Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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 3: The
obvious question is, how did Peter know that Ananias had lied? Either Ananias
had just finished saying something to the effect of, “This is the entire amount
we received,” or (according to Benson’s Commentary),
the Holy Spirit prompted Peter to assume the deceptive intent of Ananias.
Verse 5: Why did
Ananias die, not receiving even a second chance? Ananias willfully lied to the
Holy Spirit, as Peter said, therefore his sin was against the Holy Spirit
directly, requiring a just and immediate consequence. In the Old Testament,
there are many examples of this immediate punishment for premeditated sin
against the Holy Spirit. Here are a couple examples:
2
Samuel 6:6-7 Uzzah was a priest. All priests knew that the altar of God was
not to be touched NOR transported in a cart (it was supposed to be transported
with poles, being handled by at least 4 priests who would carefully carry it).
The ark was always in the most precious area of the temple. God would speak to
the priests in this area where the ark was placed, therefore it was to be
treated with the utmost respect. Uzzah would have been told this repeatedly in
his training as a priest, therefore his action was in willful disobedience to
God himself.
Continuing Power in
the Church
Verse 12: #1
“Solomon’s Porch” or “colonnade” was “an enclosed [perhaps 3 walled?] room
which was right next to the open-air area of the temple in which the Gentiles
(non-Jews) and Jews could meet. Someone could easily project his/her voice so
that the Gentiles could hear the scriptures being read or hear the speaker’s
message.”
Verses 13-14: #2 These
verses seem to be an embarrassing contradiction, but as the Acts Commentary
explains, “It is probable that unbelievers no longer felt free to approach them
in that particular location after the events of chapter three. Perhaps this is
one reason this location is not mentioned as a place of public ministry from
this point on… More and more people kept aligning themselves with the Christian
community: they simply were not making the decision to do it during the public
meetings the church was holding in the temple precincts.”
Verse 15: Yes, evidentially
people actually were healed even if Peter’s shadow fell on them (otherwise why
would anyone wait for his shadow?)! It is important to note that the people
were healed by God himself, not Peter. Peter allowed himself to be so open to
the Holy Spirit that the healing power of God flowed through him and healed
others in this way.
Imprisoned Apostles
Freed
Verse 20: #3:
“Life” is referring to the life and resurrection of Jesus, not life in general.
Apostles on Trial Again
Verse 28: “this
Man’s blood on our heads” refers to Jesus. The apostles openly stated that the
high priests put Jesus to death, which is true. The high priests both accused
and called for the execution of Jesus.
Sources:
W.E. Nunnally. A Commentary on the Book of Acts, 2008, Evangel
University, 2008, Springfield, Missouri, 2017.
#1: pg. 146, 5th paragraph
#2: pg. 147, 1st paragraph
#3: pg. 150, 3rd paragraph
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