Apostle road trip in the book of Acts
Part five of Acts: The disciples hit the road to preach the good news.
Aerial view in Turkey, now modern-day Antioch. (Scopio)
In this week’s Bible Study:
Part five of our study of the Book of Acts, Chapters 11-20. Countdown to Pentecost!
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In the weeks leading to Pentecost, I’m studying the book of Acts each week. I hope you join me in this study! We are using the NIV translation, except where noted.
So far, we have seen the apostles get the Holy Spirit, preach despite persecution, and God reveal to Peter that the Gentiles (non-Jewish people) should also receive the Holy Spirit.
This week, the boys hit the road and deliver the Good News to several cities around Jerusalem. Both Peter and Paul, separately, are thrown in jail. There are also some arguments and disputes. Whew! Just imagine a reality TV show about Acts!
Because we have a lot of ground to cover (no pun intended!), we are reading chapters 11-20 this week!
The apostles traveled throughout modern-day Turkey, Syria and Greece and spent time church-building, while Peter stayed in Jerusalem and was imprisoned but escaped. Herod died in a gruesome way, (this is not the one who sent Jesus back to Pilot, but reportedly his cousin) and Jews turned on the newly named Christians for teaching the word to Gentiles.
Peter was imprisoned by Herod, but escaped with angelic help. Paul was imprisoned, too, but look what happened:
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Acts 16: 25-30
I tried to calculate how many miles the apostles covered but it was tough. Many sources did say that Paul alone traveled about 10,000 miles. We know that Paul took a boat (because of the shipwreck on his way to Rome) but he and the apostles were on foot for a lot of their quest. Amazing.
We also see a quarrel between Paul and Barnabas, and they go their separate ways for a while. This is a good reminder that the apostles — even Paul! — were human with foibles, just like the rest of us.
Next week, we’ll continue to move quickly through the book. Stay with us! Just one and a half weeks until Pentecost!
Be sure to take this week’s poll because I’ll share what I think the most important was next week. In last week’s poll, you said you’d never really thought about Peter’s dream/vision where God told him to share the word with the Gentiles. Go here to vote if you missed it.
Your sister in Christ,
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