NLT Illustrated Study Bible - Book of Acts - Flipbook - Page 36
A cts 1 1 : 4
1992
entered the home of Gentiles* and even ate
with them!” they said.
4 Then Peter told them exactly what had
happened. 5 “I was in the town of Joppa,” he
said, “and while I was praying, I went into
a trance and saw a vision. Something like a
large sheet was let down by its four corners
from the sky. And it came right down to me.
6 When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all
sorts of tame and wild animals, reptiles, and
birds. 7 And I heard a voice say, ‘Get up, Peter;
kill and eat them.’
8 “‘No, Lord,’ I replied. ‘I have never eaten
anything that our Jewish laws have declared
impure or unclean.*’
9 “But the voice from heaven spoke again:
‘Do not call something unclean if God has
made it clean.’ 10 This happened three times
before the sheet and all it contained was
pulled back up to heaven.
11 “Just then three men who had been sent
from Caesarea arrived at the house where
we were staying. 12 The Holy Spirit told
me to go with them and not to worry that
they were Gentiles. These six brothers here
accompanied me, and we soon entered the
home of the man who had sent for us. 13 He
told us how an angel had appeared to him in
his home and had told him, ‘Send messen
gers to Joppa, and summon a man named
Simon Peter. 14 He will tell you how you and
everyone in your household can be saved!’
15 “As I began to speak,” Peter continued,
“the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on
us at the beginning. 16 Then I thought of the
Lord’s words when he said, ‘John n baptized
with* water, but you will be n baptized with
the Holy Spirit.’ 17 And since God gave these
Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we
believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I
to stand in God’s way?”
18 When the others heard this, they
stopped objecting and began praising God.
They said, “We can see that God has also
given the Gentiles the privilege of o repenting
of their sins and receiving eternal life.”
The Church in Antioch of Syria (11:1930)
The Ministry of the Greek-Speaking Believers
19 Meanwhile, the believers who had been
scattered during the persecution after Ste
11:514
//Acts 10:932
11:12
Acts 10:23, 45
11:13
Acts 10:3032
11:14
Acts 10:22, 44; 16:31
11:15
Acts 2:4
11:16
Acts 1:5
n baptizo- (0907)
Acts
16:15
11:17
Acts 10:47
11:18
Acts 13:48
o metanoia (3341)
Acts
20:21
11:19
Acts 8:14; 13:1;
14:2527; 15:3
11:3 Greek of uncircumcised men. 11:8 Greek anything common or unclean. 11:16 Or in; also in 11:16b.
PROFILE
HEROD AGRIPPA I Completely Un-Godlike King
Acts 12:14, 1823
Herod Agrippa I was Herod the Great’s grandson, Herod Antipas’s nephew, and Herodias’s
brother (see “The Herod Family,” Matt 2:120). Agrippa I ruled the whole of Palestine for a
short time following the death of Jesus, during the very early days of the Christian movement
(ad 41–44).
While at school in Rome, Agrippa lived a wanton life, incurring many debts. At one point
he stated that he wished his friend Gaius Caligula were emperor rather than Tiberius. This
was reported to Tiberius, who imprisoned him. He remained in prison until Tiberius’s death
six months later.
Upon Caligula’s accession to the throne, he rewarded Agrippa by releasing him and g iving
him Philip the Tetrarch’s territories and the northern part of Lysanias’s territory as well as
the title of king. The title of king aroused the jealousy of Herodias, and Herod Antipas (her
husband) was both critical and jealous of Agrippa. Agrippa responded by accusing Antipas of
11:417 Peter reviewed the sequence
of events, explaining that the whole
development was the result of God’s
initiative (11:12). Peter had eaten with
Gentiles because God had made it clear
that he should (11:412). Peter had then
observed the Holy Spirit’s definite action
of coming upon Gentiles, and he real
ized that they were being accepted and
blessed by God just as Jewish believers
had been (11:1517; see 1:5). Peter was
submitting to God’s will in admitting
Gentiles to the church.
11:18 Peter’s logical, straightforward
explanation convinced those who had
objected—they recognized God’s hand
at work in the conversion of the Gentiles
T H E P E N TAT E U C H
and their receiving eternal life. However,
issues relating to the inclusion of Gen
tiles would soon provoke a major crisis
(15:135; Paul’s letter to the Galatians).
11:1926 The persecution that followed
Stephen’s death forced believers into
other areas (8:13), and they traveled as
far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch.
• Antioch of Syria was a thriving cos
mopolitan city, the third-largest in the
Roman empire after Rome and Alexan
dria. Antioch was of central importance
in the spread of the Christian message
to the Gentile world.
11:20 This outreach effort on the part
of Jewish believers . . . from Cyprus and
ISRAEL’S HISTORY
Cyrene was the first systematic attempt to
preach to Gentiles about the Lord Jesus.
11:2124 Once again, as had happened
in the household of Cornelius, Gentiles
turned to the Lord in considerable num
bers. The explosion of Christian faith
into the Gentile world had to remain in
harmony with the church at Jerusalem,
so the Jerusalem church sent Barnabas
to Antioch to oversee developments
there. He could see that God’s blessing was on what was happening, so he
endorsed it with joy.
11:2526 Barnabas recognized the
special gifts that Saul possessed for
preaching and teaching. His assessment
POETRY & WISDOM
