Doubting nothing

When God created the heaven and the earth, He made Adam and Eve and placed them as His co-regents over all the earth (Gen 1). They disobeyed and were driven from the garden of Eden (Gen 3). Their sin not only affected them. It also impacted everything under their jurisdiction (Rom 5:12-15, 1Cor 15:21-22). Mankind spiraled down so far into sin that God was sorry He made man at all (Gen 6). Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God instructed him to build and ark wherein God would save his family and representatives of each kind of air breathing animals, because He was going to send a worldwide flood that destroyed everything that was not in the ark (Gen 7-8).

     After the flood, God promised to never again send a worldwide flood and sealed this promise with a rainbow (Gen 9). The survivors were to spread abroad and repopulate the earth. Instead, their descendants gathered in one place and set about to build their own plan of salvation, their own kingdom, and their own religion without God. They were continuing in the lie the serpent told Eve (Gen 3:5). God stopped their plan by dividing their languages so they could no longer communicate and coordinate (Gen 11). They separated into groups that spoke the same language, and this is how the nations of the world started. Yet, they did not repent. They took the worldview they had chosen with them.

     Just as God did with Noah, He found a man He could work with to start anew. He called Abraham, who was originally called Abram, to leave his home and the culture he was in and to move to a new place which his descendants would later be given as their homeland (Gen 12). The Lord also told him that before Abraham’s descendants would inherit the land, they would spend 400 years as slaves in a strange land, after which He would bring them out and into the promised land (Gen 15). This was fulfilled when Abraham’s grandson Jacob and his family moved to Egypt because of a famine. Later, they were brought into bondage for 400 years.

     Then God called one man named Moses to lead them out of Egypt into the promised land (Ex 1-12). God led them to Mt. Sinai where He made a covenant with them and gave them the law (Ex 19-Num 12). They arrived at the border of the promised land but could not go in because of their unbelief (Num 13-14). However, God said that their children would go in a generation later.

     Joshua, the assistant of Moses, led them over the Jordan River into the promised land of Canaan (Josh 1-22). The land was divided so that each of the 12 tribes of Israel had a lot. God’s plan was for Israel to be a testimony of Him to the world (Ex 19:4-6, Deut 4:5-8, 2Sam 7:23). However, they often perpetuated their history and the history of all mankind of idolatry. God raised them up judges and prophets to lead them out of their idolatry and the curses it brought, but they would soon fall back into the same pattern over and over (Jud 1-2). At their request, God started giving them kings instead of judges (1Sam 8-10). The first 3 kings were Saul, then David, and then David’s son Solomon (1Sam 8-1Ki 11). Later in Solomon’s life, he fell deeply into idolatry and the nation followed him. Thus, the vicious cycle continued until the northern tribes were conquered by Assyria (2Ki 17), and the southern tribes were conquered by Babylon (2Ki 25). They killed some, took others captives, and left some of the poor in the land.

     Jeremiah prophesied that the captives would return after 70 years (Jer 25:10-12, Jer 29:10). Daniel read this passage in Babylon (Dan 9:2), and he prayed for its fulfillment. Their return is recorded in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Haggai. Ezekiel prophesied that upon their return they would be cured of their idolatry. The phrase “and ye shall know that I am the Lord” or a small variation of it appears over 50 times in his book. The time between the last book in the Old Testament and the first book of the New Testament is about 450 years.

     Then the promise of the greatest deliverer of all was fulfilled. At the very time Daniel predicted (Dan 9:24-27), the Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, was born in Bethlehem (Mt 1, Lk 2). There are many prophecies of His birth, His life and ministry, as well as His death, burial, and resurrection. A few notable ones are Psalm 22, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 53, Micah 5:2, Zechariah 9:9, Zechariah 11:12-13, Zechariah 12:10, Zechariah 13:1-7). He offered hope to the hopeless, forgiveness to the repentant, healing to the sick, and deliverance from all forms of captivity (Is 61:1-2, Lk 4:16-21). He also gave sharp rebukes to the religious hypocrites who ultimately delivered Him to be crucified (Mt 23, Mt 26-27). However, He never addressed idolatry. Surely, if that was a big problem, He would have said something. Ezekiel was right, but the pendulum had swung from one extreme to the other. The Jewish leaders were no longer worshipping idols. Instead, they were worshipping their own religious traditions (Mk 7:1-13). They were caught up in the pride of their own national identity and looked down on Gentiles, even despite the fact that Isaiah, the one of the most Messianic books in the Old Testament, repeatedly said that there would be outreach to them (Is 9:1-7, Is 11:10, Is 42:1 & 6, Is 49:6 & 22, Is 60:3-11, Is 61:9, Is 62:2, Is 66:19). This is also spoken of in other places. Jesus confronted this at the outset of His ministry, and they attempted to kill Him for it (Lk 4:16-30). They even despised other Jews who were beneath them in their eyes (Lk 18:9-14, Jn 9). This illustrates a fatal flaw in our sinful nature. We try to make ourselves feel good about ourselves by comparing ourselves to others who are less in our eyes. This is not wise. “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise (2Cor 10:12).”

     Jesus Christ was Jewish. The apostles were Jewish. The writers of the Bible were almost all Jewish. and at first the church was Jewish. All of this is the background of Acts 10. An angel appeared to a Roman centurion named Nicodemus and told him to send men to Joppa and have the apostle Peter come to preach to him. He sent three men to the house where Peter was. Just as they were arriving from a 2-day journey, Peter went to pray before dinner. He had a vision of all kinds of animals that Jews were not allowed to eat and is told, “Rise, Peter. Kill and eat.” He refused and said he had never violated any Jewish dietary laws. This happened three times. Peter doubted what that meant. Just then the three men from Cornelius arrived. God told Peter to go with them, doubting nothing. Peter headed off, but not without some of the brethren. While he was waiting for Peter, Cornelius gathered his household and friends. God gave Peter a ready houseful to preach to. Peter said it is against Jewish law for a Jew to keep company with a Gentile, but God showed him that he should not call any man unclean. There was nothing in the law of Moses that demanded Jews to be totally isolated from everyone else. They were only to be separated in their beliefs and lifestyle. However, this reveals what Jews were being taught, despite the extensive record in the Old Testament of Jews and Gentiles interacting and even intermarrying. Just two of dozens of examples are Rahab and Ruth who were Gentiles who married into the lineage of Jesus Christ (Mt 1:5). Because of the vision Peter had, he said he came without gainsaying.  He asked Cornelius why he called for him, and he explained his vision.

     Then Peter said, “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. (Acts 10:35-36)”. He preached the gospel, and right in the middle of it, his audience started speaking in tongues. Peter realized this means God has filled these Gentiles with the gift of the Holy Ghost. He said that since God gave them the Holy Ghost, they should also get baptized in the name of the Lord. Word of this got back to the church leaders in Jerusalem before Peter did, and when he got there, they called him onto the proverbial carpet. He told them the whole story. He told them of his vision and how God told him to go, nothing doubting. He told them of Cornelius and his vision, and how God filled them with the Holy Ghost. It was only then that anyone acknowledged that Gentiles too could be saved through the gospel, although Hellenized Jews and proselytes who were Gentiles that converted to Judaism were already in the church (Acts 2:10, Acts 6:1 & 5).

     However, it took some time for this to sink in. The very next verse after Peter’s accounting and the acceptance of what happened says, “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only (Acts 11:19)”. The next verse says some of them preached to Hellenized Jews.

     About this time Paul, who had been a zealous persecutor of Jews who had become Christians, had a vision of the Lord on the way to Damascus (Acts 9). He became a Christian and immediately started preaching the gospel. He was sent on three missionary journeys. His pattern at first was to go into the local synagogue and preach to Jews. As the Jews mostly rejected the gospel and persecuted him but local Gentiles become believers, Paul realizes that this will be his main ministry (Acts 13-14). Paul’s base of operations was Antioch, some Jewish Christians from Jerusalem went to Antioch and taught that Gentile Christians needed to be circumcised to be saved (Acts 15). Paul disputed with them until this became such an issue that they all went to Jerusalem to have a conference with the leaders there to resolve this issue. It was decided that Gentile Christians did not have to be circumcised, and a basic list of issues common with Gentiles who had worshipped idols before was distributed. It was determined that Peter’s main focus would be on Jews, and that Paul’s main focus would be on Gentiles (Gal 2). Peter went to Antioch. He was having fellowship with Gentile Christians, but when other Jewish Christians arrived, Peter separated himself from the Gentiles and Paul confronted him about it (Gal 2). The issue of circumcision continued to be an issue for years, even after all this (Rom 2-4, Gal 5:2-6 & 11, Gal 6:12-15, Phil 3:3, Col 2:11, Col 3:11).

     In the account of Peter and Cornelius there are four Greek words of note – diaporeō (Acts 10:17), enthymeomai (Acts 10:19), diakrinō (Acts 10:20, Acts 11:2 & 12), and anantirrētōs (Acts 10:29). They are all similar in meaning with some connotations as follows:

     1. diaporeō: be entirely at loss, to be in perplexity

     2. enthymeomai: to bring to mind, revolve in mind, ponder, to think, to deliberate

     3. diakrinō: to separate, make a distinction, discriminate, to prefer, to learn by discrimination,

         to try, decide, to determine, give judgment, decide a dispute, to withdraw from one, desert

         to separate one's self in a hostile spirit, to oppose, strive with dispute, contend, to be at

         variance with one's self, hesitate, doubt

         Interestingly, this is the same word translated as “put no difference” at the conference in

         Acts 15:9 when Peter said about Jews and Gentiles “(God) put no difference between us

         and them, purifying their hearts by faith”.

     4. anantirrētōs: without contradiction

Today, we don’t have a major issue with whether or not Christians need to be circumcised or keep the whole law of Moses, although some are proponents of keeping the Sabbath, whether as a mandate or just a good practice. For a more thorough examination of that topic, you can read the article “The Sabbath”. However, we do have an issue with doubting as described above. Today, we call this overanalyzing. Sometimes, we should analyze and not just presume or rush into important decisions. When God has spoken clearly whether through the scriptures or other credible means that harmonize with the Bible, we can overanalyze ourselves right out of a blessing. We should always be in prayer, following the Bible, and listening to godly advice. When we are unsure about what to do in situations, we should keep doing what we know to do until clarity comes. Some things are obvious, but some things are specific to people and situations. Sometimes the problem is that like the Jews we have become so set in a certain mindset that anything that seems to contradict it is dismissed as wrong. God will show us where we need adjusting. When He does this, it because He loves us and intends to help us to be more whole. He is patient and understands our human frailty, but we shouldn’t drag our feet forever until opportunity closes. Missed opportunity can fill us with regret. Balance is key. We shouldn’t take foolish risks, but it is better to try and “fail” than to never try. Sometimes what we see as failure looks different to God, and even if it is He can still make something good come out if it (Rom 8:28).