Recap

So far in Acts we've read through the introduction and started the disciples' time in Jerusalem. We looked at how Acts is a sequel to Luke's gospel, written by the same author. In this book Luke intends to unpack the birth and growth of the early church. We read as Jesus commissioned his disciples to preach the good news to “Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). He also encouraged them to wait for the Holy Spirit, who would empower them to do all he was calling them to do.

As Jesus ascended back to heaven, the disciples decided to nominate someone to replace Judas, who had betrayed Jesus. A new member of the twelve was appointed, and they all waited on God to send the Holy Spirit.

A little later, the Spirit did come in a gush of wind, and in tongues of fire. We noted how this was a reflection of God’s presence entering the temple in the Old Testament (2 Chronicles 7:1-3). God is making his people his new temples. The Spirit then empowered them to speak in different languages, a symbolic act that God was reclaiming the reign that he’d divided back in Genesis 11. The people around them were amazed and Peter led over 3,000 people to salvation.

The church was born, and they began to live in community together, doing life together and sharing all that they had.

We read as God’s new temples, his people, were contrasted with the old temple. Peter and John went to the old temple to pray and healed a lame man in Jesus' name. The crowd was amazed, unused to such power in the temple. Peter explained that God's presence and power, through Jesus, now dwelt in his people, not in the temple. This led to conflict with the temple priests, who, unsure how to respond, warned them not to preach Jesus' name but then let them go.

Returning to the believers, Peter and John showed what a true community of faith should be. The people prayed not for their problems to be removed. Instead, they prayed for boldness in the face of these problems. They also began sharing their possessions to ensure everyone had enough.

Acts 5-6

We move from a good example of what it means to follow Jesus to a bad one. Seeing others sell property and share it out, a couple named Ananias and Sapphira want to do the same.

They want the reputation of being generous. But they don’t want to give all their money away, so they decide to lie about how much they sold their property for and only give a portion of it. Peter immediately knows what has happened, and challenges Ananias.

They were never asked to sell their property, and when they did, they were never expected to give everything. It’s their stuff. They can do what they want with it. But the fact they were willing to lie about it to make themselves look better is the issue.

This is an insult and offence to God. Peter describes what they’ve done as testing the Spirit of the Lord (Acts 5:9). This was the sin of the Israelites in the wilderness (see Exodus 17:2, Deuteronomy 6:16, Psalm 78:18). God will not let his new people be derailed in the same way.

Both Ananias and then Sapphira are struck down for this and are taken away and buried. This event sent a significant message throughout the early church. Yes, God is merciful and full of grace. But he is still to be feared. When God’s spirit is moving, he can’t afford for people to get in the way of what he’s doing.

If they actively choose to go against him, then he will remove them. We too should have a healthy fear of God. We don’t want to take him for granted, then start behaving in a way that’s counter to his kingdom.

This event doesn’t turn people away from God. People keep coming to the apostles, the twelve, to be healed, and more and more people become believers. This angers the religious leaders, who had explicitly told Peter and John to stop telling people about Jesus. They arrest all the apostles and stick them in prison.

But that night, an angel frees the apostles from the prison and tells them to continue preaching about Jesus. The next day, the religious leaders go to the prison to question the apostles, only to find them not in the prison but back in the temple. The religious leaders question them and threaten them, but the apostles stand their ground and insist they must obey God.

The religious leaders are unsure what to do. They want to stop these men, but if they are from God, then they will be fighting against God. They let the apostles go, but this time, they give them a beating. Again, we see the old religious older powerless in the face of Jesus’ new kingdom.

Once again, the apostles aren’t put off by this opposition, but thank God for it.

If the religious leaders opposed Jesus, then the apostles must also be doing something right. In these we see the believers’ commitment to serving God, even in the face of God disciplining his own people or opposition from others.

This leads to the section where the church starts facing its first real resistance, both inside and out, that ultimately causes them to grow. During this time, some complaints arose amongst the believers. The Greek Jews (Hellenists) were annoyed because their widows were always the last to get food and often didn’t get enough.

This is where we start to see the first cultural problems in the church. The church is meant to be the place where people from different backgrounds and walks of life are united in Jesus. But in doing so, it brings together different cultures that then clash with one another. That can’t stand, and all people should be treated equally, regardless of culture.

But this raised a deeper issue for the apostles. They couldn’t waste their time organising and looking after all the people. It was too much work, and they were called to teach and preach God’s word. When Moses faced this problem in Exodus 18:17-23, his father-in-law, Jethro, recommended he picked good men to be responsible for managing the people on his behalf.

The apostles choose to do the same now. They asked the believers to pick seven men who can be responsible for the day-to-day managing of the church. Once the men were chosen, the apostles laid hands on them and prayed for them, commissioning them for this role just as Moses commissioned Joshua to lead the people (Numbers 27:18, 23). We see the impact of this decision. The influence of God’s word continues to grow, and more and more people begin to get saved.

One of these men chosen, Stephen, carried a particular anointing from God, performing many miracles and signs. This drew the attention of a particularly religious sect of Jews known as the Freedmen. These were decedents of a group of Jews that had been captured as slaves almost 100 years before. They were quickly released because the Romans found them so strict in their religious customs that they were useless as slave.

At first, they try to challenge Stephen, but he is filled with the Holy Spirit and easily defeats them. So instead they falsely claim he is speaking blasphemy and whip up the crowds so seize him. All eyes turn to Stephen to see what he will say in his defence.

We’re going to see in the next chapter strong parallels between Stephen and Moses. This description of Stephen having a face like an angel is likely a reference to his face shining. We know from Moses that when someone has been in God’s presence, their face can begin to shine (Exodus 34:29-35).

Psalm 119:153-176

We are continuing on with Psalm 119. This psalm isn’t attributed to anyone in particular and falls into the category of wisdom psalm. Each stanza has eight verses each, and each verse within a stanza starts with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. With twenty-two stanzas, we have a different stanza for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In many ways, this psalm can be seen as the A-B-Cs of Biblical wisdom.

Psalm 119:153-160 - Resh (ר): Look on my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law

Psalm 119:161-168 - Shin (ש): Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words

Psalm 119:169-176 - Taw (ת): Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word

Continuing on from previous stanza (Psalm 119:145-152), in stanza twenty (Psalm 119:153-160) the psalmist continues to ask the Lord to deliver them from their enemies. As a Lord is merciful and just the may he rescue the psalmist, who keeps the Lord’s law, from the wicked, who do not. The psalmist loves the Lord’s decrees because they are steadfast and righteous, so may they not fail the psalmist now.

In stanza twenty-one (Psalm 119:161-168) we read that princes, great leaders, are amongst those who oppress the psalmist. But even that is not enough to deter the psalmist. They continue to rejoice in the Lord’s word. The psalmist praises God for his commands and acknowledges that those who follow them experience peace.

The psalm ends with stanza twenty-two (Psalm 119:169-176). Here the psalmist offers themselves again to the Lord and asks that he continue to redeem them. The psalmist will cry out to the Lord and praise him. They will cling to the Lord's commands, in return, ask that the Lord be with them, rescue them, and guide them.

The clear focus of this psalm has been God’s law. His teachings and decrees. The psalmist has made it clear that they will hold on to God’s teaching in the good times and in the bad times. That these teachings are a source of peace and joy, as well as justice and righteousness. They flow out of the very nature of who God is and so if we all were to live according to these teachings, then we would bring God’s nature into our communities that we live.