The Great Persecution

I think we often read past Acts 8:1-4 just to get to Philip’s ministry to Samaria and the Ethiopian eunuch. Nevertheless, these four verses tell us a great deal, and are pretty much continued at Acts 11:19. It seems Luke placed Philip’s ministry to Samaria and the Ethiopian plus Saul’s conversion plus Peter’s going to the Roman centurion and his household right in the middle of this persecution, or to but it another way: between Acts 8:4 and Acts 11:19. It serves as a kind of parenthesis within the persecution and its information helps us to forget what is really taking place. Believers are dying for their faith.

 

The Prophet Like Moses ~ His Coming

In chapter seven of Acts Stephen’s defense of the Gospel, which ultimately included proof of his own innocence of the charges of blasphemy brought against him, was presented in the form of a summary of the history of salvation in the persons of Abraham, Joseph and Moses. In a previous blog I wrote of his illustrations of Jesus and the infancy of the Church in the lives of Abraham and Joseph, but by far the main body of Stephen’s testimony lay in his illustration of Moses’ life.

 

The Stephen Conspiracy

Why would a nice guy like Stephen get arrested and then executed, either by rule of the Sanhedrin or mob violence? Acts 6:8 tells us he was a miracle-worker, and the people seemed to love the believers among them who healed their ailments (Acts 5:12a, 15-16, 26), but something seems to have occurred here that kept Stephen from being protected by the power of the people. What was it?

 

The Gospel Cannot be Bound!

We discover in Acts 5:17 that the high priest and the Sadducees rose up against the Apostles (v.18). The officiating high priest at this time was Caiaphas, but Luke tells us in Acts 4:6 that he means Annas, because he calls him high priest, while placing Caiaphas as one of his family who was with him. In his Gospel Luke also names Annas as high priest together with the officiating Caiaphas (Luke 3:2). What this means is that, simply because Rome removed one man as the high priest and named another in his stead, did not remove that man from the office of high priest according to God. According to Scripture, the high priest was anointed for life. Aaron was Israel’s first high priest, and though his sons also officiated in that office (Numbers 3:3-4), he retained his office for life and was head over them (Numbers 33:38). Therefore, Annas retained all his power as high priest in the eyes of the Jews. His official title was Captain of the Temple (Acts 4:1).[1]

 

The Blunder of the Powerful

Few of us have ever been confronted by the world and threatened in such a manner as was done to the Apostles, Peter and John, in Acts 4. Luke places a special responsibility of blame upon the Sadducees, and the Annas family in particular, for the rejection of the Gospel message and for the persecution of the church later. In chapter 4 Luke highlights the position of the Sadducees by comparing this sect with the ordinary Jews. Later, in the next chapter he does the same when he contrasts the positions of the two ruling parties of Judaism—the Sadducees and the Pharisees (who had their own reasons for not embracing the new Jewish movement among them).

 

Image of the Beast & the 7 Sons of Sceva ~ Part 3

In the final post of this series I am considering the seven sons of Sceva, the high priest, and the seven ‘sons’ of Annas, the high priest of Jerusalem in the 1^st century CE. In part one I compared the Image of the Beast, seen in Revelation 13:14, with these sons of Sceva mentioned in Acts 19:14, and placed them over against the Lamb with Seven Horns and Seven Eyes (the seven spirits or men, i.e. writers of the New Testament, who spread the Gospel throughout the world), mentioned in Revelation 5:6. My point in all this is to show a competition between the Kingdom of God and the rulers of the Jews who rejected Jesus. The ruling priests had declared war against the priesthood of Jesus, represented in the spirits gone out into the entire world (cp. Revelation 5:6).

 

Image of the Beast & the 7 Sons of Sceva ~ Part 2

Presently, I am considering the seven sons of Sceva, the high priest and the seven ‘sons’ of Annas, the high priest of Jerusalem in the 1^st century CE. Earlier, I had written that the descendents of Annas comprised the Image of the Beast in Revelation 13, but do these things pertain to Acts 19:13-16 and exorcising of evil spirits?

 

Image of the Beast & The 7 Sons of Sceva ~ Part 1

Awhile ago, I had been reading about a particular study theme in Lee T. Dahn’s blog showing both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts have an underlying theme that contrasts the priestly family of Annas with the priesthood of Christ, the one being corrupt and the other holy. I found his point of view very interesting, and because of my reading his study, I have begun to recognize this theme behind some of the symbols in the book of Revelation. For example, I’ve already made the claim that the Image of the Beast is actually the seven sons or descendents of Annas, the high priest.

 

Mark of the Beast – Part 2

Many folks believe that one of the signs we are living in the last days is that only in today’s culture could the things of Revelation be understood. Only in today’s culture could some of the things that we find there be done. For example, how could people be prevented from buying and selling in the past? It is only through the technology of today’s culture that such a thing could be done. A computer chip could be implanted in the right hand and scanned by the store clerk and presto, no one could ever steal one’s identity or one’s goods. It all seems very logical and practical, but is it Biblical? We find the foundation for this idea in Revelation 13; notice:

 

The Mouth of the Beast

Revelation, as we all should know, speaks in apocalyptic language, so a literal interpretation for many of the things we find in this book is by far out of the question. For example, who ever saw a wild beast with more than one head? Who ever saw an animal with 10 horns? These among other things in Revelation show one must not take the things we find here in a literal manner. But, if this is so, how should we understand these things without permitting our imaginations to run wild? In order to keep its readers from placing our own individual interpretation upon the meaning of Scripture, Scripture, itself, often defines its own terms. For example, Daniel 7:24 defines a horn as a king or ruler, as does Revelation 17:12. So, how should we understand the ‘mouth’ of Revelation 13:5? Quoting the Scripture in its context:

 

The Number of the Beast ~ 666

I think that of all the people who never read the Bible or know much about the Bible, the one thing they are most likely to know about the Bible is some misconception of 666. Undoubtedly, their misconception is founded upon their attending one of the creations of the equally ignorant Hollywood productions like the Omen series. Did you ever wonder how we would know the number of the so-called Beast? Would the number be written 666 beneath the hair of his scalp like it was done in the Hollywood production? If so, why does the Bible say we must calculate his number (Revelation 13:18)? In the 1970s I remember that some folks thought Henry Kissinger was the Antichrist, because someone calculated K-I-S-S-I-N-G-E-R and came up with 666!

 

Who is the Man of Sin? ~ Part 3

We are discussing the identity of the Man of Sin, whom the Lord said he would destroy with the brightness of his coming. We left off in the previous blog with the writing of the Gospel of Luke which was presented to Theophilus, the reigning high priest, who averted war with Rome and eventual destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by repenting and stopping the persecution of the believing Hellenist Jews. Nevertheless, when another of Annas’ sons got into the high priesthood, he advised Herod Agrippa to strike out at the Apostles and he killed James, John’s brother, but Peter and the other Apostles escaped, leaving only James, Jesus’ brother, and the most conservative believing Jews to preach the Gospel in Jerusalem.

 

The Apostle John and the End Times

The apostles spoke of the last time or the last days as though they would occur in their expected lifetime. Were they wrong? If they were wrong about this, how can we conclude anything that they have told us is true? James wrote of the last days as days of judgment upon those who defrauded others of what belonged to them, and refused to share what they had with the poor (James 5:1-5). Peter also spoke of our eternal inheritance, that is, our salvation or eternal life, which was reserved for us in heaven and was ready to be unveiled in the last time (1Peter 1:4-5, 20). Just before his death, Peter also spoke of the scoffers who would deny Christ, and they would come in the last days (2Peter 3:1-5). Just after James’ death, his brother Jude wrote of ungodly men who had crept into the church pretending to be brethren, but they loved this world and sought to take advantage of and separate the brethren for their own gain, and Jude claimed this was prophesied for the last time (Jude 1:3-4, 15-19). What happened? It seemed that all of a sudden things began to fall apart. Did this all this occur at once simply by chance or was there an unseen hand behind everything?

 

Peter’s Final Words!

Peter wrote a second epistle to the five Roman provinces (2Peter 3:1; cp. 1Peter 1:1), and it was to be his final words to them, for he said he was about to be executed (2Peter 1:14). In this epistle Peter lashed out at the false teachers that had arisen within the churches of God (2Peter 2:1). Peter wrote as though this particular event was yet future “there shall be,” but he was merely reiterating a prophecy he had already given them years before (2Peter 3:2). This fact is certain, because Peter claimed in his letter that these men were already feasting with the children of God and were unafraid to do so (2Peter 2:12-13).

 

The Mark of the Beast and 666

It was the second beast of Revelation 13 that caused the mark to be placed on the right hand and into the forehead (mind) of the Jewish people. I believe I have presented a good argument that this second beast was Annas, the High Priest, and the Image of the Beast was his high priestly family—namely seven High Priests who reigned in Jerusalem out of his family, while Annas was still alive. Therefore, if Annas is responsible for the mark that refers to the beast with the deadly wound, the mark should have something to do with Jewish worship that turned the Jews away from God and caused them to ignorantly worship the Beast.