D. Paul's first missionary journey (with Barnabas) ~ cont.
2. Antioch (Pisidia) to Derbe - Acts 13:14-51; 14:1-20
3. The return trip - Acts 14:21-25
4. At Antioch (Syria) - Acts 14:26-28
5. Attends council at Jerusalem - Acts 15:1-12; Galatians 2:7-10; Acts 15:13-35; Galatians 2:11-14
6. Gospel of Mark written
The word Sabbath, synagogue and first day caught my attention as I read through this passage and the days following. Sabbath is used 60x in the NT - primary usage is in the gospels. 9 occurrences in Acts and 1 in Colossians.
I have not done an in-depth study yet on the difference between Sabbath and the first day of the week worship. I know people in both camps that hold to either position.
This made me curious as to why we call the days of the week something other than how they are presented in Scripture. :-) An interesting google search on where and how the days of the week got their names. A very brief overview:
Sunday - Sun's day;
Monday- Moon's day;
Tuesday - Tyr's day. Tyr was the Norse god of combat;
Wednesday - Woden or Odin's day, the father of the Gods;
Thursday - Thor's day, Thor was the Germanic and Norse god of thunder;
Friday - Frigg's day, the Norse goddess of beauty Frigg;
Saturday - Saturn's day, worship of Saturn.
Synagogue is mentioned 45x - and first day is recorded in 12 verses. I found it thought provoking that the apostles went into the synagogues on the Sabbath to preach about Jesus. Paul reasoned 3 Sabbath days about the faith.
The references to first day are when the women were at the sepulchre, Jesus appeared to the apostles, Paul preached, saints encouraged to lay up (offerings?).
According to Scripture a day begins and ends at dusk (approximately 6 p.m.), our 1st day (or Sunday) would start on the 7th day (Saturday). Passages about Jesus (John 20:19) and Paul (Acts 20:7) state evening or a time of breaking bread. This makes me wonder if they meant the 7th day evening (1st day) or actually the 1st day's evening (which would be the 2nd day). Quite perplexing.
I will be ruminating over this passage - Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. As it appears that the apostles were meeting together regularly on the Sabbath to preach and teach. I am sure they were preaching and teaching on the other days, as situations and circumstances allowed, but it would appear that a gathering of the people corporately continued to be primarily on the Sabbath. Much prayer and diligent searching to be made on this topic. Praying that Father will clarify to me what HE desires.
The passage, "Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on."
Which put me in mind of this passage: 1Co 14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
I don't know of many fellowships in which all the men are able to give forth the Word. This is a sad indicator of how anemic the Bride of Christ has become. Very sad. All men ought to be able to give forth a morsel of the Word to those with whom they are fellowshipping.
The worship service started with a presentation of the law and the prophets. Fascinating thought - how can someone truly understand who Jesus is, why he came, and what he accomplished if their is a disconnect between the preaching/teaching of the OT with the New? Paul's discourse (similar to Stephen's) in Acts 13:19-41 (coupled with the previous presentation of the law and prophets) is an awesome 'sermon.'
I liked that the Gentiles were already there...listening and hearing - Father's preparation for them as Paul begins to minister. I also noted they were meeting on the Sabbath day and besought Paul to return the next Sabbath day to share.
"When the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy..." (Acts 13:45a) Jealous, vengeful, destructive. Looking at #'s rather than God. Is that happening in our day? Where someone is more focused on how many people are 'hearing' and 'following' them versus whether or not the TRUTH is being rightly divided and presented?
More later....
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