Bible Study on Acts 14, verses 19-28, part 2, the Kingdom of God

 

 Luke 17:20 ¶  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

 

One cannot see this kingdom of God inside of us unless one is born again. Note this very important passage in John’s gospel.

 

John 3:1 ¶  There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2  The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water [natural birth, see verse 4 for context] and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh [natural birth; see verse 4]; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9  Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10  Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12  If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13  And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

 

What is the kingdom of God, though?

 

Romans 14:17  For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

 

And these are not just mere words alone without substance.

 

1Corinthians 4:20  For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

 

In the kingdom of God and kingdom of Heaven parables there are warnings given about counterfeits and counterfeit faith, and about people with malicious intent deceiving and doing harm. They will be dealt with in God’s own time as the parable of the tares and the wheat and the parable of the woman leavening three measures of meal show. There is a parable about a sower and the word as seed and it is shown how false conversions and shallow conversions can happen and what their result is. I remarked on those in the comments on the gospels.

 

But, there Paul said in Romans in the text itself that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, the very mind of God, indwelling the believer. The verse-by-verse comparisons show that the kingdom of God and of Heaven are synonyms with the kingdom of Heaven used only by Matthew who also uses the kingdom of God so we are not talking about a political rule with armies and fortresses and weapons of carnal war but spiritual in nature having to do with the heart and mind.

 

As Paul said;

 

2Corinthians 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Bible Study on Exodus 20, verses 1 to 11, the Ten Commandments, part 2

 

Then, we come to the Sabbath Day, a blessing and a privilege that God granted men and women of a guarantee of one day off from work every week. This is to be a day of no work, not Mom cooking a meal for family and friends who visit or Dad mowing the yard, but no work. Period.

This was important enough to God to call for the death penalty if it was disobeyed.

Exodus 35:2  Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. 3  Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.

The Ten Commandments are God’s basic standard. These first three are towards God. Obeying God’s commandments were the external evidence that a Hebrew loved God.

Deuteronomy 6:4 ¶  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9  And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

Which Jesus reinforced;

Matthew 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38  This is the first and great commandment.

The Hebrew, the Israelite, the Jew had proof of their love for their Creator that flowed from their heart to their outward behavior. The Christian has evidence because of something that God Himself puts in his or her heart by the mechanism of the Holy Spirit. This is the proof that the Spirit resides in the Christian.

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. 24  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

God promised the Jews back in the Old Testament that this would happen.

Ezekiel 11:17  Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. 18  And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. 19  And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: 20  That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21  But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.

And, in that great tribulation at the end of history those who belong to God will be obvious by their faithfulness to God’s commandments.

Revelation 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

This is the beginning of the civil and religious standard of laws given to the physical, temporal Hebrew people to live by, manage their affairs by, and to run their government by. God Himself was to be all three branches of government for them; leading, creating laws, and judging.

Isaiah 33:22  For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

The Founders of the American government were primarily influenced by The Enlightenment at their very uppermost levels although there were many evangelical Christians in the second tier and below. The Enlightenment was a time of a rejection of political religion and it was a time of  worship of man’s reason, and humanism with so-called great thinkers like Voltaire and Locke and Thomas Paine leading the charge, sometimes religious, sometimes atheists. The Enlightenment political philosopher that Founders like James Madison, the so-called ‘Father of the Constitution,’ leaned on for the three branches of government was Montesquieu. You can look but I doubt you will find, in the debates over the Constitution, any reference to the verse in Isaiah as a reason for our three branches of government. I have read two volumes of those debates and one collection of Madison’s letters and there is no reference to the verse in Isaiah. I will be very happy if you prove me wrong with a primary source like a letter or a transcript of a debate. In any event, substituting the words, “our Republican government,” for the LORD is blasphemy so please don’t do it.

The Ten Commandments are a way to see the mind of God, to understand His efforts to draw mankind, or at least those who will come, to Him. Christian culture reveres these commandments as standards to live by and there is no reason to believe that God’s standards have changed. You and your fellow citizens would do well to follow the Ten Commandments and adopt God’s standard as your own. Your life would be less filled with regret and sorrow at the end if you did. However, WE are not justified by the Law before God but by Christ’s resurrection and our belief and faith in it.

Galatians 3:22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26  For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Bible Study on Acts 14, verses 19 to 28, Paul survives a stoning

 

Acts 14:19 ¶  And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. 20  Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. 21  And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, 22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. 23  And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed. 24  And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 25  And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down into Attalia: 26  And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. 27  And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. 28  And there they abode long time with the disciples.

 

Preachers will often say that Paul’s being near death by stoning or having died and been brought back was the occasion for his remarks in;

 

2Corinthians 12:1 ¶  It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2  I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 3  And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4  How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

 

This event did not keep Paul from returning to Lystra, Iconium, & Antioch of Pisidia. As I noted before these were cities of Greek culture in Western Asia Minor, the country of Turkey today. We saw, though, that being Roman by citizenship they used Roman names for gods like Jupiter instead of Zeus and Mercurius instead of Hermes. We’ll see Ephesians use the Roman goddess Diana instead of Artemis. Diana is the Roman version of Artemis. From there they went to Pamphylia, preaching in Perga, and then to Attalia, on the coast. From there they sailed to Antioch. Remember that Seleucia was Antioch’s seaport, about 16 miles from it. This is the Antioch in today’s extreme Southern Turkey where Christians were first called so, south and east of Pisidian Antioch mentioned earlier. There they rehearsed, relayed all that God had done with them.

 

Verse 22 presents an important question of doctrine we should take the time to consider. We enter the kingdom of God through much tribulation? You mean, it is not simply a matter of 1-2-3 repeat-after-me prayer?

 

First, what is the kingdom of God? To lay the groundwork we should note that only Matthew uses both the phrases kingdom of God and kingdom of Heaven. Indeed, Biblically speaking they are synonymous. A difference is not necessary to prove the millennial reign of Christ or Israel’s importance as there are many verses that declare those doctrines emphatically. But, with regard to the kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God compare the following verses. First, these two verses link both as synonyms.

 

Matthew 19:23 ¶  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24  And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

 

Now, compare these verses;

Matthew 11:11  Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

 

With;

Luke 7:28  For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

…then…

Matthew 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

 

With;

Mark 4:10  And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. 11  And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:

 

And…

Matthew 13:31  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32  Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

 

With…

 

Mark 4:30  And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? 31  It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: 32  But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.

  

Luke 13:18 ¶  Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? 19  It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.

 

And…

 

Matthew 13:33  Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

 

With…

 

Luke 13:20  And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? 21  It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

 

And…

 

Matthew 18:3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

 

With…

 

Mark 10:14  But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 15  Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

 

Luke 18:16  But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 17  Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

 

And…

 

Matthew 4:12 ¶  Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;…17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

 

With…

 

Mark 1:14 ¶  Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15  And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

 

And…

 

Matthew 5:3 ¶  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

With…

 

Luke 6:20 ¶  And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.

 

Now, you and I have to note that the kingdom of God and of Heaven is an invisible kingdom, not possessing armies and weapons of war, buildings or parliaments and congresses.

Bible Study on Exodus 20, verses 1 to 11, the Ten Commandments, part 1

 

Exodus 20:1 ¶  And God spake all these words, saying, 2  I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Notice below, in a parallel to verse 1, God declares that He brought them out of Egypt as  His appearance, His angel, declares the same thing in Judges.

Judges 2:1 ¶  And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

This lends more clarity to the definition of what an angel in the Bible is, not the good angel/bad angel of the Persian religion as a mythological winged creature which the Roman church adopted, but as a presence of something or someone that is somewhere else.

Isaiah 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

As some examples in regard to children;

Matthew 18:10  Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

Peter, the apostle;

Acts 12:15  And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.

Church assemblies of Christians;

Revelation 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

And God’s messenger, Gabriel;

Daniel 9:21  Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.

Luke 1:26  And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

It is pure foolishness and confusion to mistake an angel for the cherubim, the living creatures of Ezekiel 1 and 10 or Revelation 4 who are the prototypes for all creatures on earth as representing domestic and wild animals and fowls. More on the cherubim later.

Here we have the giving of the Ten Commandments, an important icon of Christian civilization and culture. In verses 3-6 we have the ban on creating an image or picture for the purpose of worship, which is the context. We then have the ban on taking the Lord’s name in vain, for empty reasons, flippantly without purpose, for instance, as a curse word. Most people even don’t like to be talked about like they aren’t in the room. Such a thing is totally disregarding God’s presence at all times and shows contempt and disdain for our Creator.

Bible Study on Acts 14, verses 1 to 18, And they called Paul, Mercurius

 

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. 2  But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren. 3  Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4  But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles. 5  And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them, 6  They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about: 7  And there they preached the gospel.

 

Lystra and Derbe are referred to as cities of Lycaonia, a large region in the central part of what we call today, Asia Minor, the country of Turkey. Lycaonia was bordered by Galatia on the north, Cappadocia on the east, and the west by Phyrgia and Pisida with the Taurus mountains on the south. From ancient times Greek mercenaries and merchants had spread out on the Asian mainland as we saw before in our study of the Bible in the Old Testament. Greek speaking and culture permeated the cities of western Asia Minor, Turkey today.

 

There is no small ruckus caused by Paul and company’s preaching in Iconium so they flee to these cities to preach the gospel.

 

Acts 14:8 ¶  And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked: 9  The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, 10  Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. 11  And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. 12  And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. 13  Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. 14  Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, 15  And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: 16  Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. 17  Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. 18  And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.

 

Here is a man who never walked in his entire life who is healed through Paul. The response of this in this city of Greek culture and religion was to proclaim Paul and Barnabas as gods.  

 

Jupiter also known as Jove, was the king of the gods whom the Romans recognized as their version of the Greek Zeus. This will be important later when Paul is witnessing to the Greeks in Athens. It is interesting that Barnabas gets that title. Paul, doing most of the talking is called Mercurius, also known as Mercury. Mercury was also a major god in the Graeco-Roman religion, a god of, among other things, eloquence, messages, and divination. His Greek counterpart was Hermes. He was a son of Jupiter/Zeus.

 

Paul and Barnabas, of course, reject this worship and a sermon is preached on God’s nature and the need to turn from pagan gods to Him. A very important point is made in this short passage. God has a witness of Himself, not just in prophets and evangelists. He has a witness in nature and although this is lost on modernist Christians today, nature is, next to the Bible and the hearts and minds of Christians, His greatest witness. Nature reveals God, not blind forces.

 

God’s bounty is a witness to all mankind of His mercy and goodness.

 

Matthew 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

 

Luke 6:35  But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

 

Paul will make a similar argument when talking to the Greeks in Athens as he does here in verse 16 with suffered meaning tolerated, allowed, or permitted as in the English phrase “I suffer fools gladly.”

 

Acts 17:30  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Bible Study on Exodus 19, verses 16 to 25, the LORD descends on Mount Sinai in fire

 

Exodus 19:16 ¶  And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. 17  And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. 18  And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. 19  And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. 20  And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. 21  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish. 22  And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them. 23  And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. 24  And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them. 25  So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.

A powerful, frightening event takes place that causes the people to tremble. Moses, the mediator, brings the people to meet God and this mass of humanity stands at the base of this mountain. It must have been an awesome sight to behold. Smoke, thunder, lightning, the sound of a loud trumpet, exceeding loud and growing louder and louder. Moses speaks and God answers him. God called Moses to come to the top of the mountain and Moses obeys. God wants Moses to warn the people from their curiosity. God suggests the priests might come near and Moses recalls that God said no one could come up but Moses. God refines His order so that Moses and Aaron can come up. Moses then warns the people.

Bible Study on Acts 13, verses 42 to 52, filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost

 

Acts 13:42 ¶  And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. 43  Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. 44  And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. 45  But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. 46  Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. 47  For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. 48  And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. 49  And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. 50  But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. 51  But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. 52  And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

 

The Gentiles here that Paul encounters are hungry for his preaching again. There seems to be a stark division here between the Jews who leave and the Gentiles who stay and beseech them for more preaching the following Sabbath. But, even many Jews and new converts to Judaism want Paul and Barnabas to continue to preach as well. Proselytes of the Jews came in two divisions, noted Strong, those who committed to keep the whole Law and those who lived among the Jews and followed certain general precepts of the Bible only.

 

On the next Sabbath day unbelieving Jews argued against their speech. The messengers then give a bold sermon against the Jews which results in the powerful people of the city running Paul and Barnabas out of town. They shook the dust of their feet against them.

 

As Jesus gave instruction;

 

Matthew 10:14  And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

 

John Gill noted in his commentary that certain Jewish authors had declared even the dust of Gentile lands to be polluted so this could be reflective of a very Jewish tradition of condemning infidels.

 

Paul and Barnabas announce that because of Jewish resistance to Christ they will go to the Gentiles. It has already been noted that the idea of the Gentiles being included in salvation from God was shocking as I noted in my comments on Acts, chapter 11, with Peter’s experience.

 

Paul will even declare that his ministry was to the Gentiles…

 

Romans 15:16  That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

 

…something Peter also will declare in Acts 15, coming up. But, Paul will insist on preaching to the Jews and this will cause him no little difficulty.

 

Iconium in the Roman province of Asia is now Konya, the seventh most populous city in Turkey. It is located in Southwest Turkey.

 

Paul refers to these events;

 

2Timothy 3:11  Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.