At the beginning of a chapter with three parables about God’s seeking to bring back to the Kingdom of God those who are “lost,” Yeshua demonstrated how God makes the “unholy” “holy.”
We are in danger of making God’s name common and of no repute — i.e., “taking it in vain” — if we reject those who He is calling to Himself just because they don’t have the same understanding we have.
Solomon is a Messianic figure and Solomon is building a house for God’s name and Yeshua, the Messiah is building God’s name, not in a building but in His people.
This is a Messianic chapter and we are learning about the foundations of God’s house.
Paul had been attacked by those in the temple who thought he had brought uncircumcised believers from the nations inside while he was bringing four Nazarite vow-takers into the temple at the end of their time. The Roman commander in Yerushalayim pulled Paul out of the melee, and Paul received permission to address the crowd. The gathering quietly listened to his talk until he mention that the “Righteous One,” i.e. Messiah, had sent Paul to give the good news of God to the nations.
Acts 15 recounts a “watershed” moment among believers in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) — should believers among the nations be allowed into the assembly of Israel and how. These events didn’t happen in a vacuum. Events from Acts 1–14 — Peter’s encounter with Cornelius and Paul’s first tour of Asia Minor — led to this momentous ruling by the elders. The passage from Amos 9 of restoration of a tabernacle for all believers is important. The Yerushalayim council ruled that we mustn’t “trouble” new believers as they learn Torah.
The vision of Acts 10, repeated in Acts 11, has been misinterpreted for millennia, in part because many people reading the text fail to see the vision of the animals in the context of Peter’s later meeting with Cornelius and the conversion of Cornelius household to the Gospel and God’s gift of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius. Many Christians see the vision of the animals on the sheet as simply a change in dietary laws. The focus on physical food rather than upon the spiritual reality of God’s call of both Jews and Gentiles to believe in the one and only Messiah Yeshua becomes lost when this vision is interpreted out of context.