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Thought for the Week

Trouble from Within IV

We have no idea how long this Council lasted. I think we should not assume it lasted only a few minutes. Even a good Bible study can often last for a long time. This was serious business. The Council wanted to "get it right." Their ruling would affect lots of people for a long time.

The letter written may not seem long. It wasn't. Sometimes, when we get a letter, we go to the bottom to see who sent it. We read a letter in a different way, depending on the author. This one is sent by apostles, elders and brethren. "Apostles" is the designation for the Twelve Jesus chose, called and commissioned to continue His ministry. We know Judas and James, John's brother, were dead. Judas had been replaced by Matthias, but there is no named replacement for James. However, the designation Apostle is sometimes used for others who met the criteria set forth in the choice of Matthias. (See Acts 1:20-22).

The second term is "Elders." These would be men who were in leadership capacities. They likely presided at assemblies for worship and were sometimes known as bishops and overseers. We know the Church in Jerusalem by this time was large. It had been thousands, of which many were scattered by persecution, but still it was too large to have everyone come together in one mass. Likely there were many small bodies, led by a bishop or overseer.

The term "brethren" is applied to those who were united to one another in the bond of affection because they belonged to Christ and were known as "Believers." All these would have participated in the Council and come to the agreement reached. The letter is written with the intention of bringing the report of the Council to all who were of Gentile (non-Jewish) background. The geographic area named was Syria and Celicia; basically the territory covered by this first missionary journey of Barnabas and Paul. We cannot limit the area. We, too, have read this letter. It may have application to us. We do not want to participate in idolatry or immorality. Abstinence from blood likely has less effect on us because of health issues we understand to apply.

The letter disclaims those who brought the doctrine requiring circumcision and keeping all the Law as given to the Jews by Moses. They had not been authorized to bring this doctrine. There is no requirement for a person to become a Jew before becoming a Christian. The four requirements found in the letter, would rather open the way for full fellowship and oneness between those of Jewish and those of Gentile background. Paul will further expand this oneness later in his ministry.

Now the letter did not stand isolated on its own. There were carriers of the letter: a combination of those who had originally come from Antioch and those who were appointed by the Jerusalem Council to further interpret it.

 

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