Then the Church had Peace…

In yesterday’s blog I mentioned that the Theophilus priesthood was persecuting believers in Jesus and especially Hellenistic or Grecian Jewish believers. Scholars seem to be divided as to when this peace was experienced. Moreover, most scholars believe the persecution of Jewish believers in Jesus was a general persecution and not directed at a particular group among the believers. So, I thought I would explain the reasons for my stand, and I apologize in advance for the length of my blog.

In Acts 9:30 the brethren sent Paul back to Tarsus, apparently to save his life. He had been preaching in Jerusalem, and the Hellenistic Jews there wanted to kill him. Just after this the Scripture says, “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced peace… (Acts 9:31 NET). What does Luke mean, and can we know at what time the churches experienced this peace. Is it, as is implied in Acts, that, because Paul stopped persecuting the church, so then they began to have peace?

The Angel’s Promise

In the first chapter of Luke and angel visits the priest Zechariah while he was praying at the altar of incense in the Holy Place of the Temple. In yesterday’s offering, I submitted that Zechariah was praying for the Messiah. The angel told Zechariah that his prayer is answered—the Messiah was coming. To prove to Zechariah that the Messiah was indeed coming in that very generation, the angel promised Zechariah that he and Elizabeth would have a son!

The angel said Zechariah was to name him John, and that the babe would grow to be great and powerful in the Spirit. He would turn many in Israel to God and would prepare the way for the Lord (the Messiah) in the spirit and power of Elijah!

Theophilus and Zechariah—What was Luke’s Point?

The other Gospel accounts go right into John’s ministry, never mentioning his parents or the circumstances of his birth. What did Luke want to express to Theophilus by speaking of Zechariah’s experience as a righteous priest?

Luke begins and ends his Gospel narrative in the Temple. This would direct Theophilus’ attention to the priesthood, its duties to their brethren and to its service to God in the Temple ceremonies. Zechariah was a priest belonging to the course of Abijah, the 8^th division of the 24 division priesthood (Luke 1:5). This means his time of service came close to the time of Pentecost. Each division served for one week and all divisions served during the Holy Days—like Passover and Pentecost (Feast of Weeks). Every 6 months the courses would begin again.

In the Bosom of Abraham

The “Bosom of Abraham” is found in Scripture only in Luke 16 in the “parable” of Lazarus and the Rich Man. Rabbi Abraham Geiger suggests that Luke 16 preserves Jewish legend [Jüdische Zeitschrift für Wissenschaft und Leben Vol.VII 200. 1869]. If, indeed, this is the case the legend would certainly not be of priestly origin, that is, not from the Sadducees, for they did not believe in life after death. The Pharisees, on the other hand, did believe in the resurrection and had many “stories” about what occurred after death. In fact, Josephus mentions their understanding thus:

“Now as to Hades, wherein the souls of the righteous and unrighteous are detained… the just are guided to the right hand… by the angels appointed over that place… The countenance of the fathers and of the just, which they see, always smiles upon them, while they wait for that rest and eternal new life in heaven, which is to succeed this region. This place we call The Bosom of Abraham… But as to the unjust, they are dragged by force to the left hand by the angels allotted for punishment. [JOSEPHUS: Discourse to the Greeks Concerning Hades; chapter 1, paragraps 1, 3, 4]

Samuel’s Childhood—A Type of Christ!

There are some striking similarities in the first three chapters of 1Samuel that point to the birth and childhood of Jesus. Lee Dahn has written about Jesus’ experience at age 12 in the Temple at Jerusalem and how that is prefigured in the childhood of Samuel (Lee’s blog is HERE). I would like to add my two cents about this idea as well.