Acts 15
1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” 6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” 12 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, 16 “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, 17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.’ 19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” 22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” 30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33 And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. 36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (Acts 15, ESV Bible)
Agrippa and Bernice
While Paul and Barnabas journeyed through Cyprus and Galatia, significant events transpired back in Judea. When Herod Agrippa died in 44 CE, the Jewish people hoped that his son, Prince Agrippa I, could take the throne as his father's successor. The Roman emperor, Claudius, was inclined to do so. He liked the young man who had been raised in his courts, and he owed his family favor. The emperor's advisors expressed doubts about appointing the inexperienced, seventeen-year-old boy over the tumultuous Jewish kingdom. Claudius consented. He returned Judea to direct Roman control under a new procurator named Cuspius Fadus (44-46 CE).
Claudius
Fadus took control of the priesthood by seizing the high priest's sacred vestments and placing them under guard in the Fortress Antonia. This was in keeping with earlier Herodian and Roman policy. The arrangement required the priesthood to check out the high priest's garments like a man borrowing a library book. It ensured Roman control over the choice of high priest. When young Agrippa II heard about it, he appealed to the emperor. Claudius transferred political control of the Temple, its treasuries, and custody over the sacred garments to King Herod of Chalcis, young Agrippa's uncle and the husband of his sister Bernice. The new arrangement gave King Herod of Chalcis and Queen Bernice a position of power in Jerusalem. They took a palace in the holy city and commuted back and forth between Judea and their own kingdom of Chalcis. Herod of Chalcis flexed his new political muscle by appointing a new high priest.
Coin of Herod of Chalcis, showing him and his brother Agrippa of Judea crowning Roman Emperor Claudius.
For his part, Cuspius Fadus proved himself a capable administrator. He restored peace in the country. He also put to death the false messiah Theudas:
Now, it came to pass, while Fadus was procurator of Judea, a certain magician, whose name was Theudas, persuaded a large number of the people to take their belongings with them and follow him to the Jordan River. He told them he was a prophet, and that he would split the river by his own command, allowing them an easy escape across it. Many were deceived by his words. However, Fadus did not permit them to test his wild claims. He sent a troop of [Roman] cavalry out against them. They took them by surprise, slew many of them, and took many of them alive. They also took Theudas alive, cut off his head, and carried it to Jerusalem. (Josephus, Antiquities 20:97-98/V.I)
In those days, the famine predicted by the Prophet Agabus (Acts 11:28) reached its height in Judea. Queen Helena shipped grain from Alexandria and distributed it to those in need. Claudius replaced Fadus with Tiberius Julius Alexander (46-48 CE)-Bernice's brother-in-law by her previous marriage to Marcus Julius Alexander, the son of Alexander the alabarch over Alexandria, Egypt. (Philo of Alexandria was Tiberius Alexander's uncle.) The Jewish people might have been relieved to have a Jew governing them if Tiberius Alexander had not renounced Judaism and become an apostate who practiced Roman paganism. Claudius replaced him with Ventidius Cumanus (48-52 CE).
King Herod of Chalcis died, leaving Bernice behind, twice-widowed, with two young sons (48 CE). She was twenty years old. Emperor Claudius transferred her dead husband's small kingdom of Chalcis (and sovereignty over the Temple in Jerusalem) to Bernice's brother Agrippa II. The new king joined his younger sister in Chalcis and allowed her to retain her title as queen.
Coin of Herod Agrippa II.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Trouble in Judea
Every year during the pilgrimage festivals of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot, worshipers and pilgrims filled the city of Jerusalem. The large crowds made the Romans nervous, and they routinely brought extra troops to the city garrison at the Fortress Antonia. Josephus says, "They were always armed and kept guard at the festivals to prevent any insurrection which the crowds might undertake."
At Passover in the year 49 CE, Procurator Cumanus assembled a detachment of soldiers to occupy the portico roofs surrounding the Temple complex and overlooking its courts. On the fourth day of the festival, a large number filled the Temple courts. Many disciples, of course, were present as well. During the time of sacrifice and prayer, one of the soldiers pulled back his garment and, bending over in an indecent manner, turned his bare buttocks toward the worshipers below "and made such noises as you might expect upon such a posture" (Josephus).
The indecent affront to the sanctity of the Temple immediately set off a riot in the Temple courts. The younger hotheads in the crowd began to pelt the soldiers with stones. Cumanus reacted quickly and dispatched additional troops from the fortress. When the thousands of worshipers in the Temple saw the coming onslaught of soldiers, they made a panicked rush for the exits. People abandoned both prayers and sacrifices and crammed into the exits. Crowds pressed their way into the narrow tunnels that descended underground to the southern gates. The momentum and push of the crowd crushed hundreds underfoot. Thousands died.
While conducting a police action in the region of Beth-Horon, a soldier of Cumanus seized a scroll of the Torah. He publicly tore the scroll to pieces and tossed its parchments into a fire. An angry mob marched on Caesarea. Cumanus narrowly averted an insurrection by having the guilty soldier publicly executed. The sacrilege is still remembered on the annual Fast of Tammuz:
Five calamities happened to our ancestors on the seventeenth day of Tammuz ... Moses broke the tablets of the holy law, the continual daily offerings ceased [during the siege of Jerusalem], the city walls [of Jerusalem] were breached [during the siege], Apostamos burned the scroll of the Torah, and an idol [was] placed in the Temple [in the days of King Manasseh]. (m.Ta’anit 4:1)
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Banished From Rome
At the same time these calamities disturbed Jerusalem, the Jewish residents of Rome experienced their own trials. Faith in Yeshua came to Rome long before the arrival of Peter or Paul. "Visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes," first heard the good news at the Festival of Shavuot in the year that the Master rose (Acts 2:10). Some of them may have carried the message back to Rome. Clementine Homilies speaks about early apostolic emissaries arriving in Rome and teaching the good news in the first decade after the Master's suffering. Paul mentions the Apostles Andronicus and Junias at work in Rome (Romans I6:7).
By the time the gospel arrived in Rome, the Jewish community had been rooted there for seven decades and numbered in the tens of thousands:
The great section of Rome which is on the other side of the Tiber River ... was occupied and inhabited by the Jews. They were mostly Roman citizens, emancipated slaves who were brought to Italy as captives [by Pompey in 63 BCE]. They were freed by those who had bought them for slaves, without ever having been forced to change their heritage or national observances ... They had synagogues, and they attended them regularly, especially on the holy Sabbath days ... They regularly contributed sacred sums of money from their first fruits and sent them to Jerusalem by the hands of those who were to conduct the sacrifices. (Philo, Legatio ad Gaium [Embassy to Gaius] 155-156)
Like the followers of Yeshua in other Jewish communities, the believers in Rome were Torah-observant Jews. John Damascene writes, "Many from among the Jews had believed. But they still held in conscience the law after faith; they kept the observance of foods." As their numbers grew, they began to attract God-fearing Gentiles from among the Roman people. The fourth-century writer Ambrosiaster unhappily concedes that the first Gentile converts were also Torah-observant:
There were Jews living in Rome in the times of the apostles, and those Jews who had believed passed on to the Romans the tradition that they ought to profess Christ but keep the law ... they accepted faith in Christ, although according to a Jewish rite ... Those who led the Romans to faith had mixed it up with the law because they were Jews. (Ambrosiaster, Commentary on Romans)
In the absence of Pauline influence, many God-fearing Gentile believers in Rome accepted circumcision and full conversion, but the strictures of Roman social class, family honor, and the scandal involved in association with foreign religions did not leave that option open for everyone. By the year 47 CE, so many Romans had adopted faith in Yeshua that Emperor Claudius complained to the senate about "the growth of foreign superstitions" leading to the neglect of the Roman religion. In the year 49 CE, a series of disruptions and civil unrest gave Claudius an excuse to take actions against the "foreign superstitions." The Roman historian Suetonius writes, "Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from Rome." Most scholars agree that Suetonius mistook the title Χριστός (Christos), meaning "Messiah," for a person's name.
What type of disturbances could the believers have made "at the instigation of Messiah"? The "disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus" might refer to the results of proselytism among Roman Gentiles. Compare, for example, when the idol-makers of Ephesus saw their clients turning to Jewish monotheism, they stirred up a riot: "About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way" (Acts 19:23ff).
Claudius did not bother to distinguish between Jews who believed in Christos and Jews who did not. Luke says, "Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome" (Acts 18:2). A Jew from Pontus named Aquila, along with his wife, Priscilla, made his living in Rome as a tent-maker. They were among the earliest disciples of Yeshua in Rome. When the edict came, they left the city and relocated to the city of Corinth.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” (Acts 15:1, ESV Bible)
Challenge in Anteyochya
The increasing number of Gentile disciples raised concerns in Jerusalem as well. Although Paul had already acquired apostolic endorsement for his gospel, he had done so "in private to those who were of reputation" (Galatians 2:2). The majority of Jewish believers did not know about the earlier meeting, and they still insisted on conversion for God-fearing Gentile believers.
It happened during those days that some disciples came down from Judea to visit the community of believers at Syrian Antioch. They belonged to "a sect of the Pharisees who had believed" (Acts I5:5). They were teaching the God-fearing Gentiles, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."
Paul had only recently composed his epistle to the God-fearing believers of Galatia- a long apologetic for the existence of Gentile believers. Had word about the contents of his epistle come back to Jerusalem and inspired this visit? The men from Jerusalem seem to have come deliberately to challenge Paul's work. Obviously, they knew about the dispute and Paul's gospel. They may have been connected with the "certain men from James" who had visited the community a few years earlier (Galatians 2:12). They came to press their case for conversion and force the Gentile believers to become Jewish. They taught that "it is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Torah of Moses" as Jews (Acts 15:5). They reasoned that God had given the messianic promises to the people of Israel-the Jewish people. If Gentiles wanted a share in the Messiah's kingdom, they needed to become Jewish.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. (Acts 15:2, ESV Bible)
Great Dissension
Paul and Barnabas "had great dissension and debate with them." Luke hurries past the unpleasant details, but the confrontation must have been acrimonious. On the one side, Paul and Barnabas fought for the viability of the Messianic Gentiles, their right to exist, and what they believed to be the truth of the gospel. He had been teaching God-fearing Gentiles to forgo circumcision and conversion for more than half a decade already. "Paul kept insisting and maintaining that they so remain as they had come to believe" (Acts 15:2 Western Text).
On the other side, the believers from Jerusalem came armed for battle with a battery of Scriptures to argue their case. They wanted to see the Gentile believers legally brought into the family-not just spiritually. They believed that allegiance to the Messiah of Israel required membership in Israel. They had strength in numbers behind them. They seem to have represented the majority opinion of Jewish believers.
Sharp words flew in the study hall as Paul and Barnabas went head to head with the newcomers. The elders of the Antioch community watched the debate in dismay, uncertain of its outcome.
Paul and Barnabas appealed to the ruling given by the pillars, James, Simon Peter, and John. The newcomers questioned that ruling and the circumstances around it. Did the apostles really mean that the Gentile believers should remain as Gentile believers indefinitely? Surely not! Surely, they intended only a grace period during which the Gentiles could learn Torah.
We may surmise some of their arguments: "Do the Gentile disciples need to keep the commandments of the Torah at all, then? Are they free to do as they please? Did not our Master teach us that whoever breaks the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least? Is it not sufficient for a disciple to be like his teacher? If our Master kept the Torah, should not His disciples keep the same commandments?"
Paul argued, "The whole Torah is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' (Galatians 5:14). He said, "The deeds of the flesh are evident!" (Galatians 5:19). On the other hand, he argued resolutely that those commandments, which he styled "works of the Law," i.e., circumcision and Jewish identity-markers, should not be required from Gentile believers. The debate began to fracture the community. Some sided with Paul and Barnabas; some sided with the men from Jerusalem.
The newcomers felt confident enough to appeal for a decision from the apostles in Jerusalem: "Those who had come from Jerusalem commanded them, Paul and Barnabas, and some others to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders in order that a decision might be made for them about this controversial matter" (Acts I5:2 Western Text.). The brethren at Antioch agreed to seek a definitive ruling in Jerusalem, as it says, "If any case is too difficult for you to decide... being cases of dispute in your courts, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the LORD your God chooses [i.e., Jerusalem]" to seek a ruling from the judges (Deuteronomy 17:8).
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. (Acts 15:6, ESV Bible)
Yerushalayim Council
Paul and Barnabas went overland to Jerusalem. The journey took several weeks. On their way, they found lodging among believers in Phoenicia and Samaria. In every place they stopped, they engaged in a public relations campaign for their gospel of Gentile inclusion (Acts 15:3). They wanted to build support for their position. They told stories about their work among the Gentiles, and they described how the Gentiles renounced idolatry and received the good news about the kingdom. They told anecdotes about miracles and the evidence of the Holy Spirit among the Gentile believers. The disciples listened with amazement and expressed their joy at the unexpected development.
They might have timed their arrival in Jerusalem to coincide with one of the pilgrimage festivals. The assembly at Jerusalem received them warmly. They convened an informal meeting of the apostles and elders to hear their report.
Paul and Barnabas did not ask the elders for a legal ruling, and they did not immediately reveal the reason for their journey. Instead, they simply began to report "all that God had done with them" among the Gentiles.
They offered anecdotal evidence in the form of testimony. Standing before the elders, they told about the Gentiles who had come to faith in Antioch, Cyprus, Pamphylia, and Galatia. They retold the stories of their adventures, narrow escapes, and miraculous encounters with zeal. They waited for their opponents to raise the objections.
They did not need to wait long. As they described the God-fearing Gentile believers, "Some believers, from the sect of the Pharisees, stood up, insisting, 'It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Torah of Moses' (Acts 15:5 Western Text).
Now that the issue had been raised publicly, the apostles and elders agreed to convene formally to discuss the question and issue a ruling. The council probably consisted of the available members of the Master's twelve and seventy, prominent members of the Master's family, and scholars within the Jerusalem community. The brother of the Master presided over the assembly. Simon Peter was present as well. An overview of the Jerusalem Council is useful before discussing it.
JERUSALEM COUNCIL
~ THE ORIGINAL QUESTION: Must the Gentiles be circumcised (become Jewish) in order to be saved? (15:1)
~ THE CHARGE: The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the Torah of Moses (in order to be saved). (15:5)
~ THE REBUTTAL: Why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Master Yeshua, in the same way as they also are. (15:10-11)
~ THE PROOF TEXT: Amos 9:11-12 (David's Fallen Tabernacle) (15:6-18)
~ THE DECISION: It is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles. (15:19)
~ THE FOUR ESSENTIAL PROHIBITIONS: But that we write to them that they abstain
from things contaminated by idols
from fornication
from what is strangled
from blood. (15:19-20)
~ THE EXPLANATION OF THE DECISION: For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath. (15:21)
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, (Acts 15:7-8, ESV Bible)
Much Debate
The conservative party represented the opinion of Yeshua's disciples from the sect of the Pharisees. (Note that these Pharisees are disciples of Yeshua within the assembly, not antagonists against the faith.) They formally requested the council to acknowledge that a Gentile who desired salvation and participation in the kingdom must make a full and formal conversion to become Jewish. According to this opinion, nothing less than a full conversion to Judaism could adequately ensure salvation.
Luke says that "much debate" ensued. The debate may have lasted for a few hours, or it may have gone on for days. We can imagine what that debate might have entailed. Like a page out of the Talmud, proponents of one position offered their proof texts while their opponents challenged their selections and offered alternative interpretations. They cited the Torah; they cited the Prophets; they cited the Writings: "Have you not read?"; "Is it not written?"; "Have you never seen where it says?"; "Come and see!" They backed and attacked each opinion with Scripture and full conviction. Each side remained convinced of the unassailable veracity of its own arguments.
Those arguing against Paul and Barnabas would have looked to the words of the Master, who instructed, "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine. Do not go in the way of the Gentiles ... but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." They could have called upon the members of the Twelve to recount the stories of Yeshua's interactions with the centurion of Capernaum and the Canaanite woman of Phoenicia. They might have reviewed the Master's instructions to "make disciples of all the nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20) and then debated the meaning of those words. Some might have said, "Immersing them' means nothing but full conversion; "teaching them to observe' means nothing but the whole Torah." Others could have said, "'Immersing them' means cleansing in repentance and faith; 'teaching them to observe means teaching them to observe the laws of the Torah that apply to them as Gentiles."
Paul's opponents based their objections on the theology of particularity, which characterizes Judaism. The Bible assures that Israel alone is the chosen people, God's inheritance and special treasure. Ample Scripture supports that claim. Opening the door of particularity to any and every ethnicity compromises the select status of the Jewish people.
Ironically, the question quickly reversed itself. Until the recent advent of modern Messianic Judaism, the Gentile church asserted that a Jew could not become a disciple of Jesus unless he renounced the Torah, Judaism, and Jewish identity.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
The Korneiliyos Incident Reviewed
After much debate transpired, and "they were even more perplexed, Peter, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, took the floor" and addressed the assembly (Acts 15:7 Western Text). He reminded the elders about the Cornelius incident in Caesarea, "Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe." Everyone remembered the debate sparked by that incident. They also remembered the signs and miracles associated with it: the appearance of an angel to a Roman centurion, how the angel revealed Simon Peter's whereabouts in Joppa, Simon Peter's vision of a sheet let down from heaven, the serendipitous arrival of the men from Cornelius, and the outpouring of the Spirit on Gentiles.
Simon Peter continued, "God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us." No one could doubt the authenticity of what had happened that day in Caesarea:
The Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. (Acts 10:44-46)
Simon Peter interpreted this event as God's own testimony on behalf of the Gentile believers. It indicated that He received them as they were, without any contingencies about future circumcision or conversion.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. (Acts 15:9)
No Distinction
Since God had poured out His Spirit on the Gentile believers just as He first poured out His Spirit on the Jewish believers, Simon Peter concluded, "He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9). That is to say, there is one way of salvation for both.
This does not mean that salvation erased all distinctions between Jews and Gentile believers. Simon Peter's argument hinges on the necessity of maintaining a clear distinction between Jews and Gentile believers. The statement applies to eligibility for salvation, not legal identity, nationality, or covenantal obligations.
Paul makes the same statement at several points in his epistles:
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in the Messiah Yeshua. (Galatians 3:28)
Consider the "male and female" distinction. Paul said that in Messiah there is no male or female, yet Paul did not advocate gender-neutrality or an egalitarian society in any sense. Men were still men, and women were still women, even in Messiah. In Messiah there is neither slave nor free, but in his epistles, Paul instructed slaves to serve their masters faithfully, diligently, not begrudgingly. He told slave owners to treat their slaves honorably, and he told freemen not to become enslaved to another. He maintained a distinction between slave and free. Even "in the Messiah," the slaves remained slaves, and freemen were still free. They had different roles and responsibilities.
Likewise with Jew and Gentile. God makes no distinction in regard to eligibility for salvation. Simon Peter explained the same insight to Cornelius: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him" (Acts 10:34-35).
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Cleansing the Heart
Simon Peter insisted that God cleansed the hearts of the Gentile believers by faith. This language addresses one of the legal concerns about accepting Gentiles into the assembly. The Gentiles carried ritual contaminations, and certain ceremonial states might be contagious. Did not a Gentile steeped in the uncleanness of the Gentile world ritually pollute the synagogue, the assembly of the believers, and the food they shared?
Following the teachings of the Master, Simon Peter diverted the conversation from ceremonial purity to focus on the metaphorical purity of the heart-the inner moral state. Yeshua taught an internalization of the Torah's purity laws when He praised the "pure in heart." He taught that the sins that proceed from within a person defile a man. King David spoke of the righteous man with "clean hands and a pure heart" (Psalm 24:4), and after his sin, he pleads, "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin ... purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:2, 7). The prophets often invoked the language of ritual uncleanness and contamination to describe Israel's idolatry, apostasy, and other sins.
The messianic redemption includes a complete end of idolatry and a spiritual cleansing of Israel. God promises to deliver Israel from their sins and cleanse them:
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. (Ezekiel 36:25)
In the spiritual/metaphoric application of the purity rubrics, ritual uncleanness represents sin and guilt. Ritual purity represents innocence and righteousness. Ritual purification symbolizes God's forgiveness of sins and removal of guilt.
The apostles frequently contrasted the spiritual defilement caused by sin with the cleansing purification brought by Messiah. The writer of the book of Hebrews differentiates between spiritual impurity and ritual impurity. He refers to the purity laws as "regulations for the body" (Hebrews 9:10), which "sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh" (Hebrews 9:13). The blood of Messiah, on the other hand, cleanses the conscience.
According to Simon Peter, God purified the hearts of the Gentiles by faith, and that inner, spiritual purification had more relevance to the discussion than uncertainties about the ceremonial purity of the Gentile believers. He explained the same insight to Cornelius, saying, "God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean" (Acts 10:28).
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
The Unbearable Yoke
The Apostle Peter objected, saying, "Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?" What does Peter mean by the word "yoke?" The yoke Peter refers to is the Torah. Rabbinic literature often uses the yoke as a metaphor for submission to God's Torah. The rabbis referred to keeping the commandments and living a Torah-observant Jewish life as receiving upon oneself "the yoke of Torah." The rabbis speak of the "yoke of the commandments" and the "yoke of Torah" as the authority of God's Torah, i.e., to be Jewish. The precept of tzitzit symbolizes "the yoke of the commandments." One who denies the existence of God and the authority of the Torah is said to "throw off the yoke." The Gentile proselyte who undergoes immersion to become Jewish accepts upon himself the yoke of the commandments at the time of his immersion.
Would the Apostle Peter dare refer to God's holy Torah as an unbearable yoke? Simon Peter explained, "We believe that we are saved through the grace of the Master Yeshua, in the same way as they also are." He pointed out that even the apostles themselves were not saved on the basis of their covenantal status as Jews. They were saved by grace through faith in Messiah. Peter contrasted the unbearable yoke with salvation through faith. God cleansed the hearts of Jewish believers by faith and the grace of Yeshua. Likewise, God cleansed the Gentiles' hearts by faith, not because they had changed their legal status from Gentile to Jewish.
From the apostolic perspective, ritual circumcision (conversion) and obligation to the whole Torah are synonymous. Someone obligated to keep the whole Torah is also obligated to ritual circumcision. Someone who undergoes ritual circumcision is obligated to keep the whole Torah. Circumcision is one of the commandments of the Torah. One cannot keep the whole Torah and ignore circumcision.
Notice the parallels in thought between Acts 15 and Galatians 5. In Galatians 5:1, Paul speaks of submitting to circumcision (conversion) for the sake of attaining salvation as a "yoke of slavery." In Galatians 5:2 he warns the Gentile believers that if they convert for the sake of attaining salvation, they are no longer depending on the grace of Messiah. Galatians 5:3 warns the Gentile believers that if they convert, they are liable to keep the whole Torah.
THE YOKE
It was for freedom that the Messiah set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)
A yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? (Acts 15:10)
GRACE VS. CIRCUMCISION
If you accept circumcision, the Messiah will be of no benefit to you. (Galatians 5:2)
We are saved through the grace of the Master Yeshua, in the same way as they are also. (Acts 15:I1)
CIRCUMCISION = FULL OBLIGATION
And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Torah. (Galatians 5:3)
It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Torah of Moses. (Acts 15:5)
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. (Acts 15:13-14, ESV Bible)
The Testimony
"Since the elders agreed with what had been said by Peter, the whole assembly kept quiet" (Acts I5:12 Western Text). The Master had given Simon Peter the "keys to the kingdom of heaven," along with the legal authority to bind and to loose (forbid and permit) in matters concerning His assembly (Matthew 16:10). Simon's testimony made it clear that he loosed the Gentiles from any obligation of circumcision and coming under the yoke of Torah as Jews.
James gave the floor to Paul and Barnabas. They offered anecdotal evidence in the form of their own testimony. They told the stories of the places they had been and the people they had met. They described the community in Antioch. They told their stories from Cyprus. They recounted the adventure with the sorcerer in Paphos, the success among the God-fearers in Pisidian Antioch and Iconium, the healing of the crippled Gentile man in Lystra, the mishap with the priests of Zeus who tried to sacrifice to them, and so forth. God's Spirit had worked wonders in every city that they had visited. They had miracles and more to tell about. Everywhere they went, God-fearing Gentiles (and even outright pagans) accepted the good news of the kingdom and declared allegiance to Yeshua of Nazareth by faith.
James the brother of the Master took the floor and addressed the assembly. He summarized the arguments, both for and against, and then recapitulated Simon Peter's testimony regarding Cornelius the Gentile. That story carried extra weight because it implied a legal case precedent -something that had already been accepted and established by the assembly. Compelling Gentile believers to accept circumcision required overturning the endorsement they had granted the household of Cornelius.
Simon Peter based his argument on the miraculous manifestation of the Spirit that accompanied the conversion of Cornelius and his household. Paul and Barnabas added supporting anecdotes. Despite the weight of such stories, a Torah court does not determine legal decisions on the basis of miraculous signs alone. Before he could issue a ruling, James needed to provide a proof text to support the decision. In rabbinic disputation, a legal ruling is almost always paired with a supporting proof text from the Bible.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
The Proof Text
James selected a text from the prophets, which predicted that Gentiles will join the eschatological people of God, but that they will do so as Gentiles. He chose Amos 9:II-12: "In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and will rebuild the ruins of it, and will set up the parts thereof that have been broken down."
The word that the NASB translates as "tabernacle" is based on the Hebrew word סֻכָּה (sukkah), which means "booth" or "hut." David's fallen sukkah represents the dynastic rule of the house of David—the Davidic monarchy:
I will set up again the kingdom of the house of David that has fallen. (Amos 9:I, Targum Yonatan)
Amos spoke of a future time when the LORD will restore the house of David. A new Davidic king-King Messiah-will sit on the throne of all Israel again. The LORD will repair the broken places of the monarchy; He will restore the ruins of David's dynasty. "Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit" (Isaiah I:1).
The phrase "all the Gentiles who are called by my Name" employs a common biblical Hebrew idiom for ownership. Ordinarily, Israel is the people called by God's name. Ordinarily, the Gentiles are "those who are not called by your name" (Isaiah 63:19). The Amos prophecy implies that, in the Messianic Era, there will be Gentiles who belong to God in the same sense that the Jewish people belong to God.
How does this passage legitimize the decision of James and the Jerusalem Council? In what way does this passage justify a Gentile exemption from circumcision, conversion to Judaism, and full liability to the laws of the Torah?
To James and the believers in Jerusalem, David's restored booth represented Yeshua, the Davidic King who comes to rebuild the monarchy of Israel. He is the repairer of the broken places, the restorer of the ruins, who will rebuild the house of David and establish the Temple in the Messianic Era. According to the Amos passage, the restored Davidic kingdom will include Gentiles who bear God's name, i.e., they belong to God.
The God-fearing Gentile believers fit the description: Gentiles from the nations who identified themselves with God's name and sought after God because of the revelation of the Davidic Messiah. If the apostles required those same Gentiles to become legally Jewish, however, they would cease to be "Gentiles who are called by God's Name." They would all be Jews. They would fail to fulfill the prophecy because a literal fulfillment of the Amos prophecy requires that both Jews and Gentiles must exist in the Messianic Era.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, (Acts 15:19, ESV Bible)
The Decision
After presenting the proof text, James placed Simon Peter's decision before the council. He declared, "It is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles." That is to say, "We should not require circumcision and conversion as the criteria for Gentile disciples." James referred to the God-fearing believers as those "turning to God from among the Gentiles." The word "turning" corresponds to "repentance." The Gentile believers responded to the gospel message, "Repent, the kingdom is near."
The decision probably did not enjoy complete, unanimous approval, but enough of a majority supported the decision that James could say, "It seemed good to us, having become of one mind... it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us" (Acts 15:25, 28).
The decision exempted the Gentiles from circumcision, the full yoke of the Torah, and the particular commandments that pertain specifically to Jewish identity. It prohibited the Jewish believers from forcing those issues on Gentiles. Nevertheless, the apostles did not forbid the Gentiles from voluntarily participating in the Sabbath, the dietary laws, or any aspect of Torah life. The obvious corollary requires that Jewish believers are obligated to observe the Torah. The thought that a Jewish believer might also be exempt from the whole yoke of Torah did not enter the minds of the apostles.
The Gentile believers did not need to become Jewish, but they did need to learn a few things about living among Jewish people. The LORD said, "If [the Gentiles] will really learn the ways of My people ... they will be built up in the midst of My people" (Jeremiah 12:I6). To teach the Gentiles the "ways" of the Jewish people and establish them "in the midst" of the Jewish people, James recommended binding the Gentile believers with four prohibitions from the Torah. He said, "We should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood" (Acts 15:20).
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Paul’s Gospel
Paul's gospel taught that "the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in the Messiah Yeshua through the gospel" (Ephesians 3:6). A co-heir with Israel has an inheritance in all the promises God has made to Israel, particularly the promises of the Messianic Era. Those promises include spiritual regeneration, forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit, and even the resurrection from the dead. Paul's opponents reserved those promises for the people to whom God had given them: the Jewish people. That is why they taught the Gentiles, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved" (Acts 15:1). They contended, "It is necessary to circumcise [the Gentile believers] and to direct them to observe the Torah of Moses" (Acts 15:5).
Jewish believers also objected to fraternity with non-Jews. The Jewish people considered one another as brothers because they all belonged to the same family, descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Anyone can join the family, but he must do so through the legal procedure of conversion and ceremonial circumcision. In those days, Gentiles outside the Jewish family were, for the most part, idolaters. From the Jewish perspective, God-fearing Gentiles might have repudiated idols, but they still smelled of the idolatry in which they were steeped since birth; they still had the meat of idol sacrifices between their teeth. They carried the ritual pollutions of idolatry. How could they be treated as family? How could the strictly Torah-observant Jewish believer be expected to eat from the same dish with such a person?
The two sides of the argument brought their dispute to an apostolic council of elders in Jerusalem. Yeshua had given the twelve disciples the power to bind and loose, that is, the power to forbid and permit legal interpretations on the Torah (Matthew 16:19, I8:18). Paul's opponents hoped that the Jerusalem council would bind the Gentiles to the obligation of circumcision and the full yoke of Torah; Paul and Barnabas hoped they would loose the Gentiles from those obligations. After much deliberation, Simon Peter introduced a case precedent, arguing that the miraculous manifestation of the Holy Spirit that accompanied the conversion of Cornelius and the first Gentile converts proved that Gentiles are acceptable to God as Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas added further anecdotal support. Then James the brother of the Master placed a proposal before the council of elders. He said, "It is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles" (Acts 15:19). James ruled against imposing circumcision, conversion, and obligation to the whole Torah as a son of Israel upon the God-fearing Gentile believers. Before the opposition could object, James added four provisions to the ruling. He said that the Gentile believers should not be required to undergo conversion provided that "they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood" (Acts 15:20). In summary, the apostles loosed the Gentiles from circumcision, conversion, and the full yoke of Torah as it pertains to a Jew. They bound the Gentile believers to four essential requirements. Ever since then, disciples, Christians, scribes, theologians, Bible teachers, and scholars have struggled to understand the significance of the four essential laws.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. (Acts 15:20, ESV Bible)
The Laws of Noah
The four laws raise more questions than they answer. Why these four, and what do they mean? Are the four essentials a blanket exemption from the rest of Torah? Are these the only four prohibitions that apply to Gentiles? Why are three of them ceremonial and dietary, while one of them pertains to moral behavior? What, if any, relationship do these four essentials have with the so-called universal laws of Noah?
Are these four laws of the apostolic decree the only commandments of the Torah enjoined upon Gentile believers? No. Judaism already taught a minimum standard to which the Torah held all God-fearing Gentiles. The sages taught that certain commandments of the Torah apply universally to all human beings. If not, how could God have punished the Gentiles in the story of Noah? For what did He punish the people of Sodom and Gomorrah? Why did He drive out the Amorites and Canaanites in the days of Joshua? How could He judge the nations if God imposed no standard of righteousness by which to make judgment? As Paul says, "Sin is not imputed when there is no Torah" (Romans 5:13).
Based on this line of reasoning, the rabbis derived a list of seven universal commandments. The earliest version of the list appears in a collection of oral traditions called the Tosetta:
The children of Noah were admonished regarding seven religious duties: setting up courts of justice, idolatry, blasphemy, fornication, murder, thievery, and concerning a limb cut from a living beast. (t.Avodah Zarah 8:4-6)
Some sages added other commandments to the list, but most agreed on these seven. Judaism refers to the seven laws as the laws of Noah. In the Torah, the LORD explicitly prohibits the children of Noah from engaging in the murder and violence that resulted in the flood. Although the story of Noah assumes an understanding of clean and unclean animals, God grants the sons of Noah the right to eat "every moving thing that is alive, yet He prohibits them from blood: "You shall not eat flesh with its life, that is its blood" (Genesis 9:3-4). The rabbis derived the remainder of the seven laws hermeneutically from one place or another in the Bible. They form a minimalist approach to ethical monotheism: believe in God, be a decent person, be kind to animals, and administer justice.
The existence of the laws of Noah explains why the apostles felt no need to write out a new Torah for the Gentiles or to spell out the obvious moral and ethical statutes of Judaism, such as prohibitions on murder, theft, idolatry, etc. Judaism already assumed that a basic minimum standard of the Torah's moral and ethical laws applied to all human beings. In addition, Judaism already applied at least one dietary restriction to Gentiles: the prohibition on eating the limb of a living animal.
That is not to say that the apostles considered observance of the laws of Noah or the four laws of the apostolic decree as sufficient for attaining salvation. The laws of Noah offered Gentiles a baseline for ethical, moral conduct, but salvation came to the God-fearing Gentile believers "through the grace of the Master Yeshua."
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Laws for Strangers within Israel
If Judaism already had in place a minimum standard of Torah for Gentiles, why did some Jewish believers insist, "It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the [whole] Torah of Moses" (Acts 15:5)? Because God-fearing Gentile believers were not claiming to be just "sons of Noah." Through Paul's gospel, they considered themselves co-heirs to the messianic promises and spiritual members of the people of Israel. They fellowshiped with the Jewish believers, shared meals with them, and worshiped in their synagogues. They considered themselves spiritual sons of Abraham (and Isaac and Jacob). Those arguing for their full conversion only wanted to restore the boundaries that the Gentiles had crossed. They wanted to eliminate the tension created by non-Jews interfacing so closely with the Jewish community.
The Torah speaks of "a stranger who sojourns among you." (For example, Exodus 12:48-49; Leviticus 17:8-13, 18:26, 19:33-34, 25:47; Deuteronomy 16:II-14). The stranger is not a full proselyte. Nevertheless, he lives among the Jewish people and receives certain protections and privileges from the nation. The God-fearing Gentile believers could be considered strangers among the Jewish people. They were servants of the Jewish King.
Through his allegiance to King Messiah, a Gentile believer entered into close fellowship with the Jewish people and became an adjunct member of the nation. He became "a stranger who sojourns among you." In the Torah, certain laws apply to both the Jew and the stranger who sojourns in the midst of the people of Israel. All four of the apostolic decrees belong to that category of laws.
James rattled off a short list of commandments applying to Gentiles living in the midst of Israel. Each one goes beyond the universal laws of Noah. He seems to have derived them from Leviticus 17-18. In those chapters, the Torah describes the sins of the Canaanites, warns the people of Israel against imitating their ways, and prescribes four prohibitions that both the Israelite and the stranger who dwells among the nation must keep.
Abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication. (Acts 15:29)
1. "Abstain from things sacrificed to idols…”
They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot ... Any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to the LORD, that man also shall be cut off from his people. (Leviticus 17:7-9)
The prohibition on sacrificing outside the Temple presupposes an idolatrous sacrifice. According to this passage, the stranger who dwells among the people of Israel is also prohibited from sacrificing outside the Temple and, by extension, from eating food sacrificed outside the Temple. This is not the same as a general ban on idolatry. Judaism includes the prohibition on idolatry in the universal laws of Noah that apply to all of humanity. The prohibition on things sacrificed to idols requires a heightened distancing from idolatry and things polluted by idolatry.
2. "And from blood ..."
And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement. (Leviticus I7:I0-11)
The prohibition on blood is not, as some explain, a prohibition on murder. The apostles considered the law against murder as part of the universal laws of humanity given to Noah. Nevertheless, the prohibition on blood still seems redundant since God gave the same prohibition to Noah in Genesis 9:4. Why would the apostles repeat a prohibition that already applied to all Gentiles?
Judaism interprets Genesis 9:4 to prohibit eating a living animal. Therefore, according to the broad terms of ethical monotheism imposed by the synagogue, Gentiles were permitted to ingest an animal's blood so long as the animal was dead. The apostolic decree against blood clarifies that Gentile disciples fall into a different category. As strangers in the midst of the people of Israel, Leviticus 17:10-11 specifically prohibits Gentile believers from consuming blood.
3. "And from things strangled...”
Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, "No person among you may eat blood, nor may any alien who sojourns among you eat blood." So when any man from the sons of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. (Leviticus 17:12-13)
The prohibition on "things strangled" refers to the meat of animals not properly slaughtered according to Jewish law. It includes all types of carcasses and animals that died of injury (other than ritual slaughter) or disease. The Torah allows Gentiles to eat a carcass (Deuteronomy 14:21), but it requires the "stranger who sojourns among" the people of Israel to employ the Torah's method of slaughter, pouring out the blood upon the ground (Leviticus 17:12-13). Since the Gentile believers fell into the latter category, the apostles forbade them from the meat of un-slaughtered animals.
4. "And from fornication."
As for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these [sexual] abominations, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns among you. (Leviticus 18:26)
The prohibition on fornication in Leviticus 18:26 comes at the end of a long list of forbidden unions (Leviticus 18:6-23). The list prohibits incest, intercourse with a woman in menstruation, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, and, by implication, all similar sexual deviancies such as pederasty and pedophilia. The apostolic prohibition on sexual immorality might seem redundant since the seven universal laws of Noah already prohibited fornication. Why would the apostles repeat an obvious prohibition that already applied to all Gentiles? According to rabbinic explanation, the rules of sexual conduct are much more stringent for the Jewish people than they are for the sons of Noah: "In regard to these forbidden relationships, the Gentiles are judged in accordance with their own laws" (tAvodah Zarah 8:4). This opinion left the meaning of sexual immorality vague and undefined for Gentiles-relative to the values of their various cultures. The God-fearing disciples fell into a different category. As strangers in the midst of the people of Israel, the Torah holds them to the same standards of sexual purity to which it holds the Jewish people.
The four prohibitions of the apostolic decree do not apply universally to all Gentiles-only to Gentiles in the midst of Israel. Therefore, James merely spelled out the legal consequences of Simon Peter's decision to allow God-fearing believers to remain as Gentiles.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Social Obstacles
The apostolic decree requires believing Gentiles to abstain from meat contaminated by idolatry, from meats that are not slaughtered according to the Torah's standard, from the consumption of blood, and from sexual immorality. The four laws are not a substitute for the rest of the Torah, nor are they meant as the four minimum commandments that will merit salvation. The additional four laws apply to the Gentile believers, over and above whatever laws apply universally to all human beings.
The four laws also enabled Jews and Gentiles to congregate together more easily. Each law created an obstacle between the Gentile and social interaction with the pagan world. At the same time, the four laws removed obstacles to social interaction with Jews. The four laws ensured the Jewish community that Gentile believers no longer participated in the local idolatrous shrines, meals tainted by idolatry, sexual promiscuity, and other pagan indecency. The laws brought the Jewish and Gentile believers closer together in table fellowship by assuring the Jews that meat served by Gentiles was slaughtered in a kosher manner consistent with Jewish law.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” (Acts 15:21, ESV Bible)
Sabbath, Synagogue, and Torah
James maintained that the God-fearing Gentile believers should be held to the legal standard of a stranger in the midst of Israel, even if they lived outside the geographical borders of the nation of Israel. He explained, "For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath." That is to say, since Jewish communities and synagogues existed in almost every major population center in the Roman world and Mesopotamia, the Gentiles entering those communities could be accounted as strangers in the midst of Israel.
In those days, the Gentile believers still assembled within those synagogues. They considered the synagogues (both Messianic and non-Messianic) as their houses of worship. Just as the Gentile believers had spiritually attached themselves to Israel, they literally moved among the people of Israel. Their presence in the Jewish communities of the Diaspora reinforced the need for adherence to the apostolic decrees.
James could also depend on the Gentiles learning Torah-both the commandments that applied to them and those that were not incumbent upon them-as they attended the synagogue and heard the Torah read each Sabbath. Notice that James took Gentile participation in Sabbath and synagogue Sabbath services as a foregone conclusion. The apostles did not require the Gentile believers to observe the Sabbath, but they assumed that Gentile disciples would attend the synagogue prayer services and Scripture readings as they participated in Torah life along with the Jewish people, in accordance with the custom of the Master (Luke 4:16). As yet, no alternate, competing holy days existed. The God-fearing Gentile believers participated in almost every aspect of Torah life-whether or not they were obligated to do so.
When considering the application of the apostolic decree in Acts 15, that broader context of Gentile believers participating in Torah, synagogue, and Jewish life must be kept in view. The apostles did not divorce the God-fearers from Judaism or Torah observance. They did not bar the Gentile believers from the Sabbath, the festivals, or any of the sanctities of Jewish observance.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. (Acts 15:27, ESV Bible)
The Apostolic Decree
The council of elders and apostles elected to publish their decision with a written epistle addressed to the congregation at Antioch and the God-fearing believers in Syria and Cilicia. They chose two apostles, "leading men among the brethren," to serve as messengers and legal witnesses who could testify to the veracity of the document and the decision.
Judas (Yehudah) called Barsabbas might have been the brother of Joseph Barsabbas, one of the candidates chosen to replace Iscariot. The name Silas is a Greek form of the Aramaic equivalent of Saul. This means that Silas and Paul shared the same Hebrew name (Sha'ul, שָׁאוּל). They also shared the same social rank as Roman citizens. In their epistles, Peter and Paul referred to Silas by his Latin/Roman name "Silvanus."
One may reasonably assume that Barsabbas and Silas knew the Master personally and followed Him in the ranks of the seventy disciples. The community of disciples in Jerusalem considered them leaders. Both had renown as prophets. The apostles instructed Barsabbas and Silas to travel to Antioch in order to not only deliver the epistle but also to verify the authenticity of the letter and offer further explanation and corroboration by word of mouth (Acts 15:27).
The apostolic decree follows the basic form of a first-century epistle, naming first the sender, then the recipient, followed by a salutation and the body of the letter. In this case, the sender is "the apostles and brethren who are elders," that is, the leadership of the Jerusalem community. They address the letter "to the brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles." The apostolic leaders addressed the letter specifically to Syria and Cilicia because the disciples there had raised the question. It does not mean that the ruling applied only in Syria and Cilicia. Paul brought the ruling with him to communities beyond those borders, "delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe" (Acts 16:4).
The letter opened with a disavowal of the men who had gone to Antioch and raised the issue (Acts I5:1). James and the apostles made it clear that those men did not represent them. Some manuscripts state, "We have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls, saying, 'You must be circumcised, and keep the Torah,' to whom we gave no such commandment" (Acts 15:24).
The epistle affirmed Barnabas and Paul as beloved brothers who had risked their lives for the sake of the Master. The letter endorsed their message, and it made mention of Barsabbas and Silas, the messengers entrusted with the decree. Finally, it reported the council's ruling, "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials. That you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell" (Acts I5:28-29). The epistle offered no further explanation of the four prohibitions. It indicated that Silas and Barsabbas would provide further explanation by word of mouth.
Clementine Homilies, a second- or third-century collection of teachings attributed to Simon Peter, records an apostolic explanation of the decree:
"This is the service He has appointed [for the Gentile disciples]: To worship Him only, and trust only in [Yeshua,] the Prophet of truth, and to be immersed for the remission of sins, and thus by this pure immersion to be born again unto God by saving water; to abstain from the table of devils, that is, from food offered to idols, from dead carcasses, from animals which have been suffocated or torn by wild beasts, and from blood; not to live any longer impurely; to wash after intercourse; that the women on their part should keep the law of purification; that all should be sober-minded, given to good works, refraining from wrong-doing; looking for eternal life from the all-powerful God, and asking with prayer and continual supplication that they may win it." Such was Peter's counsel to the men of Sidon also. (Clementine Homilies 7.8)
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” (Acts 15:28-29, ESV Bible)
Things Contaminated By Idols
The seven universal laws of Noah and the basic, minimum standard of Jewish monotheism forbade the worship of idols. Both the worship and creation of graven images were forbidden. The apostolic decree held Gentile believers to an even higher standard. As strangers dwelling within Israel, God-fearing Gentile believers also had to avoid "things contaminated by idols" (Acts 15:20) and especially "things sacrificed to idols" (Acts 15:29). This required them to utterly renounce idolatry and things associated with it.
As noted above, the basis for the prohibition appears in Leviticus 17:7-9, which the Torah applies to both the Jewish people and to the "aliens who sojourn among them." The Torah further develops the prohibition against bringing "an abominable thing into your house" (Deuteronomy 7:26). One must not derive any benefit whatsoever from idols or from anything that has been offered up to an idol. In another pertinent passage, the Torah warns the people not to "whore after their gods," , "sacrifice to their gods," or "eat of [a pagan's] sacrifice," that is, food connected to any type of idolatrous ritual (Exodus 34:15).
In the book of Revelation, the resurrected Yeshua condemns those who indulge in foods sacrificed to idols (Revelation 2:14, 20). Early church writers such as Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and even the fifth-century church father Augustine maintained the prohibition. For example, in his dialogue with Trypho, second-century Justin Martyr says, "Those of the Gentiles who know God, the Maker of all things through Jesus the crucified, patiently endure every torture and cruelty even to the point of death, rather than worship idols or eat meat offered to idols" (35). The Didache warns, "Scrupulously guard yourself from what has been offered to idols, because it is the worship of dead gods" (6.3).
Numerous commandments in the Torah deal exclusively with forbidding idolatry and all its forms. The apostolic decree obligated the God-fearing Gentiles to keep those commandments whenever applicable. They wanted the new believers to make a clean break from their idolatrous past and cling to the God of Israel. Therefore, all the Torah's commandments regarding idolatry (except for civil punishments) are binding on Gentile disciples. In summary, the prohibition on things polluted by idols includes most of the Torah's commandments pertaining to idolatry, paganism, and the occult.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Blood and Things Strangled
The seven laws of Noah forbade God-fearing Gentiles from eating the flesh of a living creature but based on Leviticus 17:10, the apostolic decree held the Gentile believers to a higher standard by forbidding them from consuming blood and the meat of strangled animals.
Many commentators have suggested that the apostolic decree against "blood" is a prohibition on bloodshed. This explanation is problematic because, if so, one would need to explain why the apostles felt it necessary to explicitly forbid murder but said nothing about assault, kidnapping, theft, and so forth. Moreover, as explained above, the laws of Noah already prohibited murder. A decree against bloodshed would be redundant.
The prohibition on blood forbids disciples of Yeshua from consuming blood in any form. Early Christians carefully observed the prohibition on blood. One late second-century Christian (Minucius Felix, Octavius 30) boasted, "We do not use even the blood of edible animals in our food." Tertullian (160-220 cE) reports that Christians "do not even allow the blood of animals at their meals of ordinary, natural food." He also reports that, during times of persecution, the Romans tested those suspected of being Christian with blood: You test Christians with sausages of blood, only because you are perfectly aware that the thing by which you try to get them to transgress they hold unlawful" (Apology 9:13).
The related prohibition on "things strangled" forbids disciples of Yeshua from eating the meat of animals that have not been ritually slaughtered according to the traditional Jewish method. The prohibition on strangled meat is just the "negative corollary" to the positive commandment in Leviticus 17:13 to "pour out the blood." The Mishnah also uses the term "strangled" to refer to animals improperly slaughtered. Philo uses the same terminology, as does the apocryphal work Joseph and Asenath. When interpreted in the Jewish framework within which the injunction was given, "things strangled" is directly related to the prohibitions against "blood."
"Strangled meat" referred to animals that had died from some other manner than blood loss: "dead carcasses ... animals which have been suffocated or torn by wild beasts" (Homilies 7.8). According to Jewish law, the meat of improperly slaughtered animals retains the lifeblood of the animal. The ancient Jewish method of slaughter was derived from the sacrificial procedure of the holy priesthood, and it is meant to remove as much blood as possible, ensuring that the animal bleeds out by the carotid arteries. The method involves the precise slitting of the jugular veins and other regulations. The sages insist that the method of slaughter originated at Mount Sinai. They find an allusion to this in Deuteronomy 12:2: "You may slaughter ...as I have commanded you." To the sages, this meant that God showed Moses and the children of Israel the correct way to slaughter the meat.
Most Christians no longer abide by this apostolic rule, but early Christians did. Even after their separation from Judaism, Gentile Christians still observed the apostolic prohibition against consuming blood and meat from non-kosher slaughter. Tertullian says, "Christians] abstain from things strangled or that die a natural death. They do so only to avoid contracting [ritual] pollution, abstaining even from blood secreted internally" (Apology 9:13). Second-century Gentile believers in France still purchased kosher-slaughtered meat long after the church had begun severing its ties from Judaism. Oskar Skarsaune (In the Shadow of the Temple [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002], 239) cites the story in Ecclesiastical History (5.1.26) about the martyrs of Lyons who were accused of cannibalism and blood libel:
Under torture, a girl named Biblias in a sudden burst of indignation said, "How can those eat children, who are forbidden to eat the blood even of brute beasts?" This clearly indicates that the community of Lyons [France] still observed the apostolic decree of Acts 15 concerning kosher meat ... The question arises, where did the Christians get their meat from? The only possible answer is from a kosher market established for the Jews and Christians in the City.
Naturally, the God-fearing Gentile believers also avoided the meat of unclean animals-not as a matter of absolute obligation but because of the Jewish context of their communities. So long as the God-fearing Gentile Christians purchased their meat only from Jewish slaughterers, they avoided unclean mammals such as swine and camel by default. Nevertheless, the apostolic decree does not specifically forbid the meat of unclean animals, but it does forbid the meat of strangled animals. Apostolic-era voices in the Didache went further and encouraged Gentiles to voluntarily adopt a more kosher diet:
If you can bear the whole yoke of the Lord, you will be complete; but if you cannot, then do what you can. Concerning food, bear what you can, but scrupulously guard yourself from what has been offered to idols, because it is the worship of dead gods. (Didache 6.2-3)
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Fornication
The seven laws of Noah forbade God-fearing Gentiles from sexual immo-rality, but in the days of the apostles, the sages left sexual immorality, as it applied to Gentiles, undefined. The apostles held the Gentile believers to a higher standard on the basis of Leviticus 18:26: "You shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns among you." Therefore, the apostolic decree forbids the Gentile believers from acts of sexual immorality as defined by Torah law. The Torah offers over twenty-five commandments dealing with proper sexual relations. As noted above, Leviticus 18 forbids bestiality, homosexuality, incest, and sexual relations with a woman during her monthly cycle. Leviticus 15 gives further details regarding this last injunction, including a minimum length of time for the period of separation. In the Apostolic Era, Gentile women observed purification rites like those of Jewish women: "Women on their part should keep the law of purification" (Clementine Homilies 7.8).
Based on Leviticus 18:6, which states, "None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness," Judaism enforces safeguards that prevent even hints or appearances of sexual immorality. The Hebrew word for "nakedness" (עֶרְוָה, ervah) has a wider connotation of immodest behavior in general. The sages reasoned that if one should be careful not to even approach one's "blood relative" (i.e., one's family member with whom sexual relations are unlikely), how much more so with non-relatives. For that reason, non-relatives of opposite gender do not touch. An unmarried man and woman do not seclude themselves or spend time alone. Men and women dress modestly and conduct themselves in such a manner as to guard against even the appearance of evil. Naturally, the laws of sexual propriety and modesty include the prohibition on cross-dressing (Deuteronomy 22:5). All these issues fall under the general category of sexual immorality.
The Torah considers adultery, promiscuity, prostitution, and sexual relationships outside of marriage as forms of sexual immorality. Sex out of wedlock, prostitution, and promiscuity all fall under the single Hebrew word זָנָה (zanah), ordinarily translated into English as "harlotry" or "whoredom." The actual meaning is far broader than acts of sex-for-hire. It includes any and all extramarital sexual contact.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. (Acts 15:30-31, ESV Bible)
Delivering the Mail
After a few days, the apostles sent off Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and Barsabbas to carry their decree to Syrian Antioch. When they arrived in Antioch, they "gathered the congregation together" and delivered the letter. "Judas and Silas read the letter" (Acts 15:31 Western Text). The community rejoiced over the decision in Jerusalem.
The gathering of the community to hear an epistle read aloud illustrates the type of venue Paul anticipated for the epistles he addressed to various congregations. When a community of believers received an epistle from Jerusalem or from one of the apostles, they gathered together and read the epistle aloud in the midst of the assembly. In those early days, the assemblies did not place the epistles of the apostles on the same level with the Scriptures (Torah, Prophets, Writings), but they considered them important enough to merit a public reading. Congregations of believers began to read and reread particularly well-loved epistles and Apostolic Writings (such as the Gospels) on a regular basis. Sabbath assemblies offered a natural time for such read-ings. After the deaths of the apostles, their epistles and writings became all the more precious. The emerging Christian communities preserved them, copied them, and shared them with other assemblies. Through the process of public reading over the ensuing century, the Apostolic Writings began to take on the same weight as the Scriptures. They became sacred texts. By the time of Justin Martyr (mid-second century), Christians gathered on Sundays to hear the "memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets read, as long as time permits" (First Apology 66 and in many places). The New Testament took shape from those readings.
Barsabbas and Silas augmented the reading of the epistle with "a lengthy message" expounding on the implications of the apostolic decree and the meaning of the four prohibitions. The Holy Spirit of prophecy inspired their words. Their message "encouraged and strengthened the brethren." Perhaps for the first time, the God-fearing Gentiles felt like they had a defined place within the Jewish community and a defined legal status. At the same time, the decision set the Jewish believers at ease, and they felt free to socially interact with the God-fearers.
Barsabbas and Silas stayed with the Antioch community for some time. When they were ready to return, the brethren at Antioch sent them back to James and the Jerusalem community in peace. Some manuscripts say, "But it seemed good to Silas to remain there."
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. (Acts 15:36-40, ESV Bible)
Polos and Bar-Naba Part Ways
After returning from Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and preaching" for only a short while (Acts 15:35). Paul wondered about the health of the congregations in Galatia. He was eager to let them know about the encouraging news of the decision in Jerusalem, and he wanted to be the one to bring them that news. He said to Barnabas, "Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are." The towns where they had proclaimed the word included the Cypriot cities of Salamis and Paphos, and the Anatolian cities of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Perga, and Attalia.
"The decision was pleasing to Barnabas too (Acts 15:37 Western Text). They prepared to set out on their second journey together, retracing their steps and bringing the apostolic decree regarding Gentiles to all the communities they had founded on their first journey.
As Paul and Barnabas discussed their plans, they agreed to bring along additional traveling companions who could share in the work and help disciple the new believers. Paul selected Luke the physician and a few others from the Antioch community. Barnabas wanted to bring along his nephew, John Mark (who had recently returned to Antioch). Paul adamantly refused to work with John Mark. He reminded Barnabas of the young man's desertion in Pamphylia. They disagreed sharply and bitterly over the matter, so much so that they decided to separate. Barnabas took John Mark and sailed for his homeland of Cyprus to visit the disciples in Salamis and Paphos. Paul turned toward the mainland communities.
Paul's letters indicate that the Apostle Barnabas continued to travel and teach as late as 55 CE, occasionally intersecting Paul's work. Barnabas seems to have rejoined Paul in Corinth, where, like Paul, he worked at a trade to support himself while ministering in the local community:
Do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working?... If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Messiah. (I Corinthians 9:6, II-I2)
Paul replaced Barnabas with Silas, the apostle from Jerusalem who had traveled to Syrian Antioch to deliver the apostolic decree. Silas brought several assets to Paul's work. Like Paul, he was a Roman citizen. Like Barnabas, the LORD gifted Silas with the Holy Spirit of prophecy. Silas had credibility that Paul did not. He may have known the Master personally and followed Him in the ranks of the seventy disciples. He could testify to the resurrection. He had a prestigious position of leadership among the community of disciples in Jerusalem and could, therefore, speak with more authority than Paul on controversial subjects.
With the able assistance of Silas, Paul set out on an overland trip to return to the Galatian congregations that he and Barnabas had planted almost two years earlier. Paul was eager to deliver the apostolic decree to the Galatian congregations and settle the Gentile question definitively. Silas served as an official notary for the apostolic decree. He could testify to the authenticity of the decision and thereby legitimize Paul's message.
The disciples at Syrian Antioch prayed over Paul and Silas, committing them to the grace of God, and then sent them off. Luke the physician and other believers from Antioch may have accompanied them.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (Acts 15:41, ESV Bible)
Through the Cilcian Gates
As the apostles passed through Syria, they stopped wherever they knew of a community of disciples and "passing on the instructions of the elders, they strengthened the assemblies" (Acts I5:4I Western Text). The "instructions of the elders" included the apostolic decree for Gentiles.
They traveled to Tarsus, the chief city of Cilicia and Paul's hometown, and they published the decree among the believers in the community there, but they did not linger long in Tarsus. Paul's thoughts were bent on reaching the congregations in the territories beyond the mountains before winter made travel impossible in the high elevations. They pressed on, ascending through the Cilician Gates and the staggering heights of the Taurus Mountains up to the Anatolian plateau.
A short distance beyond the mountain pass, they arrived at Derbe, the furthest city Paul and Barnabas had reached on their previous journey. Two years earlier, Paul had won a large number of disciples in Derbe (Acts 14:20). Now he was able to check on the health of the community directly, inquire after old names, meet new believers, and lament any who had renounced the path of discipleship. He was able to reiterate the contents of his epistle to the Galatians and further explain his thoughts about Gentiles and the kingdom. He had Silas present to back him up and a letter from James and the elders in Jerusalem.
They left Derbe and hiked the sixty miles up to Lystra, where Paul had been first mistaken for the god Hermes and then nearly stoned to death. They found the community of the disciples there still thriving.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.