The Acts of the Apostles 21

Subtitle: The Reaction of the Council

Acts 5:33-39.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 16, 2022.

Last week we looked at Peter’s powerful defense of their actions, and their preaching of the Gospel of Jesus.  Peter ended with a powerful conviction of the religious leaders of Israel for murdering Jesus in the face of what God was doing- see last week’s sermon regarding why it is presented as murder.  This sets us up for the reaction from the Council.

It is easy to become angry with a human being.  Even the best believers have flaws that can be used to discount them, or even attack them.  However, we must always remember that this is unwise.  You will not be judged by Jesus on whether you were more flawless than those you disagreed with.  Rather, you will be judged by what the Spirit of God was trying to say to you, or through you.  Thus, we need to be careful in how we respond to one another.  This is a serious area in which we are easily tripped up by the enemy.

Let’s get into the passage.

They become furious (vs. 33)

Though Peter’s speech is much the same as it was the first time he spoke to the council (Acts chapter four), it seems that the council’s response is far more furious this time.  That makes some sense because this time they have disregarded the council’s earlier command.

Yet, it is not Peter that is bothering them, but rather, it is the Gospel Truth that Jesus has given to the apostles, the fact that they are faithfully speaking with boldness, and the clear presence of the Holy Spirit’s power.  They would have typically dispatched Galilean fishermen with ease, but these guys were not typical.

Some translations say that they were “cut to the heart.”  The word literally means “to be sawn in two.”  Any English speaker would recognize right away that the intent of the original language is far more vehement than “cut to the heart” elicits.  Thus, the term “furious” is used.  They have been forced to hear the truth that they have been avoiding with such shocking force that they are beside themselves with rage and indignation.

We should see a contrast between this reaction and the reaction of the crowd on the Day of Pentecost.  It is a contrast between Israel’s leaders and the average Judean (Jew).  In Acts 2, the word of God from Peter is more of a piercing of their heart, rather than a sawing in two.  Being pierced by God’s word stirs up remorse and godly sorrow within many in the crowd (of course not all). 

It is the same word that Peter is preaching, but it has a different effect on different hearts.  Of course, there is even a third response that can be described as apathy.  How am I responding to the Gospel Truth of Jesus Christ?  I am not just talking about sinners who are not believers, but also about those who are supposed to be believers.  There comes a time when God refuses to wink at sin any more.  He then sends a polarizing event, situation, or person to force us off of the fence, one way or another. 

This is where many in the council are.  They are responding with vehemence against the Gospel Truth.  They are on a course to do the same thing to the apostles that they had done with Jesus.  However, God had a different plan!  Yes, the apostles would give their lives for the Gospel, but not at this time.

The intervention of Gamaliel (vs. 33-39)

At this point, a respected teacher named Gamaliel steps in to dissuade the council from the direction that they are headed in.  So, what do we know about this Rabbi?

We do not have a lot of source documents from that time period to give us information on him.  He is mentioned twice in Acts and a couple of times in the Talmud (a collection of Jewish law and traditions).  He seems to have lived from about 10 BC to c. AD 55-65.  He served as the “Prince” (Nasi) of the Sanhedrin during these years and was a Pharisee, which means that he wasn’t aligned with the high priest.

In those days, there were two mainstream schools of interpretation referred to by their founding rabbis: Hillel and Shammai.  Gamaliel is the grandson of Rabbi Hillel.  It has been pointed out that Hillel and Shammai could have been present at the temple when the twelve-year-old Jesus was teaching and amazing them.  Of course, we cannot know this side of heaven.

Gamaliel had the honor of a familial connection to Hillel, but had also proven to be a wise teacher, having a respect on his own merits.

Gamaliel argues for leaving the apostles alone, which causes some to question why he didn’t do so with Jesus.  We do not have enough information to figure that out, so silent we should remain.  It is possible he was not able to attend the trial of Jesus for some reason.  It is also possible that he went along with the death of Jesus, but now feels executing 12 of top disciples- who were proving to be quite popular with a large number of people- is a bridge too far, and will cause riots.  This is all speculation.

Regardless, this story has more to do with God’s purpose for the apostles than it does with Gamaliel.  He simply becomes a means for God’s purpose to be worked out like Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, or even Judas.

Gamaliel has them put the apostles outside of the chamber so that they can discuss without being overheard.  It is interesting to note that Nicodemus would have most likely been there.  This account in Acts is the only surviving evidence of this trial.

When he is able to speak freely, Gamaliel warns the council that they need to be careful in what they do with these men.  The heated anger within the group was not carrying them in a good direction.  He argues against putting the men to death, which tells us what he didn’t want to happen.  However, an argument is always crafted to be persuasive to others, and doesn’t always represent the main thinking of the person making it. 

At the least, Gamaliel represents a cooler head, which is a hallmark of wiser notion.  Still, we should be careful of turning Gamaliel into more than he is.  He too was kicking against the goads of the Holy Spirit, along with his disciple Paul (see Acts 22:3).  He is trying to find a middle road in a situation in which God is not allowing there to be a middle road.  As I said earlier, there are times where God brings everything to a head and forces people to get off the fence.  He uses circumstances like a bulldozer to remove that fence out from under us.  How important it is for us to see that the issue is not wise sounding words, but knowing the Word of God, knowing what He is doing in the now.  In this case, not even Gamaliel had the wisdom of these fishermen and their friends, in the same way that Pharaoh did not have the wisdom of the slaves before him.

Gamaliel reminds the council of two recent examples of insurrections that were led by messiah-figures.  Each of these are of a person who gathered a large following, had a level of success, was struck down, and then their followers dispersed.  We have no evidence outside of the Bible for these two insurrections.  There are some passages in Josephus that are close, but they do not fit these details.  In fact, there were many insurrections and rising of messiah-figures within Israel.  The most famous of that period, other than Jesus, would come in AD 135 as the Romans crushed the Simon BarKochba Revolt.  He had been backed as messiah by Rabbi Akiva, the top Hillel scholar of that time.  So, it is little wonder that these two events, which were recent to the council at that time, would not be recorded elsewhere. 

The first example is of a man named Theudas.  He gathered up to 400 men, and yet, he was slain.  This sounds like a military death, so it seems likely they tested their metal against the Romans.  Regardless, his followers dispersed and nothing more came of it.

Similarly, a man named Judas (Judah) of Galilee rose up during the days of the census.  There were several censuses in those decades, but it is likely that “the census” is a reference to the census by Caesar Augustus during the birth of Jesus.  This Judas also rose up, drew many people after him, and then perished.  His followers dispersed and nothing more came of it.

Gamaliel’s argument comes down to this.  These apostles are either doing a work of men, a human source, or they are doing a work of God.  If it is a work of men, then it will fail and come to nothing, like the two examples he gave.  However, if it is of God, then they won’t be able to fight it because no man can fight God and win.

I would say up front that it would be reading too much into the argument to believe that Gamaliel was thinking God might be behind the apostles, though that is a possibility.  However, it seems most likely that he is logically boxing them into the course of action that he wishes them to take.  There is no way the council will accept that these men are doing God’s work- they were the ones “doing God’s work.”

There are two sides to Gamaliel’s argument.  The side about God is absolutely true.  When God is doing a work, not even the great armies of the world can stop it.  Yet, there is a fallacy on the human side.  Yes, all human endeavors done without God’s help will fail, but there are other factors.  How long will it take to come to nothing?  And, how much damage will it do until it fails?  What about Islam?  Does God want Arabs worshipping a false god in a false religion?  Of course, He doesn’t.  Yet, due to their choices, God has worked it into His plan.  There will come a day when Islam is no more.  What about Mormonism?  They have been quite successful in numbers of people and money spent on a mission that is not a work of God.  However, these things are worked into God’s plan as a judgment upon Christianity and its lack of fervor in His things.

We might also say that this is not the counsel of Jesus.  “Beware of false prophets…”  It is not the council of the Apostle Paul who jealously defended the churches that he started from false teachers and false prophets.  He didn’t just ignore them.

We must always understand that sometimes God brings situations that force us to make a choice.  It polarizes, and there is no middle position.  O Christian, let us be a work of God who is working with God in His work!  If we are only a Christian looking work of man, then we are of most people to be pitied, for we will one day stand before him and hear the fateful words, “Depart from me.  I never knew you!”

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Where Are We Headed? Part 1

Subtitle: When Intervention Goes Too Far 

2 Kings 20:1-7 (Also, Isaiah 38/39).  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 13, 2022.

We are going to start a new series that asks a question about this world and humanity as a whole.  Just where are we headed as a world and as humanity?  Of course, there is what the Bible says about this.  However, I want to focus first on the things that the world is saying, so that we can then turn to the Bible and see what it says.

This approach is important because it pulls back the curtain on some big issues and prepares us for the debates that are happening now and looming on the horizon.  It also helps to protect us form becoming a lemming that blindly follows the herd.  Though it is now known that they do not commit mass suicide by running off of cliffs, lemmings will migrate outside of their proper habitat and die off in large numbers due to social stresses.  Of course, we have a lot of stresses on our world today, both real and made-up, which makes this question more important than ever.

Let’s get into our passage.

King Hezekiah is told God’s will

In this chapter, we find King Hezekiah who was the king of Judah, reigning roughly 716 BC to 687 BC.  He becomes king right after the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel by Assyria in 722 BC, just six years prior.  Though the timing is a bit unclear, our passage today is related directly after a siege against Jerusalem by the Assyrian leader Sennacherib.

Before we look at that siege, let me remind us of 2 Kings 18:5-7.  It tells us Hezekiah’s character and faithfulness to God. 

“5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. 7 The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.”

Hezekiah had lived a faithful life that was comparable to David.  Then, the Assyrians surround Jerusalem (see 2 Kings 19) and threaten it.  In short, God protected Jerusalem when one angel in one night destroyed 185,000 Assyrian troops, ruining Assyria’s plans of extending their dominion.  On the heels of this great victory, tragedy strikes when Hezekiah become deathly sick.

Directed by God, the prophet Isaiah comes to Hezekiah and gives him a Word from God.  He tells him that he will not recover from the sickness, and he should get his affairs in order.  Let us recognize that this is not a doctor telling Hezekiah that he has no hope.  This is God telling him that his time is up.  There is a big difference between turning to God in prayer when the doctor says that you are going to die and turning to prayer when God directly tells you that it is your time to die.  This would hit anybody quite hard, especially coming from a prophet like Isaiah.  This is no crackpot who is guessing.  He has proven himself to be a true prophet of God.

Next, we are told that Hezekiah weeps before God in prayer, asking Him to remember his life of faithfulness and grant a reprieve.  One good thing about Hezekiah is that this is the second time in Scripture that we see him on his face before God weeping in prayer.  He did this when the Assyrians surrounded the city and now when he is told his life on earth is ending.  Would that we had much more of this in our churches, people on their face weeping over the condition of our communities, States, and The Republic.  Hezekiah was a righteous man who knew that God was his main hope.

At this point, God relents and listens to Hezekiah’s appeal.  Even as Isaiah is leaving through the courtyard, God tells him to go back to Hezekiah with a message.  God would grant him to recover and live for 15 more years.  Of course, this comes true and Hezekiah goes on to reign 29 years instead of 14.

On the surface, this appears to be another witness to the miraculous power of God and the power of prayer to turn the heart of God.  However, this event becomes a turning point in the way that the Bible describes Hezekiah and begs this question.  Were those extra 15 years a blessing or not?  Even the phrase “wept bitterly,” used to describe Hezekiah’s praying, seems to speak of one who is struggling with accepting God’s will.  He clearly had not reached the point that the apostle Paul had reached when he said, “I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.”  (Philippians 1:23 NKJV).  However, the apostle Paul had dealt with tortures and much grief, whereas Hezekiah has had a comparably comfortable life.

The Bible gives us a glimpse of what happened in those 15 years. 2 Chronicles 32:25 says of Hezekiah, “But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem.”  Following a miraculous destruction of the Assyrian army and a miraculous recovery from a deathly sickness, Hezekiah’s “heart was lifted up.”  This is a Hebrew expression meaning that he had become proud.  Is it possible that the blessing of God can make us proud?  Oh yes, it is not only possible, but it is also the true test of blessing.  Will I become proud and arrogant in the face of God and my fellow man, or will I humble myself and recognize that it is His undeserved grace?  God was not please with Hezekiah’s heart, which demonstrated its pride in all manner of small and large incidents.

2 Kings 20:12-19 describes such an incident.  Having heard of his “good fortune,” Babylon sends some ambassadors to congratulate King Hezekiah on his recovery with a gift.  Hezekiah’s pride leads him to show them all the treasure, goods, and the armory that he had “in all his dominion.”  His pride set him up for a great fall.  Babylon would remember the great treasures in the nation of Judea.  Such a prize would later come to be too desirous to resist.

Hezekiah will die and 2 Kings 21 opens with Hezekiah’s son Manasseh beginning to reign at 12 years old.  If we do the math, we come to realize that Manasseh was born during those 15 extra-years in Hezekiah’s life.  This is how the Bible describes Manasseh in that chapter.  He, “seduced Israel to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.”  It goes on to describe him raising up the high places and worship of Baal.  He raised altars to all the host of heaven within the Temple courtyard, and built an altar to Molech where caused his son to “pass through the fire,” a reference to child sacrifice.

This casts a shadow over Hezekiah’s recovery and grant of 15 years.  Manasseh holds the title of the most wicked king that Judah ever had.  This brings us back to the difference between being told by a doctor that you are going to die, and being told by a proven prophet.  We are told to pray for recovery when we are sick.  However, Hezekiah becomes a cautionary tale that reminds us that we don’t always know what is best for us, and others around us.

Can we create a world that erases all tragedies, and should we try?

I share this story about Hezekiah because there is an impetus in our modern world to try and erase all tragedies, as if we could get to the number zero.  Imagine a world where nothing bad ever happens.  Shouldn’t we try to create it?  Wouldn’t it be our moral duty?

Even Christian groups have come to promote the idea that, when God prophesies that an evil will occur, He tells us so that we can work to avoid it.  The story of Jonah and Nineveh would be a perfect illustration.  Yet, I would caution us that repentance can never be primarily about avoiding an evil.  Ultimately, repentance has to be about the recognition that I have chosen a wrong path, and turn back to God regardless of how He will respond.  I do it because it is the right thing and I see the error of my way.  God is not required to relent when we repent, and we are not told in Scripture that all prophecies can be overturned.  Yes, in general, God warns of evil so that we will repent and be spared that evil.  However, some things cannot be overturned.  Can the judgment of the nations that happens at the Second Coming of Christ become merely a great earthly welcoming of heaven when Christ breaks the clouds?  I do not believe we can actually avoid the prophecy.  We can only kick it down the road.  The people of Nineveh repented and avoided judgment, but most generations do not repent.  Eventually, judgment fell on Nineveh, just like God said it would.

How about America?  How is our repenting going?  Of all the generations that have been born since 1776, what is our percentage of repenting generations to the total?  I believe it is abysmally low, and that we are in grave danger.  Repentance may grant us a reprieve, but that is not why we should repent.  We should repent because our sin is dragging us to hell, and only God can save us.

Is it our job as Christians to create Utopia?  It is interesting that Christ never told us to focus on fixing the world, but rather, to make disciples of those who respond to our sharing of the Good News.

One of the problems in this area is the law of diminishing returns.  Society has been on a trend of making laws to keep bad things from happening: seat-belts, bicycle helmets, social security, insurance, life-support systems, etc.  However, this has not removed all tragedies.  We are now at a stage where it is becoming vogue to take the right of choice from individuals and put it in the hands of wise, “all-knowing” elite in our society.  Now, the first laws we pass and the first things that we do can make a large difference.  Kid’s wearing a bicycle helmet will drastically impact the numbers of head injuries and deaths.  However, to get that next percentage will take far more drastic laws.  It will take more and more drastic changes in order to get less and less of a difference.

Picture global warming.  The weather and temperature of the earth is a highly complex system.  It is questionable whether humans can actually effectively change the temperature of the planet.  However, cleaning up the emissions of our vehicles and factories has made a huge difference in smog around highly-populated areas.  It will take more and more drastic measures, in dollars and freedom, to make less and less of a difference.  In fact, our attempts to make good things happen in one area of a complex system often have negative effects somewhere else in the system.  You can picture the proverbial plate spinner trying to keep millions of plates spinning at the proper rate all the time.  Humans can’t do this, and so we turn to artificial intelligence, AI.

Part of the problem is the physical frailty of humans.  Think of all the safety engineering that goes into the modern car.  We have lane assist computers with smart cruise control, so you don’t drive into the back of someone when you get distracted.  The car is designed with crumple zones and air bags so that you have a good chance of surviving accidents.  As amazing as all of this technology is, humans are just too frail to get the number of deaths, and even accidents, to zero.  Sure, we could ban all transportation of people, but do you want to live in such a world?  And, are there not other tragedies we should want to avoid, not all of them about mortality alone?  Trying to get tragedies to zero is a no-win game.  Yes, we can make a big difference, but there is a point at which we say that it isn’t worth it to keep beating the dead horse.

We will talk more about this in a later sermon, but we keep bumping up against this reality that we are simply too frail.  Our attempts to counteract the frailty with technology has brought us to the point of desiring to use the technology in order to change ourselves as a species.  As long as we are mortal humans, tragedies will occur and will never be zero.

At this point, we should see that there is an even greater problem that humanity keeps running from.  It is the problem of our moral frailty.  Our penchant for choosing sin is at the heart of this tragic world.  Sin is the source of all tragedy as seen in Genesis chapter three.  No matter how perfect a system we create, humans are always the weak link in it.  We amass great power to help humanity, and then certain humans use that great power to enrich themselves and make slaves of the rest.

This too presents another pressure for humans to take a path of becoming not human.  There is no path back from some decisions and the repercussions cannot be known in advance, though they can be suspected.  Only God can help humanity back from the decision to listen to that ancient serpent, the devil.  We are even now attempting to take hold of our evolution inside of labs all across this world.  Will we survive?

Christians should not be fatalistic and refrain from making the world a better place.  Yet, notice that it is not our goal, but a side-effect of discipling people to be like Jesus.  This will never make the world a zero-tragedy place, and it is not even our focus.  However, the lepers of India are sure thankful that Christians came to the shores of India and were moved by Christ to have compassion upon them.  In this, we must have all our hope in God and not in the technology of man taking His place.  Such interventions can go too far and open Pandora’s box.

Where are we headed audio