Acts 12

Opening point: The Book of Acts is inspired and historical, but not always doctrinal or prescriptive.  Everything that happens is not necessarily something that would happen in the church today. Example: tongues. When the gospel came to a new group of people, they were given the gift of tongues as confirmation. Not necessarily true today. Example: miraculous rescue. Peter is miraculously rescued twice, but he eventually is martyred, as were all but one (john) of the 12 apostles.

 

Context of this lesson:

1.     There were two James:

a.      James the brother of John, who is martyred early in the history of the church, and

b.     James the half-brother of Jesus, who led the Jerusalem church and wrote the book of James, one of the earliest books of the New Testament. Some scholars think that James is, like the Book of Acts, a historical record of what was going on at that time and focuses on the transition from Judaism-based Christianity to Christianity for everyone.

2.     By Acts 11

a.      The gospel is fully spread to the Gentiles, with the center being Antioch (Syria).

b.     11:27: There is a famine in Jerusalem; the Gentiles are helping, and as the gospel spreads the church in Jerusalem is less “in control.”

c.      Going back further: Paul’s conversion in three years of study in Arabia (9:20-30).

d.     Going back further: Peter and John imprisoned and put in jail by Jewish leaders, 5:17-32, 40-42. 

e.      In Acts 11 the King Herod and the Roman authorities put him in prison.

f.       Note: Too many Herods: (actually 4 more)

                                               i.     Herod the Great, expanded the Second Temple in Jerusalem and in the New Testament orders the Massacre of the Innocents

                                              ii.     Herod Antipas, ordered death of John the Baptist

                                            iii.     Herod Agrippa I, this passage

                                            iv.     Herod Agrippa II, (King Agrippa), Paul appeared before him.

3.     The narrative in Acts 11. Read. Detailed and straightforward.

4.     This lesson is about Peter, historically and spiritually.

a.      Notice that even through the next day he is going on trial and possibly executed, he is sleeping pretty soundly. This is an entirely different man.

                                               i.     He had made his peace. He has seen the power of God, he has lost his friend James,

                                              ii.     After 12:17, the narrative switches from Peter. He doesn’t disappear but it is not about his evangelism efforts, and the next time we see him he is involved in a controversy (Acts 15).

                                            iii.     That does not mean God finished with him (nonsense). Only a difference in what Luke is directed to emphasize, which is the gospel spreading.

b.     Peter had every reason to fear, but he is not.

                                               i.     Pastor Curtis said last week the most common command in the Bible is “Fear Not.” Do not be afraid. How many times?

                                              ii.     Fear, or anxiety (long-term, low-grade fear) is rampant. What do we fear, humanly speaking.

                                            iii.     Fear, by its nature, is based on wrong thinking and causes wrong thinking and perceptions. We make the feared things different from what they are.

                                            iv.     Think of a scale of real harm/risk v. perceived.

                                              v.     The Hebrew word for fear is yare, and the Greek word is phobos. I would like to say that “fear of God” verses use a different words than “Do not fear,” but they use the same word. They are translated fear, frightened, awe, reverence, terrified, dismayed.

                                            vi.     The difference is the object of the fear. God deserves awe and reverence, but nothing else does. We might think of fear, which is understandable, as a type of idolatry; putting something else in the place of God, as having too much awe and fear of life circumstances when only God deserves that place.  

 

CONCLUSION:  I really think we need to regularly work through these questions:

What or who are we afraid of?

Why?

How is fear putting your in prison?

What would you do if you were not afraid?

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Fear

Fear [N]

Of some ten Hebrew nouns and eight verbs that are regularly translated "fear, " "to fear, " "to be afraid, " and the like, only one of each is commonly used in the Old Testament and they both spring from the root yr (the noun being yira [h'a.rIy] or mora [a'r/m] and the verb yare [aer"y]). The New Testament employs phobos and phobeo almost exclusively as noun and verb, respectively, and these are the terms consistently used by the Septuagint to translate Hebrew yira [h'a.rIy] or mora [a'r/m] and yare [aer"y].

The fundamental and original idea expressed by these terms covers a semantic range from mild easiness to stark terror, depending on the object of the fear and the circumstances surrounding the experience. There is no separate Hebrew of Greek lexeme describing fear of God so presumably such fear was from earliest times, the same kind of reaction as could be elicited from any encounter with a surprising, unusual, or threatening entity. In time, however, fear of God or of manifestations of the divine became a subcategory of fear in general and thus developed a theological signification pervasively attested throughout the Bible. While the normal meaning of fear as dread or terror is retained in the theological use of the terms, a special nuance of reverential awe or worshipful respect becomes the dominant notion.

Fear of God or of his manifestations appears in the Bible either in the abstract, in which just the idea of God alone generates this response, or in particular situations such as theophany or miracle, the occurrence or performance of which produces fear. Examples of the latter are Israel's fear of the Lord following the exodus deliverance ( Exod 14:31 ) and the fear of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, when he saw the angel of the Lord ( Luke 1:12 ). More common by far are the reactions of fear by God's people as they contemplate who he is and what he has done.

Fear as a response to God and his deeds is so important an aspect of biblical faith and life that Fear actually occurs as an epithet of God himself. Jacob describes the Lord as the "Fear of Isaac" his father ( Gen 31:42 ; cf. v. 53 ), suggesting that Isaac had such reverential submission to the Lord that the Lord, to him, was the embodiment of fear. Usually, however, the fear of the Lord is an inducement to obedience and service: to fear God is to do his will. This equation appears most prominently in covenant contexts, especially in Deuteronomy, where the appeal is to serve the Lord as evidence of proper recognition of his sovereignty. The Lord as King demands and deserves the awesome respect of his people, a respect that issues in obedient service.

Fear of God also lies at the heart of successful living in the world. Wisdom literature makes it clear that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a fear equated with the "knowledge of the Holy One" ( Prov 9:10 ; 1:7 ; Psalm 111:10 ). To fear God is to know him and to know him is to fear him. Such healthy fear enables one to praise God ( Psalm 22:23 ; Rev 14:7 ); to enjoy benefits and blessings at his hand ( Psalm 34:9 ; Psalms 103:11 Psalms 103:13 Psalms 103:17 ); to rest in peace and security ( Psalm 112:7-8 ); and to experience length of days ( Prov 10:27 ; 19:23 ). But fear of God also produces fear of wrath and judgment in those who do not know him or who refuse to serve him. There are, thus, two sides of the fear of the Lord — that which produces awe, reverence, and obedience, and that which causes one to cower in dread and terror in anticipation of his displeasure.

Eugene H. Merrill