Acts, chapters 5 & 6
Note that the Greek is referred to occasionally.
Throughout the O.T. & Gospels all words highlighted:
- in medium blue were said by GOD the FATHER;
- in apricot were from GOD the Son (Jesus Christ);
- in light purple were from GOD the Holy Spirit.
That remains the case, but now we have the believer's spoken words highlighted in orange.
Also you will see words scripted in blue; this also is a carry-over from the O.T.-- throughout this work all words scripted in blue are words either in prayer or addressing the Godhead.
And all enlarged words are prophecies from the O.T.- The symbol {
I #.} after a word/phrase means that word/phrase is given in Greek on page I (Acts)-- scroll down (if necessary) to that #; - the symbol
means the Greek is the same as for the same word recently covered; - the symbol
means the word does not exist in Greek.
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Chapter 5
<1>
Now a man named Ananias, together with His wife, also sold a piece of property. With His wife's full knowledge, He kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest & put it at the apostles' feet. Then Peter said, Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled Your heart that You have lied to the Holy Spirit & have kept for yourself some of the money You received for the land? Didn't it belong to You before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at Your disposal? What made You think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to GOD. He had no chance to speak. When Ananias heard this, He fell down & died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward, wrapped up His body, & carried Him out & buried Him.
About 3 hours later His wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked Her, Tell Me, is this the price You & Ananias got for the land? 'Yes,' She said, 'that is the price.' Peter said to Her, How could You agree to test the Spirit of the LORD? Look! The feet of the men who buried Your husband are at the door, & They will carry You out also. At that moment She fell down at His feet & died. Then the young men came in &, finding Her dead, carried Her out & buried Her beside Her husband. Great fear seized the whole church (the Church) & all who heard about these events.
<2>
The apostles performed many miraculous signs & wonders among the people, the residents of Jerusalem. And all the believers used to meet together in the Temple's Solomon's Colonnade. No 1 else dared join Them, even though They were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more & more men & women believed in the LORD & were added to Their #. As a result, people brought the sick into the streets (the start of going out to the world) & laid them on beds & mats so at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as He passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick & those tormented by evil spirits, & all of them were healed. They were delivered so that the Might of the LORD might be evident-- which does not mean they were saved.
<3>
Then the High Priest & all His associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles & put Them in the public jail outside the Temple. But during the night an Angel of the LORD opened the doors of the jail & brought Them out. 'Go, stand in the Temple courts,' He said,, '& tell the people the full message of this new life.' At daybreak They entered the Temple courts, as They had been told, & began to teach the people.
When the High Priest & His associates arrived, They called together the Sanhedrin-- the full assembly of the elders of Israel --& sent to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find Them there. So they went back & reported, 'We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no 1 inside.' On hearing this report, the captain of the Temple guard & the chief priests were puzzled, wondering what would come of this.
Then someone came & said, 'Look! The men You put in jail are standing in the Temple courts teaching the people.' At that, the captain went with His officers & brought the apostles. They did not use force, because They feared that the people would stone Them. Having brought the apostles, They made Them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the High Priest. 'We gave You strict orders not to teach in this Name,' He said. 'Yet You have filled all Jerusalem with Your teaching & are determined to make Us appear guilty of this man's blood.'
Peter & the other apostles replied: We must obey GOD rather than men! The GOD of Our Fathers raised Jesus from the dead-- whom You had killed by hanging Him on a tree. GOD exalted Him to HIS Own Right Hand as Prince & Savior that He might give repentance & forgiveness of sins to all Israel. We are witnesses of these things, & so is the Holy Spirit, whom GOD has given to all those who obey Him.
When They heard this, They were furious & wanted to put Them to death. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin & ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed Them: 'Men of Israel, consider carefully what You intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, & ~400 men rallied to Him. He was killed, all His followers were dispersed, & it all came to nothing. After Him Judas (Jesus) the Galilean appeared in the days of the census & led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, & all His followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise You: Leave these men alone! Let Them go! For if Their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from GOD, You will not be able to stop these men; You will only find yourselves fighting against GOD.'
His speech persuaded Them. They called the apostles in & had Them flogged. Then They ordered Them not to speak in the Name of Jesus, & let Them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because They had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, both in the Temple courts & from house to house, They never stopped teaching & proclaiming the Good News that Jesus is the Christ.
Chapter 6
<1>
In those days when the # of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among Them complained against the Hebraic Jews because Their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the 12 gathered all the disciples together & said, It would not be right for Us to neglect the ministry of the Word of GOD in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose 7 men from among You who are known to be full of the Spirit & wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to Them & will give Our attention to prayer & the ministry of the Word. This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith & of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Permenas, & Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed & laid Their hands on Them. So the Word of GOD spread. The # of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, & a large # of priests became obedient to the faith.
The 7 Grecian Jews (referred to as the Seven only in Acts 21:8):
- 6 Jews-by-birth: Stephen, Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas;
- 1 convert-to-Judaism (from Antioch of Syria);
- only the 1st 2, Stephen & Philip are later mentioned in the Bible;
- Stephen was stoned (Acts 7:54ff) & was called a martyr (Acts 22:20);
- Philip ministered in Samaria (Acts 8) & later lived in Caesarea of the province Judea (Acts 21:8).
<2>
Now Stephen, a man full of GOD's Grace & Power, did great wonders & miraculous signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the a sect, the Rome-free Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)-- Jews of Cyrene & Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia & Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen, but They could not stand up against His wisdom or the Spirit by whom He spoke. Then They secretly persuaded some men to say, 'We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses & against GOD.' So They stirred up the people & the elders & teachers of the Law. They seized Stephen & brought Him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who testified, 'This fellow never stops speaking against this Holy Place & against the Law. For We have heard Him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place & change the customs Moses handed down to Us.' All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, & They saw that His face was like the face of an angel.
