.. Or the end of the beginning....
After the presentation of the gifts, Paul in
Acts 21:19 “declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.”
This recital of facts must have brought joy to the hearts of all, even of those who had been doubting, the conviction that the blessing of heaven had accompanied his labors because as it says.
Acts 21:20 “When they heard it, they glorified the Lord.....”
They must have felt that the methods of labor pursued by the apostle bore the signet of Heaven. The liberal contributions lying before them added weight to the testimony of the apostle concerning the faithfulness of the new congregations established among the Gentiles.
The men who, while numbered among those who were in charge of the work at Jerusalem, had urged the now famous Jerusalem council rules of engagement with Gentiles, actually was creating a new problem, because they themselves were still held in bondage by Jewish customs and traditions that Peter spoke of after the vision, and that the work of the gospel had been greatly hindered by their failure to recognize that the wall of partition, the "emnity", between Jew and Gentile had been broken down by Yeshua both by His death and His conversations with both Peter and Paul.
The elders of Jerusalem, I think, missed a golden opportunity to drink the new wine in the new wineskin that Yeshua provided. They probably were more concerned about the reports coming in and the spirit of jealousy and prejudice rearing its ugly head. Instead of uniting in an effort to do justice to the truth revealed, they counselled Paul to placate Jews who were not even believers. Rather than fight this prejudice that Yeshua revealed in vision to Paul and Peter should not be, they chose instead to continue in the tradition of separation and prejudice.
Acts 21:20....Thou seest, brother,” they said, in response to his testimony, “how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: and they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
The Jerusalem elders hoped that Paul, by following the course suggested, might give a decisive contradiction to the false reports concerning him to all those witnessing his behavior in Jerusalem. They assured him that the decision of the former council concerning the Gentile converts still held good.
But instead it did two things, it showed Paul to be a hypocrite, advising believers to behave one way, while behaving another way to appease those in Jerusalem. The leaders of the church in Jerusalem knew that by non-conformity to the ceremonial law, believers would bring upon themselves the hatred of the Jews and expose themselves to persecution, which is exactly what happened even though they followers of God's laws just not the traditions that voided the law.
The Sanhedrin was doing its utmost to hinder the progress of the gospel. Remember the separation of believers and Judaism had not yet occurred. Men were chosen by this body to follow up the apostles, especially Paul, and in every possible way to oppose their work just like Paul was before his conversion. Should the believers be condemned before the Sanhedrin as breakers of the law, they would suffer swift and severe punishment as apostates from the Jewish faith.
What I see as happening is that many of the Jews who had accepted the gospel still cherished a regard for the traditions and were only too willing to make unwise concessions, hoping thus to gain the confidence of their countrymen, to remove their prejudice, and to win them to faith in Yeshua as the world’s Redeemer, just like it is today among various factions of Messianic Judaism. It didn't work then and will not work now.
When we think of Paul’s great desire to be in harmony with his brethren, his tenderness toward the weak in the faith, his reverence for the apostles who had been with Yeshua, and for James, the brother of the Lord, and his purpose to become all things to all men so far as he could without sacrificing principle, when we think of all this, it is less surprising that he did what he did. But instead of accomplishing the desired object, his efforts for conciliation only precipitated the crisis, hastened his predicted sufferings, and resulted in separating him from his brethren, depriving congregations of believers a clear path, and brought about the ultimate separation of Jew and Gentile instead of as "one people" of believers strongly united under Yeshua.
People should not be afraid of a new thing. That is what happened. They were afraid. Yeshua's Judaism was one that encompassed all nations into one people. It will with or without the Jews even now more than ever as time grows short. That is what Yeshua will come to harvest.
After the presentation of the gifts, Paul in
Acts 21:19 “declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.”
This recital of facts must have brought joy to the hearts of all, even of those who had been doubting, the conviction that the blessing of heaven had accompanied his labors because as it says.
Acts 21:20 “When they heard it, they glorified the Lord.....”
They must have felt that the methods of labor pursued by the apostle bore the signet of Heaven. The liberal contributions lying before them added weight to the testimony of the apostle concerning the faithfulness of the new congregations established among the Gentiles.
The men who, while numbered among those who were in charge of the work at Jerusalem, had urged the now famous Jerusalem council rules of engagement with Gentiles, actually was creating a new problem, because they themselves were still held in bondage by Jewish customs and traditions that Peter spoke of after the vision, and that the work of the gospel had been greatly hindered by their failure to recognize that the wall of partition, the "emnity", between Jew and Gentile had been broken down by Yeshua both by His death and His conversations with both Peter and Paul.
The elders of Jerusalem, I think, missed a golden opportunity to drink the new wine in the new wineskin that Yeshua provided. They probably were more concerned about the reports coming in and the spirit of jealousy and prejudice rearing its ugly head. Instead of uniting in an effort to do justice to the truth revealed, they counselled Paul to placate Jews who were not even believers. Rather than fight this prejudice that Yeshua revealed in vision to Paul and Peter should not be, they chose instead to continue in the tradition of separation and prejudice.
Acts 21:20....Thou seest, brother,” they said, in response to his testimony, “how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: and they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
The Jerusalem elders hoped that Paul, by following the course suggested, might give a decisive contradiction to the false reports concerning him to all those witnessing his behavior in Jerusalem. They assured him that the decision of the former council concerning the Gentile converts still held good.
But instead it did two things, it showed Paul to be a hypocrite, advising believers to behave one way, while behaving another way to appease those in Jerusalem. The leaders of the church in Jerusalem knew that by non-conformity to the ceremonial law, believers would bring upon themselves the hatred of the Jews and expose themselves to persecution, which is exactly what happened even though they followers of God's laws just not the traditions that voided the law.
The Sanhedrin was doing its utmost to hinder the progress of the gospel. Remember the separation of believers and Judaism had not yet occurred. Men were chosen by this body to follow up the apostles, especially Paul, and in every possible way to oppose their work just like Paul was before his conversion. Should the believers be condemned before the Sanhedrin as breakers of the law, they would suffer swift and severe punishment as apostates from the Jewish faith.
What I see as happening is that many of the Jews who had accepted the gospel still cherished a regard for the traditions and were only too willing to make unwise concessions, hoping thus to gain the confidence of their countrymen, to remove their prejudice, and to win them to faith in Yeshua as the world’s Redeemer, just like it is today among various factions of Messianic Judaism. It didn't work then and will not work now.
When we think of Paul’s great desire to be in harmony with his brethren, his tenderness toward the weak in the faith, his reverence for the apostles who had been with Yeshua, and for James, the brother of the Lord, and his purpose to become all things to all men so far as he could without sacrificing principle, when we think of all this, it is less surprising that he did what he did. But instead of accomplishing the desired object, his efforts for conciliation only precipitated the crisis, hastened his predicted sufferings, and resulted in separating him from his brethren, depriving congregations of believers a clear path, and brought about the ultimate separation of Jew and Gentile instead of as "one people" of believers strongly united under Yeshua.
People should not be afraid of a new thing. That is what happened. They were afraid. Yeshua's Judaism was one that encompassed all nations into one people. It will with or without the Jews even now more than ever as time grows short. That is what Yeshua will come to harvest.
Last edited:
