discussion board forum 1does acts teach H u m a n i t i e s

Discussion Board Forum 1

Does Acts teach that there will be a literal future kingdom for Israel?

I believe Acts teaches there will be a literal future kingdom for Israel. In our text Steven Ger mentions from the first chapter of Acts to the last, there were thousands of Jewish people who accepted the gospel. Ger continues and adds that not all of the Jewish people rejected Jesus as the Messiah, and still through today there are Jewish people accepting the truth as Jesus as the Messiah¹.

Ger mentions how the ancient promises God made to the Jewish people were not abandoned, but just postponed, and how Jesus will restore Israel and at His return establish His Kingdom there². Ger mentions Israel is dependent on a future outpouring of the Holy Spirit for Israel Acts 3:19 -21³. In these verses Luke writes to Israel to “repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out”, and God will send Jesus who “which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21).

Craig S. Keener, in his book mentions at the end of the book of Acts, how Jewish people will continue to both reject and accept Jesus as Messiah and the preached gospel. Keener also mentions this is the reason the gospel is first preached to the Jewish people and then to the Gentiles. However Keener mentions had the Gospel been accepted by the Jewish people the Gentile people may have missed the opportunity to receive the Gospel message⁵.

Did early believers make a mistake in recognizing Matthias as the 12^th Apostle?

I believe the early believers did not make a mistake in choosing Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot as the twelfth apostle. In our text, Steven Ger mentions most people believed Paul should have been the correct choice. Ger tells us Paul did not meet the criteria for apostleship. Paul was not an eye witness of Jesus’ ministry. Paul only met the “second apostolic classification”⁶.

Both the Bible and our text point out two other reasons Peter and the other Apostles did not error in their choice. First, Acts 1:14 tell us the apostles gathered together and prayed. Then again after appointing two men Acts 1:24 begins by saying “And they prayed”.

Second, Ger tells us “they drew lots to determine God’s decision”⁷. Acts 1:26 says “And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias”. If this was a mistake I don’t believe God would have blessed this cast lot or answered their prayers. I feel that God would have simply told the apostles the one He wanted as a replacement for Judas Iscariot, just as God came to Mary and Joseph to tell them about Jesus’ birth and what to name Him.

1. Steven Ger, “Acts: Witnesses to the World” (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2004), 23-24.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the King James Version. (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 2004).

5. Craig S. Keener, “Acts: An Exegetical Commentary: Introduction and 1:1 – 2:47” (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 476.

6. Steven Ger, “Acts: Witnesses to the World” (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2004), 33.

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