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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday June 12, 2016
PERSECUTION SCATTERS THE BELIEVERS
(Philip preaches in Samaria)
Acts 8:1-25
The day that Stephen was killed a
great persecution swept over the Church at Jerusalem causing most of the
believers to flee into Judea and Samaria. Only the apostles remained in
Jerusalem, along with a few GODly men who came and buried Stephen. Saul, one of
the official witnesses to the slaying of Stephen (and who later became the
great Church leader, the Apostle Paul) was on a rampage, going from door to
door, dragging Christians from their homes and throwing them in jail because of
their belief in JESUS.
In Acts chapter 8,
taking up at verse 4, we see that, after the believers were scattered from
Jerusalem, Philip, one of the seven chosen servants (Acts 6:5) of the early
Church, fled to the forbidden territory of the, still hated, Samaritans in
northern Israel. It was now the appointed time of the LORD to begin to show all
mankind that the Gospel of CHRIST was intended, not only for the Jews, but for
Samaritans and Gentiles as well. JESUS had already left a clear message through
HIS life examples that, in the coming Christian Faith, there would be no such
thing as an enemy, except satan, in all the world. No one is outside of the
love of CHRIST, and no one is outside of the purpose of GOD. GOD wishes all
mankind to be saved.
Second Kings, chapter
17, chronicles the origins of the Jews and Samaritans hatred for each other. By
the first century A.D., the quarrels between the two groups were centuries old.
In fact, one would have to go all the way back to the eighth century B.C., when
the Assyrians, under the leadership of Shalmanaser, the son of the great
Assyrian king, Tiglath-pileser, conquered the northern kingdom of Israel (722
B.C.), whose capital, at that time, was Samaria.
As conquerors often did
in those days, the Assyrians transported the greater portion of the Jewish
population to Assyria and re-settled Israel with its own people. The small
portion of the Jewish people, who were left in Israel, eventually began to
intermarry with the Assyrians who were supplanted there. The progenitors from
those marriages became the hated Samaritans, or, so-called, half-breed Jews,
that we read about in JESUS’ day.
Most of the Jews who
were transported to Assyria, stubbornly and steadfastly refused to lose their
identity as “pure-blood Jews”, by intermarrying with the Assyrians. They held
strong resentment towards their brothers and sisters back home in Israel,
because they did not cling to the same convictions that they had towards their
“pure-blood” status.
Before King David moved
the Worship Center up to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6), all of the Jewish people,
including the Samaritans, went to Mount Gerizim to pay homage to the LORD
(Joshua 8:33). After David’s restructuring and move to Jerusalem, the
Samaritans continued to worship at Mount Gerizim (John 4:20) while the pure
blood Jews adhered to David’s new system in Jerusalem.
In John chapter 4,
verses 4-41, some fourteen generations after King David’s death, we see JESUS
finally entering into Samaria to initiate an end to the ancient hostilities
that had so long crippled the unity possibilities of GOD’s people. There the
Apostle John, through his writings of JESUS’, now famous encounter with the
women at “Jacob’s Well”, gives us a vivid description of what JESUS now
expected from those who desired to be one of HIS followers into the future.
Here we see JESUS
attempting to teach HIS disciples and future believers that the time had indeed
come to put an end to petty disputes that had spilled over, even into the way
that they were worshipping the FATHER. There JESUS tells us that GOD is looking
for anyone who can worship HIM in “spirit”, and in “truth” because GOD HIMSELF
is SPIRIT.
While in Samaria Philip
performed many miracles, and the people of that hated city listened to him
because of those miracles. Many evil spirits were cast out of people, and many
who had been crippled were healed. Scripture doesn’t even hint that Philip may
have wanted to withhold what power GOD had given him, from the people of
Samaria. Instead he gladly healed, and he exorcized demons, and he taught
everyone who cared to listen, the Word of GOD, and, the good news about CHRIST,
and the HOLY SPIRIT.
There was a man by the
name of Simon Magnus, or, “Simon the magician” who had become known as a great
man in Samaria because of the magic that he performed. All of the people of
Samaria thought him to be the possessor of the great power of GOD. However,
Philip’s miracles and the message of the good news of GOD’s Kingdom and JESUS
CHRIST, had won the people over from Simon. In fact, Simon himself was baptized
and began following Philip everywhere he went. He was utterly amazed by the
miracles and signs that he performed, and he foolishly sought to buy the power
of the SPIRIT that enabled Philip, and also Peter and John (who had just
arrived in Samaria to pray and share the news of the HOLY SPIRIT with the
people) to do those miracles. However, after being rebuked by Peter that he
repent from his evil thoughts, Simon requested that the Apostle pray in
intercession to GOD for him that nothing terrible would happen to him because
of his ignorant thoughts.
And so we see, that,
the miracles that accentuated the ministry of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS
CHRIST, continued on in the early days of the Church. Those miracles were used
by GOD to authenticate those men and women who were acting as HIS
representatives in carrying HIS Gospel message to the people.
The greatest purpose of
JESUS was to communicate to man how he must worship GOD in “truth”, the true
sense of HIS Word. The purpose of the
HOLY SPIRIT was to make the connection man needed in order that he may be able
to worship GOD, not only in “truth”, but also with a discerning “human spirit”.
And so, it is for the purpose of GOD that the Christian is called, and by the
work of the HOLY SPIRIT that a person’s life is hallowed towards GOD. But it is
by the sprinkling of the blood of JESUS CHRIST that past sins are forgiven, and
we can look forward to a future of obedience to GOD.
It is important that a
person comes to realize the purpose for which he or she came into the world,
and that purpose is, and always has been, to serve GOD. And until a person is able
to grasp and understand that, they will continue to find themselves living a
life similar to that of the Samaritan woman before she met JESUS at Jacob’s
well. She had been meandering around aimlessly for many years looking for
“physical” answers from men, to problems, that had always been “spiritual”. We
who are created must to know the truth of the CREATOR GOD. And when that
happens, we will be able to embody the SPIRIT that can help us stay focused on
HIM whose Word is the whole spiritual truth. And we also learn, just as Simon
did, that the power of GOD (the HOLY SPIRIT) cannot be bought and sold, but
rather, is given freely to those who believe in CHRIST JESUS.
PHILIP
AND THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH
Acts
8:26-40
In Isaiah 56, verses 3-5, GOD
promises, through the prophet Isaiah, to pour out HIS blessings on the eunuchs
of the world, who dedicate themselves to serving HIM and keeping HIS
commandments. There the LORD says that HE will reward them with a special place
in HIS house, and that it would be a memorial far greater than the honor they
would have received by having sons and daughters, and that it would last
forever.
In Acts chapter 8,
verses 26-40, we begin to see the first signs of GOD’s fulfillment of that
promise. This chapter of the book of Acts depicts a very significant phase in
the history of the development of the early Church as it begins to show signs
of an initial shedding of its “strictly Jewish membership status”.
Here in this passage,
we see the Church being compelled by GOD to scatter and flee Jerusalem, as a
result of the Christian persecutions sanctioned by the Emperor Nero that,
followed the tragic death of Stephen. The “Adherents of the Way” of CHRIST were
now unwittingly taking one of the most important steps in the history of the
early Church, and, at one and the same time, were discovering that the ideology
of Christianity was meant by GOD to permeate the whole world. And when they
were forced to leave Jerusalem, they also were forced to spread the Good News
of CHRIST JESUS as they traveled from place to place.
After preaching and
teaching in Samaria, an angel of the LORD came to Philip and instructed him to
go south down the desert road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza. As he traveled
on his way he met a eunuch who was also the treasurer of Ethiopia. He was a man
of great authority under the queen (Candace) of Ethiopia and he was returning
from worshiping the LORD in Jerusalem.
Candace is the name
given to the queens that ruled Ethiopia’s governmental affairs, as the king, or
“Royal Son” was thought to be above those kinds of duties. Eunuchs were used in
trusted positions in royal courts, especially those positions that involved
working around the king’s wives and harems.
This particular eunuch
was apparently a student of the Word of the GOD of Israel (the Holy Scriptures),
and had converted over to Judaism. He was what was known as a “GOD-fearer” in
those days, a person who was non-Jewish, who had converted to Judaism, but did
not accept the ritual of circumcision, since he was, after all, a “eunuch”. A
eunuch, as we know, is a person who has been castrated, or sexually mutilated,
either voluntarily or involuntarily.
However, whatever his
circumstances were, he appeared to be a man who was seeking to know GOD better,
and GOD promises that, whoever is willing to seek HIM through HIS Word, will
indeed, find HIM. And so we see this royal eunuch riding in his carriage
reading aloud, perhaps from the Septuagint (the first Greek translation of the
Old Testament), and contemplating the writings of the prophet, Isaiah, when suddenly
the HOLY SPIRIT instructed Philip to go over to him and walk along beside his
carriage.
Philip can now hear
what the man was reading and asks him if he understood. The man replied, “How
can I, when there is no one to instruct me?” he then invited Philip up into his
carriage to sit with him and explain the Scriptures to him. The passage he was
reading was that of Isaiah 53:7-8 which states;
“HE was led as a sheep
to slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, HE did not open HIS
mouth. HE was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of HIS
descendants? For HIS life was taken from the earth.” (NLT)
The eunuch asked Philip
if Isaiah was talking about himself or someone else, and Philip began with this
same Scripture and then used many others to tell man the Good News about JESUS
and the gift of Salvation to all mankind who believed. As they rode along,
Philip was able to lead the man to CHRIST, and when they came to some water,
the man requested that Philip Baptist him, and he did.
It is a life-changing
thing, getting to know, and becoming accustomed to practicing the Word of GOD.
GOD’s Word has already come, and in fact, has been with us since the beginning.
The Word of GOD simply cannot be, nor will not be disregarded. The Word of GOD
is synonymous with life, and therefore, the Word of GOD is effective, and
penetrating. It absolutely scrutinizes
all of our thoughts, desires, and intentions. All things lay naked before GOD,
because HE absolutely sees all, hears all, and knows all that we do. And every
one of us will have to make an account for the deeds done in our own bodies, in
our own lifetimes. And, whether, or not, we believe that HE exist, therefore,
becomes totally irrelevant.
A Sunday school lesson
by,
Larry D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website
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