Next let's quickly look at some of the reasons that Acts 1-7 is so important
to understand, and then get into Acts 8 and 9 and see when our
time period started.
Acts 1-7 : Answers to review questions:
1. Is the primary purpose of the book of Acts to give doctrine to
live by, to us in the body of Christ, OR is it to record what happened to
the nation Israel? (Hint: Look in a concordance to see how many times the
terms “body of Christ” and “Israel” are found in Acts.)
The primary purpose of the book of Acts is to record
what happened to the nation Israel. Acts is not a book of doctrine
for anyone. It is a transition book showing the change from Israel’s program
to our current Gentile time period.
The term “body of Christ” is not found at all in the book of Acts, but the
word “Israel” is found 21 times and the word “Jews” is found 71 times. (Strongs
Concordance)
2. What did Jesus do for 40 days after He rose from the dead?
After His resurrection Jesus taught His disciples
about the kingdom (Acts 1:3) and opened their understanding of the Old
Testament scriptures. (Luke 24:45)
3. What is the baptism with the Holy Ghost that was promised in the
Old Testament? To whom was it promised?
The baptism with the Holy Ghost is when God empowers and controls
believers by putting His thinking, His Spirit, into them. When God does
their thinking, they will automatically do His will. He will “write the law
in their hearts” so they can and will keep it, (Jer 31:31-34;
Ez 36:26,27) and then reap all the physical blessings for doing so. (Lev
26:3-13; Deut 28:1-14) When God “fills” them with the Holy Ghost, (His
thinking) there is no room left for human thoughts and sins. (Acts 2:4: I
John 3:9; Mat 7:18) This baptism with the Holy Ghost was promised to
Israel, (Jer 31:33; Is 59:20,21) including those who were scattered in
all the nations afar off. (Acts 2:38-40 with Dan 9:7) This is NOT the “one
baptism” referred to in Eph 4:5 for us today.
What was water baptism for?
Water baptism was a Jewish cleansing ceremony, identifying priests,
so they would not die when they entered the presence of God. (Ex 30:17-21)
The whole nation of Israel will be God’s priests in the kingdom of heaven on
earth (Ex 19:5,6; Is 61:6) and God the Son was expected in Acts to return to
earth in glory to set that kingdom up. (Acts 1:6; 3:19-21) No unbelieving,
unbaptized Jew will survive that. (Is 4:2-4; 13:9; Nahum 1:5,6) This is not
our baptism in Eph 4:5 either.
4. Did the disciples expect to go to heaven to be with Jesus, OR did
they expect Jesus to come back to the earth? What kind of
kingdom did they expect, and where will it be?
Jesus will come back to earth. (Acts 1:11; Zech
14:1-4; John 14:3) There is no promise anywhere in the Old Testament
or in Matthew to Acts of anyone going to heaven. (Acts 2:34;
John 3:13) A physical, political kingdom is prophesied to be established on
earth with Christ reigning here. In it there will be no injustice or
killing, even among the animals. (Is 9:6,7; 11:1-9) Israel will lead the
world in keeping God’s law. (Is 2:1-4) The land will be healed and so will
the people. (Is 35:4-7)
5. Was Paul supposed to take Judas’ place instead of Matthias?
NO Why or why not?
Paul did not meet the qualifications in Acts 1:21,22
to be one of the 12. In Acts 1:26, Matthias was numbered as one of the 12,
and in I Cor 15:5, Paul says there were 12 apostles after the resurrection,
not counting himself. And, Paul’s message and audience were totally
different than that of the 12.
6. Were Jewish men from all over the world required to go to Jerusalem for
the feast day of Pentecost? YES Pentecost is 50 days
after Passover, and corresponds to the feast of harvest, also called the
feast of weeks. (Ex 23:14-17; Deut 16:16)
If so, were the people in Jerusalem on that day Jews or Gentiles?
JEWS, as stated in Acts 2:5.
7. If Peter said they were in the last days in Acts 2:16,17, why has
the end of the world not come by now?
God interrupted prophecy to form the body of
Christ, which was not prophesied. It was a mystery until revealed through
Paul. (Eph 3:1-6; Col 1:25-27) After this time period ends, the last days
will take up where they left off in Acts. (Rom 11:25-27)
8. Did Peter tell people in Acts to be saved by trusting that Christ
died for their sins? NO Verses please.
(There are none.) If not, what did he
preach?
Peter told Israel that they had murdered their Messiah
and that they needed to repent, (change their minds about Him) and get water
baptized in order to escape the wrath to come. (Acts 2:22,23,36-40; 3:12-23)
This was the same message that John the Baptist started in Mat
3:1,2,7,10-12. Christ’s sin payment was not explained until Paul’s gospel
was revealed.
9. Was God willing to forgive Israel for killing Christ?
YES, (Luke 23:34) God continued to deal with Israel
exclusively, and offered them forgiveness through Acts chapter 7. (Acts
2:14,22,36; 3:12,25,26; 4:8-12)
Was He willing to forgive Israel for speaking against (blaspheming) the Holy
Ghost?
NO See Mat 12:31,32; Mark 3:28,29.
When did the Holy Ghost come?
The Holy Ghost came in Acts 2:1-4, on the day of
Pentecost, 50 days after Christ was crucified.
10. Why could believers in Acts be of one mind and one accord, and we can’t
today?
They were filled with the Holy Ghost. We have
the same Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God, but He does not supernaturally fill
us and take control of us, in this dispensation. We still choose to
think His way or our own way. (Gal 5:16)
11. Did Peter offer Israel a prophesied earthly kingdom in Acts 2 and 3, OR
did he start a new Gentile church?
Peter offered Israel the prophesied kingdom of heaven
on earth. He never even spoke to a Gentile until Acts 10. (Acts
10:28) Peter said that what was happening in chapters 2&3 was a direct
fulfillment of prophecy. (Acts 2:16; Joel 2:28-32; Acts 3:22-24)
People were being “added” to a church that already existed. (See Acts 2:41)
So nothing new and unprophesied was started in Acts 2&3.
12. What was to come next in prophesy?
Next in prophecy comes the tribulation with wrath and
judgment, then the kingdom of heaven on earth. (Mat 3:7,10-12; 24:3-31; Amos
9:9-13; Is 13:6-13)
Why did it not happen?
Prophecy was interrupted, and these events have been
postponed. (II Peter 3:3,4,15,16; Rom 9:22-28; 11:25,27)
13. In what time period is physical healing promised?
In the kingdom of heaven on earth. (Is 35:4-7)
14. To whom were signs and wonders promised?
To Israel. (Ex 34:10; I Cor 1:22)
15. Should we give all our possessions to the church like the believers in
Acts did? (Is Acts a pattern for the church of today?)
NO The believers in Acts 1-7 will receive 100 times
more than anything they lost when the kingdom is set up on earth.. (Mat
19:29) And God promised to look after them during the tribulation, (Mat
6:25-33; Rev 12:6,14) so they didn‘t need possessions. In contrast, we are
not promised physical things on earth. Our future is in heaven, (Eph 1:3;
2:6) and we will never go through the tribulation. (I Thes 1:10)
16. Were any healings in Acts done gradually or in part?
NO Were any unsuccessful?
NO The so-called “healings” that people claim
today do not match the healings that God did in scripture. Healing was a
sign which pointed to the kingdom of heaven on earth in which no one will be
sick. In this time period, that earthly kingdom is not at hand, so
God is not healing. Instead, He asks us to patiently wait for the
resurrection (redemption of the body) when we get new immortal bodies. (Rom
8:23-25)
17. Do you think that Ananias and Sapphira were saved people?
NO The purpose of the tribulation is to weed out the
unbelievers from Israel. (Zech 13:8,9; Mat 3:10-12;13:24-30) Saved people in
that short time period were thinking with the Spirit (mind) of God and would
not have made this mistake. (Acts 4:31,32; Ez 36:27; Mat 7:18; I John 3:9)
As Malachi 3:5 shows, justice will be swift in the kingdom they were
expecting to enter.
18. To whom did Stephen speak in Acts 7?
Stephen spoke to the council of Jewish leaders in Acts
7. (Acts 6:9-15)
Did he tell them that Christ died for their sins? OR did he condemn them for
killing Christ and resisting the Holy Ghost?
He condemned them for killing Christ and resisting the
Holy Ghost. (Acts 7:51-53) There is no mention of Christ dying for their
sins. That is explained later in Paul’s gospel.
19. Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God in heaven. In
prophecy, what does Christ do when He stands up?
When He stands, Jesus will shake the earth, judge the
people (Is 2:19,21; 3:13) and make His enemies His footstool (Ps 110:1; Acts
2:34,35; Rev 19:11)
20. What was Israel’s response to what God the Holy Ghost said to them
through Stephen?
They stoned Stephen, (Acts 7:54-59) sending a message
to God that they would not have Christ reign over them, just like in the
parable of Luke 19:14,27. Then they declared war on God by attacking His
people in Acts 8:1.
This is a major turning point in the book of Acts. God does not offer the
kingdom again to them in Acts. And He doesn’t send out His wrath on them as
prophesied. Instead He sets the nation Israel aside and sends out a new
message through Paul for Jew and Gentile alike. That’s coming up!