Bible Study on Acts 8, verses 14 to 25, Samaritans receive the Holy Ghost

 

Acts 8:14 ¶  Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15  Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: 16  (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17  Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. 18  And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, 19  Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. 20  But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. 21  Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. 22  Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. 23  For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. 24  Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. 25  And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

 

Notice the difference in how the Holy Ghost was received in the early church. I talked in chapter 2 how the receiving of the Holy Ghost is mentioned as coming at different times in the early church or is not mentioned at all. It is assumed except for here where they receive the Holy Ghost later than when they believed, perhaps significantly later.

 

The worldly and cynical Simon is entranced by the power given to the Apostles by the Holy Ghost and even thinks he can purchase it, that it was something these men possessed and like a magician’s trick was a secret that could be passed on to others, a secret, arcane knowledge as in the philosophy of the day rather than the power of God working through His chosen vessels.

 

Peter accuses Simon of being in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. His heart is not right in the sight of God. He came to Christ with the absolute wrong attitude, a worldly error that glorified himself and gave power over the things of God to money.

 

The gall of bitterness is a reference to false worship and holding something different in your heart than what is on your lips.

 

Deuteronomy 29:18  Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; 19  And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: 20  The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

 

Bitterness would refer to the expression of that falseness through one’s speech, by cross-referencing.

 

Romans 3:14  Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

 

Ephesians 4:31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

 

Simon has spoken falsely in extreme iniquity. He has made a sham of his shallow faith. The bond of iniquity means that Simon is a slave to sin. This is a very disturbing charge for Peter to make against Simon.

 

It doesn’t look like he repented and turned. It looked like he was just afraid of being punished. That is different than repentance, of course. Being afraid of Hell is not salvation. Turning to Christ is.

 

The attention the Christian Jews paid to the Samaritans is remarkable but in keeping with Christ’s teaching in Luke.

 

The Samaritans and the Jews were in conflict over where they were to worship which resulted in them refusing to receive Christ after He diplomatically sent messengers to alert them of His coming thereby invoking the wrath of His followers. They knew He was headed to Jerusalem and their worship was focused on Samaria.

 

John 4:20  Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

 

Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel after Israel and Judah split during the reign of Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, as recorded in 1Kings, chapter 12. Then, see 1Kings 16:29. The Assyrians conquered Israel and removed the Jews from there to other territories, replacing them with others as was their custom in conquest. Jewish priests were brought in to teach them the religion of the Jews and a distinctly different sort of Judaism grew up with distinct customs and norms that underscored the divisions between the Jews and the Samaritans.

 

2Kings 17:6  In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes…24  And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof…26  Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land…28  Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.

 

The Samaritan religion is called Samaritanism and is based on the Samaritan Torah. They believed they most closely followed the true religion of the Jews that existed before the Babylonian captivity. They worshipped at the ruins of their temple in Mount Gerizim. The mount is mentioned in Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges. The temple was destroyed by the Jews in around 100BC. The Jews did not regard the Samaritans very favorably.

 

In fact, the Samaritans were hated. They worshipped in a different place. They had a different history than the Jews and the Jews regarded them as inferiors, spiritually, politically, and every other way. They were not just somebody else but they were somebody else the Jews expected nothing good out of and looked down their noses at. But Jesus pointed out that the victim of robbery in Luke, chapter 10, had no mercy shown to him by a pious priest and then a Levite. It is the proverbial, “Good Samaritan,” who renders aid. This story taught the lawyer Jesus was speaking to that one’s neighbors included anyone you chanced upon and even someone whose ethnicity or religion you hated might be someone that God would want you to aid in their time of distress.

 

Picture for yourself from an American perspective the Samaritan in the story in Luke 10 being a black person from the inner city or a ragged mountain redneck from the Ozarks. Maybe picture a person of another political party you despise or a Yankee or a Southerner or anyone that you hold in contempt as a people. Maybe you need to think of a Catholic or a Methodist or charismatic. But, you can imagine what Christ is doing in Luke 10 in breaking down barriers.

 

As Christ breaks down false barriers set up by man, His followers, of mostly Jewish ethnicity, preach to the hated Samaritans and give them the good news of the gospel of Christ.