Lesson 382

(Lesson 382)(08-31-12) Acts 15:12-29, "Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well."

This is an odd lesson and appears to expose early Church leadership to be in disobedience of what God told Peter in the rooftop dream. I readily understand why the Gentiles were told to shun idolatry and fornication, and even the eating of meat that had been sacrificed to idols. But other than that, I can't find scriptural justification for their decision to restrict what else the Gentiles were to eat in light of Peter's rooftop dream.

We see that during this meeting of the Church elders, if was decided that a letter would be written to the Gentiles in the Church at Antioch telling them not to eat meat from animals that had been strangled. Neither were they to eat any kind of meat that contained blood.

In the dream, it should be noted, God told Peter that there were NO restrictions on what His people could eat. He said in Acts 10:15, "And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common."

Therefore I don't understand why James insisted that the Gentiles be told not to eat these two things, which so obviously was in disagreement with what God had told Peter. And, what is even more confusing, is the fact that Peter and the others would go along with him, after having been witnesses that Cornelius and those in his house, all Gentiles, had already received the Holy Ghost without such a restriction on what they would eat!
This lesson does, in fact, demonstrate the inconsistencies within the very first Church, and is a perfect demonstration of how easily the message of the gospel can be distorted by well intentioned members.

Just as so many "Churches" today, even the very first Church members struggled to rid themselves of the burden of the law. We will see, as these lessons progress, that Paul fought desperately to keep the membership of the Church in line with the intent of the gospel of Christ.~