Acts
13:14 ¶ But when they departed from
Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the
sabbath day, and sat down. 15 And after
the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto
them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of
exhortation for the people, say on. 16
Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of
Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. 17
The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the
people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm
brought he them out of it. 18 And about
the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. 19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in
the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. 20 And after that he gave unto them
judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the
prophet. 21 And afterward they desired a
king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin,
by the space of forty years. 22 And when
he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also
he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man
after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. 23 Of this man’s seed hath God according to his
promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus: 24
When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel. 25 And as
John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he.
But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not
worthy to loose. 26 Men and
brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth
God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. 27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their
rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are
read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.
28 And though they found no cause of
death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. 29 And when they had fulfilled all that was
written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in
a sepulchre. 30 But God raised him from
the dead: 31 And he was seen many days
of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses
unto the people. 32 And we declare unto
you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their
children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the
second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 34 And as concerning that he raised him up from
the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I
will give you the sure mercies of David. 35
Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer
thine Holy One to see corruption. 36 For
David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on
sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: 37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no
corruption. 38 Be it known unto you
therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins: 39 And by him
all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be
justified by the law of Moses. 40 Beware
therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; 41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish:
for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe,
though a man declare it unto you.
Perga was in Pamphylia.
There were several places named Antioch in the Greek-speaking world. Pisidian
Antioch is near Perga on the map. Both would be in what is present-day Turkey.
This Antioch is not the Antioch called the “cradle of Christianity”. So, it is
not the same town as where the Christians were first called as such near the
modern-day city of Antakya, Turkey in extreme Southern Turkey. Pisidian Antioch
is near the present-day Isparta Province in Turkey.
Here Paul gives a
sermon in a synagogue. As they are Jews his sermon is filled with Old Testament
references. Notice in verse 19 Chanaan, spelled with a Ch rather than
just a C, gives us a clue as to the way to pronounce the Ch in words, like a K.
Again, remember my remarks about variations in spelling.
In my comments on
Genesis 15:12-16 I noted;
“God tells Abram that his seed will be servants in a
foreign land, which we know to be Egypt. They will be afflicted for four
hundred years and will serve the people of that land. This is an about, not an exact 400 years, ten
months, 23 days, and two hours type of statement.
Exodus
12:40 Now the sojourning of the children
of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.
And
then, Luke recounting what Stephen said, alluding to what Moses had written
from God’s words;
Acts
7:6 And God spake on this wise, That his
seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into
bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.
If
I wrote you a lesson that said, ‘in the thousand years since the Norman
invasion of England,’ and then, in the lesson later wrote, ‘in the nine hundred
and fifty four years since 1066, when William the Conqueror defeated King
Harold at Hastings,’ would that be a contradiction or would you understand what
I said as meaning the same thing?
Here
is Paul referring to this bondage bracketed between the covenant and the giving
of the Law.
Galatians
3:17 And this I say, that the covenant,
that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and
thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none
effect.
Rabbis
have written that the affliction begins when Ishmael, the offspring of Abram
and Hagar, an Egyptian, begins to persecute Isaac, the son of the promise. They
regarded the four hundred years to start from that point.
God
also tells Abram that four generations will come into being in Egypt before
returning to the land that is promised, The Promised Land of Canaan. For
instance, Levi, Jacob’s son, and his son, Kohath, and his son, Amram, and his son,
Moses. These were four generations that sojourned in Egypt. It is then
important to see that God is talking about two different things; four hundred
years of affliction and four generations in a foreign land. As the Bible
clearly states in Exodus the Hebrews come out of Egypt with a great deal of
wealth given to them freely by the Egyptians.”
Notice
verse 20 says about the space of four hundred and fifty years. Using the
typical fallacious modernist mindset of reading the Bible like an instruction
manual for your lawn mower I have been amazed at how many Christian
commentators argue about how this figure of four hundred and fifty can be
reconciled by adding this or subtracting that trying to fit it into the
timelines one derives by adding up reigns and rules. This is nonsense. You dare
deny the Holy Spirit the very same figures of speech you use yourselves? The
very same general statements that are approximations or even hyperbole?
In verse 21 the Hebrew name Kish from 1Samuel 9:1 is
translated from a Greek derivation as Cis in English. Note also how Elijah
of the Old Testament verses like Malachi 4:5 is translated from the Greek as Elias
in New Testament verses like Matthew 11:14.
Notice how in verse 33 Paul links the resurrection with the verse
in Psalm 2. As an eternal being Christ represents all of us who will be raised
incorruptible, the children of God.
Romans
8:17 ¶ And if children, then heirs;
heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him,
that we may be also glorified together. 18
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to
be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity,
not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be
delivered
from
the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which
have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is
seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do
we with patience wait for it.
In Hebrews 1:5 Paul connects it to Christ’s birth and the
relationship between a Father and a Son. By the time we get to verse 8 in
Hebrews 1 we are back at Christ’s rule and authority, the basis of Psalm 2.
Hebrews
1:4 ¶ Being made so much better than the
angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5 For unto which of the angels said he
at any time, Thou art
my
Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and
he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again,
when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the
angels of God worship him. 7 And of the
angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of
fire. 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre
of thy kingdom.
Notice in verse 8 of
Hebrews 1 the reference is made to Psalm 45:6. Here is the original reference
in Psalm 2 marking out Christ’s physical reign on earth to come.
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.
In verse 34 in Acts 13
here he makes mention of the sure mercies of David.
Isaiah
55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me:
hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with
you, even the sure mercies of David.
Following this is a
reference to David’s prophecy of Christ’s resurrection a thousand years
previously.
Psalm
16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in
hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Peter uses this verse
in his sermon noted in Acts 2:27. Here is the entire passage in Psalm 16.
Psalm
16:8 ¶ I have set the LORD always before
me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory
rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in
hope.
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in
hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy
presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Note the argument that
Paul makes here that David could not have been talking about himself as he did
see corruption and knew that he would die eventually. Only Enoch, Elijah, and
Christ saw no corruption.
See in verse 36 how if
you are doing God’s work you serve in a generation and then you are gone from
the world and others take your place. In modern evangelical terms we can get
caught up in the broad sweep of events over history rather than placing
ourselves in the context of our generation.
In 41 Paul issues a
warning based on;
Habbakuk
1:5 ¶ Behold ye among the heathen, and
regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye
will not believe, though it be told you.
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