Book of Acts Question

[christianbeginning]

Just wondering what is the official position/meaning on the following references found in Chapter 7 of the Book of Acts (verses in quotes):

7:8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham
begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac
begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.

What is the eighth day? When was/is it? What happenend to 7 days?

7:27 But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying,
Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?

7:28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?

7:29 Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land
of Madian, where he begat two sons.

7:30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in
the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame
of fire in a bush.

7:31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew
near to behold it, the voice of the LORD came unto him,

7:32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled,
and durst not behold.

7:33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet:
for the place where thou standest is holy ground.

So what Moses saw was an angel of God, not God himself. Is that the official interpretation?

 

[christianbeginning]

OK - ammending question - since I answered the first for myself - eigth day of his life.

 

[futureyouthpastor85]

I could totally be wrong, but heres my interpretation of Angel of the Lord (ive been wondering this myself)

Verse 32 of your passage definitely shows this as being God, and the word "angel" means messenger. So this is God being manifested in some form (the fiery burning bush in this case) in order to deliver a message. This was used in the Old Testament because this was before Regeneration of the Holy Spirit, God did not actually live inside them. But now that we are under grace and have the Holy Spirit within us, these messages that once in the Old Testament had to be manifestations, now can be told to us through the inner working of the Holy Spirit.

Hope that helps.

 

[RVincent]

Concerning Acts 7:8, nothing happened to the seventh day, except that it was necessary in order to proceed to the eighth. This was the covenant:

(Gen 17:10-12) This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. {11} And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. {12} And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

Later, it became law:

(Lev 12:2-3) Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. {3} And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

Even Christ was circumcised on the eighth day:

(Luke 1:59) And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.

Nothing happened to the seventh day. It had its day in the sun, and was gone on the eighth, but we will always remember him, and all the joy he brought...now I'm sad!!

Why? Why did it have to go!!!

Excuse me...I need a kleenex."

 

[JohnStevenson]

So what Moses saw was an angel of God, not God himself. Is that the official interpretation?

No one can actually SEE God because He is unseeable. He is invisible (Colossians 1:15). Thus what Moses saw was a heaven-sent manifestation -- an angel, if you like, since the word "angel" refers to a "messenger" and can be used of a variety of different sorts of messengers.

 

[futureyouthpastor85]

John, Colossions 1:15 is refering to God himself, not a manifestation of God in the flesh as is the case for this Angel of the LORD (note how in most Bibles, Angel is capitalized and the Angel of the LORD always refers to himself as God, not as if he were carrying a messege FROM God, but as if he were the messenger himself).

 

[Philip]

Many people understand the Angel of the LORD to refer to the pre-Incarnate Christ. Consider the passage

Genesis 48:16
The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.​

 

[cleopa_of_emmaus]

No man can see God and live. Whenver the bible talks about someone speaking to the Lord, or "hearing" the Lord, it is the Lord speaking through his angels.

~cleopa

 

[Svt4Him]

So what Moses saw was an angel of God, not God himself. Is that the official interpretation?

The official interpretation of whom? Is God a bush? No. Did God speak out from the bush? I believe so. Nowhere in the Bible is ground holy because of an angel.