Commentaries and Podcasts

Book of Acts Chapter 4 - 06-07-2013

We are going to begin this presentation by reading a passage from Josephus, from Antiquities Book 14, where Josephus also quotes some passages from Strabo and accepts Strabo's remarks with approbation. Strabo died about 12 years before Josephus was born, and Josephus was very much acquainted with his writings. We are doing this so that the scope of the political power held by the leaders of the temple in Judaea may be understood, and so that the size of the diaspora of Judaeans (which is not to be confused with the much earlier and much larger dispersions of Israel) may be more accurately perceived. By this we shall understand the daunting challenge which the apostles had in presenting the Gospel, which was indeed controversial and threatened the credibility of a long-established and very powerful political and religious institution:

Book of Acts Chapter 2, Part 3, and Acts Chapter 3 - 05-17-2013

This is our fifth installment on the Book of Acts, and we are not quite through Chapter 2. To this point in this chapter of Acts, we have seen that the outpouring of the Spirit which occurred at this first Pentecost was in fulfillment of the prophecy found in Joel chapter 2, which Peter quotes. However it was also the beginning of a fulfillment of a prophecy found in Isaiah chapter 44, where Yahweh says to the dispersed children of Israel “3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: 4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.” Furthermore, it was the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy found in Ezekiel chapter 37, where it says in part “9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” The children of Israel are the “slain”, because they were under the penalty of death in the law when Yahweh cast them off from His presence. Of course, all these things were only promised to the children of Israel, and cannot be applied outside of that context with any justice. We have also seen that this deposit of the Spirit at the first Pentecost and thereafter was only a beginning, a deposit, as Paul called it, and the early rain which James referred to. Now we await the fulfillment, the redemption of our bodies, the latter rain that brings the fruit to its perfection.

Book of Acts Chapter 2, Part 2 - 05-10-2013

In the last segment of our presentation on the Book of Acts, we left off our discussion with Peter's quote from Joel chapter 2, and how we believe that James and Paul saw that prophecy of Pentecost in relation to the history of the ekklesia of God: that the endowment of the Spirit in the apostolic age was merely a deposit of that which all Christians should now expect: a greater outpouring of the Spirit of Yahweh culminating in the restoration of our race to the glorified state of our first parents which was also evident at the Transfiguration on the Mount as attested to in the Gospels. James referred to these two outpourings of the Spirit with his mention of the early and the latter rain. Paul tells us what to expect in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 where he says: “51 Behold I tell you a mystery, we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed. 52 In an instant, in a dart of an eye, with the last trumpet; for it shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 This decay wants to be clothed in incorruptibility, and this mortal to be clothed in immortality. 54 And when this decay shall have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then the word that has been written shall come to pass: 'Death has been swallowed in victory.' 55 'Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?' 56 Now the sting of death is guilt, and the power of guilt is the law; 57 but gratitude is to Yahweh, in whom we [the children of Israel] are being given the victory through our Prince, Yahshua Christ.” Here in the next part of his discourse, we continue Peter's appeal to the multitude at Judaea, to consider all of the things which had recently transpired there in connection with Yahshua Christ.

Additionally, in relation to where we left off in the first part of our presentation of Acts chapter 2, we shall quote here from Isaiah chapter 44: “1 Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: 2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: 4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.” Where we see the phrase “all flesh” in Acts 2:17, the reference is to all Israelite flesh, as that is the context of the original passage in Joel.

Book of Acts Chapter 2, Part 1 - 05-03-2013

There is something which I forestalled discussing in the opening segments of this series, and that is an exposition of the ancient manuscripts which attest to the antiquity and the content of the Book of Acts. For the translations found in the Christogenea New Testament, only manuscripts which are dated to the 6th century and earlier were even considered in the reading. Of these, there are eleven ancient papyri, and 6 of these (those listed below in bold type) are dated by archaeologists to the 3rd century AD. [The manuscript numbers employed here are those of the Gregory-Aland system employed in the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece.]

P8, P29, P33, P38, P45, P48, P50, P53, P56, P57, and P91.

Many of the papyri represent only fragments containing portions of the text of Acts. While the uncials were produced with more durable material, many of them are also incomplete or even represent mere fragments. For examples among the papyri, P8 contains all or part of about 28 verses from Acts chapters 4, 5 and 6. P29 contains parts of 3 verses from Acts chapter 26. P45, which dates to the 3rd century, contains larger portions of 13 different chapters of Acts, from chapters 4 through 17, as well as large portions of each of the Gospels. P45 is part of a collection of manuscripts called the Chester Beatty Papyri. A companion manuscript, P46, contains large portions of nine of Paul's epistles, and it is esteemed to date to about 200 AD.

The opening remarks to this podcast, entitled What Is Universalism?, are found here on the Christogenea Forum.

The Book of Acts, Chapter 1 Part 2 – Christogenea Internet Radio, April 19th, 2013

Discussing Amos chapter 3 here last month, we presented a lengthy dissertation concerning the Biblical phrase “all the families of the earth”, and from many scriptures found in both the Old and New Testaments it was demonstrated that within the Biblical context, the use of the phrase can only be applied to that group of White Adamic Nations which is listed in Genesis chapter 10. It can not be applied to anyone outside of that group. As Genesis 5:1 says, “This is the book of the generations of Adam.” The listing of those generations (which is the Hebrew word toledah, Strong's number 8435, meaning descendants) found in Genesis chapter 10 are a part of that book, and none of the promises made to those people, families and nations - such as those made to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 - can ever justly be applied to anyone else.

The Book of Acts, Chapter 1 – Christogenea Internet Radio, April 11th, 2013

The Book of the Acts of the Apostles, as it is fully called, is a book of transition. It records a transition of the legitimate faith in Yahweh God, as decreed by His Word, from the tenets of Hebraism to the constructs of Christianity; 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. This faith in Christ would include the Christian recognition of a need for conformance to the commandments of Christ, found in those original ten commandments and the admonition to love one's brother. It 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. That is what the New Testament is, it is the record of the Gospel of the New Covenant between Yahweh God and His people Israel, which was explicitly promised in the prophets at Jeremiah 31:31, Ezekiel 37:26 and Daniel 9:27. It was implicitly promised in many of the other writings of the prophets. We know that these Gospels do indeed represent the promised New Covenant since they came at the appropriate time, which was outlined in the 70 weeks vision of Daniel chapter 9.

There should be no doubt that the apostle called Luke wrote Acts. The author claims to be the writer of the Gospel, “that first account” mentioned in the opening of the Book of Acts. The Greek style is precisely the same which is found in the Gospel written in his name. Paul tells us that Luke was with him at his imprisonment (Philemon 24), and from Acts we see that Luke was there when this happened (Acts 27:1). Luke was with Paul, at the least, from Acts 16:10-17, 20:5-21:18, and 27:1-28:16 (to the end of the book). Paul is arrested in Acts Chapter 21, and the balance of the book follows his imprisonment as far as Rome. No other companion of Paul’s meets all of these criteria. Luke is also mentioned by Paul at Colossians 4:14 and 2 Timothy 4:11. Acts was written to be an extension of Luke's Gospel. It can justly be called Luke, Part Two. It is written to the same audience, the “lover of God” whom Luke addresses in his Gospel. More will be said about that as we get into the opening verses of the book.