Acts 15:13-34
Dear RTB’ers,
Although we hail the Council of Jerusalem as a true success, with unity and leadership and some measure of compromise, I am troubled by one item: …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… (v. 24). We saw the beginning of this issue in yesterday’s reading: But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” (Acts 15:1) The issue became an issue when those “men from Judea” went off on their own without the blessing or the covering of their spiritual leaders. Granted, this issue would have come up later (and remained a problem, as we will see later in Acts), but these men created friction within the body by doing what they did. For us today, better to seek council before taking on controversial issues.
For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us… (v. 28). This verse has always struck me positively every time I read it – “…to the Holy Spirit and to us…” The apostles and elders clearly had the Holy Spirit first in their lives – individually and corporately. And with that they were able to come to (what seems to be) unanimous agreement on the message that they were sending to Gentile believers. They had already used Scripture to support their resolution of the main issue (vv. 16-18, earlier, quoting Amos 9:11-12) and now Holy Spirit guidance in putting forth their message.
But there was one other item in their message – reality: the reality of life in the Gentile world and the reality of Jewish history and customs. The prohibition on sexual immorality and on sacrifices to idols struck directly at the Gentile world, where idol worship and cult prostitution were common. The apostles and elders wanted to make a strong statement to non-believing Gentiles that these Gentile believers were different, that they recognized only the one true God. The restriction on blood and strangling were targeted to Jewish believers, so that the Gentile believers would not offend their Jewish brethren. Both of these restrictions come from Leviticus 17:11, For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. Eating or drinking blood was clearly prohibited. And since there is no blood shed when an animal is strangled, the blood remains within and falls under the same restriction.
Scripture, the Holy Spirit, and reality – a good combination for us to live by.
Depending on the translation that you are reading, the following verse may be absent: But it seemed good to Silas to remain there. (v. 34) [NOTE: The ESV has it in a footnote.] But it’s a key verse, as we will see in a few weeks when Silas becomes Paul’s missionary companion.
“Encouragement” shows up twice in the last few verses –in verse 31 when the letter from the apostles and elders is read and in verse 32, when Judas and Silas strengthen and encourage the congregation. And it’s not the first time in Acts that we’ve seen “encouragement”, first and foremost with Barnabas himself, whose name means “Son of Encouragement”. I like encouragement!
Blessings!