Bible Study on Acts 9, verses 23 to 31, Saul escapes

 

Acts 9:23 ¶  And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: 24  But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. 25  Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. 26  And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. 27  But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. 28  And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. 29  And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him. 30  Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus. 31  Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.

 

It doesn’t take long before Saul the Jewish avenger becomes Saul the hunted Christian. In one of history’s great escape stories his companions deliver him outside of the walls of Damascus in a basket. From there he returns to Jerusalem, no longer an officer of the council seeking to wreak havoc on Christians, but now a Christian evangelist trying to avoid the vengeful Jews.

 

Barnabas has faith in Saul’s conversion. Barnabas is a reconciler, a man who makes peace and is forgiving and understanding, not a very good fundamentalist.

 

Acts 4:36  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,

 

He will eventually plead for John Mark (probably Mark of the Gospel) to be forgiven for leaving the ministry for a time and then will have such a sharp contention with Saul, then called Paul, that they will separate for a time. Barnabas will play an important part in Acts and will be mentioned in several of Paul’s letters.

 

We have here mentioned the controversy that Paul stirred up with the Greek Jews. There are mentioned numerous Greek Jews in the book of Acts and, in fact, the evangelist Timothy’s father is a Greek and apparently many Christians of Greek ethnicity.

 

Acts 6:1  And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

 

Acts 14:1  And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.

 

Acts16:1  Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:

 

Greeks came from a background of philosophy and religion that would influence their worship and would also taint Christianity with errors from Greek philosophy. The Jewish Apostles understood and used concepts that the Greeks would understand such as John’s use of the Logos in his Gospel and letters or Jesus’s and Paul’s usage of phrases understood in the Greek world. You and I have already discussed this in John’s Gospel and earlier in Acts. However, early Christianity would also become negatively influenced by Gnosticism, intellectualism, and the draw of the many mystery religions of secret cults and rituals and initiations that affected the Roman Catholic Church in many diverse ways. There are coming many warnings against not only worldly philosophy but also Gnosticism in the writings of Paul and the other Apostles, as we will see. But, here, through God’s use of Paul the churches grew in number.

 

Here is Paul warning about philosophy and calling it a vain deceit.

 

Colossians 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

 

Here is John in one warning against Gnosticism which regarded all matter as evil and denied that Christ came in the flesh but only appeared to do so and that He was not resurrected in a literal, physical body.

 

1John 4:2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

 

A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 76, Thou art to be feared

 

Psalm 76:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song of Asaph.» In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel. 2  In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion. 3  There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah. 4  Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. 5  The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands. 6  At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.

 

This wonderful Psalm of praise was apparently sung at a time of great success over Israel’s enemies. Commentators have moved this forward as a prophecy of the Church with Salem, Jerusalem, representing not only Christ but Christianity. Literally the Psalmist is referring to the capital city of Israel. This will mean the tabernacle of David and the later temple that Solomon would build.

 

God is able to end war by symbolically breaking the weapons of war. I think of the fiery darts of Satan in our spiritual warfare.

 

Ephesians 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

 

And the future reign of Christ the Lord.

 

Zechariah 9:9 ¶  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. 10  And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. 11  As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.

 

Kingdoms of this world can be symbolized as mountains. See an example of this;

 

Jeremiah 51:24  And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD. 25  Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.

 

Here, in this Psalm, the countries are symbolized as beasts of prey. But God can put them to sleep. See Jeremiah 51 again;

 

Jeremiah 51:56  Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite. 57  And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

 

Picture the sleep of death the Assyrian horde experienced;

 

2Kings 19:35  And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

 

 

Psalm 76:7 ¶  Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry? 8  Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still, 9  When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah. 10  Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. 11  Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared. 12  He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.

 

We are keenly aware of God’s mercy and love but we are also aware of His wrath and His judgment. We see it all through the Bible and in our reality we see the mighty brought low, the evil plans of nations brought to nought, and the sinful ways of wicked men and women turned back on them.

 

It is also good to see this prophetically as speaking of the end of human history when Christ comes to judge the nations.

 

Nahum 1:6  Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

 

Psalm 2:7 ¶  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.

 

Revelation 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

 

I have written previously how the meek of earth are those who are meek towards God’s will, who follow Him humbly, and how meek is also used of the poor.

 

It is clear that Israel received a victory but the Psalmist gives God all of the glory.

Bible Study on Acts 9, verses 10 to 22, there fell from from his eyes as it had been scales

 

Acts 9:10 ¶  And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. 11  And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, 12  And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. 13  Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: 14  And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. 15  But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 16  For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. 17  And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 18  And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. 19  And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. 20  And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. 21  But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? 22  But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.

 

Ananias, not to be confused with the doomed man of Acts 5, receives orders from God to minister to the sworn enemy of the Christians. This was not only a shock but probably caused some fear and uncertainty.

 

The street that is called Straight is the old Decumanus Maximus, the main Roman road that ran east to west through the old city of Damascus. Paul is from Tarsus, a city in Cilicia on the Southern eastern coast of today’s country of Turkey and the Mediterranean. 

 

Acts 21:39  But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.

 

Along with the gift of tongues, that is, speaking in a language that one has neither experience or training in is the early church’s gift of healing by the laying on of hands. First, here is the definition of tongues.

 

Acts 2:5 ¶  And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6  Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7  And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8  And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9  Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10  Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11  Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

 

Then, the ability by some to lay hands on someone to heal them of a sickness much in the same way that Jesus did.

 

Luke 4:40  Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.

 

These gifts of the apostolic church, particularly tongues and healing, were methods by which God sort of jump-started the early church and made it much more than a philosophy in the minds of the common people. Although God can heal a person, if it is His will, in many ways it does not appear that this ability in disciples lasted much longer than the time of the Apostles. Faith-healers of today are almost unanimously shown to be fakes. If a person truly had the gift of healing by the laying on of his or her hands they would go to a children’s cancer ward if they had any Christian mercy in them and just walk down the line healing left and right.

 

Verse 15 shows that Paul’s commission originally was not only to Gentiles, but kings, and also the Jews. We will see this happen here in Acts and then we will see his frustration at trying to witness to his own people. He will say that he is no longer going to the Jews in Acts 18:6 and yet will continue to try to preach to them, which will cause him no end of trouble. Notice that Peter also declares his mission to the Gentiles in Acts 15:7.

 

For examples, Paul preaches to the non-Jewish crowd who worship Greek gods at Lystra in Acts 14:8-18, then to a king in Acts 26, and several times he attempts to preach to the Jews who are either hostile or clueless as in the final chapter of Acts. Finally, he declares in his writing in Romans 11:13 that he is the minister to the Gentiles.

 

 See my comments on Acts 2:37-41 regarding the order in which a person is saved, baptized, and in receipt of the Holy Ghost.

 

Paul almost immediately begins preaching Christ to the Jews in the local synagogues and was very successful, perhaps unanswerable in his arguments. This greatly amazes people as he was just earlier persecuting the Christian sect of Judaism.

Bible Study on Isaiah 5, verses 1 to 4, a vineyard in a very fruitful hill

 

Isaiah 5:1 ¶  Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 2  And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 3  And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4  What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

 

Chapter 5 here can be associated with the fifth book of the Bible, Deuteronomy. This chapter condemns Israel for, among other things, not upholding God’s justice in verse 7.

 

Deuteronomy 16:20  That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

 

It warns of a terrible judgment coming and how God will use their enemies in this judgment. See the entire chapter, Deuteronomy 28.

 

Some commentators see Isaiah 5 as a fulfillment of the judgments pronounced in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy establishes and underscores the covenant made between God and Israel and Isaiah 5 speaks of the consequences of breaking that covenant.

 

Isaiah now tells the story of God’s people and their relationship to God symbolically. Israel was God’s vineyard.

 

Verse 7 will say;  For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant

 

Psalm 80:14  Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine; 15  And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself. 16  It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

 

It was planted in a very fruitful land with every advantage.

 

Deuteronomy 8:7  For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; 8  A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; 9  A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

 

See also Psalm 80:8 ¶  Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.

 

Jeremiah 2:21  Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

 

They were to shew forth good works but they, instead, did bad things.

 

God through Isaiah goes on to say that they should compare themselves to their God. We are compared to Christ not to other people, by the way. A person who says they don’t need a Saviour because they are of the best people must be made to realize that they are not being compared to other people but to Christ, so they can never measure up without His indwelling them by His Spirit.

 

Repeating the grapes and wild grapes metaphor He goes on to ask, what more could He have done? He carves out a people, nurtures the people, saves the people, delivers the people, gives the people a wonderful land in which to dwell, teaches them His law, gives them whatever they need, delivers them time and time again, and yet, they produce bad fruit, so to speak. What else could He have done besides make them automatons? They made these choices.

Bible Study on Acts 9, verses 1 to 9, the road to Damascus event

 

Acts 9:1 ¶  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2  And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 3  And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6  And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. 7  And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. 8  And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. 9  And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

 

Remember what I said about 8:3. Saul will have his name changed to Paul. See Acts 13:9. As Saul he was a great terror to the early church and he admitted his guilt.

 

1Corinthians 15:9  For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

 

Galatians 1:13  For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:

 

Phillipians 3:6  Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

 

1Timothy 1:13  Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

 

Saul gets warrants to arrest Christians who at this time are considered as nothing more than a deviant sect of Judaism. These warrants give Saul the authority to arrest Christians and bring them to Jerusalem. But on the road to Damascus he had the experience with Christ that changed the course of history. Jesus asks why Saul persecutes Him? For Christians are the body of Christ on earth and should be doing His will in the physical world.

 

Colossians 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

 

In verses 4 and 5 we have Jesus asking why Saul was persecuting Him and then identifying Himself as the one Saul was persecuting, a nice piece of sarcasm. This is followed by a proverb of that world that Saul would have known quite well. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks, a reference to an ox-goad or pointed stick with a piece of metal on the end was a well-known and used proverb in the Greek world used by poets and playwrights like Euripides and Pindar among others. It is a sort of, “how is that working out for you,” kind of sarcasm. Saul has been fighting God, as Gamaliel, his teacher, had warned.

 

Acts 5:34  Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; 35  And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. 36  For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought. 37  After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. 38  And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: 39  But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.

 

Saul is blinded temporarily but his vision never fully recovers.  While the Bible does not specifically say that Paul’s vision was bad it definitely suggests that this was a problem from here on out.

 

2Corinthians 12:7  And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

 

He refers to a messenger of Satan, a thorn in the flesh.

 

Galatians 4:15  Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.

 

This suggests there is something wrong with his eyes.

 

Galatians 6:11  Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.

 

Paul typically wrote by a secretary, called an amanuensis.

 

Romans 16:22  I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord.

 

Traditional editions of the King James Version have the accepted writers noted in a postscript.

 

For instance, after 1Corinthians it says, “The first epistle to the Corinthians was written from Philippi by Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus and Timotheus.”

Bible Study on Exodus 15, verses 1 to 21, the songs of Moses and Miriam

 

Exodus 15:1 ¶  Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. 2  The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him. 3  The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name. 4  Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. 5  The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. 6  Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. 7  And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. 8  And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. 9  The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. 10  Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. 11  Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? 12  Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. 13  Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. 14  The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. 15  Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. 16  Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased. 17  Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. 18  The LORD shall reign for ever and ever. 19  For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. 20  And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21  And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

As Moses and then his sister, Miriam, give glory to God we come across this passage in verse 2;

2  The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation:

God has delivered the Hebrews, the children of Israel, here from death and destruction at the hands of Pharaoh’s military.

Moses declares that the people of Canaan, Palestina, which we call Palestine today, will be afraid and sorrow for what is coming. The city-states of Canaan are under the sovereignty at this time of Egypt. They have lost their defense. I want to repeat something from the last chapter’s comments.

Numbers 14:9  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

The Amarna Letters tell us of Canaanite kings pleading for military help against the Hebrews, military help that was not forthcoming because the Egyptian army was destroyed.

Here is a great fact about reality. Modernism, even Christian modernism, in a process that has been going on since the time of Isaac Newton, reduced God to a sort of ‘first cause’ who wound things up and then they run on their own. Here we see something that is said very plainly in the book of Job starting at chapter 38. Here, in verse 6 God’s right hand destroyed the enemy but it is also stated in 10 that it was the agency of the wind but back in 12 it is His right hand again. What we must understand is that from the Biblical perspective things which we see in the physical universe are caused by God whom we can’t see. They are not caused by theoretical entities of Physics.

For instance, theoretical scientists today, working from mathematical models and computer simulations postulate Dark Matter and Dark Energy, two results of their guesswork as being the stuff that holds the universe together because their own theories of mass and gravity show by their own Math that the universe could not be held together without those two unseen, unproven forces. Dark Matter and Dark Energy have no basis in reality but only in their explanatory power to explain what is observed without bringing God into it.

But, we have the testimony of the Bible that it is God who holds the universe together.

Colossians 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

As man moved his heart away from God he imagined all sorts of spiritual beings as moving the wind, causing the weather, the clouds, the processes of life. He called them gods and they were often based on heroes of the past and larger-than-life men, the mighty men of renown of Genesis 6:4. In our pride and arrogance we eventually moved to imagining fictional and quite dead objects, particles, as causing the things we see as well as natural processes. As an example we have the Big Bang Theory with all of the matter and energy we see coming from a Synchronicity, the size of a period in a sentence. This is just a reworking of the occult’s medieval Jewish Kabbala’s mustard seed or the Hindu cosmic egg from centuries past. The modern pagan’s gods are now just inert things rather than a Thor wielding a hammer. Still, they are pagan gods, nonetheless.

But strip all of that back to the beginning. God makes or permits all reality to happen. Nothing happens, no process, no disaster, no beautiful sunrise, baby’s birth, or fiery volcano without His active role either by direct command or by permission. It doesn’t just happen by a random process.

Bible Study on Acts 8, verses 26 to 40, if thou believest with all thine heart

 

Acts 8:26 ¶  And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. 27  And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, 28  Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29  Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30  And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31  And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32  The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 33  In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 34  And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? 35  Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36  And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37  And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38  And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39  And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. 40  But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

 

We move from the hated sect of Judaism to the Gentiles whom the Jew held in contempt. Candace is a latinized version of an Ethiopian title. Pliny the Elder, a Roman scholar who wrote an important natural history, declared that Candace was the title the Ethiopian queens assumed. Here is not only an Ethiopian but a black African and a eunuch. A eunuch is someone who biologically cannot reproduce and officials were often made that way to keep them from being naturally aggressive and assertive, that is untrustworthy in their servile duties of trust.

 

The earliest mention made of eunuchs created by intentional castration is from the Sumerian city of Lagash probably not long after the Tower of Babel. Throughout history, eunuchs occupied court positions as well as military positions, all places of trust where, contrary to intention, they had the ear of powerful men and often were part of conspiracies and intrigue. Notice how Jesus references eunuch as a person incapable of reproduction. The following covers those who are born biologically incapable, those who are made so by men, and those who purpose themselves to be childless for the sake of God’s work.

 

Matthew 19:12  For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

 

As a side note, the early Christian writer, Origen, according to the church writer, Eusebius, had himself castrated because he misunderstood the above verse. However, Origen, himself, later wrote that only an idiot would think that verse in Matthew commended having oneself castrated according to what I’ve read.

 

Philip is told to draw near to the Ethiopian’s chariot. It is well-known among evangelical Christians that there have been many times when they felt compelled to hand out a gospel tract or witness to someone verbally who they would probably not have approached on their own.

 

The eunuch is reading to himself from Isaiah, specifically;

 

Isaiah 53:7b …he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

 

There are several possible reasons why what he read was slightly different than the actual word-for-word verse we have. It could have been a version in the reader’s own language and translated to Hebrew, then to Greek, then to English for us to have the passage. It could be the Holy Spirit defining what is meant in Isaiah by the wording in Acts if you compare and contrast. Word substitution, we have seen is a predominant way the Holy Spirit has of clarifying itself to the reader. Philip began preaching that this was Jesus.

 

Although some few voices had noted this before it wasn’t until the eleventh century AD and a Jewish teacher nicknamed Rashi that Jews began to believe that the individual referred to in these and the surrounding verses in Isaiah were the suffering Jewish people themselves, not the Messiah. This was probably a reaction to the persecution visited upon them by the Christian power of Europe. But, Philip makes it clear that this is a reference to Jesus.

 

The eunuch asked what kept him from being baptized and Phillip answered.

 

37  And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

 

This verse clearly states that salvation is predicated upon belief and that baptism is something that happens after you believe, something a baby cannot do. You have to believe and then be baptized.

 

Mark 16:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

 

Early church fathers like Irenaeus and Cyprian commented on this as did Tertullian in the second century. Even Augustine of Hippo in the fifth century, venerated by the Catholic Church, supported this verse’s validity by referencing it. It certainly doesn’t allow for infant baptism. Clearly it is a mistake in modern Bible versions to delete it or to cast doubts on it. If your Bible doesn’t have it or dismisses its validity then you need a different Bible.

 

Philip was physically translated, removed, from the baptism after it was performed and taken to another place. These are the same Greek and mostly the same English words as in;

 

1Thessalonians 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

 

Compare caught away here in 8:39 and caught up in 1Thessalonians 4:17.