Acts 11:1-30
Acts 11:1-3:
11:1But the apostles and the brothers, the
(people) being throughout Judea, heard that also the Gentiles
had accepted the word of God; .2and when Peter ascended
into Jerusalem the (people) out-from circumcision
throughly-judged-themselves against him .3saying that he
went-into (a house) towards adult-males having
uncircumcision and he ate-together with
them;
The rest of the apostles and the brothers (the other holy-people who had
received holy spirit-life and were of the Judean / Israeli /
circumcision background or proselytes), who were throughout Judea, heard
that the people from other nations had welcomed (subjectively received,
willingly taken) God's Word which was presented to them.
However, when Peter went-up into Jerusalem, following his stay in Joppa
and then with Cornelius and the people in his house, these holy-people
separated themselves from him judging that they were different from
Peter giving the reason that he had gone into a house in which there
were uncircumcised men, and as well as that - he ate together with them
(eating the same food)! This was definitely against the Judean/Israeli
laws and traditions and customs that they were accustomed to observing.
These apostles and brothers were still clinging to their old way of
thinking which was partly according to the Law of Moses and partly
according to their own traditions and customs. They did not yet
recognize that since the day of Pentecost, when God by means of the Lord
Jesus Christ made holy spirit-life available, the old covenant of law
and circumcision was no longer applicable. It had been superseded by the
new covenant of the spirit - holy spirit-life (Romans 8:1-4; II
Corinthians 3:6; Galatians 3:13, 5:1).
Verses 4-17:
.4but Peter having begun (speaking)
expounded to them successively saying,
.5"I was in (the) city of Joppa
praying and I saw a seen-object in a bewilderment - some vessel
descending as a great linen-cloth with four corners being left-down
out-from heaven and it came continuously-until me, .6into
which having gazed-intently I mentally-perceived and saw the
quadrupeds of the earth and the wild-animals and the creeping-things
and birds of heaven, .7and I heard also a sound saying to
me, 'Having stood-up, Peter, you must sacrifice and you
must eat,' .8but I said, 'By no means, Lord, because a
common-thing or an unclean-thing never went into my mouth,' .9but
(the) sound answered for (the) second-time out-from
heaven, 'The-things-which God cleaned you must not
make-common,' .10and this came-to-pass on three-times and
it was pulled-up again all-together into heaven;
.11and look!, from-this three adult-males stood
on the house, in which I was, having been apostled2
away-from Caesarea towards me, .12and the spirit said to
me to go-together with them, and also these six brothers went
together with me and we went into the house of the adult-male,
.13and he announced to us how he saw an angel having been
caused-to-stand in his house and having said, "You must
apostle into Joppa and you must send-after Simon the
(person) being called Peter .14who will utter-forth
spoken-matters towards you, in which (spoken-matters)
you will be saved, you and all your house';
.15and in my beginning to utter-forth the
spirit, the holy (spirit), fell on them wholly-as also on us
in (the) beginning, .16and I was
caused-to-remember the spoken-matter of the Lord as-that he said,
'John indeed baptized with water but you will be baptized in
holy spirit';
.17therefore since God gave the equal free-gift
to them as also to us having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, was
I someone able to hinder God?"
Peter began to speak and expounded (put-out, exposed) the events
sequentially for them to help them understand the truth of what God has
accomplished by means of the Lord Jesus Christ. See Acts chapter 10.
Peter had gone with the three men apostled by Cornelius, and now we can
see how wise it was for Peter to take along the other six men, who were
of the Judean / Israeli / circumcision background, with him to
Cornelius' house so they too were witnesses of what occurred there!
Peter explained that while he was beginning to speak to the Gentiles
(emphasizing the fact that he did not have to teach them for hours and
hours), the holy spirit fell on them (as embracing them with its
resulting effects in manifestation) wholly-as also on the Judeans in the
beginning when the gift of holy spirit was first made available to
mankind (Acts chapter 2). These new holy-people (true Christians) had
also spoken with tongues and expressed the greatness of God (Acts 2:11
and 10:44-46).
Peter explained to those listening to him in this assembly that he had
remembered the spoken-matter of the Lord as-that he said, 'John indeed
baptized with water but you will be baptized in holy spirit' – this
would also remind the other apostles of what Jesus told them.
He finishes up by asking, “Therefore since God gave the equal free-gift
to them as also to us having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, was I
(emphatically ‘I’ – was I myself) someone able to hinder God?" Refer to
Acts 10:44-48. These Gentiles had also believed on the Lord Jesus Christ
and therefore they received the equal (equally proportioned, equality in
measure, quantity, quality, amount, etc) free-gift from God as the
Judeans did in Acts 2.
Also, we ought to notice on reading these verses that here we have some
further information regarding what God via His angel told Cornelius. The
angel had also told him that Peter would speak spoken-matters to him in
which he would be saved, he himself and all the people in his house. Now
we can better appreciate the diligence wherewith Cornelius carried-out
the angel's instructions.
[Reference: Genesis 1:24 and 30; Matthew 3:11; Acts 1:4-8, 2:1-11,
8:15-17, chapter 10, 15:6-11.]
Verse 18:
.18And having heard these-things they were
quiet and glorified God saying, "Consequently, also God gave the
repentance into life to the Gentiles."
When these apostles and brothers heard what Peter had to say, they were
tranquil from within resting from further discussion, and they gave the
glory (importance, splendor and renown) to God saying that
correspondingly also God has given…
-
the Gentiles (people belonging to nations
other-than Israel, the uncircumcised people, those from a different
tribal ethnic descent, they were not even proselytes)
…repentance into, directed-to and resulting-in their receiving life from
God's viewpoint, which is holy spirit-life.
The word “repentance” means that God made it available for them to have a
change of mind from bad to good regarding God and the things of God,
which of course includes believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. They
changed their minds after re-thinking the matter having heard God’s
words that Peter spoke to them.
At this point the other apostles and the brothers listening to Peter's
answer acknowledged that what he had done regarding Cornelius and his
household was according to God's will.
[Reference: Acts 10:45-48, 20:21, 26:20.]
Verses 19-21:
.19Therefore indeed the (people) having
been scattered away-from the pressure, the (pressure) having
come-to-pass on Stephen, went-through until Phoenicia and Cyprus and
Antioch uttering-forth the word to not-one-person except only to
Judeans – .20but there were some out-from them, Cypriot
and Cyrenean adult-males, the-people-who
having gone into Antioch uttered-forth also towards the Greeks,
good-messaging the Lord Jesus .21and (the) hand of
(the) Lord was with them, and a big number, the (number)
having believed, turned-back on the Lord.
Next, we are told about some of the activities of those
learning-disciples who had been dispersed around different areas (as a
sower would scatter seed upon the earth, Acts 8:1-4) away-from the
pressure (the compression or stress that afflicted them, what was
pressing-upon or squeezing them, whether it was physical or mental or
spiritual) that happened following after Stephen's death (Acts 7:54-60).
These believers had moved from Jerusalem to other areas but most of them
only spoke the God’s Word to people of the Judean background because
they thought that the gift of holy spirit was only for Judeans
(Israelites, those of the circumcision). But there were some of them,
Cypriot and Cyrenean men who had gone into
Antioch a city in Syria, who were now speaking God’s Word also to the
Greeks, referring to Greek-speaking people of the Gentile
background being uncircumcised and not of the Judean / Israeli /
circumcision background.
These learning-disciples were good-messaging (gospelizing,
evangelizing) to the Greeks regarding the Lord Jesus - and the hand of
the Lord (the Lord’s authority and power) was in company and association
with them as they did so. They were doing this in agreement with their
Lord Jesus Christ, not because they wanted to 'do something different'!
They evangelized that Jesus is the “Lord”, not any Gentile leader of
that day and time, not even any Judean/Israeli leader.
The word "Lord" refers to a master or an owner, one who has the authority
or authoritative-power, the one from whom the directions and
instructions are given and who is to be obeyed, the one who has the
dominion over and exercises his lordship in relation to that-which his
title of "Lord" or "Master" is being associated. This word emphasizes
and confirms the validity and authenticity of the lord’s lordship
relative to his slaves plus the respectful submission due to him by his
slaves.
They good-messaged the Lord Jesus and the hand of the Lord was with them
– and as a result a big number of the Greeks, emphatically and
specifically those who believed (who had faith, trusted what they heard
regarding the Lord Jesus), turned from their wrong belief onto the Lord
Jesus Christ. They believed what God has given mankind to believe
regarding His son, the Lord Jesus Christ (refer to Romans 10:8-10).
This of course could not have occurred prior to what happened with Peter
and Cornelius (see Acts 10:34-43 and 11:1-18 above).
Verses 22-24:
.22But the word was heard into the ears of the
church, the (church) being in Jerusalem, concerning them and
they apostled-out Barnabas until Antioch .23who, having
arrived and having seen the grace of God, joyed
and encouraged all-people with purpose of heart to remain with the
Lord; .24because he was a good adult-male and full of
holy spirit and belief, and a sufficient crowd was added to the
Lord.
However, the account of what was happening in Antioch in Syria was heard
by the assembly in Jerusalem where the apostles had set-up their
'headquarters.' So they sent Barnabas (the man who had been given the
name "son of encouragement" by the apostles from Acts 4:36 and 9:27) out
to Antioch to survey the situation.
When Barnabas became present in Antioch, he perceived the grace of God
(God's unmerited favor being bestowed upon these people and evidenced
among them) and he rejoiced. Barnabas did not get all upset with them
for not consulting ‘headquarters' first to ask permission and get their
official written notarized documentation to carry-out God's and the Lord
Jesus Christ's intention in that area!
As well as being joyful when he saw what was going on there, Barnabas
encouraged all the holy-people (he exhorted them, called them beside him
as a parent would invite his children near him to help them to do what
is right) – he encouraged everyone to remain (continue, stay) with the
Lord Jesus Christ with purpose of heart (their heart’s proposal, plan,
what they put or set before themselves in their heart to do).
Barnabas did this because he was a good man (he behaved according to what
is good, what issues from God, what is in accordance with God's will),
and he was filled with holy spirit and belief. He continued to believe
the fullness of belief communicated to him via his holy spirit, and so
he was walking accordingly during the everyday living of his life. What
a great 'report' written here in God's Word regarding Barnabas at this
time.
As a result of this, enough or a sufficient throng of people was placed
to/with the Lord Jesus Christ in addition to the people who had
previously received the gift of holy spirit.
Verses 25 and 26:
.25And he went-out into Tarsus to seek-up Saul
.26and having found he led (him) into Antioch, and
it came-to-pass for them also a whole year to be gathered-together
in the church and to teach a sufficient crowd, and (for) the
learning-disciples to firstly do-the-business-of “Christians” in
Antioch.
Barnabas departed from Antioch and came into Tarsus to look-up Saul, whom
we last read about in Acts 9:30 where the learning-disciples sent him
back home to Tarsus. Saul had done this, although he detoured on his way
there as we have read in the study of Acts chapter 9 and referencing
Galatians 1:21-24.
Saul was in Tarsus when Barnabas arrived looking for him and Barnabas
brought him into Antioch where the learning-disciples had evangelized to
the Greek-speaking Gentiles, some of whom has believed and become
holy-people by receiving the gift of holy spirit.
Saul and Barnabas assembled-together among the church of holy-people in
Antioch one whole year, and they gave instruction to a sufficient throng
of the people (enough) from God's viewpoint. By doing this all the
learning-disciples were for the first-time known-as and called
"Christians" because people associated what they spoke about and their
activities as being their business, trade, occupation - just like a
smith may become known as "Smith" or “the smith”, and a carpenter may
become known as "Carpenter" or “the carpenter.”
Saul and Barnabas and these holy-people in Antioch followed Christ, spoke
about Christ and of belonging to Christ and that the spirit of Christ
was within them; they carried out their everyday living of life in
accordance with being followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[Reference: Acts 26:28; I Peter 4:16.]
Verses 27-30:
.27But in these days prophets came-down from
Jerusalem into Antioch, .28and having stood-up one-person
out-from them, Agabus by-name, signified
by means of the spirit (that there was about) to be a great
famine on the whole inhabited-area - the-one-which came-to-pass on
Claudius - .29and the learning-disciples, according as
someone prospered, each of them, marked-out-definitely to send
(things) into (the) ministry to the brothers dwelling-down in Judea, .30which
also they did having apostled (these things) towards the
elders by means of (the) hand of Barnabas and Saul.
During this time while Barnabas and Saul were teaching God's Word and
living together with the other holy-people (Christians) in Antioch, some
prophets came down from Jerusalem into Antioch. Prophets are holy-people
who speak-forth God's words being revealed to them concerning the past,
present and/or future to, before, in-front of a person or people.
One of the prophets, named Agabus, gave them
the signal by means of his holy spirit-life (he spoke the information
that his spirit revealed to him) that very shortly in the future there
would be a large famine throughout that inhabited-area. This famine
came-to-pass during the reign of the fourth Roman Emperor, Claudius
Caesar, around 44 A.D. Agabus is also
mentioned in Acts 21:10.
When the learning-disciples heard the prophecy, each one of them in
Antioch – according to how he/she was prospering (doing-well and
therefore could afford it) - they all marked out definitely (they set
the limited-area, the horizon, separated off as a boundary) to send
things into the ministry to the brothers (for the service to benefit
their spiritual brothers, the other holy-people) who were living within
the area of Judea at that time.
They sent these things towards the elders. The “elder” men in this
context are referring to those holy-people having more knowledge,
wisdom, dignity, etc, relative to God and the things of God. Elders in
service to/for God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and not the literal
meaning of being older in age than other people. The elders were
assigned to take care of the other believers within each community.
References: Acts 14:23, 15:2, 20:17, 21:18; I Timothy 4:14, 5:17; Titus
1:5-9; I Peter 5:1.
The learning-disciples apostled these supplies towards the elders by
means of the hand of (by the authority and power of) Barnabas and Saul
who began to travel around the area.
[Reference: Acts 12:25. Note: verbs with a superscript 2 (2)
immediately following them indicate the "perfect" tense - details are
provided in the "Relevant Notes" link of this study.]
