NLT Illustrated Study Bible - Book of Acts - Flipbook - Page 17
A cts 4 : 3 0
1973
4:20
1 Jn 1:1, 3
4:24
*Exod 20:11
*Ps 146:6
4:2526
*Ps 2:12
4:27
Isa 61:1
Acts 3:13
4:28
Acts 2:23
s proorizo- (4309)
Rom
8:29
4:29
Eph 6:19
4:30
Acts 5:12
him? 20 We cannot stop telling about every
‘Why were the nations so angry?
thing we have seen and heard.”
Why did they waste their time with
21 The council then threatened them fur
futile plans?
ther, but they finally let them go because 26 The kings of the earth prepared for battle;
they didn’t know how to punish them with
the rulers gathered together
out starting a riot. For everyone was praising
against the Lord
God 22 for this miraculous sign—the healing
and against his Messiah.’*
of a man who had been lame for more than
27 “In fact, this has happened here in this
forty years.
very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate
The Believers Pray for Courage
the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of
23 As soon as they were freed, Peter and John
Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy
returned to the other believers and told them servant, whom you anointed. 28 But every
what the leading priests and elders had said. thing they did was s determined beforehand
24 When they heard the report, all the believ
according to your will. 29 And now, O Lord,
ers lifted their voices together in prayer to hear their threats, and give us, your servants,
God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and great boldness in preaching your word.
earth, the sea, and everything in them—25 you 30 Stretch out your hand with healing power;
spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our may miraculous signs and wonders be done
ancestor David, your servant, saying,
through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
4 :2526 Or his anointed one; or his Christ. Ps 2:12.
Persecution
Acts 4:1331
1 Kgs 18:215;
19:118
Neh 4:13
Jer 37:1–38:28
Matt 10:1639;
13:2021; 23:3438;
24:914
Mark 10:2931;
13:913
Luke 11:4751;
12:1112; 21:1219
John 16:14
Acts 5:1742; 6:8–
8:4; 9:131; 12:119;
14:17; 22:329;
23:1231; 26:911
Gal 1:13
1 Thes 2:1416
2 Tim 3:1114
1 Pet 3:1318
Persecution is a common experience of God’s people. God’s servants have often faced hostil
ity and opposition (e.g., Deut 30:7; 1 Kgs 18:13; Neh 4:13; Jer 37–38; Matt 23:3437; Luke
11:4951; 1 Thes 2:1415). Jesus also dealt with persecution (Luke 4:29; John 5:16). At the end
of his earthly life, he endured mocking, beating, and a horrible death by crucifixion, and he
told his disciples to expect the same kind of treatment (Matt 10:23; 24:9; Mark 13:9; Luke
21:12; John 16:2). He prepared his followers for such occasions, telling them that the Holy
Spirit would give them the needed courage (Acts 1:8; Luke 12:1112; 21:15).
The book of Acts documents the persecution of the earliest Christians, beginning with the
hostility of the Jewish high council and the attacks of Saul of Tarsus on the early church prior
to his encounter with Jesus near Damascus (Acts 8:3; 9:113, 21; 22:4; 26:911; see 1 Cor 15:9;
Gal 1:13; Phil 3:6). Peter, John, Stephen, James, Paul, and Barnabas all suffered persecution
(Acts 4:1718; 5:1718; 7:5760; 12:14; 14:56). Jesus, in his parable of the farmer and the
seed, noted the withering effects of persecution on those with shallow faith (Matt 13:2122;
Mark 4:57). Persecution purifies God’s people and gives them the opportunity to conform
more closely to the character of Jesus. The apostles’ experiences in Acts bear out Paul’s gen
eral statement: “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecu
tion” (2 Tim 3:12; see Mark 10:30).
Jesus told his disciples to expect to defend their faith in hostile settings (Matt 10:1820;
Luke 21:1215), and the apostles and other leaders did so with courage and boldness (e.g.,
Acts 4:812, 31; 5:2932; 6:810; 8:440; 9:27). Christians are called to defend their faith cou
rageously and graciously, explaining their convictions to those who ask questions (Col 4:6;
2 Tim 2:24, 25; 1 Pet 3:15).
his disciples would encounter hostility
and persecution (Luke 21:1219).
4:2331 The believers heard the report
that their leaders had been threatened
and commanded never again to speak
about Jesus (4:18). The Christian move
ment was clearly under attack from the
religious authorities, so they united in
prayer. They turned to God, placing their
troubles before him and asking him to
make them bold in speaking the mes
sage and to divinely confirm its truth
PROPHETS OF ISRAEL
with signs and wonders. God dramati
cally answered their request.
4:2526 This passage quotes Ps 2:12,
which describes the response of the
Gentile nations to the Lord’s anointed
king. In a similar manner, the Jews and
Gentiles in Jerusalem had gathered
together against Jesus and now against
his followers.
4:26 The Hebrew term Messiah
(“anointed one”) originally referred to
Israel’s anointed king; it came to refer to
GOSPELS & ACTS
the Messiah, the coming King of Israel
who would establish God’s Kingdom
forever (2 Sam 7:1416; Ps 89:3637; Isa
9:67; 11:19; 61:1; Jer 23:56; 33:1416;
Luke 1:3233).
4:28 God’s hand had been directing
events all along in order to achieve his
purpose. A similar awareness of God’s
hand guiding the affairs of his people is
found in the OT (cp. Ezra 7:6, 9, 28; 8:18,
31; Neh 2:8, 18; Eccl 9:1; Ezek 8:1; Rom
8:28; 1 Pet 5:6).
L E T T E R S O F PAU L
OTHER LET TERS
