READING THE BOOK OF ACTS: CHAPTER 8

  READING THE BOOK OF ACTS: CHAPTER 8

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

 CONTEXT FOR ACTS, CHAPTER 8

Acts 1:8 gives the outline of the book of Acts; Acts 1-7 describes the spread of the gospel through Jerusalem; Acts 8:1-11:18 shows the gospel spreading in Judea and Samaria; Acts 11:19-28 sees the gospel spread to the "end of the earth," finalizing in Rome. In Acts, Chapter 7 Stephen was stoned. he was one of the first martyrs and there were many more like him who were martyred in the years that followed. Ironically, although Paul is the central figure in spreading Jesus' good news to the ends of the earth, his early persecution of the church in Jerusalem is actually very instrumental in spreading the gospel through Judea and Samaria.

1) Verses 1-8, The Church Persecuted & Scattered and Philip in Samaria, MS. ELNORA

8 And Saul approved of their killing him.

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. ² Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. ³ But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

⁴ Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. ⁵ Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. ⁶ When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. ⁷ For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. ⁸ So there was great joy in that city.

NOTATIONS:

SECTION QUESTIONS:

1. How did Saul react to Stephen's death?

2. What did Saul do to the church? (v.3)

3. What did Philip do? (v.5-7)

2) Verses 9-25, Simon, the Sorcerer, DESTINY

⁹ Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, ¹⁰ and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” ¹¹ They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³ Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. 14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money 19 and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." 20 Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." 24 The Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me." 25 After they had further proclaimed the Word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages. 

NOTATIONS:

SECTION QUESTIONS:

1. Who was Simon and what did he do to the people of Samaria? (v.9)

2. What did the people say about Simon? (v. 10)

3. When the people believed the Good News of God's kingdom and the name of Jesus, what happened? (v.12-13)

4. What did Peter and John do when they arrived in Samaria? (v.15)

5. What did Simon do when he saw the Spirit given by laying on of hands by the Apostles? (v.18-19)

6. What was Peter's answer to Simon? (v.20-22)

3) Verses 26-40, Philip & The Ethiopian, MS. DEBBIE

The Conversion of the Ethiopian Official

26 An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road.) 27 So he got up and went. There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalem 28 and was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud.

29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go and join that chariot.”

30 When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who will describe his generation? For his life is taken from the earth. 

34 The eunuch said to Philip, “I ask you, who is the prophet saying this about — himself or someone else?” 35 Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning with that Scripture.

36 As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s water. What would keep me from being baptized?”  38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip appeared in Azotus, and he was traveling and preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

NOTATIONS:

v. 26 Philip could have waited for God to explain why he was to leave Samaria in the midst of a great revival and go out to the desert, but he simply obeyed God and took the first step.

v. 27-28 The relation between Israel and Ethiopia dates back to the Queen of Sheba's visit with King Solomon. The eunuch was searching for spiritual answers. God saw his heart and sent Philip to help him. God will always meet the need of a searching heart.

v. 29 This was the second step Philip was directed to take.

v. 29-35 Pray regularly for God to bring people across your path with whom you can share the love of God in Jesus Christ. There are individuals out there whom the Spirit has prepared. Like the Ethiopian man, they’re asking themselves, How can I understand unless someone guides me? (8:31). Believers are to know the Scriptures so that they are prepared to help unbelievers properly understand and respond to the gospel, as well as to help fellow believers grow in their faith (see 1 Pet 3:15).

v. 32-35 The passage from Isaiah 53:7-8 was a prophecy about Jesus Christ (John 5:39; Hebrews 10:7.)

v. 38-39 It appears that this baptism was a full immersion into the water, symbolizing the burial of the "old man".

SECTION QUESTIONS:

1. What happened when Philip explained the scripture to the Ethiopian?

2. What happened after the Ethiopian was baptized?

CHAPTER RECAP:

• The Apostles Scatter
• Simon the Sorcerer
• John and Peter in Jerusalem
• Philip and the Eunuch

{FOR YOUR REVIEW} 

LAGNIAPPE:     THOUGHTS ABOUT CIRCUMCISION, MRS. ELNORA

According to Jewish law, circumcision is the physical representation of the covenant between God and Abraham and is required for the inclusion of males in the Jewish faith. It has been practiced on males on the 8th day after birth.

The Egyptians were the oldest people to practice circumcision. God said that this covenant is to be an everlasting covenant (Gen. 17:13). For the Jews, circumcision marks them as God's chosen people, God's special treasure.

It means different things to different people. To some, it was and still is a rite of passage to adulthood, and to others, it merely means a simple medical procedure. But to the Jews, it still remains a sign of God's covenant with them.