Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: gentiles

Apostles Sent to the Gentiles with a Letter of the Council
Will any of the Twelve travel to Antioch Syria from Jerusalem? Or will the Apostles send their Epistle to the Gentiles with other reliable messengers?
Who are these Apostles to the Gentiles?
Acts 15:
ἀπόστολος – apostolos – apostle
ἔθνος – ethnos
Paul
Barnabas
Judas called Barsabbas
Silas
The Council Adjourns
Acts 15:22b-29 Text of the Council’s Epistle
A.D. 49 – Jerusalem Judea in Roman occupied Syria

Who are these Apostles to the Gentiles?

Recall that the current crisis of the Church involves both Jews and Gentiles and that the Church at Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to clarify the Law of Moses.

A Council of Church Leaders meets under leadership of the Apostles of Jesus, the risen Christ witnessed my the Twelve and many leading men of Jerusalem.

Epistle from the Council of Jerusalem – Acts 15:20

Acts 15:19-20a – James: Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them..

Acts 15:

22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers..

ἀπόστολος – apostolos – apostle

a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders

This is exactly what the Council of Jerusalem has ordered.

in a broader sense applied to other eminent Christian teachers
- of Barnabas
- of Timothy
- and Silvanus
They SEND these apostles with their epistle of encouragement and specific instructions to the Church and its other leading men in Antioch, obeying Christ’s command to go into all the world — theirs, a gentile world — with the Gospel.
- ἀπόστολος – Apostle
- a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders
  - specifically applied to the twelve apostles of Christ
- ἀπόστολος apóstolos, ap-os’-tol-os; from G649; a delegate; specially, an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ (“apostle”) (with miraculous powers):—apostle, messenger, he that is sent.
ἔθνος – ethnos

The KJV translates Strong’s G1484 in the following manner: Gentiles (93x), nation (64x), heathen (5x), people (2x).

We have recently spent time on this on Paul’s first missionary journey, but for clarity definitions which apply here:
- in the OT, foreign nations not worshipping the true God, pagans, Gentiles
- Paul uses the term for Gentile Christians
ACTS on Mission

Paul

The Church is already quite familiar with Saul of Tarsus or Paul; who following his first mission from Antioch to the Gentiles along with Joseph of Cypress (Barnabas) has precipitated this Council in Jerusalem.

In a later Epistle of Paul to the Romans he writes:

Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.
Letter of Paul to the Romans 11:13-14 ESV

Think about it, my fellow gentile brothers and sisters in Christ.
1. Paul identifies himself as an apostle. The Council sent both Paul and Barnabas as apostles for this next mission to the Gentiles.
2. The Apostle Paul also magnifies his mission is to the Gentiles (although a remnant of Jews will be saved).
On their first missionary journey the Apostle Paul had proclaimed Christ to the Jews first and then preached the Gospel to the Gentiles.

Barnabas

Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

– Acts 4:36-37 ESV

It was Barnabas, a trusted Jew of the priestly line, who brought Paul to the Apostles after his encounter with the risen Christ (and having heard their former nemesis preach Christ crucified and risen to the Jews in Damascus).

When a report came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem after some men of Cyprus and Cyrene spoke to the Hellenists in Antioch (and a great number turned to the Lord), they sent Barnabas to Antioch. – from Acts 11:20

Judas called Barsabbas

Βαρσαβᾶς – Lexicon :: Strong’s G923 – barsabas

Barsabas [or Barsabbas] (i. e. son of Saba)

(Not to be confused with another important disciple and deacon of the church in Jerusalem * possibly also present with its leading men of the Council, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus [Acts 1:23] put forth along with Mathias as a candidate to replace Judas Iscariot in the Twelve Apostles.)

2. the surname of a certain Judas: Acts 15:22, (B. D. under the word Judas Barsabas].

* Could Luke’s wording indicate that both were present & this Barsabbas is Judas son of Saba rather than Joseph son of Saba? (And might they even be biological brothers? [again, my speculation])

Silas

Σιλᾶν – Lexicon :: Strong’s G4609 – silas

Contraction for Σιλουανός (G4610) – Silvanus, the same man who in Acts is called Σιλᾶς (which see): 2 Corinthians 1:19; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; 1 Peter 5:12.

Silas or Silvanus is a Roman Citizen (as is Paul) sent with the Apostle to the Gentiles on this second mission and other journeys to preach the Gospel to all the world of the Roman Empire.
A.D. 49 – 51 Secondary Missionary Journey with Paul

The Council Adjourns

Acts 15:22b-29 Text of the Council’s Epistle

They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,

23 with the following letter:

“The brothers, both the apostles and the elders,

to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.

Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:

that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch…

ACTS of the Apostles TO BE CONTINUED…

in Antioch Syria…

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
January 12, 2023
Truth for Gentiles who turn to God
How will the Jerusalem Council judge Gentiles according to the Jewish Law of Moses?

Acts 15

6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

Simon Peter has testified.

“Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
Acts of the Apostles 15:7b ESV

And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
Acts of the Apostles 15:12 ESV

Response of Jerusalem’s Pastor James

¹³After they finished speaking, James replied,

“Brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name.

Leaders and Witnesses of the Jerusalem council

Let’s be clear who is speaking and which leaders have witnessed the truth of events leading to a church meeting about the gentiles.

Simon Peter.

In verse 14 the King James and English Standard versions translate Συμεών from the Greek as Simeon; however the NKJV, NIV and other versions use “Simon” while the NLT uses the most familiar identification of the Apostle, “Peter.”

Barnabas and Paul

Their mission journey has brought about this council and clearly both are leaders in their testimony of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles and leadership of the church at Antioch Syria.

James

And let’s not miss who now speaks a the representative pastor and leader of the local church at Jerusalem where the council meets.

It is none other than James brother of Jesus who was raised with the Lord, yet did not believe that his half-brother was the Christ, the prophesied Son of God until after Jesus’ resurrection at which time James became a faithful disciple called to lead the Jerusalem Church.

Witness of the Prophets

James refers to the Prophet Amos from ~760 BC and Samuel Prophet of David three hundred years before that.

“Brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. ¹⁵And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

¹⁶“‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
     and I will restore it,
¹⁷that the remnant^[a] of mankind may seek the Lord,
    and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
     says the Lord, who makes these things ¹⁸known from of old.’

In A.D. 49, James witnesses the promises of God to David a thousand years before. Now it seems that the kingdom promised to David is all but defeated.

The Temple of Solomon was destroyed, the Jews were captured and taken to Babylon and Persia. The distant hope witnessed by Amos and the Prophets seems near to slipping away once more at the hand of Rome (which will again destroy Jerusalem and Herod’s temple in A.D. 70).

Yet Scripture is true and God’s word comforting to those faithful few who wait for the Lord to save — for the Lord to redeem the captives who hold to His Name — saving them from God’s judgment of sin and eternal punishment and granting His true worshipers the glory of the kingdom of the root and the son of David. Yes, even the Nations of the world beyond the hills of Jerusalem.

Amos 9:

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said:
“Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake,
and shatter them on the heads of all the people;
and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;
not one of them shall flee away;
not one of them shall escape.

8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
declares the LORD.

“For behold, I will command,
and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.

All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’

This was just one judgment of Jerusalem!

Amos had prophesied it.

Twenty years earlier, the Sanhedrin of Herod which meets in this same Jerusalem as today’s council had crucified Jesus Christ, brother of James and Son of David. The leaders of a semi-captive Israel disregarded the revealed will and written word of the Lord God.

The Jewish council of Herod’s Temple had also slain the Apostle James by the sword, another politically expedient death which it thought would prevent the sword of Rome from overtaking their city of sin.

It didn’t. (For as most of us know Rome would destroy Jerusalem just twenty-one years from this time of the Christian Council in Jerusalem.)

Amos 9:11-12 (to which James refers)

“In that day I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,

that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations who are called by my name,”
declares the LORD who does this.

It is a remnant of Edom. Yes even a remnant of Judah and Israel after these many centuries — only a remnant who remember the Lord their God and look for the redemption paid on the Cross for “all the nations who are called by my name, says the LORD.”

Judgment for the Gentiles

You have probably never thought of James, brother of Jesus, pastor of the Jerusalem church and author of a New Testament letter to the church as a Judge.

But this is his role here with the Council at Jerusalem.

The accusations (concerning circumcision) have been presented. Several witnesses have presented evidence about the truth of events where gentiles have interacted with Jewish witnesses (including the Apostles).

A defense of the truth by Barnabas and Paul recounts incidents for which some Jews have accused them of breaking the Law of Moses.

Pastor James, head of this Christian Sanhedrin gathering of Apostles and other leaders has even preceded his decision as Judge with Scriptural prophesy of their very actions concerning the gentiles. So here is his verdict speaking on behalf of this council at Jerusalem as its leader:

19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God
Acts of the Apostles 15:19 ESV – Verdict of the Council of Jerusalem pronounced by James

The verdict pronounced by James on behalf of the Council at Jerusalem, however, is conditional. Addressing the concerns of which Gentiles have turned to God by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, he continues with clarification of what the Council must do to go into the Gentile world with the Gospel.
```
NEXT, God-willing, we will join James and the Council of Jerusalem as they take action by way of a letter and messengers sent on another mission trip to the Gentile Nations.
```
January 9, 2023
According to the Custom of Moses
Paul and Barnabas have returned from Cypress and the mountain cities of nearby Asia minor after nearly two years of an amazing first missionary journey from Antioch.

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Acts of the Apostles 15:1 ESV

TRADITION, TRADITION, TRADITION, some preach. — We all know the type (and EACH of us in our own way have danced the dance).
Roger@TalkofJesus.com

And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. – Acts 15:2 ESV

ἔθος – Ethos of Μωϋσῆς

Controversies of the Custom of Moses Continue

ethos – Lexicon :: Strong’s G1485 – ethos
- custom
- usage prescribed by law, institute, prescription, rite
ἔθος – Ethos from the Greek of Paul, Barnabas, the local language of the church at Antioch Syria from where these apostles had been sent on their mission by the Holy Spirit and the church — Ethos from the common Greek Jesus preached to the crowds of Galilee and Judea nearly two decades earlier

ἔθνος – Ethnos NOT of Μωϋσῆς

— ethos, so similar and applicable to ethnos, that is, ἔθνος, used for ‘the nations’ or gentiles.

ἔθνος – Lexicon :: Strong’s G1484 – ethnos
- a multitude (whether of men or of beasts) associated or living together
  - a company, troop, swarm
- a multitude of individuals of the same nature or genus
  - the human family
- a tribe, nation, people group
- in the OT, foreign nations not worshipping the true God, pagans, Gentiles
- Paul uses the term for Gentile Christians
Circumcision (and other Mosaic traditions)

~ A.D. 60-62 – Luke’s two accounts of the Gospel and Acts of the Apostles are published for a church suffering severe persecution throughout the Empire, including Jerusalem which is about to be destroyed by Rome in A.D. 70.

~ A.D. 49 – Luke’s records this encounter between some men of Judea and Gentile Christians of Antioch Syria. This takes place after their first missionary journey, leads to a council at Jerusalem and consequently to a second missionary journey (into the world of the gentiles).

So my first reaction to such opposition is WHY is circumcision such a BIG DEAL with these men?

~ A.D. 32 [Jerusalem]

Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. .. and they set up false witnesses who said, “..we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”
Acts of the Apostles 6:9-14 ESV – excerpt from Jewish accusation of Stephen

The issue of the LAW, covenants and traditions is NOT who has broken with tradition but who the LORD now separates to HIMSELF by the Sacrifice of Christ.

The Testimony of Christ by Stephen
```
Timeline: Moses *uncertain *(~15th or 13th c. B.C.); (Precise timeline of Joshua & the Judges of Israel uncertain.):
David *~1000 B.C. (dates differ between various sources); Solomon ~900's B.C. - First Temple of the United Kingdom of Israel (Judah in the south & Israel in the north) ended in 931 B.C. at Solomon's death.

Stephen's testimony before Jerusalem's leaders takes place about ten centuries (1000 years) after David, 
but just two years after these judges of Herod's temple reject their Messiah Jesus.
```
Acts of the Apostles

Paul and Barnabas have prevailed over such opposition by the power of the Holy Spirit throughout their first missionary Journey already.

Opposed to the Gospel at the Gate: Bar-Jesus

Acts 13:9But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,
“‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
Acts of the Apostles 13:47 ESV

The issue of salvation of the Gentiles NOT the traditions of Moses, Israel, Abraham or David.

Unworthy of Eternal Life

But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. – Acts of the Apostles 13:50 ESV

Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.

But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

Act of the Apostles 14:1-2 ESV

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds [at Lystra], they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
Acts of the Apostles 14:19 ESV

And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. – Acts 14:23 ESV

Acts 15 of the Apostles Paul and Barnabas

So several months back before this year of our Lord 49, the Holy Spirit anointed these apostles to be sent out from the church at Antioch. Their mission was first to the Jews, but also to Romans in the Roman cities and Greeks in the Greek cities — men NOT of the circumcision AND women as well – the ethos of the ethnos as it were — the uncustomary customs of the gentiles accepted into the Church by its Apostles and Elders as new traditions of grace in Jesus Christ.

2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.

Journey from Antioch to Jerusalem via Roman roads to Tyre and Sidon in Phoenicia, Caesarea on the Samarian coast and Joppa on the Judean coast to Jerusalem is approximately 350 miles.

So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.

NEXT: The Council at Jerusalem

Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem (by the church at Antioch Syria) from where the Holy Spirit had sent them into the lands of the Gentiles.

These apostles of Antioch continue to proclaim the Gospel as previously on this next journey of more than three-hundred miles to Jerusalem.

The Samaritans and certainly Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon are NOT of an ethos like the Judeans either (but Jesus had brought the Gospel to these towns too).

The church has also added Romans in Caesarea when Peter previously visited, as had Samaritans witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit in Joppa.

In Jerusalem Peter, Paul, Barnabas, the Apostles and many others will sort it all out as the Holy Spirit continues to bring both Jew and Gentile together in the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To be continued…
December 29, 2022