The Acts of the Apostles, the history of the early church, by Luke the physician - Acts 5:1-11 comments : the case of Ananias and Sapphira

 

Acts 5:1 ¶  But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2  And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3  But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4  Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5  And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. 6  And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. 7  And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. 8  And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. 9  Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. 10  Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. 11  And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

 

The crime Ananias and Sapphira committed was to lie to the Holy Ghost. The penalty was death. I don’t think this is typically going to happen after this unique beginning to the Christian church. So, don’t be fearful when you put your offering in the plate. What it reinforces is that God is more focused on your intentions than on actions alone. God is not the pragmatist. He not only wants you to give of the blessing He has bestowed on you willingly and joyfully but He wants truth. See here what Paul says in the context of giving to other churches in need (not to funding your church’s basketball court.)

 

2Corinthians 9:6 ¶  But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 7  Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

 

And this heart in which you purpose things such as giving God knows. The spirit of man is the mind, heart, talents, even the intentions and ideas of a person. For contexts where the Spirit of God or the spirit of man can be synonymous with mind please see the following;

 

Romans 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

 

1Corinthians 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

 

Ephesians 4:23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

 

Philippians 1:27  Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

 

2Timothy 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

 

Our spirit is our mind, as shown before, but it is more than that as it is our also our heart, emotions, without which no rational mind can function, and our talents and inclinations given to us by God or tarnished by the fall of man.

 

Deuteronomy 2:30  But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day.

 

Psalm 34:18  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

 

The phrase the comes after a colon often helps define what went before it.

 

Psalm 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

 

As for talent and skills given by God through things like practice, apprenticeship, and learning unless you believe that Bezaleel woke up one day and suddenly knew how to do marvelous works.

 

Exodus 31:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2  See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3  And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4  To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, 5  And in cutting of

stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. 6  And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in

the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;

 

If you want to be wise hearted get to work. Wise hearted first, then wisdom from God. God searches man and woman’s mind, heart, inclinations, sin-nature, and all of the things that make up what we are.

 

Proverbs 20:27  The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

 

As God reads our spirit there is nothing, no thought, that is hid from God.

 

Psalm 139:23  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

Isaiah 66:18  For I know their works and their thoughts

 

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

 

And the intentions behind your actions for God will be judged in the end but you will be spared in eternity if you are saved by Him through the Cross.

 

1Corinthians 3:11 ¶  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

 

Do not promise or swear something you cannot or will not or have no true intention to come through on.

 

Ecclesiastes 5:4  When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

 

What this episode teaches us is that it is more important to be sincere than it is to try to impress others with empty, vain words and promises.  When you try to impress others with your giving or promises of service but secretly hold back from what you promised you are lying to God. Set expectations truthfully. I cannot overstate this. There is much hypocrisy in religion because many professing Christians’ god is Self rather than the God of the Bible. They think that if they look and sound like Christians they can be villains in their hearts although they would not characterize themselves as anything but well-intended followers of Christ.

Leviticus 14:33-57 comments: cleansing houses

 

Leviticus 14:33 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 34  When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession; 35  And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house: 36  Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house: 37  And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall; 38  Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days: 39  And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and shall look: and, behold, if the plague be spread in the walls of the house; 40  Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the city: 41  And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place: 42  And they shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other morter, and shall plaister the house. 43  And if the plague come again, and break out in the house, after that he hath taken away the stones, and after he hath scraped the house, and after it is plaistered; 44  Then the priest shall come and look, and, behold, if the plague be spread in the house, it is a fretting leprosy in the house: it is unclean. 45  And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the morter of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place. 46  Moreover he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the even. 47  And he that lieth in the house shall wash his clothes; and he that eateth in the house shall wash his clothes. 48  And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it, and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plaistered: then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. 49  And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: 50  And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water: 51  And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times: 52  And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet: 53  But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean.

 

Leviticus 14:54 ¶  This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy, and scall, 55  And for the leprosy of a garment, and of a house, 56  And for a rising, and for a scab, and for a bright spot: 57  To teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean: this is the law of leprosy.

 

This passage shows that the word Leprosy is applied to more than just Hansen’s Disease. It is also applied to what is probably mildew and mold in a house. I pointed out earlier not to read back modern definitions into words that were understood differently than we do today in either 2000BC or 1611AD.

As Canaanites were driven from their homes there would have been instances where dampness and vacancy resulted in contamination. We know that mold, caused by a fungus, can cause sickness from mild eye irritation all the way to shortness of breath and fever. We also know that certain types of molds can produce mycotoxins that can lead to death.

The danger of driving out the Canaanites too quickly was noted by God elsewhere.

 

Deuteronomy 7:22  And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.

 

For God’s favorable response to this physical and ritual uncleanness the ceremony to be performed is clearly laid out. It was a matter of the utmost importance for the Hebrew’s obedience and for their health. We might find some of these things odd but so did the people of that era. Note Naaman, the captain of the host of the king of Syria, and his reaction to Elisha’s remedy for his leprosy. Read 2Kings 5:1-14 and understand that this result was totally the hand of God and not because of some magical, healing quality of the river. Obedience was required, then God’s response.

2Kings 5:1 ¶  Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. 2  And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. 3  And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. 4  And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. 5  And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. 6  And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. 7  And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. 8  And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

 

    9 ¶  So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10  And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 11  But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. 12  Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 13  And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? 14  Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

 

This should give us some understanding of several passages in the Bible and their meaning. For instance, was there some magic knowledge-giving property of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in Genesis or was the knowledge that was attained simply choosing to obey God or disobey Him? People pondering the kind of fruit that must have hung from that tree perhaps miss the entire point. It is about obedience not an apple, a fig, or a grape. If you eat the fruit and disobey, God is saying, the one thing I don’t want you to do, that disobedience will kill you. You will begin dying.

And so beware of the kind of daft reasoning that makes Christians search for a large fish that can swallow a man whole and then relying on questionable accounts from sensational news stories that are unverified to prove their point and, in their minds, underscore the truth of the Bible in the book of Jonah. The truth is that God prepared that fish to swallow Jonah and there is no point in looking for a species that can fit the bill.

Jonah 1:17  Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

The Acts of the Apostles, the history of the early church, by Luke the physician - Acts 4:32-37 comments : the unity of the early church

 

Acts 4:32 ¶  And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 33  And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34  Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35  And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 36  And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, 37  Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

 

Unity of vision and purpose, of heart and soul were characteristics of the early church. This is what God wants for His people. One with God, one with Christ, one with each other in faith. This is not about being of the same political party, racial group, or country of birth but about unity with God and with one’s fellow believers in belief that Christ is that bridge between man and God that other religions do not offer, that He is the only way across that chasm of sin that separates man from God, that He is God Himself, our Creator and our Saviour.

 

John 17:11 ¶  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are…21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

 

Acts 1:14  These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

 

Acts 2:1 ¶  And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

 

1Corinthians 1:10 ¶  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

 

As these believers joined together in Jerusalem they formed a sort of commune where they surrendered their property in a kind of Christian communism, not Marx’s label whose tenets he stole from the Bible with even the wording of his idea of utopia the same. Let me revisit some earlier comments.

 

The early Christian church in Jerusalem was predominantly Jewish and lived communally sharing all things in common. The standard in this community was that people received things from the collective based on their need. Karl Marx would later appropriate this language as part of a slogan of Communism in the 1870s. We know, as God does, that a human’s sin nature would not permit such a utopia to stand for long. We must also consider that Christ had said that these people were to be witnesses for him throughout the world. So, while this church, this called-out assembly, was being formed and nurtured and strengthened it was only a matter of time before it would have to be ruptured and its members driven apart. We know from history that this would be complete at the Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 because Christians supposedly fled the disaster of the Romans taking the city after the disaster of various factions of Jews murdering each other in it.

But, let’s remember their zeal and devotion to God. Later counterfeits would try to emulate this situation in monastic communities but they were a false profession of what God demanded, that we live in the world while not being of the world. Your communes and compounds containing a cult patterning themselves on the early church are not of God but of man’s own imaginings, fantasies, and all too often desire for control of others.

The preaching of Christ’s Resurrection was powerfully made and God’s grace was upon all of the believers. Here, Joses Barnabas, the son of consolation, is introduced. He will play an important part in Paul’s ministry and go off on his own. He is an important figure in the early church. There is even a phony Gospel of Barnabas and the non-canonical Letter or Epistle of Barnabas.

Leviticus 14:1-32 comments: malignant skin diseases (cont.)

 

Leviticus 14:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2  This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest: 3  And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper; 4  Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: 5  And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: 6  As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: 7  And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field. 8  And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days. 9  But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean.

 

Notice here how God has used a physical disease to make a spiritual point. This ritual would not cure a person today of Leprosy and probably would not have cured an Egyptian or a Greek of that time from the various skin diseases that fall under the heading of Leprosy. However, the Hebrew could be cured and ritually cleansed. The Hebrew had the opportunity for physical healing just as they had the opportunity for spiritual healing by obeying God’s commands. Some skeptic might say that the process described would not cure Leprosy and they are right. But, with God all things are possible. Is it more likely that a Leper could be healed or that a wicked man be forgiven of his sins and have eternal life? Remember, the scene with the man with the palsy on the bed who was lowered through the roof of a house in Mark 2:1-12 by his friends?  Then, also this statement;

Matthew 19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

 

Notice also that when Christ healed the ten lepers they were to report to the priests as the Law commanded. See Luke 17:12-19.

Think of the comparison with the treatment of Leprosy here and what was commanded in the early church.

James 5:14  Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

 

The linkage between sickness healed and sins forgiven cannot be ignored. Paul commanded of the Thessalonians that, while admonishing a disobedient brother as a brother, they were not to associate with him.

2Thessalonians 3:13  But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. 14  And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.

15  Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

 

Like Leprosy, sin stains everyone around it and we all know is rather contagious. Leprosy and sin make a good comparison study, I think.

Matthew Henry and others made some interesting comparisons regarding the materials and animals used with things like the cedar and hyssop representing the value in service of the highest and the lowest ranks in the church and with the dead bird representing the death of Christ for our sins and the living bird the resurrection of Christ for our attaining of eternal life.

 

Leviticus 14:10 ¶  And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. 11  And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 12  And the priest shall take one he lamb, and offer him for a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: 13  And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy: 14  And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: 15  And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand: 16  And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD: 17  And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering: 18  And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD. 19  And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering: 20  And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meat offering upon the altar: and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he shall be clean.

 

Some have said that the blood is the token of forgiveness and the oil of healing. One commentator noted that the significance of the ear was what you hear from God, the toe was represented where your feet go for God, and the thumb represented what you do for God.

What is very interesting to me is that there are many different commentaries on Leviticus that do not differentiate between teaching and preaching interpretations. When you are preaching, exhorting a congregation to action or thought, comparisons and analogies can be made even to the point of twisting the text like taffy. But, teaching the text first must regard the text just as it is written to whom it was written in the time it was written and for the purpose it was recorded. Remember what I said in my comments on Genesis.

 

“As a scholar of Ancient Greece, Stephen Todd, said about what a historian must consider when approaching an ancient text, we must ask ourselves why it was written and then, why it was preserved.”^[1]

In the circumstances in which we find these detailed instructions on skin diseases called Leprosy there is a clear conclusion that can be drawn. Sometimes God revealed to the Hebrews a comparison with the outward condition of inner sin by way of the evidence of external disease. For us, this is a good analogy that helps us to see that sin, like an infection or plague, shows itself on us often and not just in us invisible to others.  Considering the admonition in Job, though, we would be careful to assume the nonsensical and cruel notion that modern disease is always proof of a hidden sin. The context of these Laws given to Moses and Aaron for the Hebrews is in God carving out a physical nation for Himself from the heathen nations as part of His ministry of reconciling mankind to Himself.

Let us also consider that Leviticus 13 and 14 are like a medical manual for priests but it is important that the intended results have a lot to do with how God will interact with the sick person. These are not just random events but for this “treatment” to work it is based on God’s response to the ritual work of the priest and the sinner. This lays the groundwork for the analogy with Christ dealing with our sins, a spiritual healing versus a physical healing here.

Leviticus 14:21 ¶  And if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one tenth deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil; 22  And two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering. 23  And he shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing unto the priest, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, before the LORD. 24  And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: 25  And he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: 26  And the priest shall pour of the oil into the palm of his own left hand: 27  And the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the LORD: 28  And the priest shall put of the oil that is in his hand upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the place of the blood of the trespass offering: 29  And the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, to make an atonement for him before the LORD. 30  And he shall offer the one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he can get; 31  Even such as he is able to get, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meat offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed before the LORD. 32  This is the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosy, whose hand is not able to get that which pertaineth to his cleansing.

 

Allowances are made for the poor leper. A person is not refused access to these mercies because of his or her social status, wealth, or lack thereof. Neither is a person excused from serving or honoring God because of their poverty. There is something they can do and something they can offer right where they are at without the shame of poverty that used to afflict people in this country in particular, that is accepted by God. A Matthew Henry noted, “The poor are as welcome to God’s altar as the rich.”

---

[1] Stephen Todd, “The Use and Abuse of Attic Orators,” Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Oct., 1990), 164. (From a paper delivered at Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1988.)

 

The Acts of the Apostles, the history of the early church, by Luke the physician - Acts 4:15-31 comments : the council's decision and Peter and John's reply

 

Acts 4:15 ¶  But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, 16  Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it. 17  But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. 18  And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19  But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. 20  For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. 21  So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done. 22  For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed.

 

Peter and John are now sent to wait outside. This is a cause of grave concern because it is impossible to deny that this healing has happened. News of it is spreading. If these men can do the work that Jesus did, healing the sick and the lame, who can say but what His claims were true and maybe their claims are, as well. This news has got to be squelched right away.

 

Peter and John now declare, not only to them but to us, the grounds on which we may disobey any civil law. There is no law that has any authority over the Holy Spirit that works inside of us. No law can contain that Spirit.

 

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

 

We are called to be witnesses for Christ and to make disciples.

 

Matthew 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 

The leadership, probably caught between the amazement of the people for this miracle and the danger to their position if this aroused a disturbance that would come to the attention of their Roman masters, can only threaten them and then let them go. They were always torn between trying to squelch what was being preached or trying to ignore it for fear of public unrest.

 

Mark 12:12  And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.

 

John 11:46  But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. 47  Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. 48  If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.

 

Acts 4:23 ¶  And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. 24  And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: 25  Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? 26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. 29  And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 30  By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. 31  And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

 

Verse 24 is a wonderful acknowledgement about God creating all things confirmed in other places than Genesis, chapter one. God’s creation of the universe is not only confirmed by Moses, writing Genesis under the inspiration of God, but also Isaiah.

Isaiah 42:5  Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

Isaiah 45:18  For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

King David;

Psalm 33:6  By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

And the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Mark 13:19  For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.

            Verses 25 and 26 quote the great Psalm that most of us understand prophetically to be about the millennial reign of Christ. Peter uses it here to underscore how futile man’s rules against proclaiming Christ are to be. Those who do not believe in a physical, millennial reign of Christ on earth will say that this Psalm was fulfilled here although to say that denies the implications of its message from verse 7 onward.

 

Psalm 2:1 ¶  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his

anointed, saying, 3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4  He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5  Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6  Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

 

    7 ¶  I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and

the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

 

    10 ¶  Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish

from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

 

            There are many prophecies in the Bible that have more than one application, an immediate and a future, as we have seen. Verses in Psalm 2 show that its ultimate fulfillment will come at the end of the millennial reign of Christ, as we will see more clearly in Revelation.

 

With verse 31 I want to restate something said earlier. The Holy Ghost gave commands to the Apostles whom Jesus showed Himself to for forty days after His resurrection. The apostles were ordered to assemble together at Jerusalem and to wait for the Holy Ghost to be given to them. What do we say then to this passage in John?

 

John 20:22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

 

It appears then that, at least for the early believers in Christ, that the Holy Ghost could be given more than once, possibly for different reasons.

 

Titus 3:5  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6  Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

 

The question I have to ask is if while we are sealed and secure with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit does God renew it in us as we are sanctified for Him in life? Could that be what the following mean more fully?

 

Ephesians 5:18  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

 

We are saved once and indwelt with the Spirit as Paul relates the absurdity of being saved and lost again and again in Hebrews 6:1-6. In the following passage Paul shows that if you could lose your salvation you could not get saved again. It appears he is trying to get Christians to move beyond salvation to our sanctification.

 

Hebrews 6:1 ¶  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3  And this will we do, if God permit. 4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

 

So, the question would be, are we praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to be renewed in the power and mind of God over sin and self? Or are we satisfied and complacent about this unspeakable gift?