Joshua 7:20-26 - Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger

7:20,21

Achan then admits his sin, followed by an attempt to explain his actions. He saw the robe, silver and gold, and coveted them. I.e. he wanted something that he was not entitled to, for they were to be devoted to the Lord. Seeing that the robe was beautiful was not the problem, the problem was his taking the robe. Then he tells them where he had hidden the goods.

7:22-26

So Joshua sent messengers to seek out the illicit items. They brought them out and spread them out in front of Joshua and the people. So everyone could see that Achan was indeed the guilty party. Achan,  his family and all his animals were brought out into the Valley of Achor. By his actions Achanhad brought trouble upon the whole nation. We often hear the phrase “as long as it doesn’t harm anyone else”. Things may not directly affect anyone else, but sin has a much more pervasive effect, beyond the immediate action. So Achan was stoned to death, as was his whole family and animals, or at least it seems that was what happened. Then the Lord’s anger was abated. 

Acts 5:29,30 - We must obey God rather than men

5:29

“We must obey God rather than men!” This is the right attitude to have. While we must normally respect and obey the Lord, there come points where the Law goes directly against God’s ways.In those cases we must choose God. Now, of course, we need to be careful, for it can easily become “I must obey me, rather than you”. There are two key tests, one is the matter directly against God’s word, and secondly, who is going to pay the price. The apostles had been told to preach the word, and they were the ones who would pay the price.

5:30

Peter again summarises the situation. God raised Jesus from the dead, and the Sanhedrin had killed Him. There can be concern over Jews being labelled “Jesus killers” or some such term, and there times when the church has been guilty of anti-semitism. But two points to make here are: (i) the Sanhedrin had a high degree of responsibility so the “charge” was just; (ii) we are all sinners, Jesus was on the cross for your sins and my sins. Note also the phrase “the God of our ancestors”. Jesus is the Messiah spoken of in the Old Testament, and Peter is implicitly counting the Sanhedrin as Jews. They needed to repent and believe, just like everyone else.

Joshua 7:16-19 -Give glory to the Lord

7:16-18

So Joshua put God’s instructions into effect. First, the tribe of Judah was selected. Remember that Judah was the tribe from which the messiah, humanly speaking, would come. Then the Zerahites were chosen out of this tribe. Out of the clan the family of Zimri was chosen, then each man in the family came forward and Achan was chosen.

7:19

Joshua urges Achan to “give glory to God”. A similar phrase is used in John 9:24 by the Pharisees when questioning the blind man who had been healed by Jesus. It does not mean “praise the Lord”! Rather it means to recognise that God knows and sees all things, He is the One with all power and authority, so it is futile to lie or conceal. The process had clearly demonstrated that God knows what Achan has done, so Joshua is urging Achan to admit that the game is up.

Acts 5:25-28 - The men you put in jail

5:25,26

Then they realise that the apostles are out in the courtyard preaching about Jesus, the very thing they had been told not to do. They would probably have expected the apostles just to scarper. So the captain and his officers brought the apostles back to the Sanhedrin. They didn’t use force, and apparently didn’t need to. They didn’t use force because they feared the reaction of the people.

5:27,28

So the apostles were brought before the Sanhedrin for questioning.The Sanhedrin are full of indignation. “Why didn’t you obey us?” They are angry because the apostles “have filled Jerusalem with your teaching”, i.e. teaching about Jesus. “And are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood”. Now the teaching of the apostles actually made all the people “guilty” of His blood. And in one sense the Sanhedrin were the most guilty of all, though that actually makes no difference. We are all guilty, and can all receive new life by repenting and believing.

Joshua 7:13-15 - Go, consecrate the people!

7:13

“Go and consecrate the people.” The people were to be dedicated to God, for God was going to lead them through a process to determine who the guilty person was. It was essential that the sin was rooted out. God’s people can only function as God’s people if there is no sin. That is why some parts of the Law seem to us to be unduly harsh (and another part of the reason is that we do not take sin seriously enough). Of course, the people could never live perfectly, they could not keep the Law. It is also why Jesus had to die on the cross for our sins, and why a vital part of the gospel is our being sanctified, and our being transformed at the resurrection.

7:14,15

God now gives Joshua instructions for how the guilty person was to be identified. First they were to present themselves tribe by tribe, then clan by clan, finally family by family, and then the man would be identified. The guilty person would be destroyed by fire. Extreme action was required, because sin is our mortal enemy. Now one might ask why go through all this rigmarole, for God knew who the person was without any of it? The process was not for God’s benefit, but so that the people would see who the person was, it would also put fear into the heart of the guilty person.

Acts 5:21-24 - Began to teach the people

5:21

The apostles obeyed what they had been told to do. The sanhedrin had no idea about what had happened. A couple of points to note. The first is that angels are part of God’s economy, there are many key points in the Bible, Old and New Testaments, when God uses angels to complete a task. We should not be surprised if God uses angels in our lives. Now we should not get silly about this, but angels are real. Secondly, those seemingly in power know far less than they think they do, and have far less power than they imagine they have. The Sanhedrin reckoned that they were now in charge of the situation with the apostles safely locked up. As with Jesus on the cross, they could not have been more wrong.

5:22-24

It now becomes apparent to them that things are not as they thought. On arriving at the jail the soldiers found it free of apostles! The guards were standing at the door oblivious to what had happened. Or, at least, the officers reported that the guards were at the doors as if everything was normal. The captain of the guard and the chief priests were at a loss. “Wondering what this might lead to”. The Sanhedrin had both Sadducees and Pharisees on it, but seems to have been dominated by Sadducees. Their main concern was to avoid upsetting the Romans, which is why they didn’t want the apostles preaching and causing an upset.

Joshua 7:8-12 - What are you doing down on your face?

7:8,9

As well as feeling sorry for himself, Joshua also expresses some concern for God’s name. Is this genuine concern? Who knows. When we are in a mess it can be very difficult to know which of our thoughts and emotions are genuine and which are not. We should remember that we are saved by grace, by Christ’s goodness, not any goodness of our own.

7:10-12

The Lord commands Joshua to stand up and stop being on his face. The matter was very simple, Israel had sinned against God in taking some of the devoted things. The devoted things were devoted to destruction, and by holding on to them, Israel made herself equally liable to destruction. This was the reason that Israel was now being defeated. All this was actually good news. For if Israel repented and put the matter right then the situation would change. As the church we should not be afraid to talk about sin. Our nation is in a complete mess, but if, as a nation (starting with the church) we repent and turn to God things will start to get sorted out.

Acts 5:17-20 - During the night an angel

5:17,18

Just as the goings on were similar, perhaps even greater, than when Jesus walked the earth, the reaction of the religious leaders was also similar. They were filled with jealousy.The people respected the apostles in a way that they never respected the Sanhedrin, and things were happening, the evidence was there before their very eyes. So with characteristic wisdom and vision they arrested the apostles and put them in jail.

5:19,20

As usual, the Sanhedrin and reckoned without God.For “during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out”. Interestingly, the apostles were not told to flee, but “to stand in the temple courts and tell the people about this new life”. The miracles happened because the gospel was happening, God’s purpose was to bring new life to many people. If the apostles had put the focus on themselves they would not have been walking with the Lord. We need to be Christ focused, not self-focused. Moreover, this is in the interests of the people, for the gospel brings new life. The church is incredibly foolish and cruel when it chooses to go along with the culture, for people are enslaved by sin, they are on a destructive road. Our job is to show them the way to get off that road.

Joshua 7:6,7 - Joshua fell facedown

7:6

Joshua was distraught and fell face down before the Lord for several hours. In fact, before the ark of the Lord, but the ark represented the presence of God. He was joined by the elders of Israel. When things go wrong our first reaction should be to seek the Lord, for the answer always ultimately lies with Him.

7:7

Joshua feels very sorry for himself and is angry with God. Much as the Israelites in the desert asked why Moses/God had brought them out of Egypt to let them die in the desert, so Joshua asks God why He brought them across the Jordan to let them die (deliver them into the hands of the Amorites). He thinks they should have been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan. So we see Joshua on the one hand being very devout, but on the other being all too human in his emotions. A key element is that Joshua took his complaints to God. We should also be aware that God can handle us when we are having a hissy-fit. We should also be aware that when things look bad or we have suffered some sort of defeat, our emotions and thoughts are extremely unreliable. Joshua’s assessment of the situation as given here is completely wrong.

Acts 5:13-16 - No one else dared join them

5:13,14

There was an interesting reaction from the people. The believers were highly regarded, presumably largely because of the number of miracles occurring. Yet they were also in fear, this was probably because they knew the believers were regarded with suspicion by the authorities. Whatever the exact reasons, the reputation of the church in those days was far healthier than it is today! Despite the fear, many people came to believe and joined the believers.

5:15,16

The situation was very similar to that of when Jesus was on earth. People flocked to the believers because they wanted to be healed or delivered. They wanted Peter’s shadow to fall on them. It doesn’t say here whether any were actually healed because of that, but people are desperate for healing. Whatever the case, people came from all around, “bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.” 

Joshua 7:3-5 - The hearts of the people melted in fear

7:3

The spies were confident of victory. They reckoned that only two or three thousand men were needed to take the city. They did not have the fear that the spies in Numbers had, but their perspective was based on a purely human view. Thus can happen to all of us, whether as individuals or as churches. After experiencing some success under God’s guidance and empowerment we start to think that we can manage on our own. For instance if a church has evangelistic success they start to think that the method used was the key to success, rather than the grace and anointing of God. Sometimes, there will even be a movement that arises, based on the method, rather than the presence of God. We all need to be careful.

7:4,5

So three thousand men went up, giving the other Israelites a rest. However, rather than the easy victory that was anticipated, the army was routed by the men of Ai. One of the messages of this and the previous chapter is that when we follow God’s plans, trusting in Him, we win, when we disobey Him and rely on our own strength and wisdom we lose. However, only thirty six Israleites were killed. But the army was defeated, and Israel was now filled with fear.

Acts 5:12 - The apostles performed many signs and wonders

5:12

We now get another glimpse into everyday life, which was far from normal! “The apostles performed many signs and wonders”. There are debates about whether or not we should expect to see large numbers of miracles these days. Most probably just don’t think it possible and so don[‘t think about the matter. As a very rough division, charismatic types would say we should, reformed types would say not (I know there are reformed charismatics!). The argument against is that miracles occur in batches in the Bible, and that they were there to attest to the apostles. On the “batch argument”, taking the Bible as a whole that is probably true, in the New Testament the argument is less strong. We need to draw a distinction between the number of miracles, and the reporting of miracles. As Acts goes on the attention turns to other things. Miracles occurred throughout Acts. The miracles did affirm the apostles, but that was not the only purpose. More generally on the “batch argument” it could reasonably be said that when God was on the move, miracles happened. Our society is increasingly godless and I can see no Biblical argument to say that God would not start doing many miracles in our day. The believers met together “in Solomon’s Colonnade”, the church was of a significant size now, so this was a place in the temple area where they could meet. 

Joshua 7:1,2 - The Israelites were unfaithful

7:1

Following the famous victory at Jericho, we come to the infamous defeat at Ai. The primary purpose of this narrative is set out in the first verse. “The Israelites were unfaithful”. Now, in fact only one man had been unfaithful, disobeying the order on not taking the devoted things. However, the “Lord’s anger burned against Israel”. So the whole nation was under judgement. Achan was the perpetrator, and his genealogy is listed in some detail. In the New Testament both Jesus and Paul make clear that human ancestry alone does not make a person a child of God, faith and obedience are what count. Here we have an example of that. Obedience matters.

7:2

We now come to see how the judgement, the Lord’s anger, works out. Joshua sent men to Ai to “spy out the region”. So it seems that Joshua is following a similar plan to that used in the case of Jericho. However, there is no record here of Joshua seeking the Lord. This is possibly an example of pride on his part, and a further example of pride will shortly follow. However, we must not forget that Achan’s sin is the crux of the matter. When sin enters in all sorts of things start to go wrong, and we start doing things in an ungodly way, or leaving God out of the equation. Ai may have been of possible strategic importance because of its geographical location.

Acts 5:7-11 - Great fear seized the whole church

5:7,8

His wife, Sapphira then came in, oblivious to what had happened. Peter asks her directly if the money they gave was the total sum, to which she answers yes. Note that husband and wife are held jointly responsible. They were a partnership. 

5:9-11

“How could you conspire?” Again there is emphasis on the joint responsibility. Male-female relationships were different in those days, but not quite in the way we sometimes imagine. Wives were not mere chattels. Indeed, one of the reasons the gospel was attractive to women in the Roman empire was that it gave value to women that society did not. Anywar, unfortunately in this case they were united in seeking to deceive. So Sapphira fell dead like her husband. The young men carried her out as well, and buried her alongside her husband. 

Great fear seized the church, and others who heard about the events. One cannot imagine a church today having the same effect. Now, of course, we don’t want to have people dying, but we should be churches that follow the Lord, not organisations that follow the world.

Joshua 6:22-27 - She lives among the Israelites to this day

6:22-25

The two spies were the ones who would know best where Rahab’s house was and how to get there, so they were sent to get her and her household. The entire family was brought out and put in a place outside the Israeli camp. The whole city was burned, except the precious metals that were brought into the Lord’s treasury. Rahab lived among the Israelites. “To this day” implies that this was written within the lifetime of Rahab, so not too many years after the events. What are the implications of all this for today? One is that the world and its inhabitants are heading towards destruction. The other is that anyone who repents and believes will be saved and will be part of God’s people.

6:26,27

After the taking of Jericho, Joshua pronounced a solemn oath over Jericho. It was to remain as a ruin. So it would serve as a reminder to all the people. If anyone did try to rebuild it, then they would suffer severe consequences. This curse was fulfilled in 1 Kings 16:34. The events demonstrated that the Lord was with Joshua, and his renown spread throughout the land.

Acts 5:3-6 - How is it that Satan has so filled your heart

5:3,4

Peter then confronts Ananias with the situation, namely that he has lied to the Holy Spirit. Note that the “crime” isn’t that Ananias kept half the money, but that he was claiming to have given all of it. Peter makes it clear that Ananias was under no compulsion to have sold the land in the first place, and having done so was perfectly at liberty to keep half, or even all, of the proceeds of the sale. So he lied to both the church and to God. If we tell lies to people, we are also lying to the Lord. 

5:5,6

Ananias then fell down and died.We are not told exactly how this happened, whether it was from shock, or whether God struck him dead. Taken together with 5:10, I tend to think that it was God who struck him down. Great fear seized the community. The fear of God is an essential part of a healthy church. God is to be taken seriously. The church often does not do this. Some young men then came and took the body away.

Joshua 6:16-21 - They devoted the city to the Lord

6:16-19

On the seventh circuit the trumpets were sounded and Joshua gave the command to shout. He also reminded them of what was to happen. Almost the whole city was to be devoted to the Lord, this often meant things being destroyed. He also reminded them that Rahab and her household were to be spared, and why they were to be spared. If the Israelites took any of the devoted things they would bring destruction upon themselves. Not everything was to be destroyed, the articles of silver, gold, bronze and iron were to go into the Lord’s treasury.

6:20,21

The trumpets sounded, the army shouted and the walls collapsed. Everyone then went straight in. There are, of course, theories that this was an earthquake. But it is likely that just the walls collapsed. Otherwise, it would not be easy for the army to just march in. One of the reasons (not the only one!) the Germans failed to win at Stalingrad, was that the bombing and bombardment made the city an ideal place for the Russian resistance. In accordance with the Lord’s instruction all the living things were killed with the sword.

Acts 5:1,2 - A man named Ananias

5:1

This is a well known story from Acts. The previous chapter (and remember there were no chapter divisions in the original text, these, along with verse numbers, were added hundreds of years later), described the example of Barnabas giving freely. Here we have a contrary example, an example of what can go wrong. Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of property. So far so good, no problems yet.

5:2

The husband and wife kept back part of the money, and brought the rest to the apostles’ feet. Note that the text makes clear that the husband and wife were equally involved in the matter. The later verses make it clear that Ananias was pretending that the money they were giving was the complete proceeds of the sale.

Joshua 6:12-15 - They marched around the city

6:12-14

The plan was put into action the following morning, with the priests taking up the ark of the covenant, and the trumpet playing priests going on ahead of the ark.There was an armed guard ahead of the ark, and the rest of the army behind the ark. The trumpets kept sounding. The operation was repeated for six days. As noted earlier, this is essentially a repeat of the instructions given to Joshua, the point of this is to stress that things were carried out according to the Lord’s instructions. This has two implications, one is  that Israel obeyed the Lord, and the other is that victory came because they followed the Lord’s instructions.

6:15

We now come to the seventh day. The same plan was carried out, except this time they marched around the city seven times. Now we know victory came because of a miraculous act of the Lord, but the slow build up, and then the rapid increase in intensity, would build up the tension and fear within the people of Jericho.

Acts 4:33-37 - With great power

4:33-35

“With great power ...” The apostles testified to the resurrection, and also did signs and wonders. “God’s grace was powerfully at work in them all”. The gospel is not just a set of ideas or theological statements, important as these are. It is life, and it brings us into fellowship with the Lord. So we should expect things to be different. This included them helping each other in material ways. At this time the apostles were in charge of distributing the money, though this would change later.

4:36,37

We are then given an example of what was done. A specific person is mentioned, so the truth of the matter could be tested. Later there will be an example of people doing things wrong. The specific person here was Barnabas, who would later be a great support to Paul. We also see that it was normal for people to have two quite different names.

Joshua 6:6-11 - Advance!

6:6,7

The instructions in 6:2-5 were given by the Lord direct to Joshua. A lot of the rest of the chapter is a matter of Joshua conveying these instructions to various groups. First, he speaks to the priests, telling them to take up the ark, and seven priests were to carry trumpets. The army was to advance, and a guard was to be positioned ahead of the ark of the Lord.

6:8-11

So the priests went forward, the seven trumpet blowing priests blowing their trumpets, and the ark was right behind them. The armed guard went ahead of the ark, and the rest of the army followed on behind the ark. All the time, the trumpets were sounding. Each day they followed this pattern, marching around the city one time.

Acts 4:29-32 - The were all filled with the Holy Spirit

4:29-31

Then they asked the Lord to consider the current threats, and their concern was not that God would stop these threats, but that He would enable His people to speak His word with great boldness. Then they asked God to stretch out His hand to “heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus”. After this the place was shaken, they were all filled with the Spirit, and they did speak the word of God boldly. May God do the same for us today.

4:32

Having described the dramatic events, the chapter closes with a description of day-to-day life in the church. We need to understand that while there are times of dramatic events, most of the time it is a matter of getting on with life, and this is equally important.  So they were of “one heart and mind”. Ps 133:1 says how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity. They also shared their possessions.

Joshua 6:1-5 - I have delivered Jericho into your hands

6:1

The fall of Jericho is probably the best known story from Joshua. We read in the previous chapter that news of how God had made a way through the Jordan had reached the people in Canaan and they were filled with fear and dread. So Jericho had battened down the hatches, hoping to survive any attack.

6:2-5

The battle would be no ordinary battle.It was led by the Lord. Indeed the battle was over before it began, for the Lord had “delivered Jericho into your hands”. Even so, the Israelites had to follow certain commands. First the army had to march around the city for six days. They were also to be accompanied by the priests and the ark of the covenant. The presence of the Lord was vital. On the seventh day they had to march around the city seven times with priests blowing their trumpets. After this they would give a long blast and then, and only then, were the soldiers to raise a loud shout. Then the walls of the city would collapse, and they could then march in.

Acts 4:23-28 - Why do the nations rage?

4:23-26

Peter and John were released and “went back to their own people”. They reported what had happened and the people prayed to the Lord. Note how they prayed, or rather first of all what they did not pray. They did not pray for the persecution to stop. They started by praising God because He is the creator of all things. They then quoted from Psalm 2. So their prayers were rooted not in the current situation, but in who God is and what He has said.  Psalm 2 speaks of the nations raging, but because God is God, their raging is in vain. It was foretold that kings and rulers would rise up against the Lord’s anointed one. Nothing unusual was happening.

4:27,28

They then talk about the current situation. They did not ignore the current situation, but their thoughts and prayers on the current situation were grounded in God and His word. They had seen Herod and Pilate, and the “people of Israel” rise up against Christ. They knew that it was only by God’s will and power that these people were able to do what they did.

Joshua 5:10-15 - Commander of the army of the Lord

5:10-12

The Israelites celebrated the Passover. It is the release from captivity that enabled the nation to enter the Promised Land, it was a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for them being able to enter the Land. The day after they ate produce from the land. In the wilderness they had received manna from heaven. Now they were in a land that could provide food, so the manna stopped from that point on. God will provide miraculously when necessary, but the normal course of events is that He provides a land that can produce food, and we are to work that land and take from it.

5:13-15

The conquest of Jericho is about to begin. Having been circumcised the people are now ready, but first Joshua’s understanding of the situation is enhanced. He sees a man standing with a drawn sword. This was probably an angel, and angels often appeared as men. Joshua knows that a battle is about to ensue, and he wants to know if this warrior is for Israel or their enemies. The answer is “neither”. He is the commander of the army of the Lord. Joshua asks what message the Lord has for him. It may seem that he doesn’t get an answer, for all the angel says is that Joshua must take off his sandals for he is on holy ground. This is reminiscent of Moses and the burning bush. Joshua needs to understand that it is God’s plan that is being fulfilled, not Israel’s plan. We too need to appreciate this. God does bless us, but the primary purpose is not to bless us, but the fulfilment of God’s plans, the bringing of glory to His name.

Acts 4:18-22 - Who should we listen to, you or God?

4:18-20

The plan of the religious leaders wasn’t the greatest of plans, and it fell down at the first hurdle. They called Peter and John back in and told them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. However, Peter and John were dedicated to Jesus and put the matter straightforwardly to the religious leaders. Should they obey God or men? Formally it was Peter and John who were “on trial”, in reality it was the sanhedrin that was on trial. The same applies today when authorities act in ungodly ways. “As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard”.  We need to experience Jesus, and to learn from Him.

4:21,22

The religious leaders failed to learn anything, so issued some more threats at Peter and John, then let them go. They wanted to punish Peter and John, but all the people were praising God because of what had happened, so they were constrained in what they could do. The healed man was over forty years old, only God could have healed him.

Joshua 5:4-9 - I have rolled array the reproach of Egypt

5:4-8

We now get an explanation of why the situation had come about. All the men of military age who had come out of Egypt had died in the desert (Joshua and Caleb were exceptions to this). The people born in the wilderness had not been circumcised. Emphasis is put on the judgement on the disobedient people, their refusal to trust the Lord was the reason that they died in the wilderness. Yet God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that He would give the Promised Land to a future generation, and that promise still stood. So God raised up a new generation, and this generation was circumcised. 5:8 adds a very practical note, they had to wait a while until they were all hailed from the operation. There is an interesting point here. God had made a promise, the Exodus generation failed to see the fulfilment of the promise because of their unfaithfulness. Yet the promise still stood. There are those who see Israel as having no further special part in God’s plans. I do not think such a view is consistent with the revelation in the Bible. There are numerous promises to the nation of Israel, and then there is Romans 9-11. 

5:9

The place where the mass circumcision occurred was called Gilgal, which means “roll”. The reproach of Egypt had been rolled away. There is some relationship between baptism and circumcision, but there are differences as well. Baptism is, amongst other things, a sign that our sins are forgiven, our reproach has been rolled away. We are no longer under judgement.

Acts 4:14-17 - What are we going to do with these men?

4:14,15

The religious leaders were faced with a massive problem, as they often had been with Jesus. The lame man had clearly been healed miraculously, there was no other possible explanation. Indeed, he was standing there with Peter and John. Not knowing what to do, they dismissed Peter and John so they could try and work out what to do about them. 

4:16,17

It wasn’t just that the religious leaders could see the healed man, the crowds had all seen it too. They could not deny the truth of the “notable sign”. Those in power never have quite as much power as they think they have, or as we might think they have. This doesn’t mean that they cannot do terrible things, history quite clearly shows that they can, but they are never as all powerful as they try to make out. As our societies become increasingly anti-Christian we do well to remember this. So they decided to warn Peter and John to “speak no longer to anyone in this name”, i.e. in the name of Jesus.

Joshua 5:1-3 - Circumcise the Israelites again

5:1

The crossing of the Jordan had been dramatic and miraculous, and word of how the Lord had dried up the Jordan got around. THis put fear into the hearts of the Canaanite kings. With the failed attempt to enter Canaan under Moses fear had been in the heart of the Israelites. This was because they did not trust the Lord. Now they were trusting the Lord and the outcome was very different, fear went into the heart of the enemy. 

5:2,3

We now come to a section that may seem totally irrelevant to us. The Israelites who had come out of Egypt had all been circumcised. These men had all, with one or two honourable exceptions, died, and the current generation of men were not, at this point, circumcised. So we now read of them being circumcised, so Israel was a circumcised nation again. In the early church circumcision was a big issue, see Acts 15, Romans, Galatians, Philippians. In the Old Testament it was so important, it was a sign that Israel was a covenant people.

Acts 4:12,13 - Salvation is found in no one else

4:12

“Salvation is found in no one else”. This is as true now as it was then. The only way the Jewish religious leaders could be saved was by repenting and believing in Christ. They could rage all they wanted against Peter and John, it would get them nowhere. The same applies today. There is no other name by which we are saved, only by the name of Jesus Christ. For it is God who determines how we can be saved, not us.

4:13

The religious leaders saw the courage or the boldness of Peter and John. Just as an aside, these early chapters often have “Peter and John”, yet all the speaking comes from Peter. Just an observation. They were “unschooled”. This does not mean they were illiterate or stupid, but that they had not had any rabbinical training.The religious leaders were amazed at how well these two men responded. Then they noted that they had been with Jesus, perhaps this had something to do with it!

Joshua 4:19-24 - What do these stones mean?

4:19-24

The date given is at the time of the Passover. The twelve memorial stones were set up at Gilgal. There would be difficult times ahead, as we all endure in life, and in those times we may wonder how and why we got here, should we be here? The stones would remind them that it was God who brought them here, and He would be with them if they trusted in Him. Joshua knew that future generations would need to know how and why they got there. Also their identity was in the Lord. They often forgot this and that is when things went wrong, when they went wrong. Likewise, it is crucial that we remember that our identity is in Christ, it is a God given identity. When we face various things in life they look very different when we remember who we are, that we belong to Christ.

Acts 4:9-11 - It is by the name of Jesus Christ

4:9,10

In direct contrast to his answer to the servant girl several weeks ago, Peter answers clearly and boldly that it was by the name of Jesus Christ that the man was healed. He also begins by pointing out that this was an act of kindness, the man was greatly blessed, why were the religious leaders so upset about the matter? Peter knew full well why they were upset, it was because of the name of Jesus. And he reminds them that they had crucified this man.

4:11

Peter then quotes from Psalm 118:22, a Psalm that Jesus had also quoted from (Matt 21:42). The religious leaders had rejected Jesus, but Jesus was the cornerstone of all God’s plans. The religious leaders thought they were in charge, that they determined events. They forgot that it was God who was in charge, and He is the One who determines events. This sin of pride and its distorting effect on life and actions is common to all mankind. All around us we see men and women who think they are in charge and can determine events. Such people are always eventually shown to be wrong.

Joshua 4:14-18 - The Lord exalted Joshua

4:14

“The Lord exalted Joshua”. One of the themes of the book is that God exalts Joshua. This means that He makes it clear to all the people that He is with Joshua, or rather that Joshua is acting on God’s behalf. Joshua is with God. Back in Gen 12:2,3 God promised to exalt Abraham. So the people stood in awe of Joshua in the same way that they had stood in awe of Moses.

4:15-18

The priests had gone into the Jordan at Joshua’s command. They do not come out of the Jordan until Joshua commands them to. We also see the common pattern of God speaking to Joshua, then Joshua speaks to the people, in this case to the priests. As soon as the priests, together with the ark of the covenant, come out of the Jordan, the waters are released. They could not go back the way that they had come.

Acts 4:5-8 - By what power did you do this?

4:5-7

So Peter and John were held in prison overnight, and then in the morning the various panjandrums got together to interrogate Peter and John. Annas was the high priest, and Caiaphas had previously been the high priest, and so was still influential. Their basic question was “by what power or what name did you do this?” It is interesting that at this point they refer to what they have done, rather than what they preached.

4:8

Several weeks earlier when questioned by a servant girl Peter denied Jesus, now questioned by those in authority he answers clearly and boldly. Peter was a changed man. Peter was “filled with the Holy Spirit”. It is the Holy Spirit who changes us, and without Him we can do nothing. Here Peter is addressing the leaders of the people.

Joshua 4:10-13 - Forty thousand men armed for battle

4:10,11

The priests had to stand in the middle of the Jordan until all the people had passed to the other side, and the memorial stones had been taken. They had to continue to trust in the Lord, namely that He would continue to hold back the waters. The people hurried across, possibly because they didn’t want to risk the waters suddenly being released?

4:11-13

The “men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh” are specifically mentioned, stressing that they were keeping their side of the agreement made with Moses. They were ready for battle. There were about forty thousand men ready for battle. Note the emphasis on battle and war. They had entered the Promised Land, but now had to possess it, and that involved a battle or two. When we are saved there are battles to be fought in our lives, and this continues until the day we die.

Acts 4:1-4 - They were greatly disturbed

4:1,2

The preaching of Peter and John upset the religious leaders. This was not because it was illegal in itself to preach in the  temple courts, but because of what they were preaching. The Sadducees in particular would be disturbed by the centrality of the resurrection in their preaching, as they did not believe in the resurrection, unlike the Pharisees. All of them would be concerned about their preaching that Jesus was raised from the dead. We need to realise that the gospel is inherently offensive to the world.

4:3,4

They seized Peter and John. Clearly Peter and John were recognized as leaders of the church. They put them in jail after arresting them, as it was evening it was not possible to hold a “trial” at that time. Notably, this did not seem to concern them when Jesus was arrested.  So we have here the reaction of the religious authorities (who also had a significant civil authority as well). However, that was not the only reaction. “Many who heard the message believed”. Unlike in John’s gospel, “believed” seems to be a stronger description in Acts. So at this point the number of men who believed was about five thousand. Now to our modern ears the limiting of the number to the number of men may offend us. However, we need to remember that Luke was writing for the first century, not the twenty first century. So stating that a significant number of men believed indicated that the gospel was truly having an effect. They would naturally assume that a similar number of women also believed. 

Joshua 4:4-9 - Go over before the ark of the Lord

4:4-7

As with Moses, the way things worked was that God would speak to Joshua, Joshua would then relay the instructions to the people. The stones were to be carried on the men’s shoulders, so they were indeed of a reasonable size. These stones were to serve as a sign both to them and to future generations. Future generations were to be reminded that the only reason that they could occupy the land was that God had miraculously led them into the land.

4:8,9

The Israelites obeyed Joshua. The words given to Joshua (4:3), and subsequently relayed by him to the people (4:5) are repeated yet again (4:8). The purpose is to stress that things were carried out in accordance with the Lord’s instructions. Joshua set the stones up and we are told that they are still there. A key part of the purpose of this is that these events really happened.

Acts 3:24-26 - All peoples on earth will be blessed

3:24,25a

Peter then goes on to say that all the prophets from Samuel onwards foretold the coming of Christ and all that He would do. As Jews the people of Israel were heirs of the prophets and the covenant that God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Jews thought that believing in Jesus was rejecting their Jewish heritage and all that had gone before. Quite the opposite was true, Jesus was the fulfilment of all that had gone before. 

3:25b,26

Peter then quotes “Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed”, Gen 12:3; 22:18; 26:4. Peter probably didn’t realise the full extent of this promise at this stage, though later he would. It was always God’s plan to bless the whole world. God sent Jesus to the Jews first to bless them.  How would they be blessed? By turning from their wicked ways. Repentance must be part of our message, and repentance is a blessing, for it means turning from a way of death to a way of life.