Commentaries and Podcasts

Book of Acts Chapter 12 - 08-09-2013

We have said that the Book of Acts is a book of transition, and introducing the book in the first segment of this presentation we described some of the aspects of that transition. One of the things that we said is that it records a transition “from the rituals of the laws of the Old Covenant to a faith in the Word of God in Christ which was promised by the prophets of the Old Covenant, and which was recorded in the Gospel of the New Covenant”. Part of this transition is recorded in Acts chapters 10 and 11, where Peter witnessed and then acknowledged that the members of the household of Kornelios (Cornelius) had received the Holy Spirit upon hearing the Word of God, and ostensibly upon having accepted it, and it was specifically noted that this happened apart from a ritual of water baptism. Another of the things we said in our introduction is that Acts “records a transition of the primary subject of the Word of God from the remnant of Jerusalem to the dispersion of the children of Israel, the 'lost sheep' of the ancient dispersions.” The beginnings of this transition are also recorded in Acts chapters 10 and 11, where through Peter's vision the apostles had discovered that the Nations – which in a historical context refers to the Nations of the Adamic oikoumene – were to receive the Gospel of Christ.

Book of Acts Chapter 11 - Christogenea Internet Radio 08-02-2013

Discussing Acts Chapter 10 over these past few programs, there are several conclusions that I think we can draw with the utmost certainty. First, in spite of Peter's words in his initial reactions, we must interpret Peter's vision by the words of Yahweh God which Peter transmitted to us, and therefore while that vision had included all of the four-footed creatures, creeping things and birds, Peter was only beckoned not to consider profane, or common, the things which Yahweh had cleansed. Examining the words of the prophets in relation to this, we saw that Yahweh intended to cleanse the children of Israel, and only Israel, on the cross of Christ. Therefore Peter's vision can only apply to Israelites. Secondly, and in relation to this same thing, we saw the difference between the words unclean, and common, which is also often rendered as profane. Things deemed unclean by the law of God cannot ever be cleansed. However things which are clean by the law, but which have been soiled or defiled, are considered profane and can be cleansed. While we did not discuss it last week, we did read several prophecies which also told us that even the Name of Yahweh was profaned by the children of Israel in their many sins, but that He would sanctify His Name as well. Therefore, with the Gospel, we can deduct that sheep can indeed be cleansed, being clean under the law. However pigs and dogs can never be cleansed. Finally, we saw that it is the Cross of Christ by which the children of Israel were cleansed, and they sanctify themselves when they receive His Word through the Gospel, as He said in John 15:3: “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” Therefore once it was discovered by Peter that those of the Nations received the Holy Spirit without water baptism, which was the baptism of John, then water was never mentioned in connection with baptism again. In this regard Peter recalled the words of Christ, as we shall see here in Acts chapter 11, and which are also recorded in Acts chapter 1, that “Iohannes immersed in water, but you shall be immersed in the Holy Spirit after not many days hence.”

Book of Acts Chapter 10, Part 2 - 07-26-2013

In the first segment of our presentation of Acts chapter 10, we saw that non-Judaeans, meaning those who had not been circumcised into Judaism regardless of whether they were converts or had been born into it, had not yet been presented with the Gospel message by the apostles. We established this in several ways in our earlier presentation, and it is summarized in Acts chapter 11, at verse 19 where it says: “So then those who were scattered from the tribulation which happened after Stephanos had spread so far as Phoenicia and Kupros and Antiocheia speaking the Word to no one except only to Judaeans.” There is no better proof than this testimony in the Book of Acts itself, that the Ethiopian eunuch and all others to whom the Gospel was brought up to this point were indeed Judaeans dwelling in various places, but who were identified otherwise by citizenship or geography, as we have established from the evidence presented and from reading the accounts in context – rather than lifting a verse or a line or even a single word out of context and using it to support an agenda.

This chapter opens with Peter being at the house of one Simon the Tanner, who was ostensibly a pious Judaean since until this time Peter understood that Judaeans should only keep company with other Judaeans, as we see Peter attest himself at Acts 10:28 that “You know how it is unlawful for a Judaean man to join to or associate with another tribe.” One morning at the house of this Simon, Peter is hungry, and while Simon's servants are preparing his meal he goes up to the rooftop to pray. Knowing that Simon is a pious Judaean, or Peter would not have been staying at his home, it is apparent that Peter should not have been concerned over whether the meal being prepared for him was in accordance with the Scriptural food laws. However Yahweh God purposed to give Peter certain instructions in a vision, and evidently uses Peter's hunger as a device by which those instructions are presented.

Unrelated to Acts chapter 10, the preliminary remarks for this evening's program are posted on the Christogenea Forum here: The Valid Christian Ministry

Book of Acts Chapter 10, Part 1 - 07-19-2013

Once it is fully understood within the Biblical context, Acts chapter 10 above all other chapters of Scripture, exemplifies how so-called Judeo, or more properly Judaized Christians are willing to lift passages of Scripture out of their context and use them for the purposes of fulfilling an agenda. There are two agendas at stake here, both promoted from the account of Peter's vision by the mainstream churches, which are the acceptance of universalism and the discarding of Yahweh's food laws. Upon our examination of this chapter, both of those agendas will be deconstructed.

To begin with that deconstruction, we must note that there are several events described in the earlier chapters of the Book of Acts to which many Judeo-Christians point in order to maintain their support of universalism. Yet none of those events truly uphold universalism once they are scrutinized. The men “out of every nation under heaven” in Acts chapter 2 were all Judaeans, and although some of them were converts, meaning that they were circumcised, Peter in his address to these men only addressed the men of Israel in relation to the covenants and the promises, for which one may compare Acts 2:14 and 2:36 where Peter states that those things which transpired were for “all the house of Israel”. In Acts 3:12, regardless of who was present at the temple at the healing of the lame man, Peter again addressed Israelites specifically. While converts may have been considered Judaeans in a religious sense, neither Peter not the other apostles could have considered them to be Israelites.

Book of Acts Chapter 9 - Christogenea Internet Radio 07-12-2013

IX 1 And Saulos, still breathing threats even of murder to the students of the Prince, going forth to the high priest 2 requested letters from him to Damaskos to the assembly halls, that if anyone should be found being of the Way, both men and women, being bound he would bring them to Jerusalem.

Paul was described by Luke at the end of Acts chapter 7 as a young man, a νεανίας (3494), and therefore it is unlikely that he had single-handedly taken a leadership role in persecuting these Christians on his own. It is much more unlikely that he could have done the things which he describes here on his own. In Paul's latter confessions, however, which are found in Acts chapters 22 and 26 and in his epistle to the Galatians, Paul only mentions himself when recounting these events. There are, evidently, two plausible reasons for this, and I would accept both of them as true. Firstly, Luke's endeavor here is to describe the acts of the apostles, and Paul having become an apostle, only his actions in connection with these events are critical to Luke's purpose. Secondly, with Paul's describing his role in these events in the first person only, neglecting to mention anybody else in connection with them although clearly others must have taken a part, he takes the entire blame upon himself, exhibiting a noble desire to be accountable for his own actions without deflecting any of that blame onto others.

Book of Acts Chapter 8 - 07-05-2013

In Acts chapter 7 we saw Stephen make an appeal to his fellow countrymen in defense of the new Christian creed. His appeal was based on the life of Moses, who was at this time, presumably next to Yahweh God Himself, the most venerated figure in the history of Israel. Stephen's appeal included a description which explains the reason why Moses was chosen for the mission which God provided him: because he displayed a greater care for the people of his own race than he did for his high station in life which was provided by the Egyptians. In fact, Moses' care for his own race exceeded any care that they may have had for themselves. Saying these things, Stephen explains that Moses risked his own station and his worldly comforts for his brethren even in spite of his brethren, and that for this reason it was by Moses that Yahweh God chose to have Israel delivered from Egypt. Stephen described how this Moses spoke of a prophet to come, which is Yahshua Christ. Note that the final commandment given by Christ to His students was to love their brethren. But Stephen also explained how the people rejected Moses in spite of their delivery from Egypt, and how even the success which Israel had from Joshua to David and the building of the first temple in Jerusalem was tainted by their apostasy, for Yahweh had already given them up to worshipping the “host of heaven”. The overall point that Stephen was making, is that the substance of God's people Israel should be revered, and not the form. The temple, it's adornments, the rituals and traditions connected to it, its manner of governance, those things are the form. The people of the nation, one's kindred, and seeking to follow the will of one's God, these things are the substance. Imagining that salvation may be obtained through the fulfilling of ordinances and rituals leads only to self-justification. The love of one's kindred leads to the edification of the kingdom of God and to the love of God, provided one abides in that love for his brethren.

Book of Acts Chapter 7 - 06-28-2013

As it is recorded in Acts chapter 7, before his stoning the martyr Stephen offered an apology (which is a defense) of his Christian beliefs, where he attempts to demonstrate to the council and to the people thata the hope of Israel rests upon the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which were perpetuated and transmitted through Moses to Israel, and which had nothing to do with the temple or the works of the hands of men, and everything to do with kinship, brotherhood, and the counsel of God which men have perpetually rejected. Since the authority of the high priests was connected to the institution of the temple, and the allegiance of the people had long been to the institution of the temple, rather than to the Word of God, Stephen was slain for his profession of the Christian message which was unpopular with these traditionalists of the time, and which was hated most of all by the Canaanite-Edomite aliens among the chief people of the city. In the last segment of this series, we began our presentation of Stephen's apology by discussing certain of the events of the Scriptures which he cites from a historical viewpoint. Among other things, we discussed the dating of the Exodus and the reckoning of the years of Israel's captivity in Egypt. Here we will continue our discussion from where we left off last week, at Acts 7:23, and the call of Moses is still Stephen's topic:

Book of Acts Chapters 6 and 7 - 06-21-2013

VI 1 And in those days with the multiplying of students, there was a murmuring among the Hellenists towards the Hebrews, because in the daily administration their widows were neglected.

The phrase “in those days” tells us only that what is transpiring is some time after the first Pentecost. It is evident that a functioning Christian community has been established. Many of those who have come to this community since that Pentecost have sold farms and estates, things which usually take some time to accomplish. As it was established here in the very first segment of our presentation of Acts, and as we hope to explain again when we arrive at the appropriate portions of the narrative, the chronological details left to us in Acts and in the epistles of Paul, when compared to what we know from history, tell us that Paul's conversion must have most likely taken place in 34 AD, and therefore the events related in these earlier chapters of Acts all transpired over the two year period which began with the Pentecost of 32 AD.