This Is Appendix 181 From The Companion Bible.
- The
original title of the Book was probably simply "Acts"
(praxeis), as in Codex Sinaiticus (
),
and there is no reason to doubt that it owes its human authorship to
Luke, "the beloved physician" (Colossians 4:14).
Tradition from very early times ascribes it to him. Eusebius (fl.
A.
D.
300) in his Ecclesiastical History says, "Luke
... a physician has left us two inspired books ... one of these is his
gospel ... The other is his acts of the apostles which he composed not
from what he had heard from others (like his gospel), but from what he
had seen himself" (Bk. III, chapter 4).
- The
Book is a record of the "Acts" of the Holy
Spirit through "witnesses chosen before of God"
(10:41)
during the period of the final offer to the children of Israel of
national restoration and blessing, on condition of national repentance
and obedience. In the Old Testament the offer was made by the FATHER,
as Jehovah, through the prophets (Hebrews 1:1),
and was rejected (compare Zechariah 7:12-14;
etc). In the Gospels the offer was renewed in and by
the SON,
and was again rejected (Matthew 23:37-39;
etc). "Acts" records the third and final
presentation by the HOLY
SPIRIT,
and its final rejection by the Nation (28:25-28;
Romans 11:25,
etc). Of these "chosen witnesses" no mention
is made of "works" done by any save those
through Peter and John of the Twelve, and later those through Paul.
- The
Structure (page 1575 in The Companion Bible) shows that
the Book consists of two main divisions (compare the Structures of
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc. in The Companion Bible),
each being divided in beautiful correspondence (see detail Structures
in The Companion Bible).
The FIRST portion, consisting of the first twelve chapters (after the introduction 1:1-5), concerns the "witness" (1:8) of the apostles in Jerusalem, Judaea, and Samaria (Appendix 180). Peter, the apostle of "the circumcision" (Galatians 2:7), is the central figure, and this section ends with his imprisonment at Jerusalem (A. D. 44).
The S
ECOND division, that is to say, the last sixteen chapters, carries on the "witnessing" "unto the uttermost part of the earth" (compare 1:8; Colossians 1:23), Paul being the chief personage (Galatians 2:7). This division terminates with his imprisonment at Rome in A. D. 61 (Appendix 180). "Acts" was most probably published towards the end of that imprisonment, that is to say, A. D. 62-63.The period covered by the entire Book is therefore as follows:
- From
Pentecost A.
D.
29 to Passover (12:3,
4)
A.
D.
44;
- From Pentecost (?) A. D. 46 to A. D. 61.
Consecutively, from A. D. 29 to A. D. 61 = 32 years (4 x 8 = 32. Appendix 10). This must not be confounded with the whole period between the Crucifixion, the climax of the national rejection of the Lord as Messiah, and the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, videlicet, from A. D. 29 to A. D. 69; that is, 40 years (Appendix 10).
- From
Pentecost A.
D.
29 to Passover (12:3,
4)
A.
D.
44;
- The DISPENSATIONAL
TEACHING
of "ACTS"
is of profoundest import, and is significantly set forth by the
Structures; compare also Appendix
180.
In the earlier section, the "witnessing" of the Twelve, as recorded from 2:5 to the end of chapter 12, was to "Jews and proselytes" (2:10) alone; "unto you (Jews) first" (3:26), etc. Their subject was that Jesus ("the Nazarene") IS the Messiah; compare 2:31, 36; 3:18, 20; 4:10, 26; 5:42; 8:5, 37 (see Note); 9:20, 22. At Damascus, after his "Conversion", Saul (Paul) "preached (kerusso, Appendix 121. 1) Jesus (see Note on 9:20) in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God", and proved "that this is very Christ", that is to say, Jesus as the Messiah. There was no proclamation to Gentiles as such (see 11:3). The preaching of the Word was to the Jews only (11:19), and to the Gentile proselytes, that the crucified "Nazarene", Jesus, was in truth the Messiah (see Note on 10:48). The duration of this witnessing was about 15 years; see above and Appendix 180. The second part of "Acts" records the apostleship of Paul, and his "witnessing", which was to Jews and Gentiles alike. He was the "chosen vessel" separated by the Holy Spirit "to bear My Name before Gentiles and Kings, and sons of Israel" (huion te Israel, 9:15). His subject was "Jesus and the resurrection" (17:18). Not, be it marked, Jesus as Messiah, but Jesus (Saviour-God), raised from among the dead, and made the federal Head of a new race of beings by resurrection, as announced in Psalm 2:7, with which compare 13:32-39, and see Notes. This "witnessing" lasted the 15-16 years (see 3 above) of the labours of Paul and those associated with him till the imprisonment in A. D. 61. And to the Jew was given priority of hearing the message (13:5, 14, 42, 43; 14:1; 17:1, 10, 17; 18:4, 7, 19, 26; 19:8).
- Throughout
the whole period of the "Acts", the witnessing
was accompanied by the miraculous gifts promised (Mark 16:17,
18).
Compare 3:7,
8;
5:5, 10,
15, 16;
6:8;
8:6, 7, 13;
9:33-42;
11:28;
13:11;
14:8-10;
16:18;
19:6, 12;
20:9-12;
28:3-6, 8,
9.
At the close these gifts ceased, as is plain from the significance of
Philippians 2:26
(A.
D.
62); 1
Timothy 5:23
(A.
D.
67); 2
Timothy 4:20
(A.
D.
68). See Appendix
180. Thenceforward, the privilege of proclaiming and "witnessing"
(Isaiah 43:10;
44:8,
etc.) was taken from the Jew, and "the salvation of God"
(see Note on Isaiah 49:6)
was "sent 1
to the Gentiles" (28:28).
The proclamation is now by witnesses taken out from among "all
the Gentiles upon whom My Name is called" (15:17),
including of course the Jewish members of "the body".
- Having now before us all the "sequence of fact" (compare also the Structure, page 1575, in The Companion Bible and Appendix 180), we can trace "the progress of doctrine", the development of dispensational teaching in Acts, as well as in the complementary "Church" Epistles of Paul, and the limitations of the strictly Hebrew Epistles (Appendix 180, and Introd. Notes to each). Our Lord's words in John 16:12, 13, are precious, and they are precise (see Note in loc.). The Gospels record what the Lord "began to do and teach" (1:1); after His resurrection He continued "speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom" (Appendix 112); and after His Ascension the teaching is carried on by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the truth (John 14:16, 17, 26; 15:26), Who was to guide (lead on) into "all the truth" (see Notes, John 16:12,13). During the "Acts" period, believers were guided into much truth, truth in advance of what had previously been revealed. They were instructed in much that they had been unable "to bear" before the coming of the Holy Spirit to instruct them. But not even yet had they been guided into "all the truth". This was reserved, and not permitted to be revealed, until the public proclaiming of "the kingdom" had ended, after the close of the "Acts". (See Notes on the Epp., specially Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians.) Then it was, at the commencement of this present interim period during which "blindness in part is happened to Israel" (Romans 11:25), that "the church which is His body" (Ephesians 1:22, 23) began to be formed "to the praise of the glory of His grace" (Ephesians 1:6, and Note on 15:14). As above stated, and as the facts show, this church did not begin at Pentecost as is so commonly taught and believed.
1
Sent = sent away; Greek apostello. Implying the
mission or commission employed, and the power and authority backing it. (Appendix
174. 1).