Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Note 1: This Bible study is being created specifically for a friend of mine. It is not meant as an exhaustive study of the book of Acts. Please do your own research, using the commentary links as a starting point, for a better understanding of the book of Acts and other books of the Bible. Thank you for your dedication to studying the word of God!

Note 2: All Bible verse citations are from NKJV (New King James Version) unless otherwise stated.

Note 3: # This symbol will be used for any information from Dr.  Nunnally’s “A Commentary on the Book of Acts” (Source info below). This Bible study is heavily based on Dr. Nunnally’s work. I have not yet discovered if he has published his book, but I will post a link for his work if I find out that he has published it. Feel free to comment on this blog if you discover his published book (if it’s published) before I do!

- All notes that have this or no symbol in front of them are my interpretations of scripture.

*NIV Zondervan study Bible

+ other source (cited below if used)

Verse 4: “the message” refers to the Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, how he rose to life again, and that if we ask Jesus to forgive us for our sins and follow him, we too will enter heaven into eternal life with him.

Verse 11: The prophecy of “the stone you builders rejected” can be found in Psalm 118:12

Verse 15: The “Sanhedrin”:

                + “Or BETHDIN, house of judgment, was a council of seventy senators among the Jews,                     usually with the addition of the high priest as president, who determined the most important                 affairs of the nation.”

                - “conferred” means they spoke together about it

The Believers Pray

Verse 23: “back to their own people” means back to the other followers of Jesus

Verse 26: The prophecy ‘“Why do the nations rage”’ can be found in Psalm 2:1-2

Verse 27: Pontius Pilate and the people chose to crucify (kill) Jesus rather than accept him as Savior and Lord.

- Luke 23:20-24

Verse 31: “the place where they were meeting was shaken” Yes, this is literal and refers to an earthquake, probably a tremor (obviously a large earthquake would be dangerous, therefore I think it is logical to assume it was a tremor)

- Barnes' Notes on the Bible supports this idea as well.

The Believers Share their Possessions

“one in heart and mind” means they were unified in their purpose

Sources:

W.E. Nunnally. A Commentary on the Book of Acts, 2008, Evangel University, 2008, Springfield, Missouri, 2017.

Verse 15: http://biblehub.com/topical/s/sanhedrin.htm (ATS Bible Dictionary)