Bible Study on Acts 5, verses 17 to 25, the prison doors are opened

 

Acts 5:17 ¶  Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, 18  And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. 19  But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, 20  Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. 21  And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22  But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told, 23  Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within. 24  Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. 25  Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.

 

Note what I said back in comments on 4:1-4;

 

Acts 23:8  For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.

 

Back in 3:15 Peter referred to Christ’s resurrection which would have seriously perturbed this sect of the Jews. Josephus, the Jewish general turncoat who worked for the Romans and wrote histories of the Jews claimed that they believed that the soul could die, that there was no afterlife, that there were no rewards or penalties after death, and that only the written law was valid. They were composed of the upper class and educated elite who oversaw the temple operations and shared with the Roman upper class a denial of the reality of the supernatural. They did, apparently, believe in God but were more political and worldly than the more conservative Pharisees, and they were composed of a ruling class that expected God’s benefits and prosperity now, in this life, and denied even His intervention in history, sources say. They would have been terrified of anything that threatened their position under Roman authority.

 

They threw the Apostles in prison. But, the angel of the Lord, the presence of Christ Himself, opened the doors and literally took them out of the prison and set them free, ordering them to teach in the temple, sort of rubbing it in the faces of these priests. Imagine the scene as officers of the council go to a prison whose doors are still shut with guards standing guard still but none of the Apostles inside.

 

The officials were very perplexed at these developments and on top of that they were then told that the very men who had been locked up were now standing in the temple teaching freely.

Bible Study on Exodus 12, verses 43 to 51, the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt

 

Exodus 12:43 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: 44  But every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. 45  A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. 46  In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. 47  All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48  And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. 49  One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. 50  Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. 51  And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

God begins to give commands that refer directly to the Hebrews. If you wish to get dogmatic about the Law given to Moses, the religious and civil law for the Hebrews, and start using examples from there to point out things about killing Canaanites or stoning wayward children, understand first that, for Christians; 

 

Galatians 3:24  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.

 

The laws given to Moses are not your marching orders unless those commands are repeated by Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, Jude, and James under the new covenant. This will be significant when discussing slavery as approved Hebrew policy from God and trying to justify the institution in modern times.

There are more instructions about the Passover Lamb. It was not to be eaten by a foreign person who had not submitted to the ordinance of circumcision. Not a bone was to be broken. Christ, as our Passover Lamb, did not have a bone broken.

John 19:31 ¶  The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32  Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 33  But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 34  But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 35  And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. 36  For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.

Psalm 34:20  He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

Bible Study on Acts 5, verses 12 to 16, and they were healed every one

 

Acts 5:12 ¶  And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. 13  And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. 14  And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.) 15  Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. 16  There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

 

This is a disruption of routine that must have driven the authorities to distraction. Many signs and wonders were performed by the Apostles, who alone of the believers stayed and preached and performed miracles in Solomon’s Porch also mentioned back in chapter 3. Multitudes were added to the followers of Christ. Peter was given miraculous healing powers and the sick and the possessed were brought to him. Many people were healed. It would seem to the authorities that Christ had not been taken away. Instead of embracing that these events are signs from God we will see that the leadership decides on draconian measures.

 

Signs and wonders were very important in the establishment of the people originally set apart for God, the Jews. The nature of the Jew at that time was that they were more impressed by miracles while the Gentile was often persuaded by a sound argument.

 

1Corinthians 1:22  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks [Paul’s word for Gentiles as Greek was the dominant culture and language] seek after wisdom:

 

Here is the definition of overshadow in verse 15 as relates to;

 

 Luke 1:35  And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

 

It is clearly not like pagan mythologies where a god assumes human form and has sexual relations with a woman. It is about a power doing just what the word implies, overshadowing. There is no physical act of intercourse in Luke 1:35

Bible Study on Exodus 12, verses 37 to 42, out from the land of Egypt

 

Exodus 12:37 ¶  And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. 38  And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. 39  And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual. 40  Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41  And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. 42  It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.

Rameses, in Lower Egypt, which is the northern most part of the country, was the starting point for the Exodus. In its first reference it was spelled with two ‘a’s and an extra ‘e’. We will see in several cases in the Bible where the translators included two variant spellings of a name or a word which may reflect differences of opinion on how the word was spelled in the original language.

Exodus 1:11  Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

The Hebrews then travelled to Succoth. Six hundred thousand Hebrew men, plus women, children, and a mixed multitude of followers, meaning they weren’t necessarily Hebrews, and all of their cattle and belongings would have been slow travelers.

We don’t know where Succoth was. The name means booths according Strong’s dictionary. Jacob stopped at a Succoth in Genesis 33:17 and built shelters for his cattle but that one was in Canaan and is probably the one mentioned in Judges 8. The one mentioned in Exodus could have been any number of locations in Lower Egypt in or near the land of Goshen where the Hebrews lived, possibly named by them in memory of Jacob’s dwelling in Canaan.

It was probably not a northerly route which would have put them marching into the Philistines’ territory. A coastal march would have been most efficient but that would have them walking right into a fiercely warlike group of people, descendants of Ham and Mizraim, the founder of Egypt; the Philistim or Philistines. See Genesis 10. So, they marched south into the wilderness of the Red Sea, the sparsely inhabited area bordering the Red Sea as logically the center of Pharaoh’s power would be in Lower Egypt, the most fertile and rich area with less control the further south one went.

Exodus 13:17 ¶  And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: 18  But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.

Verse 40 states that the sojourn of the Hebrews in Egypt was 430 years. Genesis 15 approximates 400 years as does the martyr, Stephen, in Acts 7:6.

Genesis 15:13  And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;… 16  But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

 

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.

While Paul uses the more specific 430 number.

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.

Some Rabbis in history declared the beginning of the Hebrews’ bondage to the Egyptians at the persecution of Isaac by Ishmael, whose mother was an Egyptian. In any event, the Bible says they dwelt in Egypt for 430 years. It is not really that difficult to understand from looking at the lifespans of Moses’ family back in chapter 6.

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 sixty 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?

Bible Study on Acts 5, verses 1 to 11, the sad 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.

 

This passage also is against the concept that these early Christians were communists in the modern sense. The property belonged to the man or woman and it is acknowledged that they were free to do with their property as they so chose, only they could not lie to God.

A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 74, verses 12 to 23, thou hast prepared the light and the sun

 

Psalm 74:12 ¶  For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. 13  Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. 14  Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. 15  Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers. 16  The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. 17  Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

 

This salvation is not, in context, referring to eternal salvation as presented by Christ. This, like 95% of the times the word salvation is used in the Bible refers to something temporal. God here provided salvation for the Hebrews in the wilderness. This is a very interesting passage in what it suggests regarding verse 14.

 

Exodus 16:13 ¶  And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. 14  And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. 15  And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat. 16  This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. 17  And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. 18  And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. 19  And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. 20  Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. 21  And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.

The small, round piece of food that is left after the dew is called Manna, which Strong’s says means, “What is it?” which is also evident from the passage.

It is later called angel’s food.

Psalm 78:24  And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. 25  Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full.

But it is also a reference to some event in the realm of the invisible world that we can hardly understand here in verse 14.

14  Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

Some commentators say that dragons and leviathan are symbolic references to the Pharaoh, his army, and the Egyptian gods. There is a veiled reference to God’s Red Sea miracle here as well or perhaps the Jordan River crossing.

Finally, there is the acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty over every process of our universe from the sun to the seasons.

Notice how the Psalmist makes his complaint and plea and then acknowledges what God has done as well as His sovereign power.

 

The important thing I want to impress is that these may be references in this passage to spiritual events that accompany physical events. This suggests to us that in everything we experience in our reality there is something going on behind the scenes, so to speak, in the unseen spiritual world.

 

Psalm 74:18 ¶  Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name. 19  O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever. 20  Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. 21  O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name. 22  Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. 23  Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.

 

The Psalmist now returns to the enemy’s wicked works.  He continues His plea for God to deliver His people. I am reminding of the Tribulation here, the Jews who flee to the wilderness chased by Satan.

 

Revelation 12:15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16  And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

 

Wicked and profane men and women, scoffers of faith, blasphemers of God, walk after their own ungodly lusts and oppress God’s people. The Psalmist pleas for action by God.

 

The turtledove, from a prophetic viewpoint, can be the church. See Song of Solomon 2:14.

 

 We can see the persecution that takes place around the world in countries where a cruel and hateful god rules, in places where mankind is his own god, and even in places where a church rules with the government. It was difficult for Jews in history to live in countries where a state church dominated and since they had their own faith distinct from that church they were considered not even as citizens but as sojourners who could be run out of town for any reason or no reason at all.

 

Christians are treated that way, as well, now in many countries.

Bible Study on Acts 4, verses 32 to 37, one heart and one soul

 

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.