to those w

hose adversity they had caused. This

trend is reflected in the letter itself.

Th

e Ch

urch

at Lao

dicea

Revelation 3:14-22.

Backg

rou

nd

Histo

ry: Lao

dicea

South of Philadelphia, not far from C

olossae, stood the large andprosperous city of L

aodicea on the banks of the river Lycus, a

tributary of the Meander.

It was the tw

in of Hierapolis, six m

iles away, w

hich was renow

ned forits hot springs. (T

he Turkish governm

ent is attempting to harness this

geothermal pow

er source.) Laodicea stood m

idway betw

een the hotsprings of H

ierapolis and the cold waters of C

olossae. (It was fed by

an aqueduct from H

ieropolis, the water being lukew

arm w

hen itarrived.)

Page 122

Phillips, J.B., T

he Gospels, M

acmillan C

ompany, N

Y, 1953.

Pink, Arthur W

., Gleanings in G

enesis, Moody B

ible Institute of Chicago,

IL, 1922.

Pink, Arthur W

., Gleanings from

Paul, M

oody Press, Chicago, IL

, 1967.Pow

ell, Ivor, The A

mazing A

cts, Kregel Publishing, G

rand Rapids, M

I,1980.

Scofield, C.I., T

he New

Scofield Study Bible, (K

JV) O

xford University

Press, New

York, 1967.

Smith, C

huck, Charism

a versus Charism

ania, Harvest H

ouse, Eugene,

OR

, 1983.Spence, H

.D.M

. and Joseph S. Exell (editors), T

he Pulpit C

omm

entary,vol. 18 - A

cts, William

B. E

erdmans Publishing C

ompany, G

randR

apids, MI, 1961.

Steadman, R

ay, Birth of the B

ody (Acts 1-12), G

rowth of the B

ody (Acts

13-20), and Trium

phs of the Body (A

cts 21-28), Vision H

ouse Pub.,Santa A

na, CA

, 1981.T

homas, D

avid, Acts of the A

postles, Kregel Pub., G

rand Rapids, M

I,1980.

Letters to

Seven

Ch

urch

es Bib

liog

raph

y

Bournis, A

rchimandrite T

heodoritos, I Was in the Isle P

atmos, M

onasteryof Patm

os, Athens, 1968.

Ford, W. H

erschel, The Seven C

hurches of Revelation, Z

ondervan Pub-lishing H

ouse, Grand R

apids, MI, 1959.

Meinardus, O

tto F.A., St John of P

atmos, and the Seven C

hurches of theA

pocalypse, Caratzas B

rothers, New

Rochelle, N

Y, 1979.

Morgan, G

. Cam

pbell, The L

etters of Our L

ord, Pickering & Inglis L

td.,L

ondon, 1945.Papadopoulos, St. A

., Patm

os, Monastery of St John, T

he Theologian,

Athens, 1967.

Tatford, Fredk. A

., The P

atmos L

etters, Kregel Publications, G

randR

apids, MI, 1969.

Plus many other com

mentaries on R

evelation, do see our Expostitional

Com

mentary for a com

plete listing.

Textile m

anufacturing was also a source of considerable revenue.

Laodicea w

as also known for the quality of black w

ool produced froma particular strain of sheep bred in the L

ycus valley and for the clothand carpets m

anufactured from it.

A fam

ous school of medicine w

as there, especially known for an

ophthalmic ointm

ent (a mixture of oil and the collyrium

powder -

described by Aristotle as “Phyrgian pow

der”).

* * *

Bib

liog

raph

y

Barnhouse, D

.G., A

cts, Ministry R

esources Library, Z

ondervan Publish-ing H

ouse, Grand R

apids, MI, 1979.

Bullinger, E

.W., T

he Com

panion Bible, Z

ondervan Bible Publishers,

Grand R

apids, MI, 1958.

Bullinger, E

.W., W

itness of the Stars, Kregel Publications, G

rand Rapids,

MI, 1893.

DeH

aan, M.R

., Pentecost and A

fter, Zondervan Publishing H

ouse, Grand

Rapids, M

I, 1970.G

aebelein, Arno C

., The A

cts of the Apostles, L

oizeaux Brothers, N

eptune,N

J, 1961.G

loag, Paton J., Acts of the A

postles, Klock &

Klock C

hristian Publishing,M

inneapolis, MN

, 1870.H

enry, Matthew

and Thom

as Scott, Com

mentary on the H

oly Bible,

Thom

as Nelson Publishing C

ompany, N

Y, 1979.

Ironside, H.A

., Book of A

cts, Loizeaux B

rothers, Neptune, N

J, 1943.Jam

ieson, Rev. R

obert, Rev. A

.R. Fausset and R

ev. David B

rown, A

Com

mentary C

ritical, Experim

ental, and Practical on the O

ld andN

ew T

estaments, vol. V

I, William

B. E

erdman’s Publishing C

om-

pany, Grand R

apids, MI, 1948.

Lindsey, H

al, The R

oad to Holocaust, B

antam B

ooks, New

York, N

Y,

1989.M

issler, Chuck various E

xpositional Com

mentaries (Isaiah, R

evelation,Joshua, Jude, G

enesis) and Briefing Packages (T

he Prodigal H

eirs,T

he Feasts of Israel, Seven L

etters to Seven Churches, T

he SpiritualG

ifts, From

Here to E

ternity, Daniel’s Seventy W

eeks, Mystery of the

Lost A

rk, Sovereignty of Man); K

oinonia House, C

oeur d’Alene, ID

.M

organ, G. C

ampbell, A

cts of the Apostles, Flem

ing H. R

evell Com

p.,M

CM

XX

IV.

Ab

ou

t Th

e Co

ver Desig

n(on the tape cassette volum

es)

Th

e “Fro

nt” co

ver:

The G

reek border: “I am A

lpha and Om

ega, the beginning and theending, saith the L

ord, which is, and w

hich was, and w

hich is to come,

the Alm

ighty (Revelation 1:8).” T

he center design element sym

bol-izes the W

ord of God Incarnate, illum

inated by the Holy Spirit.

Th

e “Back” co

ver: (the “fro

nt” to

the Jew

ish read

er)

The H

ebrew border: “H

ear O Israel: T

he Lord our G

od is one Lord:

and thou shalt love the LO

RD

thy God w

ith all thine heart, and with

all thy soul, and with all thy m

ight (from the Sh’m

a, Deut 6:4-5).”

The center design represents the B

urning Bush, m

ade up of Hebrew

letters which proclaim

“the Eternal O

ne cannot lie.”

Th

e Sp

ine:

The spine includes a M

enorah from the O

ld Testam

ent, a Maranatha

Dove suggesting the N

ew T

estament, and the K

oinonia House logo

at the base.

Koinonia H

ouseP.O. Box D

Coeur d�Alene Idaho83816-0347

(208) 773-6310www.khouse.org

ISB

N 1-57821-021-6

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