Copies of Bible Study Class Charts Presented on 10/07/14 Slide 2
Reminder Bible Study will meet next Tuesday Slide 3 Review Last
week we looked at the ending of Lukes gospel (Lk 24:36-53) The
final appearance of Jesus in the upper room where he left his peace
and ate some fish to demonstrate his real presence Opened their
minds to understand the scriptures about himself Gave them the
mission to preach the gospel from Jerusalem to all the world
Directed them to remain in the city until they received the power
from on high (the Holy Spirit) He blessed them and then was carried
up into heaven The Apostles returned joyfully to Jerusalem Slide 4
Review (Cont) Acts 1:1-9 Theophilus a greeting The 40 days in
Galilee before returning to Jerusalem He spoke of the arrival of
the Kingdom of God (Israel) Refused to tell them when that would
happen Gave them the mission to preach the gospel in Jerusalem,
Galilee and Samaria and to the end of the earth He was lifted up
and a cloud took him away Pope Benedict XVIs discussion of the
glory cloud Slide 5 Acts 1 (Cont) What else does the departure of
Jesus on the clouds make us think of? It reminds us of Jesus
promise concerning His coming (second coming) on the clouds (Lk
21:27) In Hebrew and Greek the words to go or come or went or came
are the same The question was where was Jesus going when he went
away? To answer this we must go back and look again at the Book of
Daniel where we find one like the son of man taking his throne in a
kingdom that shall not be destroyed Slide 6 The Prophesies of
Daniel Daniel: Interprets the dream of the King of Babylon
concerning a statue made from different metals Has his own dream of
the four great beasts coming out of the sea Both dreams represent
the four temporary kingdoms each conquered (in war) by the sword
existing between the Babylonian captivity and the arrival of the
Christ Eventually the 4 th Kingdom (Rome) is converted by the fifth
Kingdom (Christianity) But this last kingdom will come about in a
different manner than the others as it comes to power without the
use of the sword Slide 7 The Prophesies of Daniel (Cont) Dan 2
Statue Empire GoldBabylon SilverMedo-Persian BronzeGreek IronRome
Here we see a fifth empire being described as a small stone not
made by human hands that becomes the great Kingdom of God which is
the Church Slide 8 The Prophesies of Daniel (Cont) Dan 7
BeastsEmpires LionBabylon BearMedo-Persian LeopardGreek Beast w
iron teeth Rome Although this dream is very similar to the kings
dream in Dn 2 it is followed by a description of the final kingdom
Slide 9 The Prophesies of Daniel (Cont) The four empires (Dn 2
& 7) used earthly tactics to gain power by killing as many of
the soldiers of the previous empire as possible This new kingdom
will come about in a totally different manner: First, the Romans
will continue to use these earthly tactics in an attempt to defeat
this heavenly kingdom They persecute and kill many of the Christian
martyrs who not only do not fight back with swords but use prayer
which is more powerful than the sword This eventually results in
the heavenly kingdom conquering of the Roman Empire over a period
of a couple of centuries (the small stone of Dn 2) So what is
important in Acts 1 is that the disciples see Jesus (one like the
son of man) going into the clouds from which he shall return in the
manner described in Dn 7 Slide 10 The Prophesies of Daniel (Cont)
In Dn 7 we are introduced to one like the son of man: One like the
Ancient of days (God) takes his throne One like the son of man came
on the clouds of heaven and will have dominion over all nations
forever Jesus refers to himself as son of man in reply to the High
Priests question if he is the Christ (Mt 26:64) We see that Jesus
is one like the son of man coming on the clouds (Mt 24:29-31; Mk
13:24-27; Lk 21:25- 27) This Kingdom of God referred to in Daniel
is the fulfillment of Gods promise to David in 2 Sam 7:11-14 Slide
11 Son of Man The term son of man, could be understood in the
following five different ways: A human being The son of Adam (man)
A prophet (Elijah, Jeremiah) The messiah The divine figure and
messiah from Daniel 7:13-14 The key to understanding the importance
of the term Son of Man can be seen in the often used phrase He who
has ears to hear let him hear, which allowed everyone to interpret
son of man from his own point of view (Mt 13:43) Slide 12 Son of
Man (Cont) What was so great about this term is that it was
intentionally ambiguous: Herod could say Jesus the son of man is no
big deal Pilate could say that he did not care what he called
himself At Jesus trial the High Priest tears his garment because he
understands that Jesus is quoting from Dan 7:13 (Mt 26:63-64; Mk
14:53-64) It also reflects Jesus wisdom and political savvy because
Jesus knew where this title would take them Slide 13 Son of Man
(Cont) Jesus can thus be seen meeting each of these definitions
depending on ones faith or ability to hear (He who has ears let him
hear Mt 13:9) Clearly he is a human being For those who had better
hearing he is like Ezekiel the prophet who is called son of man
more than 40 times To those who had the best hearing (the apostles)
Jesus is the awaited messiah and the son of God For us he is: a
human, the son of Adam, a prophet, the Messiah, and divine Slide 14
Acts 1 (Cont) The 1 st Century Christians needed to understand what
was happening to them (persecutions) as it appeared that they were
reliving what had happened to the martyred Apostles: Paul was
stoned James was beheaded All of the Apostles except John was
martyred The early Christians were being martyred all over the
empire It began in earnest at the time Luke was writing his gospel
(early 60ies) Next came the persecutions of Nero and his successors
culminating with Domitian (81-96) during the time John was writing
The Revelation focusing on these persecutions This changed in 315
A.D. when Christianity was accepted by the Roman Empire fulfilling
the prophesies Slide 15 Acts 1 (Cont) Acts 1:10-12 And while they
were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by theme
in white robes and said Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking
into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will
come in the same way as you so him go into heaven a Sabbath days
journey away Obviously these are angels who can be seen throughout
the Old Testament The message is that now that he has gone back to
heaven you Apostles have work to do A Sabbath days journey is = to
about of a mile Slide 16 Acts 1 (Cont) Acts 1:13-14 and when they
had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were
staying,and with his brethren Luke presents the list of the
Apostles starting with Peter as one of the 12 Peters role is like
the oldest son in a large family who is responsible for the family
when the father leaves We also see the women and Mary the mother of
Jesus These women were those who support Jesus and the Apostles
throughout their journeys Brothers here most likely refers to
cousins or step brothers of Jesus Slide 17 Acts 1 (Cont) Acts 1:15
In those days Peter stood up among the brethren (the company of
persons was in all about a hundred and twenty), Brethren here could
be a reference to the community of believers Why 120? It could have
been just a number or It could reflect that the Kingdom of Israel
is developing as the 12 Apostles are expanding tenfold Also it
could be a reflection back to the 12 tribes of Israel Slide 18 Acts
1 (Cont) Acts 1:16-18 Brethren the scripture had to be fulfilled he
burst open in the middle and his bowels gushed out This is
different from Matthews version where we see Judas hanging himself
(Mt 27:5) Matthew depicts Judas death in the same manner as
Ahitophel who betrayed David in the Old Testament (2 Sam 17:23)
These are not irreconcilable since falling is often the end process
of an extended hanging Each story is intended to evoke different
images Matthew makes the connection to the betrayer of David which
his audience would know Acts can be seen as the fulfilment of the
death of Greek King Antiochus who was the great enemy of Israel at
the time of the Maccabees (2 Macc 9:5-9) Slide 19 Acts 1 (Cont)
Acts 1:19-20 And it became known to all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Akeldama,
that is, Field of Blood (Mt 27:8) For it is written in the book of
Psalms, .His office let another take Ps 69:25 Ps 109:8 This
indicates that some of the early Christians were close to the
Pharisees as they believed that the Psalms were inspired writings
Many of the 1 st Century Jews and early Christians memorized the
Psalms (Unfortunately most Christians today are not familiar with
the 150 Psalms) Ps 22 from the Cross Satan quotes from Ps 91:11-12
(13) during the Temptation of Jesus (Mt 4:6) Slide 20 Acts 1 (Cont)
Acts 1:21-22 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all
the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, a witness of
his resurrection This covers the period from the Baptism of Jesus
to his Ascension Second in importance to the early church, after
the ascension, was the theophany at his Baptism in the Jordan
Baptism and resurrection are related we believe in one baptism and
the resurrection of the dead Nicene Creed Baptism is our
resurrection Slide 21 Acts 1 (Cont) Acts 1: 23-26 And they put
forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas and Matthias. And they cast
lots for themHe was enrolled with the eleven apostles In Acts 1:15
Peter stood up and spoke from his special role as leader of the 12
Casting lots indicates their faith in the God of History to make
His decision known to the group This was common in the Old
Testament where people asked God for a sign Gideon fleece Slide 22
Acts 1 (Cont) St Matthias was born in Judea sometime during the 1
st century. He was chosen by God to replace Judas as one of the 12
Apostles by the casting of lots. This calling was unique as it was
not made personally by Jesus. He was one of the seventy disciples
of Jesus who had been with Jesus from his baptism by John until the
ascension. Tradition says that he preached the Gospel in Judea,
Aethiopia (modem day Georgia) where he was stoned to death. Another
tradition says that he preached the Gospel in Ethiopia. A third
tradition states that he was stoned at Jerusalem by the Jews. His
death was in 80 A.D. Slide 23 Transition We will now continue this
story of the early Church by looking at Acts 2 Slide 24 Acts 2
Slide 25 Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all
together in one place This was the 1 st Pentecost of the Church But
not the 1 st Pentecost, for Pentecost was the second of the three
major feasts of ancient Israel Passover Pentecost Booths Similar
harvest feasts existed among the pagans See Ex 23:14-17 Slide 26
Slide 27 Acts 2 (Cont) The historical settings for the three feasts
Passover Unleavened Bread A remembrance of the final plague against
Egypt resulting in the freeing of Israel (Ex 12) Pentecost A
remembrance of God, for the second time, giving the Law to Moses on
Mt Sinai after the golden calf incident (Ex 19-34) Booths A
remembrance of God watching over Israel during their 40 years of
wilderness from Mt Sinai to entrance into the Promised Land (Nu
13-14) Other Summaries of three feasts: Ex 34:18-24 Lv 23:4-36; Du
16:1-17 Slide 28 Acts 2 (Cont) Passover is: The first major feast
of the Jewish calendar An early spring feast A harvest feast
celebrating the beginning of the barley harvest A spring feast when
the first fruits of the barley begins to grow along with the wheat
A commemoration of God bringing the people of Israel out of Egypt
Feast of Unleavened bread begins the Passover Slide 29 Acts 2
(Cont) Pentecost is: The second of the three major feasts of the
Jewish calendar The 50 th day after the feast of Passover A summer
feast A harvest feast celebrating the first fruits of the wheat
harvest and began 7 weeks after the waving of the sheaf of the
Feast of Unleavened Bread A commemoration of God giving the Law to
Moses on Mt Sinai Also known as the Feast of Harvest; Feast of
Weeks; Slide 30 Acts 2 (Cont) Tabernacles is: The third major feast
of the Jewish calendar A fall feast A commemoration of God dwelling
among the people of Israel during their 40 years sojourn in the
desert A harvest feast celebrating the beginning of the fruit
harvest including grapes, olives (wine and oil) almonds,
pomegranates, and figs A fall feast Also know as the Feast of
Ingathering; Booths; Succoth Slide 31 Acts 2 (Cont) What was the
importance of first fruits? First fruits had to be offered to God
according to the religious practice of Israel and the pagans This
was done in hopes that God would provide a good harvest which had
to sustain them for the rest of the year The Jews were also
required to sacrifice the first male animal and consecrate the
first born son to God (Ex 34:19-20) Slide 32 Acts 2 (Cont) Acts 2:1
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one
place The 12 Apostles (along with the 120, the women and the
Blessed Mother) were all gathered together in Jerusalem just as the
people of Israel had been gathered together at Mount Sinai when
Moses received the Law from the God of Israel at the 1 st
Pentecost
