Peter’s Report to Jerusalem
11: 1-18

42 AD

Peter’s report to Jerusalem DIG: Why might Luke have taken the time and space to record the events of 10:9-46 all over again? Of what importance is the gift of the Ruach ha-Kodesh in Peter’s argument? Why would this have such a strong effect on the Jerusalem believers? Why is it misunderstood (see 1:6)? Why do you think God chose Peter to be the first to go to the Gentiles? Why did they speak in tongues? How do you explain the change in attitudes from verse 2 to verse 18? How does this story relate to 1:18?

REFLECT: How might this principle affect how you treat “unacceptable” people you meet? How have you been criticized for breaking the religious traditions of your place of worship? Why did you do so? What did you feel was at stake? The lesson of 10:34-35 and 11:18 was not easily learned, even by Peter (Galatians 2:11-14). What might have happened if the early Messianic Community denied the new principle (10:15, 28 and 11:9) that ADONAI taught Peter?

Now while Peter was still ministering in Caesarea, word of the remarkable events that had taken place reached the Messianic community in Yerushalayim. The news of his interaction with the Gentiles had spread like wildfire. The apostles who had remained in Jerusalem after the persecution of the Hellenistic Jews (to see link click Ax – The Stoning of Stephen), and the Jewish believers in the Messianic Congregation throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God (11:1). 

The charge: But when Peter returned to Jerusalem from his Judean ministry, those belonging to the sect of the Pharisees, those of the circumcision (15:5), took issue with him, saying scornfully: You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them (11:2-3)! It was as if they were saying, “You, who are supposed to be a faithful Jew, associated with, and even ate with Gentiles. How could you!” Centuries of Jewish practice made them critical of what Peter had been reported doing, especially his action with eating with the Gentiles. Even though the Gentiles had become converts, the problem still existed. If Jewish believers felt bound to the kosher eating regulations of the Torah, there could be no fellowship with Gentile believers (or Gentile unbelievers) unless the Gentiles were circumcised and kept kosher themselves. Therefore, those of the circumcision were zealots for the Torah (21:20) and insisted on the necessity of circumcision even for Gentiles. This was not only a matter of religion, but also of culture, and cultural norms are very hard to break. On this key issue they were not afraid to challenge Peter, the chief of the apostles. All this would come to a head later on (see Bs – The Counsel at Jerusalem).²³⁶

But Kefa (Peter) had nothing to fear. ADONAI chose him as His instrument to bring Yeshua to the Gentiles precisely because he was an observant Jew; in this way all would know that God’s hand was in it. Had a less Torah-observant Jew seen the vision, it would have been no less of YHVH, but those of the circumcision might have dismissed him as being self-serving, as much as people regarded Sha’ul, but for different reasons (Acts 21:21; Romans 3:8).²³⁷

The defense: Instead of entering into a heated rebuke of their prejudice, Peter began explaining to them what happened in a complete, detailed chronological order, point by point, saying: I was in the city of Joppa praying, and I saw a vision – something like a great sheet coming down, being lowered from heaven by its four corners, and it came right to me. I looked inside, considering it carefully, and saw four-footed kosher creatures of the earth, wild animals (non-kosher), reptiles (a mixture of kosher and non-kosher), and birds of the air (once again a mixture of kosher and non-kosher). I also heard a voice saying: Get up, Peter. Kill and eat (11:4-7).

But I said: Certainly not, Lord! For never has anything unclean, or treif, entered my mouth. But a voice from heaven answered a second time, “What God has made clean, you must not consider unholy.” This happened three times for emphasis, and then everything was pulled up to heaven (11:8-10). At first, Peter thought God was speaking about food. He came to understand, however, that the vision of the sheet and kosher and non kosher animals had to do with people, not food.

At that very moment, three men arrived at the house where we were, sent to me from Caesarea. The Ruach told me to go with them without hesitating. These six Jewish brothers (who were standing there with him) also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. Peter admitted that he entered the house of a Gentile, but his defense is that it was not the wrong thing to do. He reported to us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying: Send to Joppa and bring Simon called Peter. So both men received a divine invitation. He will speak words to you by which you will be saved – you and all your household (11:11-14). Therefore, Peter’s point was that the Ruach ha-Kodesh told him to go.

Then Peter states the most important part of his defense: As I began to speak, the Ruach ha-Kodesh fell on them (Gentiles) and they began to speak in tongues (languages), just as on us (Jews) at the beginning at Shavu’ot (see Al – The Ruach ha-Kodesh Comes at Shavu’ot). And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say: John immersed with water, but you will be immersed in the Ruach ha-Kodesh (11:15-16). God’s stamp of approval was on this ministry to the Gentiles.

Then he wrapped up his defense with a summary: Therefore, if God gave them the same gift of the Ruach ha-Kodesh as also to us after we put our trust in the Lord Messiah Yeshua, who was I to stand in God’s way (11:17)? The answer was obvious. Peter could do nothing else than what he did in light of ADONAI’s commands to him. The miraculous phenomena signaling the arrival of the Spirit of God, corroborating testimony by unsympathetic but trustworthy witnesses, and the promise of Scripture spoken by the Lord Himself was enough evidence to silence the protests.²³⁸

The verdict: Just as Peter had been convinced of the evidence, so now were the Jews in Jerusalem. Shocked as they were, the council members could not deny what had happened. Even those belonging to the sect of the Pharisees had nothing to say. Their reaction was stunned silence. When they heard these things they became quiet. However, silence quickly gave way to praise, and even the Pharisees who had become believers glorified God, saying: Then even to the Gentiles God has granted repentance leading to life (11:18)! They were now full members of the Church, therefore, circumcision and being Torah observant were unnecessary for salvation. The Church was one – Jew and Gentile (Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 2:14-18).

The Gentile issue was not yet fully resolved, the debate had just been suspended, and the criticism temporarily silenced until Acts 15. Even Peter would later vacillate and withdraw from eating with Gentiles at Antioch under pressure from the Judaizers (Galatians 2:11-14). Nevertheless, the door had been opened to the Gentiles for salvation and Luke is prepared to recount how an opportunistic and zealous evangelist (Paul), with another trustworthy brother (Barnabas), under the guidance and commissioning of a congregation that already involved both Jews and Gentiles (Antioch), was going to seize the moment and begin the first efforts to evangelize the Gentile nations. Surprisingly, it would not be an initiative undertaken by the Jerusalem community itself.²³⁹

As believers, we are to receive one another and not argue over cultural differences or minor matters of personal conviction (Romans 14 and 15). Some of the Jewish believers in the early Messianic community wanted the Gentiles to become Jews, and some of the Gentile believers wanted the Jews to stop being Jews and become Gentiles! This attitude can create serious division in the Church even today, so it is important that we follow the example of Acts 11:18 and accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of disputes about opinions (Romans 14:1). We must receive those whom ADONAI has also received.²⁴⁰

These events were happening for specific reasons in this period of historical transition. The Gentiles received the Ruach ha-Kodesh at the time of conversion. They spoke in tongues (languages) at the moment they were saved, as proof to everyone that they were then part of the Church. The norm is salvation and the reception of the Ruach at the same time. Peter was present, and therefore he could report to the Jewish members of the Jerusalem counsel that the Gentiles were true believers. At the same time, the Gentiles would recognize the authority of the apostles because Peter had been with them and had led them to Messiah. Most importantantly, both groups knew that they had the same Ruach and were part of the same body.²⁴¹

This was the beginning of the divine effort to lay the groundwork for the first Gentile church. About twelve years had passed from Shavu’ot to the founding of that church at Antioch (see Bj – The Church in Antioch). There were several reasons for that delay. First, apostolic authority had to be established. It took time for the believers to become grounded in the apostles’ teaching (2:42), and for the development of leaders. During those years, the apostles laid the doctrinal of the church. Second, individual believers needed to be brought to a sufficient level of maturity before they could be sent out. Immature believers would not make effective missionaries. Third, it took time to tear down the long-established walls of prejudice. That was starting to be achieved (Galatians 2:11-14), so the time was right to give birth to a church in a Gentile land and to move to the last phase of ADONAI’s plan for evangelism – to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).²⁴²

The observant Jews in the Messianic Community were amazed that Gentiles could become part of God’s people, part of the Body of Messiah, without first becoming Jews. But today the situation is exactly the opposite; many Gentile Christians are amazed at a movement of Messianic Jews that claims Jews can accept the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua, without taking on the lifestyle of Gentiles. The more things change, the more they stay the same.²⁴³

Peter Goes to the House of Cornelius
The Gentiles are Saved
Through the Preaching of Peter
10: 23b-48

38-42 AD

Peter goes to the house of Cornelius DIG: Given Peter’s experience in 10:9-23 and what you see of Cornelius here, what do you imagine each man was feeling as they greeted one another? Jews regarded even people like Cornelius as pagans, unless they took on the yoke of the Torah (15:7-11). Knowing that, what would verse 28 have meant for Peter? For Cornelius? Why is the story of Cornelius so important in verses 28, 34-35 and 43? What is the main point in Peter’s speech? How does that compare with his speeches in 2:36-39 and 3:17-23? From these sermons, what do you see as central to the Gospel message? In light of the astonished reaction of the Jews in verse 45, what was the purpose of the Gentiles speaking in tongues? How does this reinforce the private vision of Peter in 10:9-23?

REFLECT: Using this story, how would you respond to the question, “Can people who have never heard the gospel be saved? If your answer is “yes,” why then did God send Peter to preach (also see 11:4)? If it is “no,” how do you explain verses 34-35? Toward what types of people do you feel prejudiced? How has that evolved? What evidence is there that the lesson of Peter’s vision has broken through to you with respect to these people? Consider the makeup of your Messianic community or church. Are there some types of people who would just assume that your place of worship is not for them? What could you change to remove those barriers?

The next day Peter got up and went with them (10:23b). Centuries previous to this, another Jew had come to Joppa with another a solemn message from Ha’Shem (see the commentary on Jonah, to see link click Aj – The Word of the LORD came to Jonah: Go to Nineveh and Preach Against It). Jonah took a ship from Joppa; however he ran from God’s call, and he did not share ADONAI’s heart for the lost. Peter, however, was willing to re-examine his traditions and prejudices in light of God’s word, and he shared ADONAI’s heart for the lost. Are you a Jonah or a Peter?²²⁶

And six Jewish brothers from Joppa accompanied him (10:23b and 11:12). This was a very wise decision on his part so they could serve as witnesses, which they would in Chapter 11 when Peter is confronted by the Jewish believers concerning his claim that salvation had come to the Gentiles. In obedience to the command he received in his vision, Peter returned to Caesarea with the two servants and the soldier Cornelius had sent. This seemingly insignificant decision on Peter’s part becomes extremely important later in the story.

The following day he entered Caesarea. Two worlds were about to collide, as seven devout orthodox Jews were about to meet a houseful of pious Gentiles. A milestone had been reached. Meanwhile, Cornelius was waiting for them in faith, and he had not been idle. Eagerly anticipating what Peter had to share with him, he had called together his Gentile relatives and close friends (10:24). Although Cornelius knew about the Jewish attitudes towards Gentiles, he had no doubt that Peter would show up.

The rabbis taught that entering the house of a Gentile would defile you. The very dust of a Gentile house was unclean and defiled by contact. It was regarded like a grave, or like the putrescence of death – unclean, defiled, and defiling everything that it touched.

As Peter entered, he showed that his heart and mind had changed, and that he had learned the lesson of his vision (see Bf – Peter’s Vision). Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet to welcome him, and also to honor him as God’s messenger, but not to worship (as some versions have translated it). As a God-fearer, Cornelius would have known better. Yet, Peter’s response of pulling him up, saying: Stand up! I too am just a man, shows that he misread what Cornelius did as an act of idolatry to be expected from a pagan (10:25-26).²²⁷ Notice that Peter, this so-called first “Pope” would not allow anyone to bend his knee to him.

Talking with him, Peter went inside and found an expectant group of Gentiles gathered anxious to hear the interpretation that Cornelius had seen (10:27). This was very important. There is no record that ADONAI had commanded Cornelius to assemble those people, yet their presence was evidence of divine providence using the will of Cornelius. If only Cornelius had been saved, the Messianic Community in Yerushalayim may have considered him merely an abnormality. But, since a group of Gentiles were saved, the Jews would have to accept that God was including the Gentiles into Messiah’s Community.²²⁸

Then, Peter needed to explain why he, a devout Jew (who was also a believer), entered the house of a Gentile. So, he explained the message he received in the vision, realizing the YHVH wasn’t only talking about food. Addressing this group of Gentiles, he said to them, “You yourselves know that it is not permitted by the Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law) for a Jewish man to associate with a non-Jew or to visit him (John 4:9, 18:28; Acts 11:2-3, 22:21-22; Galatians 2:12). That was the standard by which Peter had lived his life. Yet, Peter said: God has shown me that I should no longer call Gentiles unholy or unclean. Peter had grasped the analogy between the unclean food and the Gentiles. Both had been declared kosher. So based upon the vision, I came without objection when I was sent for. But, he was still unsure why he was present at Cornelius’ house, so he asked, “What is the reason why you sent for me” (10:28-29)?

So Cornelius declared: Four days ago at this hour, I was praying minchah (the ninth hour) in my house. Suddenly, a man stood in front of me in shining clothes. He said: Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your tzedakah remembered before God. Therefore send to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is also called Peter. He is staying in the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea. So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Cornelius thanked Peter for breaking Jewish custom. Now then, in light of all this, we are all here before God to hear all that you have been commanded (Greek: prostasso, referring to a military order) by the Lord (10:30-33). As a military man, he understood a military order demanding obedience. He was ready to receive his orders from the Lord.

So Peter and Cornelius both had been sovereignly prepared by YHVH and had responded obediently to His directions. All was ready for Peter’s gospel presentation, which would result in the salvation of Cornelius, his relatives and close friends.²²⁹ Peter could have no better-prepared audience than this.

And he was quick to seize it. Then Peter opened his mouth. The phrase “to open one’s mouth,” is used when something of great significance is to follow (8:34). Then he began by smashing what remained of the barrier separating Jews and Gentiles with his fresh insight. The truth of Yeshua’s words: I have other sheep, which are not of this fold (John 10:16), had become reality for him. Actually, this should not have been something new to any Jew because God said to Abraham: I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the [Gentile] peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:2-3).

Abraham needed to be more than a recipient; ADONAI said that Abraham would be a blessing (12:2b). Therefore, with every top line blessing comes a bottom line responsibility. As he was blessed, he would become a blessing to others. This promise has justifiably been regarded as one of the first promises of the coming Savior, who would bring salvation to all nations. God had long ago made it clear that the Savior would be born into the human family as the Seed of the woman (3:15), and now it became clear to Abram that this would be accomplished through his own family.²³⁰

You would think that Peter might have realized this sooner. He had spoken the same words on Solomon’s Colonnade after the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate (3:25): And all the [Gentile] peoples of the earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:3b). However, the reality of that had not sunk-in until his vision from the Lord (see Bf – Peter’s Vision). Abraham was to become a channel of blessing to the whole world – not just the Jews. This would extend to the Gentiles (Romans 11:11-24). The Scriptures foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you” (Galatians 3:8). They are the ones to whom Abraham would be a blessing. This is the one promise that goes beyond Yisra’el and would be reaffirmed to all the patriarchs, later it is reaffirmed to Abraham in 22:15 and 18, it is reaffirmed to Isaac in 26:3-4, and to Jacob in 28:14. This blessing would be accomplished through the seed of Abraham, the Messiah. As the prophets pointed out, it is through Him that the Gentiles will receive spiritual blessings (Isaiah 42:1, 6, 49:5-6 and Amos 9:11).

But finally, Peter really understood what Abraham meant, overcame his cultural prejudices, was obedient to his vision and immediately cut to the heart of the matter when he said: I truly understand that God is not one to show favoritism, however, in every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him (10:34-35). Some have misunderstood this verse to be teaching universalism, that YHVH accepts all who are sincere on the basis of their works. Yet, that is obviously inconsistent with biblical teaching and absurd. If Cornelius and the others were already saved, what was Peter doing there preaching that only through the name of Yeshua can souls be saved (10:43)? Peter is simply expressing the reality that the Ruach ha-Kodesh is at work in the heart of the sinner (John 16:8-11; Acts 11:18; Second Timothy 2:25). In other words, God had worked in Cornelius’ heart so that he sought to know and obey God, and when he heard the saving truth of the gospel, he eagerly responded.²³¹

Then Peter turned to the main theme of the gospel, namely that salvation comes through Messiah Yeshua to anyone from any nation. You know the Word (Greek: logos) He sent to Bnei-Yisra’el, proclaiming shalom through Messiah Yeshua, He is Lord of all – both the Jews and the Gentiles as well. Caesarea was the seat of Roman government in Judea, so Peter could affirm to Cornelius and the others that you yourselves know the message that has spread throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the immersion that John proclaimed. Then Peter summarized the life and ministry of Yeshua Messiah. You know how God anointed Yeshua of Natzeret with the Ruach ha-Kodesh and power to do His work (in fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-3) – how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him (10:36-38).

As an apostle, Peter confirmed that all they heard about Yeshua’s ministry was true: We are witnesses to all He did, both in the Judean countryside and in Jerusalem. They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree (see the commentary on Galatians Bk – Cursed is Everyone Who Hangs on a Tree), yet God raised Him up on the third day and caused Him to be visible not to all the people (Isaiah 65:1), but to us, witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God. We ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. God’s choice to reveal the risen Yeshua to only 500 believers (First Corinthians 15:5-8) does not excuse unbelief, because there is enough evidence to convince a reasonable and open-minded person. Besides, there is never enough proof for unbelief. And He commanded us to proclaim to the people and to testify that He is the One ordained by God as Judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about Him – that everyone who puts his trust in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name (10:39-43).

Yeshua will either be everyone’s Deliverer or Judge.

These were the points of Peter’s sermon to these God-fearing Gentiles: Yeshua is sent by God and is still alive. He will be the final judge of all human beings. The TaNaKh points to Him. Those who trust in His mercy will be forgiven their sins through His name, that is, because of who He is and what He has done.²³²

While Peter was still speaking these words, Cornelius and his entire household believed in Yeshua as the Messiah, and as a result, his speech was dramatically interrupted. As Cornelius and the other Gentiles believed, the Ruach ha-Kodesh fell on all those hearing the message (see The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does For Us at the Moment of Faith). All six of the circumcised believers who came with Peter from Joppa were astonished, because the gift of the Ruach ha-Kodesh had been poured out even on the Gentiles. That the congregations of God were not exclusively Jewish must have come as a complete shock to them. Yet, they could hardly deny what was happening since they were hearing them speaking in different languages and magnifying God (nowhere does the Bible teach that the gift of tongues is anything other than human languages).²³³ This passage does not teach that speaking in languages is normally to be expected with the coming of the Ruach. The Spirit of God granted it on this occasion as visible proof that Peter did indeed hold the keys to the Kingdom, and ADONAI did indeed indwell those Gentiles (10:44-46a). It should be noted that here, as through Acts, speaking in languages is a group, not an individual, phenomenon.

The same thing happened here that happened in Samaria. This was a time of transition. Had there been no visible evidence of the Ruach ha-Kodesh, Peter and the others would not have been as quickly convinced that Gentiles were now a part of the body of Messiah. As it was, the Jewish believers saw an irrefutable demonstration that those Gentiles were in Messiah (Ephesians 1). Peter immediately concluded that they should be immersed (10:47). Obviously Peter was equating receiving the Spirit of God with salvation. The Gentiles had received the same Ruach ha-Kodesh who had come to the Jews. The norm is to receive salvation and reception of the Spirit of God at the same time.²³⁴

A closer look at the keys to the Kingdom: At Caesarea Philippi Peter declared that Yeshua was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. In response, Jesus said: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Fx – On This Rock I Will Build My Church). Whenever the words key or keys is used symbolically in the Bible, it always symbolizes the authority to open or close doors (Judges 3:25; First Chronicles 9:27; Isaiah 22:20-24; Matthew 16:19a; Revelation 1:18, 3:7, 9:1 and 20:1). Peter will be responsible to open the doors of the Church. He has a special role in the book of Acts. In the Dispensation of the Torah, humanity was divided into two groups, Jews and Gentiles. However, in the Dispensation of Grace, because of what went on in the intertestamental period, there were three groups of people, Jews, Gentiles and Samaritans (Matthew 10:5-6). Peter would be the key person (pun intended) in bringing in the Jews (Acts 2), the Samaritans (Acts 8), and the Gentiles (Acts 10) into the Church by receiving the Holy Spirit.

Once he opened the door it stayed open.

As we proceed through the book of Acts we will be comparing the way salvation comes to the Jews, the Samaritans and the Gentiles, showing, as was the case with the way Yeshua healed, there is no set order. Acts is a transitional book and a historical book, and you can’t establish doctrine based upon history. You base doctrine on clear theological statements. The historical facts can illustrate the doctrine but they cannot develop doctrine on their own.

The gift of languages (tongues) can be seen four times in the book, Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 10 and Acts 19. There is no set order leading up to immersion by the Spirit and subsequent speaking in tongues. Here in Acts 2 with salvation coming to the Jews, the order was first repentance, then water immersion, and then receiving Spirit immersion by the Ruach ha-Kodesh as evidenced by speaking in languages. In Acts 8 with salvation coming to the Samaritans, the order was this, first they believed, then came water immersion, then the apostles arrived, next they laid their hands on the Samaritans, and then they received Spirit immersion by the Ruach ha-Kodesh as evidenced by the speaking in languages. Again, you don’t build doctrine on history. Keep this order in mind and we will see how it was different with the Samaritans, the Gentiles and John’s disciples. Here in Acts 10 with salvation coming to the Gentiles, the order was first belief in Yeshua as the Messiah, the spirit immersion by the Ruach as evidenced by the speaking in languages, and finally, water immersion.

To understand the differences in the four appearances of languages in Acts, we will ask six questions as we come to each passage. However, the one key common element in all four cases is that languages (ie tongues) are for the purpose of authentication.

1. Who received it? Cornelius, his household and his friends (10:24 and 44).

2. What were they? They were Gentiles (10:1). There was a far greater rift between Jews and Gentiles than between Jews and Samaritans. At least the Samaritans believed in the five books of Moshe and they were circumcised. Yet Gentiles were neither. So it was easier for Jews to accept that Samaritans could be saved than it was for them to believe that Gentiles could be saved.

3. What were the circumstances? As a result of special revelation, Peter went into the home of a Gentile to present the gospel. And while doing so the Ruach fell on them, resulting in the outbreak of tongues (10:44 and 46).

4. What was the means? As in Acts 2, the means was direct. There was no laying on of hands as in Acts 8 with the Samaritans. The reason was that with the Gentiles, there was no danger of them setting up a rival Church as it was with the Samaritans. It was necessary for the Samaritans to recognize the authority of the apostles so that they would not set up a rival Church in opposition to the Messianic Community.

5. What was the purpose in this context? The key is to realize that the gift of languages for the Gentiles, like the Jews and the Samaritans, was for authentication. For the Gentiles, tongues authenticated that the message of Peter was true; for the Jews, tongues authenticated that Gentiles were on equal spiritual footing with them and could be saved. And later Peter would use this very experience as the evidence to defend his actions first, to the believing Jews in Tziyon (see Bh – Peter’s Report to Jerusalem), and later Peter used this experience to prove to the Messianic Community that the Gentiles were saved by faith apart from circumcision (see Bs – The Counsel at Jerusalem).

6. What were the results? First, it opened the door of salvation to the Gentiles, preparing the way for Paul’s ministry. Second, Gentiles were recognized as being truly saved by the apostles, other Jewish believers and the leadership of the Messianic community.

Here, as always in the B’rit Chadashah, immersion follows salvation. If Peter and company had not seen for themselves that the Ruach came upon those Gentiles exactly as on themselves of speaking in other languages (2:4), they would not have immersed them. Then Peter declared: Can anyone refuse water for these to be immersed, who have received the Ruach just as we Jewish believers did (the Greek construction demands a negative answer)? As with Peter, it took a supernatural act of God to dislodge their resistance to bringing the Gentiles into the Body of Messiah. So he commanded them to be immersed in the name of Messiah by the Jewish brothers who had accompanied him. Those Gentiles were not saved by being immersed; they were immersed because they were saved. Thus, Peter involved the Jews from Joppa in that historic moment, knowing that when they reported back to Jerusalem, he would need all the support he could muster. Then Cornelius and his fellow converts asked Peter to stay for a few days (10:46b-48). The desire for the fellowship of believers is the mark of genuine saving faith. Lydia expressed the same desire after her conversion (16:15).²³⁵ This inevitably involved table fellowship, which now presented no problem for Peter. It would, however, constitute a major difficulty for more conservative Jewish believers in Tziyon.

The inclusion of the Gentiles as equals in the Messianic Community was historic. The last barrier had fallen. Peter later described this great experience: Brothers, you know that in the early days God chose from among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the message of the Good News and believe. And God, who knows the heart, testified to them by giving them the Ruach ha-Kodesh – just as He also did for us (15:7-8). The way was thus opened for the spread of the Way throughout the Roman Empire through the tireless effort of Rabbi Sha’ul/Paul.

Peter’s Vision
10: 9-23a

38-42 AD

Peter’s vision DIG: How did God prepare Peter to take the gospel to Cornelius? Why was this necessary? Look at Leviticus 11:4-7, 13-19 and 29-30. With these restrictions, how do you think Peter must have felt when he heard the voice telling him to eat those animals? Why was it repeated three times? What would the new principle given in verse 15 mean to him? How does it fit in the context of Cornelius? What might Peter be feeling when the men sent by Cornelius showed up? How might the example of Yeshua in Luke 7:1-10 also encourage Peter to listen to these men?

REFLECT: What are some principles or beliefs you have held onto that have blocked your ability to reach out to people “different” from you? How would others around you feel if you moved beyond those limits? What new relationships has God given you recently? How has He brought these people into your life? How have you influenced each other? Has God opened your mind about some form of prejudice in your life? How has he led you to correct these tendencies? What might happen if you followed through on them?

While Peter was at Joppa, events were moving towards a new stage in his ministry as God prepared for the entry of Gentiles into the Messianic Community/Church (to see link click Ah – Jewish Good News for Gentiles). Two events led up to the decisive encounter. First, a Roman centurion, a God-fearer, was praying when an angel appeared and told him to send men to Joppa and call for Simon, also named Peter (10:6), and the second, Peter was prepared to receive these men by a vision in which he was shown that he was no longer to distinguish between ritually clean and unclean foods (and therefore by implication, that he could feel free to eat with Gentiles).

The sheer length of this story (10:1-48) and the way in which it is in effect told twice (see the summary in 15:7-9) indicate the very great importance that Luke attaches to it in the context of Acts as a whole. It deals with the decisive issue in the history of the early Messianic Community, namely the recognition that the gospel is for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews. And it makes clear that this was not merely a human decision, but that it was the result of God’s clear guidance.²¹⁸

Meanwhile, back at Joppa, ADONAI was preparing Peter for his monumental encounter. The primary question would be how God would deal with him. How would He succeed in breaking down Peter’s deep-seated racial intolerance? The principle subject of this chapter is not so much the conversion of Cornelius, as it is the conversion of Peter.²¹⁹

The next day at Simon the tanner’s house, as the messengers sent by Cornelius (see Be – The Centurion’s Vision) were traveling and approaching the city, Peter went up to the rooftop to pray, at about noon, or the sixth hour (10:9). The group of men appear to have set off for Caesarea immediately for them to reach Joppa about noontime (10:8). A gemara (a rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Oral Law) on Shabbat distinguishes two times for mincha (afternoon prayer) – the major, or early afternoon prayer time, which was recited around 12:30 pm, and the minor, or late afternoon prayer time, was recited sometime between 3:30 pm and sunset (Shab. 9b).²²⁰ According to this view, Peter was praying an early mincha. The rooftops of their houses were flat, sloping slightly away from the center. They were used for a variety of purposes by day, including prayer. He became very hungry and wanted to eat something. Noon was not the usual meal time. The custom was to have a light mid-morning meal, and a more substantial meal in the late afternoon. If Peter had missed his mid-morning breakfast, it would explain his drowsiness all the more. However, while his hosts were preparing for the late afternoon meal, there was an unexpected delay, he had a vision (10:10). As ADONAI was speaking to Cornelius, and as Cornelius had sent messengers to call for Peter, ADONAI was also speaking to Peter.²²¹ He was praying. He was hungry.

He saw the heavens opened, and something like a great sheet coming down, lowered by its four corners to the earth. So Luke is using figurative language here. It wasn’t a great sheet, but it was like a great sheet. The TaNaKh frequently uses the phrase the four corners to symbolize the whole world (Job 37:3; Isaiah 11:12; Revelation 7:1). Apparently, because he was hungry, Peter’s vision involved eating. In the vision (Greek: ekstasis) were all sorts of four-footed animals and insects and birds of the air (10:11-12). Leviticus 11 specifies that only those four-footed animals that chew the cud and have split hooves are kosher (fit) for Jewish people to eat. Peter’s vision did not contradict any of the mitzvot regarding kosher eating; it corrected the rabbinic prohibition regarding eating with Gentiles.²²²

A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat” (10:13). The rabbis taught that when God speaks in heaven, “the daughter of His voice” the bat-kol, or an echo, is heard on earth. After the last of the prophets, it was considered that God provided the bat-kol to continue to give guidance to the people (Tractate Yoma 9b). How does ADONAI speak to us? He can speak to us through our circumstances, through mature believers, certainly through His Word. Yet, Ha’Shem can also speak through a still small voice (First Kings 19:11-13). The prohibition against eating unclean animals constitutes a central Jewish belief, and devout Jews frequently chose martyrdom rather than eating forbidden food. Many in Isra’el were fully resolved and confirmed themselves not to eat any unclean thing. So, they chose rather to die, that they might not be defiled with meats, and that they might not profane the holy Covenant, so then they died (First Maccabees 1:62-63; also see Ezeki’el 4:13-14; Dani’el 1:8). As any pious Jew would have been, Peter was horrified. He was hungry, but not that hungry to eat non-kosher food, so he immediately protested.

Peter protested immediately: Certainly not, For never have I eaten anything unholy or unclean (10:14). He had zealously kept the dietary commandments all his life, believing that YHWH required eating kosher. His strict adherence reflected his devotion to pleasing ADONAI. Yet, he had put God in a box. How could Peter throw that lifelong habit away? What was he to think? It is important to understand that Yeshua was not abolishing the dietary commandments in the Torah. That would not be consistent with His own words: I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah – not until everything that must happen has happened (Matthew 5:18; Luke 16:17 CJB). In the Dispensation of Grace, we have freedom in Messiah. Today there are many Messianic Jews and Gentiles who choose to keep kosher. There is nothing right or wrong about doing so. It is merely a matter of personal choice.

Peter resisted the message so strongly that the bat-kol came to him, a second time saying: What God has made clean (kosher), you, you Peter, must not consider unholy. God had made all animals kosher fulfillment of the statement of Yeshua found in Mark 7:18-19. And because the context is eating food it shows that the vision included both food as well as its application of Gentiles later in the passage. ADONAI has made Gentiles clean, but also in the immediate context, He has made unkosher animals kosher.

Now in Matthew 15:15-20, Messiah predicted that He was going to make all meats clean. Yet in the Matthew account this was particularly addressed to Peter at that time, and now Peter must learn the lesson once again. All meats are now clean. In other words: What God has made clean (kosher), you, you Peter, must not consider unholy. The dietary regulations were so ingrained into his life that he still could not comprehend what was happening. Those unclean animals would cause contamination. This happened three times for emphasis, and suddenly the sheet was immediately taken up to heaven (10:15-16). At this point, Peter believed that God was speaking to him only about food. But this was only the first part of an analogy that the Lord would apply to the Gentiles shortly. Why was ADONAI making those changes at that time? Because the Gentiles were coming into the Church, breaking down the wall of division as symbolized in the Temple (Ephesians 2:14).

As Peter was coming out of his vision, he didn’t have it all figured out. He was puzzled about what he had seen might mean. Just then, the men sent by Cornelius found the tanner’s house and appeared before the gate. The arrival of the men at this point is clearly providential. They called out and began to ask whether Simon, also called Peter, was staying in this place as a guest (10:17-18). Peter did not hear them because he was still on the roof of the house puzzling about his vision, his puzzling, however, was short-lived.

But while Peter was mulling over the vision, the Spirit of God spoke directly to him and said: Look here, three men are looking for you. So get up at once, go downstairs, and go with those men without hesitating, because I Myself have sent them (10:19-20). At this point, God had not told Peter that his visitors were Gentiles! God used an angel, the bat-kol, the Ruach ha-Kodesh, and two visions, one to Cornelius and one to Peter so that nothing was left to chance. Here was the situation that the vision was meant to prepare Peter.

As had Cornelius, Peter obeyed, although he probably still didn’t fully understand what was happening. Nevertheless, he went down to the men. He was probably shocked when he opened the door and saw three Gentiles standing there! Nevertheless, he said: Here, I’m the one you’re looking for. What is the reason for your coming? Because of what the Ruach ha-Kodesh had told him, he was quite willing to listen to them. Nevertheless, their reply must have astonished Peter, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well-spoken of by all the Jewish people, was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear a message from you” (10:21-22). This was new information for the reader, Luke having saved it up for this point to add to the literary and dramatic effect of the story. Peter began to see the ramifications of his vision. He was to witness to this centurion whom Ha’Shem had directed to him.

Notice how perfectly YHVH coordinated the entire episode. For while Peter was praying and seeing his vision, the men from Cornelius were approaching Joppa (10:9-16); while Peter was puzzled about what he had seen might mean, they arrived at the house (10:17-18); while Peter was mulling over the meaning of the vision, the Ruach told him that the men were looking for him and he must not hesitate to go with them (10:19-20); and when Peter went down and introduced himself to them, they explained to him the purpose of their visit (10:21-23).²²³

Because it was too late for them to return to Caesarea that day, Peter invited them to spend the night as his guests (10:23a). Under normal circumstances, a truly scrupulous Jew would never invite a Gentile to stay with him. Jubilees 22:16 reads, “Separate yourself from the [Gentile] nations, and do not eat with them. And do nothing according to their works. Do not associate with them, for their works are unclean. And all their ways are a pollution and an abomination and uncleanness. So, the fact that Peter invited them to spend the night as his guests hints that he was beginning to understand the message of the vision. By entertaining those Gentile guests, Peter went against the customs and traditions of Isra’el, but not against the Word of God. Possibly, at that very moment, the Ruach ha-Kodesh flooded Peter’s heart with an understanding that although the TaNaKh said that His people were not to become like their pagan neighbors, it also said that YHVH wanted His people to be a light to their neighbors who didn’t know Him.²²⁴ Through the descendants of Abraham, all the families of the earth [would] be blessed (Genesis 12:3b). There may also be some intended irony here, since Peter had earlier protested how meticulous he was about food while staying in the house of a tanner who in trade made him unclean!

A closer look at visions and dreams: God uses a variety of ways to communicate with humans such as through visions, signs and wonders, angels, Biblical shadows and patterns, and many others. One of the most common means used in the Bible to convey His will is through dreams (Numbers 12:6). The word dreams and its singular version occur the most times in the book of Genesis (33 total occurrences) followed by the book of Dani’el (27 times). Both words occur only eight times in the entire Covenant. Interestingly, only Joseph (Genesis 40:12, 13, 18, 19, 41:25-32) and Dani’el (Dani’el 2:16-23, 28-45, 4:16-24) were blessed with the ability to correctly interpret dreams.

Dreams occur when a person sleeps while visions usually happen during waking hours. Scripture, however, is sometimes not fully clear whether God is communicating with someone via a dream or a vision. For example, Dani’el 2:19 states that a secret was revealed to the prophet in a ‘night vision.’ It is unknown whether Dani’el was or was not sleeping when the event occurred. Another example of dreams is found in Dani’el 7:1-2. Did Dani’el see visions just before he fell asleep and then experienced dreams, both of which came from God? On the other hand, while he was dreaming, did he see vivid visions of four great world empires that he then wrote down when he awoke? The Bible seems to indicate visions can happen both during waking and sleeping hours.

The dreams of several people in the TaNaKh are recorded in Scripture. They include Ha’Shem telling King Abimelech in a dream that Sarah was a married woman (Genesis 20:3), Jacob had a dream at Bethel where he saw a stairway with the angel of God going up and down on it (Genesis 28:12-15), and twenty years later, ADONAI spoke to him in a dream, saying: Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you (Genesis 31:11-12); Laban had a dream warning him not to harm Jacob (Genesis 31:24), Joseph had dreams of his brothers bowing down to him and his whole family doing the same (Genesis 37:5, 9); and the cupbearer and baker both had dreams in prison with Joseph (40:1-19); God spoke to a man through a dream that the Israelites would defeat the Midianites (Judges 7:13-15); Job had dreams and visions from ADONAI (Job 7:14); and King Saul had a terrifying vision of the prophet Samuel described to him by the medium at Endor (First Samuel 28:6-19).

Still others whom the Bible records as having special dreams include Egypt’s Pharaoh dreaming of seven good-looking cows and seven ugly emancipated cows (Genesis 41:1 -7, 15-32); the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream to allow the king to ask for anything he wanted (First Kings 3:5); in the year of King Uzziah’s death, Isaiah saw a vision of ADONAI sitting on His throne (Isaiah 6:1-2); Ezeki’el had a vision of the throne of YHVH (Ezeki’el 1:1-28), he also had a vision of the Temple in Jerusalem (Ezeki’el 8:1-18), a vision of the Millennial Temple (Ezeki’el Chapters 40-48), and a vision of the return of the Sh’khinah glory returning to it (Ezeki’el 43:3); King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a huge statue representing the four kingdoms of the end times (Dani’el 2:3-4) and Dani’el had a dream about four beasts that represents those same four kingdoms (Dani’el 7:1-8), and a vision of a ram and a goat depicting the rise of the antichrist (Dani’el 8:1-12).

In the B’rit Chadashah, the magi who came to worship Jesus dreamt of being told not to visit Herod the Great on their way back home (Matthew 2:12). The details of what Joseph, Jesus’ stepfather, dreamt on three different occasions is recorded in the New Testament (Matthew 1:20-23, 2:12-13, 19-21). And in a fourth dream, where he is warned not to live in Judea, is also referenced (Matthew 2:22). Pilate’s wife had a disturbing dream about her husband’s judgment of Christ (Matthew 27:19). The Lord told Ananias in a vision to go find Sha’ul of Tarsus and lay hands on him, resulting in Sha’ul regaining his sight (Acts 9:10-17), and Paul saw Messiah four times in visions (Acts 9:3-6, 16:10, 18:9-10, 22:17-18). Not only that, both Paul (Second Corinthians 12:4) and John (Revelation 4:1-11) took a trip to heaven in a vision.

But, some dreams or visions were false. Isaiah said: Say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us and speak smooth words. [You] prophesy illusions. “Get out of the way! Turn away from the path! Let’s hear no more about the Holy One of Isra’el (Isaiah 30:10)!

Jeremiah said the same thing: Thus say ADONAI-Tzva’ot, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into illusion, speaking a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of ADONAI (Jeremiah 23:16).

And Ezeki’el also warned against the false prophets, “They have prophesied emptiness and predicted falsely, who say, ‘ADONAI says.’ ADONAI has not sent them, yet they hope for confirmation of their word. Did you not see an empty vision and speak a false omen, when you say, ‘ADONAI says’ – when I have not said” (Ezeki’el 13:6-7).

Today, ADONAI speaks to us with a soft whisper of His voice (First Kings 9:11-12), circumstances in our lives, the counsel of mature believers, and, of course, the completed canon of Scripture, the Word of God.

Father, I take Your clear Word as a warning when You say: If, however, you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well. But if you show favoritism, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Torah as transgressors (James 2:8-9). I confess my sin of letting tastes and preference control my behavior toward other people equally created in Your image. May I not just realize my fault; may I act on the change in attitude.²²⁵

The Centurion’s Vision
10: 1-8

38-42 AD
The reign of the Roman Emperor lasted from 41 to 54 AD.

The centurion’s vision DIG: What kind of a man was Cornelius? Since he was part of an occupying army, what is unusual about him? About this encounter with ADONAI? What was the state of Jewish-Gentile relations at that time? What did the Bible teach? What can you say about the division? What do you think caused the schism? What do you think God felt about the difference?

REFLECT: Has God ever done something miraculous for you? Is so, what was it? Why is that action significant to you? What does it mean to revere God? Does that describe you? Why or why not? If evaluated by how you treated others this week, what would others say? What memorial offering does your lifestyle present before the Lord? How does the life of Cornelius challenge you?

Chapter 10 is pivotal in the book of Acts, for it records the salvation of the Gentiles. We see Peter using the keys to the Kingdom (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Fx – On This Rock I Will Build My Church) for the third and final time. He had opened the door of faith for the Jews (see An – Peter Speaks to the Shavu’ot Crowd) and also for the Samaritans (see Ba – Simon the Sorcerer), and now he would be used by ADONAI to bring the Gentiles into the congregations of God (Galatians 3:27-28; Ephesians 2:11-22).

This event took place about ten years after Shavu’ot. Why did the apostles wait so long before going to the lost Gentiles? After all, in His Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), Yeshua had told them to go into all the world, and it would therefore seem logical for them to go to their Gentile neighbors as soon as possible. But YHVH has His times as well as His plans, and the transition from the Jews to the Samaritans to the Gentiles was a gradual one.

The stoning of Stephen (see Ax – The Stoning of Stephen) and the subsequent persecution of the Hellenistic Jews marked the climax of the apostles witness to the Jews. Then the gospel moved to the Samaritans. When Ha’Shem saved Sha’ul of Tarsus, He anointed His special envoy to the Gentiles. Now was the time to open the door of faith (Acts 14:27) to the Gentiles and bring them into the family of God.²⁰⁵

The narrative begins by introducing the first main character. His name was Cornelius, and a resident of Caesarea. In all likelihood he was named after P. Cornelius Sulla, the famous Roman general who in 82 BC freed ten thousand slaves, who subsequently were so grateful they took his name. Our Cornelius may well be the descendant of those freed men.²⁰⁶ Luke introduces him as a certain man. This designation frequently marks this person as remarkable in some way (see 5:1-11 and 34, 9:36-43, 14:8-10 and 19:13-17). Caesarea was an important city located on the coast roughly sixty-five northwest of Jerusalem, and thirty miles north of Joppa. Josephus describes Herod’s building up of Caesarea into a major administrative city (Antiquities 15.9.6). It was a seaport, the capital of the Roman province of Judea, and the residence of its procurator. It had an amphitheater, a hippodrome, and a temple dedicated to Caesar. Naturally, a large Roman garrison was stationed there. Among them was Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Cohort (10:1). A Roman legion at full strength consisted of 6,000 men, and was divided into ten cohorts of 600 men each. A centurion commanded 100 of these men, and each legion had 60 centurions, who were considered the backbone of the Roman army. Being an officer in the Roman army would have made him all the more hated by any patriotic Jew. Like the other centurions mentioned in the B’rit Chadashah, Cornelius had reached his rank by proving to be a strong, responsible, reliable man.

Theophilus (Luke 1:3) would perhaps remember Yeshua’s encounter with a centurion at Capernaum who was described as well respected by the Jewish community, much like Cornelius (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ea – The Faith of the Centurion). Centurions generally are depicted in a favorable light throughout the gospels and Acts. This may well be evidence of the success of early evangelism among the Roman military.²⁰⁷

It may be said that Luke goes out of his way to make it clear that neither Jesus nor His disciples were antagonistic toward the Roman presence in the East or elsewhere, and that in fact even Roman soldiers found the Way (9:2, 19:9 and 23, 22:4, 24:14 and 22) appealing and worth joining.²⁰⁸ Moreover, the Roman army functioned as an agent of “Romanity” through its observance of a calendar of official cults, frequently being defined as an “oasis of religious freedom” on this account. Some soldiers apparently continued to honor their local deities besides the official cults, with no hindrance or objection, a centurion living in Eretz (the land of) Isra’el could apparently openly adopt certain Jewish practices.

Cornelius was a devout man and worshiped the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He a God-fearer with all his household. He gave tzedakah generously to the Jewish poor (10:2a). Since God-fearers could not go to the Temple to offer sacrifices, they commonly expressed their commitment to the local synagogue by serving as supporters and donors to the Jewish community. In his gospel, Luke speaks of another well-respected centurion who built a synagogue for the people of Capernaum (see above), perhaps as its main donor, and other people dedicated candlesticks or lamps (Arak. 6b).

And he prayed to God continually (10:2b). Jewish prayer customs in the house included recital of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) and Tefilla (Amidah) on rising and retiring (Ber. 1:1f, 4:1), blessings over the food and grace after meals (Ber 6:1ff), kiddish (the sanctification of Shabbat) (Ber. 8:1), and havdalah (the ceremony marking the end of Shabbat and the beginning of the profane days of the week) (Ber. 8:5). However, just how much knowledge of these customs a God-fearer would possess on the one hand, and practiced on the other, remains speculative.

The idea of prayer as the “service of the heart” (10:2) lies at the center of the intention behind all the sacrifices (see the commentary on Exodus Fb – The Five Offerings of the Tabernacle: Christ, Our Sacrificial Offering). A sincere offering of the heart is accepted by ADONAI as a soothing aroma (Leviticus 1:7-9).²⁰⁹ However, just because a person brought a sacrifice to the Tabernacle or Temple did not mean that it produced the desired result (efficacious). If the person’s heart wasn’t in it, if he or she was merely going through the motions of obedience without sincere repentance or gratefulness, the sacrifice was to no avail. People show up to Shabbat services or church all the time with unrepentant, ungrateful hearts, resentful of God, and their prayers bounce off the ceiling (see the commentary on Jeremiah Cc – False Religion is Worthless). Just because you sit in the garage doesn’t make you a car.

In other words, Cornelius is described as performing most of the typical duties of a Jew (prayer, fasting and almsgiving) and was living up to the light he had. The promise of ADONAI is that if people live up to the light they have, then God makes sure they get more light until there is sufficient light given for a decision for salvation. Like Ruth in the TaNaKh (see the commentary on Ruth An – Your People Will Be My People and Your God My God), this God-fearing Gentile had accepted the two essentials of true worship. First, your people will be my people. Although Cornelius did not officially join the Jewish people, he cared for them as his own, and secondly, and your God shall be my God. He prayed to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Or looking at it another way, he had works stemming from faith (Romans 1:5 and 16:26; Galatians 5:6; Ephesians 2:10 and James 2:14) – which is how the B’rit Chadashah defines true religion (James 1:27), as does the TaNaKh (Micah 6:8; Ecclesiastes 12:13).²¹⁰

Cornelius had a seeking heart; he had lived up to the light he had and ADONAI was about to give him more. This is the necessary balance to divine election – that God responds to the seeking, willing heart (Isaiah 55:6-7: Jeremiah 29:13; John 7:17). Divine election and human responsibility are both the clear teaching of the Bible. Salvation is both accomplished by YHVH and commanded of sinners. Although our limited comprehension does not allow us to harmonize them, there is no conflict in the mind of God.²¹¹ Because of the Lord’s sovereign election of Cornelius, and in response to his seeking heart, ADONAI moved to prepare him.

The difference between Cornelius and many “religious” people today is that the Roman centurion knew that his religious devotion was not sufficient to save him. Many religious people today are satisfied that their character and good works will get them to heaven, and they have no concept of either their own sin or of God’s grace. In his prayers, Cornelius was asking God to show him the way of salvation (Acts 11:13-14).²¹²

Cornelius was engaged in his daily prayer time at three in the afternoon, also known as the ninth hour of the day (three o’clock in the afternoon), Cornelius was praying. Luke’s reference to the ninth hour would seem to suggest that some who lived away from Yerushalayim prayed at the same hours when the offerings were sacrificed in the Temple (Jud. 9:1). This view is supported by the angel’s description of Cornelius’ prayers as having gone up as a memorial offering before God” (see 10:4b below), which recalls the description of part of the Grain Offering in the TaNaKh as a memorial offering (Hebrew: azkara). Likewise, Luke states that Peter’s arrival at the house of Cornelius (see Bg – Peter Goes to the House of Cornelius) four days later was the same exact time of day when the angel had appeared to Cornelius as he was praying (10:30).²¹³

At that time, Cornelius clearly saw a vision (see Bf – Peter’s Vision: A closer look at visions or dreams). This was not a dream, nor was it actually happening. This vision came in the “mind’s eye” of Cornelius. At the same time, it was so vivid that later he would say: Suddenly, a man stood in front of me in shining clothes (10:30).²¹⁴ In his vision, angel of God came to him and said, “Cornelius!” The centurion stared at him in terror even though he recognized that the angel was a messenger from God. Much like Paul on the Damascus road, Cornelius addressed the heavenly angel with respect and said: What is it, lord (Greek: master) (10:3-4a)?

The angel was quick to reassure Cornelius that God was aware of his piety, saying to him, “Like the smoke of incense, your prayers and tzedakah (charitable giving) have gone up as a memorial offering before God” (10:4b). The term memorial (literally meaning remembrance) is sacrificial language (Leviticus 2:2, 9 and 16; Hebrews 13:15ff). Cornelius’ prayers and works of charity had risen like the sweet savor of a sincerely offered sacrifice, well pleasing to YHVH (Philippians 4:18).²¹⁵ ADONAI knew Cornelius’ heart. He was a devout man, and worshiped Him to the best of his knowledge. But despite Cornelius’ sincerity and devotion to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, he could not be saved apart from a correct understanding of the gospel of Yeshua Messiah (Acts 4:12). Ha’Shem was arranging to provide him with that knowledge. Specifically, the angel told him to send men to Joppa and call for Simon, also named Peter, to distinguish him from Simon the Tanner with whom Peter was staying. He is being entertained as a guest by Simon the tanner, whose house is beside the sea (10:5-6).

When the angel speaking to him had left, Cornelius, in true military fashion, responded immediately. Still very much in the dark about what God had in mind for him, Cornelius called two of his God fearing servants (10:2) and a devout soldier (who was probably a God-fearer like himself) from among those attached to his command (10:7). The word for servant (Greek: oiketes) refers to household servants who were considered part of the family, as opposed to male slaves (Greek: doulos). The Greek text adds that all three continually waited on him, which is a classical expression for “orderlies.” Therefore, Cornelius was careful to choose his most trustworthy attendants to go to Joppa and seek Peter.²¹⁶

After Cornelius explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa (10:8). This was a long journey, probably traveling on horseback. They must have left immediately because they arrived at noon the next day (10:9). However, why send for Peter who was thirty miles (48 km) away in Joppa, when Philip the evangelist was already in Caesarea (Acts 8:40)? It was because Peter, not Philip, had been given the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and that door could not be opened until he unlocked it.

It is difficult for us to grasp the impassable gulf that existed in those days between the Jews on the one hand and the Gentiles on the other. Not that the TaNaKh approved of such a divide. On the contrary, alongside the oracles against the Gentile nations, it affirmed that YHVH had a purpose for them. By choosing and blessing one family, He intended to bless all the families of the earth, “I will bless those who bless you, but whoever curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). So, the psalmists and the prophets foretold of the day when ADONAI’s Messiah would inherit the nations (Psalm 2:7-8, 22:27-28, Isaiah 2:1ff, 42:6, 49:6; Joel 2:28ff), God’s Servant would be their light, all nations would flow to the LORD’s Holy Temple, and Ha’Shem would pour out His Ruach on all mankind. The tragedy was that Isra’el twisted the doctrine of election into one of favoritism, became filled with racial pride and hated, despised the Gentiles as “dogs” and developed traditions that kept them apart. No orthodox Jew would ever enter the home of a Gentile, even a God-fearer, or invite such a one into his home (10:28). On the contrary, all interaction with Gentiles was strictly forbidden and no pious Jew would ever sit down at a table with a Gentile.²¹⁷ Yet, these three Gentiles were on their way to a Jew’s house to sit down and talk to him! What might they be talking about along their 30-mile journey to Joppa?

Signs and Miracles Follow Peter
9: 32-43

38-42 AD
Luke’s data for this period is clearly sketchy,
He is better informed about the period after the Jerusalem council.

Signs and miracles follow Peter DIG: What is the purpose of these signs and wonders (see 2:22 and 43, 4:30, 5:12-14, 9:35)? Although Peter had healed many people, he had never raised anyone from the dead. What might he have felt as he went into Tabitha’s home? Which of Yeshua’s miracles do these two incidents remind you of?

REFLECT: Why is it that Tabitha could be raised, but Stephen died, even though Peter was there also (8:2)? How would you explain God’s ways to Stephen’s widow or mother? How might what happened as a result of Stephen’s death and Tabitha’s resurrection help you to understand? How have you experienced God’s healing in your life? What resulted from this healing for others?

The scene now shifts from Sha’ul back to Peter, who will again be the central figure in the narrative for the next three chapters. Since we know that Sha’ul/Paul will be the emissary to the Gentiles, because the Gentiles need to be saved (Genesis 12:3). Only Peter could do this since he had the keys to the Kingdom. Sha’ul had been converted and had boldly proclaimed his newfound faith both in Damascus and Jerusalem. His preaching had so enraged his opponents that first in Damascus, then in Yerushalayim, they tried to kill him. At this point he had fled from Tziyon to his hometown of Tarsus. Ten years later, as recorded in Acts 13, Paul’s ministry would dominate the rest of the book.²⁰⁰

The continued expansion of the Messianic Community outside Jerusalem required movement on Peter’s part. The statement that Peter was traveling among them all shows the ceaseless itinerant character of Peter’s ministry at that time. On one of his trips, he came down as well to the kedoshim (holy ones) living in Lydda, on the plain below Yerushalayim, about ten miles east of Joppa and Modern Tel Aviv less than two miles from David Ben-Gurion Airport. When Peter arrived there, he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years – he was paralyzed and faced the prospect of being bedridden for the rest of his life. Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Messiah Yeshua (not Peter) heals you. Get up and pack up your bed.” Immediately, he got up! Messiah, and His apostles healed with a word or a touch; their healings were instantaneous and complete. The B’rit Chadashah knows nothing of gradual healings. The spiritual fruit was dramatic. All [the Jews] who lived in Lydda and the Plain of Sharon north of Lydda, saw him, and they turned to the Lord. But the majority of the people who lived on the coastal plain of Sharon were Gentiles, and they also turned to the Lord (9:32-35). Jesus had commissioned Peter to care for His sheep (John 21:15-17), and Peter was faithful to fulfill that commission.

In Joppa (ten miles northwest of Lydda), there was a disciple whose Aramaic name was Tabitha, and her Greek name was Dorcas, meaning gazelle. So she had both a Jewish name and a Greek name probably because she lived in an area that was primarily Gentile. She was full of mitzvot and tzedakah (charitable works and giving alms), and made coats for widows, which she continually did. In those days, she became ill and died. This was a considerable blow to the believers there. When they had washed her for burial, which was customary. However, instead of burying her immediately, they placed her in an upstairs room. Now according to the Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Ei – The Oral Law), in Jerusalem a body had to be buried before sundown, but outside Tziyon a body could remain unburied for three days and three nights. Since Lydda was near the coastal city of Joppa, the disciples – hearing that Peter was there – sent two men on the half-day journey to him, begging him, “Please come to us without delay” (9:36-38)!²⁰¹

We usually think of the apostles as leaders who told other people what to do, but often the people commanded them (for Peter’s philosophy of ministry see First Peter Chapter 5)! Peter was a leader who served the people and was ready to respond to their call. He had the authority to heal, and he used it to glorify God and help people, not to promote himself.²⁰²

No doubt they had also heard of his healing of Aeneas, and they believed that Peter could use his authority as an emissary to help Dorcus. There were many believers in the city of Joppa and if miracles were commonly practiced, one of them could have come and brought Dorcus back to life. But contrary to the teaching of many today, the Messianic community in the book of Acts was not a miracle-working community. Rather, it was a Messianic community with miracle-working apostles. Therefore, the believers in Lydda had faith that the Lord could raise Dorcus from the dead through Peter’s authority as an emissary.

So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room and he saw firsthand how much they loved Dorcas and what a loss her death was for the Messianic congregation at Joppa. All the widows were crying and were wearing all the coats and other clothing Dorcas had made while she was with them (9:39). They probably wore the things she had made to show that she was worthy of the resurrection.

As Peter had seen the Lord do when He raised Jairus’ daughter (see the Commentary on The Life of Christ Fh – Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman), he sent them all outside, and he got down on his knees and prayed (9:40). Prayer is essential to all successful ministry because it acknowledges dependence on ADONAI. Now to Him who is able to do far beyond all that we ask or imagine, by means of His power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20). Peter learned the importance of prayer from His Lord, had seen and heard Him many times in communion with His Father (Matthew 14:23; Luke 6:12-13).

Then, having finished praying, he turned to the body and said: Tabitha, get up! She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and raised her up. Then he called the kedoshim and widows and presented her alive (9:41). We must remember that Tabitha was not resurrected; she was resuscitated to her old life, and she would die again.²⁰³ The gift of healing was the same for the apostles as it was for their Master. They healed with a word or a touch, they healed organic diseases from birth (see Ap – Peter Heals a Lame Beggar), they healed instantly and they raised the dead (see Ci – Paul Raised Eutychus From the Dead at Troas). Anyone who claims to have the gift of healing today should be able to do likewise. For those who loved Tabitha their joy must have been inexpressible. However, God did not raise her solely for their benefit, as would soon become evident. Art by Sarah Beth Baca: see more information on Links and Resources.

Because the book of Acts is a transitional book, God used miracles as confirming signs that the gospel was true. He also used them to authenticate the apostles as His messengers. YHVH used the raising of Tabitha as the spark for the salvation of the city. And it became known throughout Joppa, and many came to believe in the Lord (9:42). This footnote serves as a bridge between this passage and the following account of Cornelius’ conversion. These were challenging days for Peter, as the walls of his lifelong prejudices came tumbling down. First came the conversion of the Samaritans (see Ba – Simon the Sorcerer), with whom no self-respecting Jew had any dealings. Yet Peter was obedient to welcome them as brothers and sisters in the faith. Soon he will come to an even greater shock as the Gentiles enter the Messianic Community.

So it happened that Peter stayed on in Joppa for several days with Simon, a tanner (9:43). In this seemingly insignificant footnote, yet another barrier comes crashing down, as Peter stayed with a tanner. Tanning was considered an unclean occupation (Leviticus 11:40) in first-century Jewish society since it dealt with the skins of dead animals. Thus tanners had to live fifty cubits outside the city limits. But obviously this tanner was a believer and the fact that Peter would stay with him foreshadowed what would follow in Acts 10.

A closer look at Luke, Women and Ministry: Luke was a Gentile who wrote more of the New Covenant than anyone else including Paul. That being said, an understanding of non-Jewish women in the Greco-Roman world is important. Roman women were patronesses, benefactors, and business owners. The Hellenistic revolution had considerably changed the role of Greek women in various places, especially Macedonia and Asia Minor. These women held distinguished civic and federal magistracies. The offices they held include federal positions that are entirely absent from Acts. In such an environment it should not be a surprise to find a Priscilla (Acts 18:2 and 18-19; First Corinthians 16:19) or a Lydia (16:14), or a number of prominent Greek women (17:12), among the early converts to the Way who continued to exercise important roles both within and without the Messianic Community/Church, especially as hostesses and patronesses, but also as prophetesses, teachers and the like.

One key to understanding how such roles for women were possible in an admittedly strong patriarchal Mediterranean culture is understanding how status was achieved during the Roman Empire. Increasingly money was able to create social status, standing, and civic positions for both women and men in the Roman world, as the older class distinctions and emphasis on inherited or birth rank and ethnic origins became less important to determine the future of women and men. It is by studying how the larger Roman world worked that one can better assess the roles of believing women as portrayed by Luke.

Luke, like Paul, like other early believers thought that their faith committed them to the reforming of some of the existing patriarchal structures so that women could play more vital and varied roles in the community of faith. To that end, Luke presents five cameos of important believing women in a variety of roles they assumed. In Miriam, the mother of John Mark (12:12-17) and in Lydia (16:12-40), we see women assuming the role of “mother” or patron and benefactor to the then fledgling believing communities in Yerushalayim and Philippi respectively. Like them, in the story of Tabitha (see above), a notable female disciple with an ongoing ministry, we find someone providing material aid to a particularly needy group of early Hellenistic Jewish widows (6:1-7). Luke’s mention of Philip’s four virgin daughters who prophesied is brief (21:9), but when compared to Acts 2:17 it is sufficient to show that women played important roles in the early Messianic Community/Church. Perhaps the most important is Luke’s reference to Priscilla as a teacher of a noble early Christian evangelist, Apollos, in Acts 18. We will examine these stories in more detail as the commentary goes on.

In the final analysis, by the very fact that Luke portrays women performing these various roles, he shows how the gospel liberates and creates new opportunities for women. It is probably true that Luke is not interested in women and their roles for their own sake; rather he stresses how the gospel manifested itself and progressed among the female population in various parts of the Mediterranean world. In Jerusalem (1:14, 12:12-17), in Thessalonica (7:4), in Berea (17:12), and in Athens (17:34), we find women being converted or serving the congregations of God in roles that in many cases would not have been available to them apart from that community. Thus, Luke lists the progress of women as part of the progress and effects of the gospel. Though it is not perhaps one of his major themes in Acts, nonetheless he takes care to reveal to his audience that where the gospel went, women, often prominent, were some of the first, foremost, and most faithful converts to the Christian faith, and that their conversion led to their assuming new roles in the service of the gospel. That being said, Luke’s portrait of women in the early life of the Messianic Community/Church needs to be compared to and supplemented by Paul’s more full and accurate record (see the commentary on Genesis Lv – I Do Not Permit a Woman to Teach or Have Authority Over Men – which I would highly recommend that you read, it is a thorough examination of the Greek text and my conclusions are quite different than the title would suggest).²⁰⁴

Sha’ul Turns from Murder to Messiah
9: 1-31

34 AD
Pilate’s rule as procurator in Judea ended

Sha’ul turns from murder to Messiah DIG: Sha’ul traveled 150 miles to Damascus in order to expand what started as a local persecution against believers in Jerusalem (8:1). What does that tell you about him? Sha’ul’s former teacher was Gamaliel (22:3). What had Gamaliel advised the Sanhedrin regarding believers in 5:34-39? How did Sha’ul respond to that advice? What does that say about him? How do you think Sha’ul felt when confronted by Yeshua? When he proceeded to preach about Messiah in the synagogue, how did they react? Why? The events of verses 23-28 probably happened two or three years after Sha’ul’s conversion (see Galatians 1:15-18). How has the Lord totally changed things for Sha’ul during that time? Why might the Yerushalayim disciples still fear him? What risk was Barnabas taking? People in Damascus and Jerusalem want to kill Sha’ul. What does that say about him? How is the story of Sha’ul related to 1:8?

REFLECT: How did the Lord first get your attention? Was it in some dramatic way like Sha’ul, or in a quieter, more natural way? What types of people do you assume are beyond God’s reach so that, if God spoke to you about them, you would question him? Be honest. How does this story challenge these assumptions? When have you, like Ananias, obeyed the Lord even when you had doubts about it? What happened? Who has played the role of Ananias in your life? To whom does the Lord want you to play that role? What challenges has knowing Jesus brought into your life? How have other people responded? Who has been a Barnabas to you? How? To whom have you served as a Barnabas?

At a young age, John Newton went to sea. Like most sailors of his day, he lived a life of rebellion and debauchery. For several years, he worked on slave ships, capturing slaves for sale to the plantations of the New World. He sank so low that at one point he became a slave himself, captive of another slave trader. Eventually, he became the captain of his own slave ship. The combination of a frightening storm at sea, coupled with his reading of Thomas a Kempis’ classic Imitation of Christ, planted the seeds that resulted in his conversion. He went on to become a leader in the evangelical movement in eighteenth-century England, along with such men as Charles Wesley, George Whitefield and William Wilberforce. On his tombstone is inscribed the following epitaph, written by Newton himself: “John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.” When he wrote the beloved hymn, “Amazing Grace,” he knew firsthand the truths that it proclaimed.¹⁹¹ Church history is filled with accounts like this, which highlight the wonderful power of the gospel to transform sinners. But no transformation is as remarkable, or has had such far-reaching implications for history, as the conversion of Sha’ul of Tarsus.¹⁹²

After the interlude of Chapter 8, which describes the ministry of Philip and the salvation of the Samaritans, the scene shifts back to Jerusalem. Now Sha’ul, still breathing out threats and murder against the Lord’s disciples, went to [Caiaphas], the cohen gadol. He requested letters of introduction from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Yerushalayim (9:1-2). Sha’ul was so incensed at the Messianic Community (8:1 and 26:11) that he was not satisfied merely to conduct his inquisitions and persecutions only in Jerusalem. Letters from the high priest would carry weight in the Diaspora. Under Roman rule the Sanhedrin did not have temporal power; but in internal Jewish matters it was honored even beyond the borders of Isra’el, for example, in Damascus, which had a large Jewish population.¹⁹³

People belonging to the Way: Evidently this is how the early believers referred to themselves (19:9 and 23, 22:4, 24:14 and 22). In addition, this is the favorite name for the new faith in the book of Acts. The Greek word the Way has a Jewish origin behind it. In the TaNaKh it referred to a definition of life. Based upon Isaiah 40:3: the way of ADONAI, and Psalm 1:6 that contrasted the way of the righteous as over against the way of the wicked. So this was the Way, a clear definition of life, the Way of the Messiah specifically. Other Jews, in calling themselves Natzratim or the Nazarene sect (24:5), identified them as one Jewish sect among many; but the term the Way is a claim of Messianic Judaism. Indeed, Yeshua called Himself the Way (John 14:6).

The Conversion: The story of how Rabbi Sha’ul came to trust in Yeshua is told again in 22:5-16 and a third time in 26:13-18, each with varying details (see 26:13-18 on recording these differences). This is Luke’s way of emphasizing the importance of Sha’ul’s conversion and it actually ends up being eight percent of the entire book. As he was traveling, approaching Damascus to begin his carnage when suddenly a light from heaven, God’s Sh’khinah glory, flashed around him. Falling to the ground, he heard a voice.

The rabbis taught that when God speaks in heaven, “the daughter of His voice” the bat-kol, or an echo, is heard on earth. After the last of the prophets, it was considered that God provided the bat-kol to continue to give guidance to the people (Tractate Yoma 9b). How very interesting that the bat-kol testified after the last of the prophets and before the New Covenant was established, that Yeshua is indeed God’s Son. This is the first time since Messiah’s immersion (Matthew 3:17; Luke 3:22c), that the bat-kol was heard.

He heard and saw (see 22:17-18) a voice saying to him in Aramaic (to see link click Bf – Peter’s Vision: A closer look at visions or dreams): Sha’ul, Sha’ul. The repetition is emphatic, as elsewhere in Luke’s writings (Luke 10:41, 13:34, and 22:31). There is nothing in the narrative to suggest that Yeshua subsequently changed Sha’ul’s name. In Galatians 1:15-17, Sha’ul speaks of being set apart before birth to preach to the Goyim (Gentiles), but there is no mention of any name change.

Why are you persecuting Me? Now Sha’ul never directly persecuted Yeshua and is not mentioned in any of the four gospels. But in persecuting His children, Sha’ul was also persecuting the Messiah; to persecute the Body was to persecute the Head. It is hard for you to kick against the goads, or sharp pointed sticks (9:3-4 and 26:14)? The point is that it is fruitless for Sha’ul to resist ADONAI and what God has planned for him.

But this confused Sha’ul and he asked: Who are You, Sir? At that point he didn’t think he was persecuting a heavenly being. But Messiah gave him a big dose of reality when He said: I am Yeshua – whom you are persecuting (9:5). When Sha’ul heard those words, the light of truth was confirmed in his soul and the gospel became real to him. Having debated the Good News with Stephen, Yeshua, whom he believed to be dead, was obviously alive. Sha’ul’s resistance was crushed at that moment, and his heart, broken by repentance, was healed by faith (Philippians 3:4-11). For the rest of his life, Sha’ul could only offer one explanation to what had happened to him – he had seen the risen Lord Yeshua Messiah.

The genuineness of Sha’ul’s conversing immediately became evident. From Acts 22:10 we learn that he asked, “What shall I do, Lord?” His surrender was complete, as he humbly submitted himself to the Lord he had hated. Yeshua continued: But get up and go into the city of Damascus, and you will be told what you must do (9:6). This is the first of four times that Paul saw the Lord in a vision (here; 18:9-10; 22:17-21 and 23:11).

The men travelling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one (9:7). Here the word voice is used with a genitive, which means to hear a sound, but not to understand it. So his traveling companions did hear the voice, but they couldn’t make out the words. Only Sha’ul understood the words. Paul recounts the same incident in 22:9: Now those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. Here the Greek word for voice is used with an accusative. In that case it means they could make out the words but couldn’t understand what they meant.

Secondly, they did see the light, but they didn’t see anyone, but Sha’ul saw both the light and the One who was speaking. That meant he was qualified to be an apostle of the second category, that of seeing the resurrected Messiah. The first category was to have lived with and witnessed Messiah’s earthly ministry.

So sudden had been his placing of faith in Messiah that Sha’ul needed some time to reflect on the transformation of every aspect of his life. Sha’ul got up from the ground – but opening his eyes, he could see nothing because of the blinding light of the Sh’khinah glory. They led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. He for three days could not see, and was so shaken, he did not eat or drink (9:7-9). All he could do was to sit in blind silence. It was then that ADONAI led him through the process of reconstructing everything he was and everything he did. His entry into the city was very different than he had anticipated. Instead of barging in as the conquering hero, the scourge of the Way, he entered helplessly blinded, led by the hand.¹⁹⁴

The contrition: While Sha’ul waited, blinded and fasting, reflecting on what had occurred, God was dealing with another man. Now there was a disciple named Ananias, the Greek form of the Hebrew name Hananyah, meaning ADONAI is gracious, in Damascus. He is described in 22:12 as a devout man according to the Torah, well-spoken of by all the Jewish people living there. He was one of the spiritual leaders of the Damascus Synagogue, and ironically, would have been one of Sha’ul’s main targets.

The Lord said to him: Ananias (see Bf – Peter’s Vision: A closer look at visions or dreams).

He said: Here I am, Lord (9:10). The Greek Idou ego (Here I am), corresponds to the Hebrew Hineni. Ananias joined a select company when he gave this answer expressing ready and expectant submission to God. Abraham answered, Hineni, when ADONAI told him to sacrifice his son Isaac (Genesis 22:1), and also when the Angel of ADONAI told him not to lay a hand on the boy (Genesis 22:11). Moshe answered, Hineni, to God’s call from the burning bush (Exodus 3:4). Samuel did the same when YHVH first spoke to him (First Samuel 3:4-10), likewise Isaiah when the voice of Adonai asked: Who shall I send (Isaiah 6:8). Today, people can say Hineni to ADONAI by agreeing that He speaks through the Scriptures, repenting of their sins, accepting the LORD’s forgiveness through Yeshua’s death as atonement, and offering themselves to God unconditionally in obedient, holy service.¹⁹⁵

The Lord said to him: Get up and go to the street called Straight (most streets in the ancient world were crooked, so this would have been easy to find), and ask in the house of Judah (who was probably an unbeliever and Sha’ul’s original place of residence while in Damascus before he was saved, but it seemed to be so well known that Ananias knew where he had to go) for someone from Tarsus named Saul. For look, he is praying; and even though he was blind, in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight (9:11-12). That would have been a severe test of Ananias’ faith, since Sha’ul’s fearsome reputation was widely known. Ananias would have had no way of knowing of Sha’ul’s conversion, since the Lord did not reveal it to him. And as for Sha’ul, when Ananias showed up, it would authenticate that the vision he had received was clearly from ADONAI. Yeshua Messiah appeared to Sha’ul of Tarsus on two other occasions (Acts 18:9 and 23:11). There is no trustworthy evidence that He has appeared to anyone else since the close of the era of the apostles.

But Ananias protested, saying: Lord, I have heard from many about this man – how many evil things (26:10) he has done to your kedoshim (holy ones) in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the ruling cohanim to tie up all who call on Your name (9:13-14). News had come from many sources of the harm that he had already done in the City of David, and it had quickly become known why he had traveled to Damascus. The request no doubt seemed to him to be suicidal. His life and his ministry were at stake and he was asking if the Lord really meant to end them both.

But the Lord explained to him: Go, for he is a choice instrument to carry My name before Gentile nations and kings and Bnei-Yisrael (the sons of Isra’el). Then a warning in advance: For I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake (9:15-16). Sha’ul was called by God Himself (Galatians 1:1; First Timothy 2:7; Second Timothy 1:1). He also understood that the gospel was to be preached first to the Jews (13:14, 14:1, 17:1, 18:4, 19:8), although his primary calling was to minister to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13, 15:16). Further, he was privileged to bear witness to his Lord before kings, such as Agrippa (25:23ff), and most likely, Caesar (Second Tim 4:16-17).

Strengthened by the vision from the Lord, and overcoming his fears, Ananias left and entered into the house and greeted Sha’ul warmly. Laying hands on Sha’ul he said: Brother Sha’ul, the Lord – Yeshua, the One who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming – has sent me, so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Ruach ha-Kodesh (9:17). Interestingly, Acts 9 does not mention that Sha’ul spoke in tongues (ie. languages) at that time. Yet later he told the Corinthians that he spoke in languages more than all of them (First Cor 14:18).

Sha’ul of Tarsus was well aware of the varieties of experiences that had happened to people as recorded in Acts. He was right in the middle of them. But in none of his letters did he ever hint that one must be saved first and then experience the immersion of the Spirit sometime later. The same is true in the writings of Jude, James and Peter. No apostle ever wrote or taught the charismatic or Pentecostal doctrine of subsequence (salvation first, and then a second experience of speaking in ecstatic utterances later down the road).¹⁹⁶

The Spirit was already active in Sha’ul’s life, convicting him of sin (John 16:9), convincing him of the lordship of Yeshua Messiah (First Corinthians 12:3), converting him (John 3:5; Titus 3:5), placing him in the Body of Messiah, and indwelling him permanently (First Corinthians 12:13). Beyond all that, he was to be filled, or controlled, with the Ruach ha-Kodesh in a way that empowered him for service.¹⁹⁷ Immediately, something like scales fell from Sha’ul’s eyes, and he regained his sight 9:18a).

There is no mention of a name change, and Yeshua is still calling him Sha’ul even after his encounter with the risen Lord on the Damascus road. So he is referred to as both Sha’ul and Paul. In fact, after his conversion experience, he is called Sha’ul eleven more times. Again, this would be odd if Jesus had changed his name to Paul.

At that point he left the house of Judas and remained for several days with the disciples in Damascus, allowing them to celebrate his conversion with him and minister to his needs. By that act he openly united with the very people he had hated and persecuted. His hated enemies became his friends, while his former friends instantly became his enemies (9:23). In keeping with the consistent pattern of believers’ testimonies in Acts, Rabbi Sha’ul was immersed following his conversion. Then Sha’ul enjoyed his first taste of fellowship in Messiah as he took food and was strengthened (9:18b-19). One can only imagine the overwhelming joy of those days and the continuous praise of God.

The conflicts: Immediately he began proclaiming Yeshua in the synagogues, saying: He is the Ben-Elohim. Paul’s message was all about Messiah! All those hearing him were beside themselves at the sudden change in Sha’ul the persecutor. They were saying: Isn’t this the one who made havoc in Jerusalem for all those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to bring them as prisoners before the ruling cohanim (9:20-21)?

Then we are given a short summary of Sha’ul’s stay in Damascus. Sha’ul kept growing stronger. Like Stephen before him, Sha’ul met the Jews in open debate about the deity and messiahship of Yeshua. And the more he preached, the more confounding the unbelieving Jewish people living in Damascus became by proving that Yeshua is the Messiah (9:22). The word for proving (Greek: sumbibazon means to knit together, hence by extension to teach) shows that he was bringing the passages of the TaNaKh together with what he knew about the life of Messiah, proving that He fulfilled the Scriptures.

Probably at this point, Sha’ul left for Arabia or Nabatea, in what is today Syria. At various times Damascus was the principle city of Nabatea. So Sha’ul merely went out into the Syrian countryside outside of Damascus. The inspired author did not choose to record this part of his life. But Paul himself tells us about what happened later: But when God – who set me apart from birth called me through His grace – was pleased to reveal His Son to me so I would proclaim Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with any human. I did not go up to Yerushalayim to those who were apostles before me, either. Instead I went away to Arabia (Galatians 1:15-17a). Sha’ul spent close to three years learning from ADONAI in the kingdom of Nabatean Arabia.

37 AD

The conspiracies: When many days had passed, the three years Sha’ul had spent in Nabatean Arabia, he returned and began preaching again in Damascus (Galatians 1:17b) more powerfully than ever, which thoroughly frustrated the [non believing] Jews who plotted to kill him. This is the first of many conspiracies against Paul (Second Corinthians 11: 21b-27). But their plot became known to Sha’ul. We learn from Second Corinthians 11:32 that in addition to the [non-believing] Jews in Damascus, the mayor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize [Sha’ul]. Apparently during his three years in Arabia, he had thoroughly preached the gospel and had worn out his welcome there also. They were so united in their effort that they were secretly watching the gates day and night, to kill him. A wall surrounded the city and the only exit was through the gates, but his disciples took Sha’ul by night and let him down over the wall, lowering him in a large basket made of reeds (9:23-25).

Then after escaping from Damascus, Sha’ul went up to Yerushalayim to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days (see the commentary on Galatians As – Paul Meets Peter and James in Jerusalem) When Sha’ul arrived in Jerusalem for the first time since his salvation, he made repeated attempts to join up with [other believers] – but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was really saved. He must have seemed like the quintessential wolf in sheep’s clothing, now trying to destroy from within what he had previously tried to destroy from without (Galatians 1:18-20). He wanted to become a part of the Messianic Community in Tziyon. But fortunately for Sha’ul, Barnabas took him in and brought him to Peter and James, the head of Messiah’s Community there. He described to them how Sha’ul had seen the Lord on the road and the Lord had spoken to him, and how he had spoken boldly in the name of Yeshua in Damascus (9:26-27). With the highly respected Barnabas to vouch for him, Sha’ul was finally accepted.

So he finally gained acceptance, Sha’ul was with the apostles, going in and out in Yerushalayim for fifteen days (Galatians 1:18), speaking boldly to the Jews in Yerushalayim in the name of the Lord. Picking up where Stephen left off, he was also speaking and arguing with the [unbelieving] Hellenists, but they were trying to kill him. So Sha’ul did the same thing to the same group that Stephen did, but with different results. But Sha’ul discovered this plot in a vision at the Temple (Acts 22:17-21). When the brothers found out the plot, for his own safety they brought him down from Tziyon to the port of Caesarea with a protected escort. Then they sent him off to Tarsus (his home town in Cilicia populated by a half-a-million people) by ship for ten years so that other aspects of Sha’ul’s spiritual life could grow to match his zeal (9:28-30).

Therefore, Sha’ul disappeared from the scene for ten years. During that time, however, he was far from idle (Second Corinthians 12:1-4). Between this time and the time when Barnabas found him in the seaport of Tarsus and brought him to Antioch (11:2-26), he was aggressively doing what ADONAI had called him to do. According to Galatians 1:21, he went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. At least some of the churches of that region mentioned in Acts 15:23 must have been founded by him in those years.¹⁹⁸

This is a transition statement that provides reasonable clues to the development of Luke’s material that follows, the shift in ministry to Judea, Galilee and Samaria. So Messiah’s community throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had shalom and was built up because the chief prosecutor, Sha’ul/Paul, had become a believer. The Messianic Community/Church had then spread to Galilee and Samaria, well outside of Tziyon. Walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Ruach ha-Kodesh, the Messianic Community/Church kept multiplying (9:31).

It is important to understand that the change in Sha’ul’s life wasn’t because of the prophecies in the TaNaKh, although he knew them well. He just didn’t believe them. If Sha’ul had gone to the cross after Yeshua’s death, that wouldn’t have changed his life. And even if Sha’ul had gone to Messiah’s empty tomb, that wouldn’t have changed him forever. Salvation is not knowing about Yeshua . . . it is knowing Yeshua. Sha’ul personally met Yeshua on the Damascus road and everything changed. He turned from murderer to worshiper of Messiah.

Lord Jesus, though You have sought and found us in various ways according to Your perfect will and knowledge, Your Spirit testifies together with our spirit that we are Your children, and if children, also heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16-17). Far from being for our sakes alone, this causes us to praise You for Your glorious grace – the grace with which You have favored us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6). We who deserve so little have been lavished with Your love. How can I begin to thank You? ¹⁹⁹

An Ethiopian Asks about Isaiah 53
8: 26-40

34 AD

An Ethiopian asks about Isaiah 53 DIG: Why does the eunuch visit Jerusalem? The eunuch was reading Isaiah 53. In what does Yeshua fit the picture of the One described there? If you were Philip using Isaiah 53, what would you emphasize about the gospel? How did God pave the way for his message? What is the relationship between divine preparation and human initiative in this account? What is the significance of this story for the Messianic Community being persecuted in Yerushalayim? So far, what has been the effect of Stephen’s death upon Philip? Upon the Messianic Community as a whole? What is the Isaiah Avenue?

REFLECT: For the way God sets up opportunities to witness (2:5-14, 3:6-16, 8:26-40), how does that free you from fears in evangelism? What do these stories show about the context in which evangelism is to happen? Deep down, do you think successful CEO’s really need the gospel as much as poor beggars (3:2)? Why or why not? Would you know the Bible well enough to speak to the eunuch’s questions? How can you grow in your faith so you will be prepared for surprise opportunities?

Philip figures in a second story, which is again concerned with the missionary expansion of the Church. The story is included here both because it is about Philip and because it forms part of the gradual, but inexorable progress in Acts from the Jewish beginnings of the Messianic community in Jerusalem to the Gentile growth of the Church to the end of the earth (1:8). Not only that, but this story also includes those who were excluded from the full rights of Judaism. The way in which the story is told bears some resemblance to another account in which a Stranger joined two travelers and opened up the Scriptures to them, took part in a sacramental act, and then suddenly disappeared from view (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Mh – On the Road to Emmaus).¹⁷⁷

After Peter and John had returned to Jerusalem (8:25), Philip received a new commission. The story is set in motion by an angelic command to Philip which took him away from the scene of successful evangelism (see Ba – Simon the Sorcerer), and led him to a place that didn’t seem that promising. Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying: Get up, and go south at noon (Greek: mesembrian because the sun lies directly south at noon) on the road going down from Jerusalem to Gaza. There were two roads from Jerusalem to Gaza, and the Spirit commanded Philip to take the one that was seldom used. So he got up and went. He did not struggle with the somewhat crazy notion to go down a hot, desert road at noon. Immediately obeying, however, he saw an Ethiopian eunuch – an official who was responsible for all the treasure of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians (8:26-27a). Ethiopia, south of Egypt, is the biblical Cush (Second Samuel 18:21-32; Jeremiah 46:9), its populace being identified with the sons of Ham, through his first son Cush. According to the Bible, King Solomon developed a widespread commercial network through Egypt and Cilicia to Sheva (southern Arabia) by way of the newly-constructed port of Ezion -Geber on the Red Sea (First Kings 9:26-28, 10:1-13). Josephus identified the Queen of Sheva as the Queen of Ethiopia (see the commentary on the Life of Solomon Bu – Solomon and the Queen of Sheva).¹⁷⁸ This remote, but advanced culture was the object of endless curiosity for the Greeks and Romans who considered it the end of the earth. In other words, the eunuch had traveled no small distance and was an official of no small kingdom.¹⁷⁹

The Ethiopian eunuch was a court official responsible for all the treasure of Candace: The word court official in Greek is dunastes and this is where we get the word dynasty. In Luke 1:52 it is used of rulers. In First Timothy 6:15 the same word is used of God. The fact that this word is used of him means that he had a very high and influential position in the government. In modern terms, he was the Minister of Finance in Ethiopia, one of the highest positions in their government. So his influence in Ethiopia would have been great.

Candace, queen of the Ethiopians: This was not a proper name, but like Cesar, Pharaoh and Abimelech, an official title. Because the Ethiopian Kingdom was a matriarchy, the king of Ethiopia was considered a child of the sun and therefore too sacred to perform any of the human functions of royalty. Therefore, the queen mother performed all of the royal duties and she always had the title of Candace, and the real power behind the throne.

He had traveled to Jerusalem to worship (Greek: proskuneo, meaning to kiss the face, or to worship) and was now returning (8:27b). He was concerned enough about his spiritual life that he traveled at least sixty days to Jerusalem to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but his heart was still not satisfied. This Ethiopian represents many people today who are religious, read the Scriptures, and seek the truth, yet do not have saving faith in Yeshua Messiah. They are sincere, but they are sincerely lost. They need someone to show them the way.¹⁸⁰

He was sitting in his ox-drawn wagon, he was reading the prophet Isaiah out loud (8:28). This was and is a common practice in the Near East, even when they do it for their own instruction, without any intention of being overheard by others. They swing the head, and even the entire upper body, from side to side as they read, and utter words with a tone that comes nearer to singing than to our unimpassioned mode of reading.¹⁸¹ Apart from the Ruach’s orchestration of events, this meeting would have never taken place at all. Once again this emphasizes the sovereign work of the Ruach ha-Kodesh in salvation.

He was a eunuch: How he came into contact with Judaism is not told. The term eunuch normally indicates a person who has been castrated; such people were forbidden entry to the Temple according to the Torah of Moses (Deuteronomy 23:1). That meant that he could never be a full proselyte. There were three levels of Gentile relationship to Judaism.

The first level were God-fearers: These were Gentiles who became convinced that ADONAI was the only true God, they abandoned their paganism and idolatry, but they did not choose to become a proselyte in any form, and hence there was no adoption of Jewish customs or practices (see Be – The Centurion’s Vision). The second level were Proselytes at the Gate: The Gate was the middle wall of separation (Ephesians 2:14) in the Temple compound that Gentiles were not allowed to go beyond under penalty of death (see below).

This was a Gentile who adopted many Jewish practices like celebrating Shabbat and the feasts of Isra’el, but did not become a full proselyte. Most of these were men because this level didn’t require circumcision. And the third level were Proselytes of the Covenant: They entered the Covenant of Sinai as a full Jew, so to speak. Most of these were women because this level required circumcision.¹⁸²

So because the Ethiopian eunuch had been castrated, he did the best he could and became a Proselyte of the Gate. And that meant that he had adopted many of the practices of Judaism, in fact, he did everything a proselyte would have done except for circumcision. Despite his power and prestige, however, the Ethiopian had a vast emptiness in his soul. He had traveled to Yerushalayim to worship on the occasion of one of the three travel festivals of either Sukkot (Booths), Pesach (Passover), or Shavu’ot (Weeks), and was on his journey home, passing the time by reading from his Greek translation of the TaNaKh.¹⁸³ This was not a state visit, he came to worship ADONAI. He was hungry for God’s Word. It was this man that Philip was to meet on a lonely desert road. The eunuch is a classic example of the one who lived up to the light he had. Then God gave him the full revelation of Yeshua Messiah through Philip’s ministry.

In all the TaNaKh, Isaiah holds the greatest hope for the eunuch in his picture of God’s ideal future, a future that promises a monument in God’s house, a name better than sons and daughters, an everlasting name that will not be cut off (Isaiah 56:3-8). Little did the eunuch know that he was about to experience the fulfillment of those promises. And little did Philip know his own role in their fulfillment. Philip was probably still wondering why God had sent him to this lonely place, and perhaps he was a bit bemused by the strange spectacle of the ox-drawn wagon in front of him (plodding along at not much more than a walking pace), with its exotic passenger and his entourage following behind. Then suddenly, for the second time in the story, Philip received a divine command. Now, the Ruach ha-Kodesh said to Philip, “Go, and catch up with this wagon” (8:29).¹⁸⁴ The rabbis taught that when God speaks in heaven, “the daughter of His voice” the bat-kol, or an echo, is heard on earth. After the last of the prophets, it was considered that God provided the bat-kol to continue to give guidance to the people (Tractate Yoma 9b).

Although the eunuch’s entourage must have been impressive, Philip was not intimidated. Instantly complying with the voice of the bat-kol, Philip ran up to the slow-moving wagon and began to trot alongside. There, he heard the Ethiopian reading the prophet Isaiah. Because he was a man of position, he would have had a driver handling the ox-drawn wagon. Therefore, he would have had the time to read. Not only that, but by the providence of God, this man was reading from one of the key Messianic prophecies pointing to Yeshua (Isaiah 52:11 to 53:12). At that moment, Philip probably knew that ADONAI had given him an open door, a prepared heart.

When Philip heard the eunuch reading out loud it provided an opening and he said: Do you understand what you are reading (8:30)? Philip wasn’t asking if the eunuch understood the words he was reading. What he really wanted to know was, “Do you know who the passage is speaking about?” It was good for the Ethiopian to be reading Isaiah, but unless understanding was brought to him, there would be no benefit from his reading. The book of Acts has already referred to Yeshua four times as the Servant of God (3:13 and 26, 4:27 and 30). Modern Jewish interpretation understands this servant to be the people of Isra’el (see the commentary on Isaiah Iy – The Death of the Suffering Servant), not the Messiah.

Philip’s experience ought to encourage us in our own personal witness for the Lord. To begin with, ADONAI directed Philip to the right person at the right time. You and I are not likely to have an angel instruct us, but we can know the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our witnessing if we are walking in the Spirit and praying for God’s direction.¹⁸⁵

God had already prepared the man’s heart to receive Philip’s message. Then the Ethiopian responded, “How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” He realized that he needed someone to interpret the passage. The evangelist’s heart must have been rejoicing in the confidence that YHVH had so prepared this eunuch. He had a seeking, humble and teachable spirit. But the passage was Isaiah 53:7b-8, and it puzzled the eunuch. So, he invited Philip to come up and sit with him (8:31). 

As the Minister of Finance in Ethiopia, he was more than likely able to speak Greek, the international language of the day. Now the passage of Scripture that he was reading from the Septuagint (LXX) was this:

“He was led as a sheep to slaughter;
and as a lamb before its shearers is silent,
so He opens not His Mouth.
In His humiliation justice was denied Him.
Who shall recount His generation?

That is, since Yeshua died a physical death, He will have no physical descendants. This is a lament. But the lament proves to be unwarranted in Yeshua’s case, because He is raised from the dead, and in Him are many spiritual children, as Isaiah would say a few verses later: He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the will of Adonai will succeed by His hand (Isaiah 53:10b LXX). God does the unexpected, providing descendants for the One who died with neither wife nor children. For His life was taken away from the earth” (8:32-33).

The eunuch replied to Philip, “Please tell me, who is the prophet talking about – himself or someone else.” His confusion is understandable, since contemporary Jewish thought was divided on the interpretation. Isaiah did not meet the requirements of the passage, even though he was a servant of God. Then Philip, who was not slow to give an answer, opened his mouth. The phrase “to open one’s mouth,” is used when something of great significance is to follow. Here, then, is the climax of the conversation. Philip developed some common ground with the Ethiopian by talking about Isaiah, but made his way to proclaiming the Good News about Yeshua (8:34-35). Clearly, his first step was to show that Messiah was the One who fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy. A description of the general character of Yeshua, and the way He suffered unjustly and was condemned to death, would prove the point.

The fact that Isaiah 53:7-8 was not the whole story, but just the starting place. Now as they were going down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said: Look, water! What’s to prevent me from being immersed (8:36)? Obviously, Philip must have spoken to him of Peter’s speech regarding the appropriate response to the Good News, “Repent. Let each of you be immersed in the name of Messiah Yeshua because of the removal of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach ha-Kodesh (2:38). In the same way, it can be assumed that the eunuch must have given Philip his profession of faith in Yeshua Messiah.¹⁸⁶ So the eunuch ordered the wagon to stop so he could make a public confession. Philip agreed and they both got down into the water and Philip immersed him (8:38). Immersion is the public confession of an inward conviction. So the eunuch not only confessed his faith personally to Philip but openly in front of his entire caravan.

But the lack of any clear mention of the eunuch’s profession of faith led some early scribe to “improve” on the story by adding this verse. “Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you man,’ the eunuch answered, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God’ (8:37).” The oldest and most reliable manuscripts, however, do not include this verse so neither do I.

When they came up out of the midst of the water, the Ruach Adonai snatched (Greek: harpazo, meaning caught up, to be taken away suddenly and miraculously) Philip away. This is the same word that Paul used when describing the rapture of the Church: After that, we who are still alive and are left will be snatched up (Greek: the root word is harpazo, meaning caught up) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (First Thessalonians 4:17), and the eunuch saw him no more. By performing this startling miracle the Ruach ha-Kodesh confirmed to the entire caravan that Philip was indeed His spokesman. As for the eunuch, he went on his way, rejoicing in the joy of the Lord (8:39). The joy of the Ethiopian, even after Philip’s abrupt departure, showed that his faith was firmly rooted in God, not in Philip. Luke does not give us the subsequent history of the Ethiopian eunuch, but according to Church Father Irenaeus, he became a missionary to the Ethiopians and perhaps established the first church on the continent of Africa.¹⁸⁷

But Philip found himself at Azotus (the new Greek name for Ashdod), some twenty miles north of Gaza. Philip continued doing the work of an evangelist as he passed through, he kept proclaiming the Good News to all the towns until he came to Caesarea (8:40). There, he married and settled down (21:8-9). As a result, Caesarea became the new center of Hellenistic Judean believers. It may have been due to Philip’s preaching in this area that churches were established in Lydda and Joppa (see Bd – Signs and Miracles Follow Peter). Caesarea continued to be a haven for Hellenistic Jewish believers until 66 AD when, as a result of the Jewish revolt, the leaders of the Messianic congregation in Caesarea immigrated out of the country to the province of Asia, or present-day Turkey.¹⁸⁸

In October 1857, J. Hudson Taylor began to minister in Ningpo, China, and he led a Mr. Nyi to Christ. The man was overjoyed and wanted to share his faith with others. “How long have you had the Good News in England?” Mr. Nyi asked Hudson Taylor one day. Taylor acknowledged that England had known the gospel for centuries. “My father died seeking the truth,” said Mr. Nyi. “Why didn’t you come sooner?” Taylor had no answer for this penetrating question. How long have you known the gospel? How far have you shared it personally?¹⁸⁹

The God of Isra’el desires to provide people with His rest and peace through an eternal relationship with Himself. The following five principles, taken from the prophet Isaiah, help us to recognize how we can have that relationship. Just as believers have often used a series of verses from Romans called “the Romans Road,” messianic believers, witnessing to Jews, can use a different series of verses from Isaiah called “the Isaiah Avenue.”

Sinners Before God

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like a filthy garment, and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away, like the wind (Isaiah 64:5). We may judge ourselves by relative standards, thinking, “I’m as good as the next person,” or, “I’m no worse than the next guy.” Yet, God judges each of us by His absolute standards of Himself and His Torah: You shall be holy, for I, ADONAI your God, am holy (Leviticus 19:2). By His standards, we are all moral failures.

Granted, you may be a nice person, and you may remember to call your mom on Mother’s Day; it’s just that you and “the next person” still fall short of God’s high holy standards. By the way, every Messianic rabbi or pastor has the same problem. Psalm 14:3 declares: There is none that does good, no not one. We are all born with the fatal disease of sin passed down through Adam. So, no one can point fingers or throw stones at anyone else; we all have the same great problem of original sin.

Separation From God

Surely the arm of ADONAI is not too short to save, nor His ear to dull to hear. Rather, your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear (Isaiah 59:1-2). The result of our sin nature is a broken relationship with God. Now you may pray and even fast, but the Bible is clear: He will not hear. It’s as if I stole money from you, and then had the nerve to come to you and ask for a gift! Your response should be, “first let’s deal with the past offense, then I can consider your present or future needs.” God wants to bless you, but your sin nature separates you from Him, and must be dealt with first before He can bless you.

Since this separation continues to our death, it becomes a judgment of everlasting separation from God. This breaks God’s heart. He truly loves you and desires you to have everlasting life with Him. That’s why the story doesn’t end here, but continues on with the Good News for your life.

Salvation In God

We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us turned to our own way. So ADONAI has laid on Him [Messiah] the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). God has provided the way of salvation and forgiveness, since we can do nothing, no good deed, to save ourselves. The best fifteen minutes of our lives cannot save us; the greatest accomplishment of our lives cannot save us either. Because of His great love, God has promised to send Messiah to die as the atonement or payment for our sins. In the New Covenant, Messiah Yeshua states as well: I give My life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). This is the salvation and right relationship that God offers freely.

The Savior Is God

For to us a child is born, a son will be given to us, and the government will be upon His shoulder. His Name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and shalom there will be no end – on the throne of David and over His Kingdom – to establish it and uphold it through justice and righteousness from now until forevermore. The zeal of ADONAI-Tzva’ot will accomplish this (Isaiah 9:5-6). Only God Himself could provide the perfect sacrifice for sins, as He alone is perfect. What amazing love and humility that the Mighty God of Isra’el would be born, live as a man, and die as the perfect payment for our sins. Messiah Yeshua is Adonai, the Lord.

Eternal Security With God

You keep in perfect peace one whose mind is steadfast on You, because he trusts in You (Isaiah 26:3). Perfect peace (shalom shalom) is found only in God and is accessible only through faith/trust/belief in Messiah. Simple acknowledgement of our sins and faith in Messiah Yeshua as our substitute, our sacrifice, our saving atonement, is the necessary action to a right relationship with God. The Bible says: Abraham believed God, and He credited it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Like Abraham, you can have a right relationship with God by faith in what He alone has provided. Here’s a simple prayer that help you:

Lord, please forgive me for all my sins through Messiah’s sacrifice on the cross for me.
Help me to follow Yeshua and honor You.
Thank You for loving me. Amen.¹⁹⁰

If you have prayed this prayer, see my commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does for Us at the Moment of Faith.

Simon the Sorcerer
The Samaritans are Saved
Through the Preaching of Peter
8: 9-25

34 AD
The events of Acts 3-8 transpire with mounting concern on the part of the Jews, and especially the Jewish authorities in Yerushalayim. The rising tension resulted in vigilante action taken against Stephen, and then an authorized effort under Rabbi Sha’ul to disrupt and destroy that new Messianic movement, involving persecution and even death of the believers. The persecution led various believers such as Philip to go to Samaria and bear witness of Yeshua.

Simon the Sorcerer DIG: What do Simon and Philip have in common in verses 5-11? How are they different? How has the crowd responded to both men in the past? Why would Peter and John come to them? Why might the Father delay pouring out His Spirit until Peter and John were on the scene? Do you think this was more of a lesson for the Samaritans or for the apostles? Why? In what ways does Simon’s reaction to the apostles in verses 18 and 19 show his deep understanding about the gospel? Do you think that Simon’s words in verse 24 reveal a change in his heart? Why or why not?

REFLECT: What cultural or ethnic prejudices were you brought up with? How is the gospel breaking through those prejudices in your life? What was your primary motivation in receiving Yeshua Messiah as Savior? What’s your primary motivation for continuing in the faith? Has your personal influence declined or increased since you became a believer? How? Why? Has jealousy of other believers hindered you in any way?

Having introduced Philip, the protagonist, into the story, Luke now turns to Simon, the antagonist. Although Simon had a Hebrew name, he was a Samaritan. At first he appeared to be a genuine believer. Even one as discerning as Philip accepted him as such and immersed him. Simon even continued on with Philip (8:13). Thus, he manifested the three marks of a genuine believer: he believed, he was obedient in immersion, and he continued with Philip. So Simon illustrates how hard it is to tell the wheat from the weeds (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Ev – The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds).

Where did Simon go wrong? How did one who came so close miss out on true salvation? Faith must be grounded in truth, and his was not. This passage reveals four glaring faults in Simon’s theology. First, he had a wrong view of self. Now a man named Simon had an egotistical view of himself. Practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria led him to claim that he was someone great. Simon may have merely been a magician who liked having powers and controlling people. Or he may have been the leader of a heretical Jewish Gnostic sect. Gnostics usually claimed various spiritual beings in a chain of command leading to God and proposed set of practices as the means for attaining higher spiritual levels in their religious cult. He may well have been in touch with the supernatural; but it would have been with demons, not the power of God. Simon’s sin in verses 18-23 below confirms his ungodliness.¹⁷¹ Simon’s hold on the people of Samaria was complete. They all were paying special attention to him. Impressed by his powers of the occult, they mistakenly declared: This man is the power of God that is called “Great.” That title showed that Simon claimed deity for himself. And they kept paying attention to him, because for a long time he had astonished them with his magical arts (8:9-11). As long as Simon believed he was deity, he could not come to a proper sense of himself. Only the humble, aware of their inadequacies and shortcomings, have that sense of being lost that drives them to ADONAI. Simon, firmly locked in pride’s grip, did not.

Second, Simon had a wrong view of salvation. Through Philip’s preaching, revival broke out in the city: When they believed Philip proclaiming the Good News about the kingdom of God and the name of Messiah Yeshua, both men and women were immersed. The Samaritans needed to come to the realization that the kingdom of God would be a Jewish Kingdom and not a Samaritan Kingdom as they had thought (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ca – Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman). So as more and more people believed in Messiah for their salvation, Simon saw his following dwindle. His declining popularity, his wish to be associated with God in some way, and his desire to learn more about what he perceived to be Philip’s power, motivated Simon to believe. And after being immersed, he continued with Philip as an opportunity to get that power and have more influence over people. And when he saw signs and great miracles happening, he was continually amazed (8:12-13). He had, so to speak, a professional interest in finding out the source of Philip’s amazing power. But his “faith” was grounded in the power miracles, not in the saving power of the Messiah. What he saw resulted in amazement, not holiness.

The Samaritans are saved: Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the message of God, they sent Peter and John to check it out (This is the last mention of John in Acts, as Peter, then Paul, take center stage). The Samaritans despised Jerusalem, would they reject the apostles because they were from the Holy City? Would the Jews reject the Samaritans? It was shocking to them that the Samaritans could be included in the Kingdom because they practiced a hybrid religion (Luke 9:54). So apostles were sent for three reasons. First, to authenticate Samaritan salvation. Secondly, because Peter had the keys to the Kingdom. And thirdly, they came down and prayed for them to receive the Ruach ha-Kodesh. Although the Samaritans had believed and been immersed, the Ruach had not yet come upon them, they had only been immersed in the name of the Lord Yeshua (8:14-16). 

Those who teach that believers receive the Spirit subsequent to salvation appeal to this and similar passages for support. Here is a clear example, they argue, of people who were saved, yet did not have the Ruach ha-Kodesh. Such teaching ignores the transitional nature of Acts (see below). It also fails in the face of the plain teaching of Scripture that if anyone does not have the Ruach of Messiah, he does not belong to Him (Romans 8:9). There is no such thing as a believer who does not yet have the Ruach ha-Kodesh, since by one Spirit we were all immersed into one body at conversion (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does For Us at the Moment of Faith).

Why did the Samaritans (and later the Gentiles) have to wait for the apostles before receiving the Ruach? If the Samaritans had received the Ruach ha-Kodesh independent of the Messianic Community, the rift between them would have been perpetuated. There could well have been two separate entities, a Messianic Congregation and Samaritan Church. But God designed one Messianic Congregation/Church: For He Himself is our peace, who had made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:14).

God is never late. By delaying the Spirit’s coming until Peter and John arrived, ADONAI preserved the unity of the Messianic Congregation/Church. The apostles needed to see for themselves, and give first hand testimony to the Messianic Community in Jerusalem, that the Ruach had come upon the Samaritans. In addition, the Samaritans needed to learn that they were subject to the authority of the apostles. The Jewish believers and the Samaritan believers were linked together into one Body. When Peter and John arrived, they began laying their hands on the Samaritan believers and it became obvious that they were receiving the Ruach ha-Kodesh as evidenced by the speaking in languages (8:17).¹⁷² Nowhere does the Bible teach that the gift of tongues is anything other than human languages.¹⁷³

A closer look at the keys to the Kingdom: At Caesarea Philippi Peter declared that Yeshua was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. In response, Jesus said: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Fx – On This Rock I Will Build My Church). Whenever the words key or keys is used symbolically in the Bible, it always symbolizes the authority to open or close doors (Judges 3:25; First Chronicles 9:27; Isaiah 22:20-24; Matthew 16:19a; Revelation 1:18, 3:7, 9:1 and 20:1). Peter will be responsible to open the doors of the Church. He has a special role in the book of Acts. In the Dispensation of the Torah, humanity was divided into two groups, Jews and Gentiles. But in the Dispensation of Grace, because of what went on in the intertestamental period, there were three groups of people, Jews, Gentiles and Samaritans (Matthew 10:5-6). Peter would be the key person (pun intended) in bringing in the Jews (Acts 2), the Samaritans (Acts 8), and the Gentiles (Acts 10) into the Church by receiving the Holy Spirit. Once he opened the door it stayed open.

As we proceed through the book of Acts we will be comparing the way salvation comes to the Jews, the Samaritans and the Gentiles, showing, as was the case with the way Yeshua healed, there is no set order. Acts is a transitional book and a historical book, and you cannot establish doctrine based upon history. You base doctrine on clear theological statements. The historical facts can illustrate the doctrine, but they cannot develop doctrine on their own.

The gift of languages (tongues) can be seen four times in the book, Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 10 and Acts 19. There is no set order leading up to immersion by the Spirit and subsequent speaking in languages. In Acts 2 with salvation coming to the Jews, the order was first repentance, then water immersion, and then receiving Spirit immersion by the Ruach ha-Kodesh as evidenced by speaking in languages. Here in Acts 8 with salvation coming to the Samaritans, the order was this, first they believed, then came water immersion, then the apostles arrived, next they laid their hands on the Samaritans, and then they received Spirit immersion by the Ruach ha-Kodesh as evidenced by the speaking languages. Again, you don’t build doctrine on history. Keep this order in mind and we will see how it was different with the Samaritans, the Gentiles and John’s disciples.

To understand the differences in the four appearances of languages in Acts, we will ask six questions as we come to each passage. However, the one key common element in all four cases is that languages (ie tongues) are for the purpose of authentication.

1. Who received it? The believers of Samaria.

2. What were they? They were Samaritans, who historically did not like Jews and were antagonistic toward Jerusalem. In fact, they often attacked and even killed Jews who were headed from Galilee to Yerushalayim through Samaria (Luke 9:51-53).

3. What were the circumstances? Philip preached to the Samaritans who believed and were saved. But this raised some questions from the apostles in Tziyon who had the old Samaritan antagonism in mind. So Peter and John were sent to authenticate these reports.

4. What was the means? The laying on of hands by Peter and John, apostles, who came from Jerusalem.

5. What was the purpose in this context? As is in every case in the book of Acts, speaking in tongues is used for the purpose of authentication. That was true in Acts 2, is true here in Acts 8, and it will be true in Acts 10 and Acts 19, the four places it is found. For the Jewish apostles it proved that the Samaritans were able to be saved. It was hard for them to believe, but that’s what it would authenticate for the apostles in Tziyon. And for the Samaritans it authenticated the authority of the Jewish apostles. This was to teach the Samaritans that they were not to create a separate Samaritan Church because that’s exactly what they had done when the Jews rejected them when Ezra returned to Palestine from the Babylonian Captivity to rebuild the Temple (see the commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah As – Opposition to Rebuilding the Temple). They built their own rival Temple on Mount Gerizim with a holy place and a most holy place. So they were not to build a Samaritan Church in opposition to the Messianic Community/Church.

6. What were the results? The Samaritans did receive the immersion of the Ruach ha-Kodesh and became members of the Body of Messiah, and no rival Samaritan Church was ever set up.¹⁷⁴

Now back to Simon the sorcerer. This passage reveals the third of four glaring faults in Simon’s theology. Third, he had a wrong view of the Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Ruach ha-Kodesh was given through the laying on of hands by the apostles as evidenced by the speaking in other languages it was way too much for him. Philip had impressed him, but Peter and John had overwhelmed him. It was obvious that something supernatural must have occurred. Simon offered them money, saying: Give this power to me, too – so that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Ruach ha-Kodesh. He treated the two apostles as though they were fellow practitioners of magic and was ready to negotiate the price to buy the secret of their power. Nothing God has, however, is for sale. Certainly not the Ruach ha-Kodesh. Therefore, Peter was irate and said to him, “May your silver go to ruin, and you with it (J. B. Phillips’ rendering, “To hell with you and your money!” conveys the actual sense of Peter’s words) – because you thought you could buy God’s gift with money. You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God (8:18-21). Simon’s view of the Ruach as a commodity to be bought and added to his repertoire of spiritual tricks was utterly detestable and betrayed his lost condition.

Fourth, Simon had a wrong view of sin. Peter followed his condemnation of Simon with a call for salvation. Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible (if you repent), the intent of your heart may be pardoned. Peter, using the expression for the most serious offenses against God in the TaNaKh (Deuteronomy 18:18-20), warns Simon of the seriousness of his situation: For I see in you the poison of bitterness and the bondage of unrighteousness! Simon, however, was not persuaded. Although probably shaken and afraid, he refused to ask the Lord for forgiveness. Instead, he said to the apostles, “Pray for me, so that none of what you have said may come upon me” (8:22-24) His only concern to escape the consequences of his sin. True repentance, however, consists of more than mere sorrow for sin (Second Corinthians 7:9-10).¹⁷⁵

So when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, continually proclaiming the Good News to many Samaritan villages (8:25). In sum, this file shows the gospel as it begins to move away from an exclusive concern of Isra’el. The gospel is for every person, for each one to consider, it is hoped, with ears and a heart that responds. This is as true today as it was then. Here we see Jews crossing racial and ethnic lines with the gospel, the message of hope to the Samaritans, and taking that initiative is at the heart of the Messianic Community’s/Church’s mission in the world: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Ruach ha-Kodesh, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:18b-20).¹⁷⁶

The Good News Spreads to Samaria
8: 5-8

34 AD
The events of Acts 3-8 transpire with mounting concern on the part of the Jews, and especially the Jewish authorities in Yerushalayim. The rising tension resulted in vigilante action taken against Stephen, and then an authorized effort under Rabbi Sha’ul to disrupt and destroy that new Messianic movement, involving persecution and even death of the believers. The persecution led various believers such as Philip to go to Samaria and bear witness of Yeshua.

The good news spreads to Samaria DIG: Why was it important for the Hellenistic Jews to be driven out of Jerusalem? How did God use Philip? Why do you suppose He worked this way in this case? Who were the Samaritans, and why were they despised so much by the Jews?

REFLECT: In what ways is the gospel like sowing seed? How was the gospel sown in your life before you became a believer? How much do you desire to see unbelievers from other cultures come to the Lord? Do you intentionally reach out to share your testimony? Or are you content to stay within your “holy huddle?”

The scattering of the Hellenistic Jews led to the most significant step forward in the mission of the congregations of God. One might say that it required persecution to make them fulfill the implicit command of 1:8. As the Hellenistic Jews moved into new areas, they found a ready response to the gospel, and this was exemplified by the way in which the Samaritan people responded to it.¹⁶⁹

Philip was not one of the apostles, but a Greek-speaking Jew because the apostles remained in Jerusalem. He was one of the seven chosen to serve the needs of the Hellenistic Jewish widows (6:5). Like Stephen, his faithfulness to that task led ADONAI to use him in a wider ministry. Later in the book of Acts, Phillip is called the evangelist (21:8).

As a result of the persecution of the Hellenistic Jews in Jerusalem, Philip went down from the high plateau of Tziyon to a city [in] Samaria (8:5a). This was not the Samaria of the TaNaKh. In 30 BC, after the Assyrians had destroyed the ancient capital of the northern Kingdom, the Roman Emperor Augustus awarded it to Herod the Great who renamed it Sebaste (the feminine form of the Greek word Sebastos or Augustus). This was merely a city in Samaria. In New Covenant times the term Samaria was no longer applicable to a city, but to a region, like Galilee or Judea.

Who were the Samaritans? Six hundred years before this, the Assyrians conquered this area of northern Isra’el and they deported them from the area. The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the wealthy and middle-class Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah in Gozan on the Harbor River and in the towns of the Medes (Second Kings 17:5-6). There they lived in a pagan population with its vast empire. The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns (Second Kings 17:24). Those pagans intermarried with the lowest classes of the remaining Jews in northern Isra’el, and from those people came the Samaritans. Because the Israelites intermarried with the Assyrians, the Samaritans worshiped ADONAI, but they also served other gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought (Second Kings 17:33). The Jews hated the Samaritans and considered them compromising half-breeds who corrupted the true worship of YHVH.

Philip, who proclaimed the Messiah to the Samaritans (8:5b) even though the Samaritans only accepted the five books of Moshe as their Holy Scriptures (see the commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah, to see link click As – Opposition to Rebuilding the Temple), Philip’s mission to them initially fulfilled ADONAI’s express command in 1:8. Because the Samarians did not accept the prophets of the Jewish TaNaKh, they believed the next prophet to come on the scene would be the Messiah. So it was no surprise that with one accord, the crowds continued to pay close attention to what Philip was saying since the expectation of a coming future deliverer known as the ta’be, or restorer, who would restore “true worship” on Mount Gerizim, was a major part of Samaritan theology (Deuteronomy 18:15ff). Given that foundation of belief, Philip could simply proclaim Yeshua as the long-awaited Messiah.

Despite the hostile relations between the Jews and the Samaritans at the time, Philip found a receptive audience in Samaria. The Ruach ha-Kodesh prepared their hearts to respond to Philip’s message as they both heard and saw the signs that he was doing (8:6). Because the apostles had laid hands on him (6:6), Philip had the same ability as they did to perform signs and miracles that acted as a confirmation of his message. The only people performing signs and miracles in Acts are the apostles, or those designated by the apostles. Nowhere in Acts was this ability given to believers in general. And in this context this was especially essential because of the activity of Satan (see Ba – Simon the Sorcerer). Simon deceived people with his ability to perform counterfeit miracles. So it was necessary for Philip to perform miracles: For unclean spirits, or demons, were coming out of many who were plagued, shrieking with a loud voice. Many paralyzed and crippled were healed also, to counteract Simon’s “miracles.” The Adversary mustered all his forces in a futile effort to oppose God; however, He was still healing the demon-possessed through those designated to do so by the apostles. So there was great joy in that city (8:7-8).

There are still many demon-possessed people today. But despite the claims of current faith healers, believers do not have any authority or ability to command or directly drive out demons. The temporary sign gift of miracles was the power (Greek: dunamis) to drive out demons. Like other sign gifts, that gift no longer exists. As the apostles passed away, so did the need for sign gifts. As with physical healing, however, we can pray for God to intercede, who always hears and who has all power.

Nowhere in Scripture are believers told to “bind Satan” or exercise authority over demons. In fact, if someone thinks they are binding Satan, they are doing a pretty lousy job, because he is still very active in my neighborhood. The devil will not be bound until a holy angel does so at the beginning of the Messianic Kingdom (see the commentary on Revelation Fb – He Seized the Dragon, or Satan, and Bound Him for a Thousand Years). And those who attempt to assert their authority over demons risk winding up like the Jewish exorcists, the sons of Sceva, of Acts 19:13-16. It is dangerous to claim for ourselves authority that ADONAI has not granted to us. The biblical instruction for conducting spiritual warfare is laid out in Ephesians 6:10-18.

The powerful miracles and preaching of Philip resulted, as it had in Yerushalayim, in the salvation of many Samaritans. But as true biblical preaching inevitably does, it produced two vastly different responses. Many accepted the gospel and believed, so that there was great joy in that city. They were the true believers, the wheat. Their joy didn’t come from demons, but from complete deliverance from sin through the Lord Yeshua Messiah. Others, however, were false believers, the weeds (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ev – The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds).¹⁷⁰ Having introduced the protagonist in the story, Luke now turns to the antagonist – a certain man named Simon.

Witness in Judea and Samaria
8:5 to 11:18

34-42 AD

On Sunday, January 8, 1956, on the shore of a lonely river deep in the Ecuadorian jungle, five missionaries were murdered by primitive Auca Indians. News of the massacre shocked the world. To some, their deaths seemed a senseless tragedy. Many decried the promising missionary careers cut short, the five wives grieving for their husbands, and the children left fatherless. At first glance, like Stephen’s death, it seemed so pointless.

More than pointless, Stephen’s ministry seemed to have ended in failure. Not only was he killed as a heretic, but his death also triggered the first persecution against the entire Messianic community. That persecution, spearheaded by Sha’ul of Tarsus, scattered the large numbers of Hellenistic believers and probably many Jewish believers as well. But in the final analysis, the persecution that seemed to be so negative, was really a positive factor. It led to the first great missionary outreach by early believers. The Adversary’s attempt to stamp out the fire of the early Messianic community, merely scattered the members and started new fires around the world. In the words of the early Church Father Tertullian, “The blood of the martyrs became the seed of the Church.”

The Messianic communities first missionary effort, which begins in these chapters, was foreshadowed by Chapter 5, when people form the cities near Jerusalem brought their sick for the apostles to be healed (5:16). Stephen’s outreach to Hellenistic Jews, those from foreign lands, was a step in the right direction. These chapters mark another turning point. Jerusalem, which has dominated the story line up to this point, begins to settle into the background, illustrating the truth that opportunity ignored is opportunity lost.¹⁶⁸

Yeshua Messiah had given Peter the keys to the kingdom (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Fx – On This Rock I Will Build My Church), and he would be responsible for bringing the three known ethnic groups of his day into the kingdom of God. We have already seen his opening the door to salvation for the Jews on the festival of Shavu’ot (see An – Peter Speaks to the Shavu’ot Crowd). Next, in Chapter Eight, Peter will open the door to salvation for the Samaritans (see Ba – Simon the Sorcerer), and finally in Chapter Ten, Peter will open the door to salvation to the Gentiles (see Bg – Peter Goes to the House of Cornelius). The Messianic Community/Church will continue to grow, but the explosive days of the miracles of the apostles will fade into the background. Paul wrote that the gospel came first to the Jew and then to the Gentile (Romans 1:16). The murder of Stephen almost surely fixed a point of the gospel’s final rejection by the Sanhedrin, and ADONAI’s design for the Good News to move out into new territory began.