2026 Bible Study Thread

[Northumber]

I understand this part is about the movement away from Judaiasm into a world religion including gentiles.

I've recently been thinking there basically have been all groups of people thinking different things through all times. You know, nothing new under the sun. So, I bet some default positions were ok with uncircumcised too.

 

[Tippy]

Acts 12


Herod arrests Peter after killing James the Apostle. Peter is then saved by an angel of God. It is interesting how one man's holy man is another man's criminal. The paradox of the holy man and the criminal is central to Biblical Christianity. Jesus was treated as the worst criminal of all. Now in this passage, notice Peter's connection with John Mark. This is the Mark who wrote the Gospel of Mark. Matthew and John were two Apostles, Mark and Luke were not, but they had Apostolic sponsorship through Peter and Paul.


Being a security guard then was a tough job. If someone got out, you would be killed for it. It was the ultimate "you had one job." This gives some context for a similar episode later in Acts.


This Herod was not the same Herod that persecuted Christ in His infancy, nevertheless he was still a persecutor of Christ and His people. The irony of Herod is that you would expect the king of the Jews to act like the archetypal hero of the Jews, Moses. Yet that king of the Jews was more like Pharaoh by persecuting the true King of the Jews, who is the true and better Moses.

Acts 12:

There are two big miracles in Acts 12 and more to come later in Acts. Here they are:

'Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.'

” 23;Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

This begs the question to me as why aren't angels appearing anymore? And why isn't the Lord striking down people anymore? What made God decide to remove his influence to this degree?

I have read some argue that anytime someone turns to Christanity it's a miracle but this isn't quite the same as an angel prison break scenario.

I suppose I just have to say 'God works in mysterious ways' but they were not so mysterious in Acts 12.

I guess a divine creator isn't someone I can attach a human thought process to. We don't really know how important intervention is to him compared and what his plans are. Still is frustrating. Father well he seems like an absent father.

It's curious to me why James is allowed to be executed here but again I guess we say God has different plans.

I sometimes wonder if I'd ever be able to accept that if I was to die early or have to live knowing I had not so much time left. Would I trust that God wanted this for me? The horrifying idea that I might suddenly not have time enough left to fully understand the word of God or repent for my sins. It's one of the scariest things for me to have a fixed end point but even more terrifying might be a sudden unexpected death where I have to face the consequences of my sin without any sort of effort to get things right.

I suppose this is why every day we need to do all we can to be the best verions of ourselves and to make decisions aligned with God's plan for us.

But what is it? And what if we get it wrong?

 

[Tippy]

Acts 13


Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark went out on missionary trips to preach the Gospel. Paul curses a Jewish magician with temporary blindness. The magician was trying to poison the proconsul against Paul's missionary efforts. Think of the scene in Lord of the Rings 2 when Gandalf straightens out Wormtongue. After this mission to Cyprus, John Mark left Paul and Barnabas and returned to Jerusalem, much to Paul's chagrin.


Paul and Barnabas go to Pisidian Antioch, a distinct city from Antioch though they share the same name. This wasn't so uncommon. Another example would be the two cities named Thebes, one in Egypt and the other in Greece (from Oedipus Rex fame). Paul preaches the Gospel in the synagogues and initially has a warm reception. Eventually, the Jews poisoned the town authorities against him but the Gentile citizens believed. Now Paul commentates on David. As great as David was, he was the archetypal hero-king of the Jews, the prototype of the Messiah, he fell asleep. But great David's greater Son died once, and rose to life, never to die again. The Jews may say that they don't need Jesus, that they're happy with Moses and David, but even Moses and David longed to see the days of Jesus, knowing that He would accomplish everything that they could not.

Acts 13:

';Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10;“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11;Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”

Pretty interesting that Saul/Paul had the abilitiy to take out those tricking others with blindness here.

'44;On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45;When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.'

The J's certainly come across as the villains in this part of the Bible and really most of the NT. How do modern followers of Judaism even reconcile this?

I find myself a bit confused as it does appear like Judaism was the og version of Christanity and then with the NT it separated from that religion. I mean, even Peter and Paul were J's themselves as well as Jesus.

It sometimes makes me feel a bit down as a gentile myself how much controversy there is about gentiles being accepted and it does make me think modern J's perhaps maintain this early biblical dislike for gentiles.

 

[Northumber]

Acts 12:

There are two big miracles in Acts 12 and more to come later in Acts. Here they are:

'Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.'

” 23;Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

This begs the question to me as why aren't angels appearing anymore? And why isn't the Lord striking down people anymore? What made God decide to remove his influence to this degree?

Probably happens all the time and we are just in the group of people that can't see it. I don't think we moderns have a good lens. Essentially, once you attach meaning to anything happening it becomes a miracle. Otherwise, you can always explain anything away. You know, the "it's just..." phrase. We always do that, especially with our "science" type thinking.

I have read some argue that anytime someone turns to Christanity it's a miracle but this isn't quite the same as an angel prison break scenario.

I'm sure some of the people who witnessed (or were around) the jailbreak scenario could explain it away too. You can do that with anything.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Acts 13

[48] And when the Gentiles heard it, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were ordained unto eternal life, believed.

Some people think that if you believe strongly in predestination, that it defeats the point of evangelizing. This text shows that is a false dichotomy. If that were logically necessary, then Calvinists would not be some of the biggest missionaries out there. Rather, I say that if you have a weak, sub-biblical concept of Election and predestination, your evangelizing will be weaker, since you lack any divine foundation and you must rely on your own wit and skill to convince men of the Gospel. You must become something of a salesman. But what you win them with is what you win them to. The biblical Gospel has the power to convert the heart of all whom God has ordained for eternal life.

Acts 14

[11] Then when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. [12] And they called Barnabas, Zeus; and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

This shows you that the Gentiles would worship anything. They weren't picky. What's another god to add to the pantheon? This is very much the spirit of our age, though they do not call them gods, there are many idols that capture the hearts and minds of the people in our day. Gone is the concept of covenant fidelity to one God and to Him alone.

[16] Who in times past suffered all the Gentiles to walk in their own ways. [17] Nevertheless, he left not himself without witness, in that he did good and gave you rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food, and gladness. [18] And speaking these things, scarce restrained they the multitude, that they had not sacrificed unto them.

This is God's common grace. His salvific grace comes only through Jesus Christ covenantally but His common grace goes to all men. Salvation is certainly not deserved but neither is common grace, yet God gives it according to His good pleasure.

[21] And after they had preached the Gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned to Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch, [22] Confirming the disciples’ hearts, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, affirming that we must through many afflictions enter into the kingdom of God. [23] And when they had ordained them Elders by election in every Church, and prayed, and fasted, they commended them to the Lord in whom they believed.

Paul and Barnabas plant churches and appoint elders, that is presbyters or bishops in the churches to oversee them. More will be said on this later in Acts.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Does this mean that baptism with water isn't actually needed?

The real distinction is made between the baptism of John the Baptist and Christian Baptism. As for the necessity of baptism with water, it is not necessary in the sense that you'll go to hell if you don't receive it. However, it is an ordinance of God and should be sought for by any true believer. God's salvation does not depend on the ordinances, though they are a means of grace.

This begs the question to me as why aren't angels appearing anymore? And why isn't the Lord striking down people anymore? What made God decide to remove his influence to this degree?

I believe God does still strike people down, but we view things in such a naturalistic mindset that we don't see it that way. Same goes for other activities of God. You may look at the sun moving in its orbit and think "that's just natural, that's just the way it is, gravity" yet God is the one who causes creation to operate according to His will. It's both/and.

I guess a divine creator isn't someone I can attach a human thought process to. We don't really know how important intervention is to him compared and what his plans are. Still is frustrating. Father well he seems like an absent father.

That's the thing. God is no absent Father at all. Without Him, we would no longer exist even for one moment. Even if you can't see Him, all of this is His handiwork. It's perspective, but it goes deeper than perspective.

It sometimes makes me feel a bit down as a gentile myself how much controversy there is about gentiles being accepted and it does make me think modern J's perhaps maintain this early biblical dislike for gentiles.

They do. Very much so. In fact, they dislike Gentiles more than the Bible portrays them since their post-Biblical tradition teaches them to be that way. I recommend that you do not repay hatred for hatred but repay evil with good as the Apostle Paul says: "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head."