Acts — a Greek masterpiece about the witness of Jews to the adoption of the nations as God’s people

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:07 — 8.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Is the book of Acts the record of God’s creation of “the church”? Or is it a continuation of the story of God’s reaching out into the world through Israel, a people who “struggle with God and men” and prevail in bringing a blessing from God to the nations? Jeff explores the continuum between the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Gospels and the Apostolic Writings.

Download PDF study notes

Overview of Acts from the recorded discussion

Is there any significance in the fact that there were 120 people in the upper room? Who were included in this group?

What is “a Sabbath’s day journey”? Was it 7 days long?

What is the Book of Acts? What is its context? What is the message and purpose of the book?

Who wrote it? Does the writer have a knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures and Jewish culture? Does the writer have a knowledge of gentile culture?

Acts 13, 16 and 18 mention things the apostles did on Shabbat (Sabbath). The Shabbat was also a central theme of Acts 15.

The “feasts of the LORD” (e.g., Passover, Firstfruits, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost/Shavuot, etc.) also are mentioned in the Book of Acts. They time their travels in accordance with the feasts.

The book of Acts also makes reference to other Hebrew teachings such as the Nazarite vow (both for Paul as well as a group of young men who had made a similar vow) as well as Timothy’s circumcision. Were Timothy’s circumcision or Paul’s involvement with Nazarite vows examples of hypocrisy, weakness or simply an “evangelistic strategy”? Does Paul or the author talk out of both sides of his mouth by being a Jew to Jews and gentile to gentiles?

The term “Christian” is only found twice in the Apostolic writings. Both times, gentiles used the that moniker, and history reveals the use was derogatory.

How does the Book of Acts follow Greek conventions of literature? Were is the summary of the book? Why was it placed there?

What is the time span of the Book of Acts? Why wasn’t the book completed? How do we know the approximate time the book was written?

How does the Book of Acts compare with the prophetic and historical writings of the Hebrew Scriptures, also known by the Hebrew acronym Tanakh for Torah, Nevi’im (Prophets) and Katavim (Writings)?

• How did Ya’akov (Jacob) wrestle with God, and how do we see a similar struggle documented in the book of Acts? What do you lose and what do you win when you wrestle with God?
• How did God use the weak to make them strong? Consider the ascension of Yosef (Joseph) from despised brother and a falsely accused rapist in Egypt to prime ministers of that superpower of the time. Think about Daniel’s rise from slave and POW to prime minister of Babylon and Medo-Persia. Reflect on Yeshua’s impact on Rome, as well as the impact of His followers, who were displaying strength while in chains.
• How did God adopt gentiles into His family? Think of Ruth, Rahab, Uriah the Hittite and Cornelius the Roman soldier.
• What does the story of Anias and Sapphira tell us about whether there’s a difference between the so-called God of the Old Testament versus the so-called God of the New Testament?