Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 4:28
For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
28. for to do, &c.] God made the passions, which the enemies of Jesus indulged, to be the instruments for working out His will. So men when they suppose they are choosing their own way, have the ends thereof shapen by God “rough-hew them how they will.” Their misdeeds are made to execute the will of God, yet they are not on that account exempt from blame.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For to do … – See the notes on Act 2:23; Act 3:18. The facts which are brought to view in these verses are among the most remarkable on record. They are briefly these:
- That the Jewish rulers were opposed to the Messiah, and slew him.
(2)That the very people to whom he came, and for whose benefit he labored, joined in the opposition, so that it became the act of a united people.
(3)That the Romans, who were there as a sort of representation of all pagan nations, were easily prevailed on to join in the persecution, and to become the executioners.
(4)That thus opposite factions, and dissimilar and prejudiced people, became united in opposing the Messiah.
(5)That the rulers of the Roman people, the emperors, the statesmen, the philosophers, and the rulers of other nations, united to oppose the gospel, and brought all the power of persecution to stay its progress.
(6)That the people of the empire, the mass of people, were easily prevailed upon to join in the persecution, and to endeavor to arrest its progress. It may be added,
- That the gospel has encountered similar difficulties and opposition wherever it has been faithfully presented to the attention of people. It has become a very serious question why this has been; on what pretence this opposition has been vindicated, or how it can be accounted for – a question which it is of as much importance for the infidel as for the Christian to settle. We know that accusations of the corrupt lives of the early Christians were freely circulated, and that most gross accounts of their scandalous conduct were propagated by those who chose to persecute them. (See Lardners Credibility.) But such accounts are not now believed, and it is not certain that they were ever seriously believed by the rulers of the pagan people. It is certain that it was not on things account that the first opposition arose to Christ and his religion.
It is not proper here to enter into an examination of the causes of this opposition. We may state the outlines, however, in few words:
(1) The Jewish rulers were mortified, humbled, and moved with envy, that one so poor and despised should claim to be the Messiah. They had expected a Messiah of a different rank and character; and all their prejudices rose at once against his claims to this high office, Mat 27:18; Mar 15:10.
(2) The common people, disposed extensively to acknowledge his claims, were urged on by the enraged and vindictive priests to demand his death, Mat 27:20.
(3) Pilate was pressed on against his will by the impetuous and enraged multitude to deliver one whom he regarded as innocent.
(4) The Christian religion, in its advances, struck at once at the whole fabric of superstition in the Roman empire and throughout the world. It did not, like other religions, ask a place amidst the religions already existing. It was exclusive in its claims. It denounced all other systems as idolatry or superstition, and sought to overthrow them. Those religions were interwoven with all the habits of the people; they were connected with all the departments of the state; they gave occupation to a vast number of priests and other officer who obtained their livelihood by the existing superstitions, and who brought, of course, all the supposed sacredness of their character to support them. A religion which attempted to overthrow the whole fabric, therefore, at once excited all their malice. The monarchs whose thrones were based on the existing state of things, and the people who venerated the religion of their ancestors, would be opposed to the new system.
(5) Christianity was despised. It was regarded as one form of the superstition of the Jews, and there were no people who were regarded with so much contempt by other nations as the Jews. The writings of the Romans on this point are full proof.
(6) The new religion was opposed to all the crimes of the world. It began its career in a time of eminent wickedness. It plunged at once into the midst of that wickedness; sought the great cities where crimes and pollutions were concentrated, and boldly reproved every form of prevailing impiety. At Athens, at Corinth, at Ephesus, at Rome itself, it denounced the judgment of God against every form of guilt. Whatever may be charged on the apostles, it will not be alleged that they were timid in denouncing the sins of the world. From all these causes it is not wonderful that the early Christians were persecuted. If it be asked.
(7) Why the same religion meets with opposition now in lands that are nominally Christian, it may be remarked:
(a)That the human heart is the same that it always was, opposed to truth and righteousness;
(b)That religion encounters still a host of sins that are opposed to it – pride, envy, malice, passion, and the love of the world;
(c)That there has always been a special opposition in the human heart to receiving salvation as the gift of God through a crucified Redeemer; and,
(d)That all the forms of vice, and lust, and profaneness that exist in the world, are opposed, and ever will be, to a religion of purity, self-denial, and love.
On the whole, we may remark here:
- That the fact that Christianity has been thus opposed, and has triumphed, is no small proof of its divine origin. It has been fairly tried, and still survives. It was well to put it to the rest, and to bring to bear on it everything which had a tendency to crush it, and thus to furnish the highest proof that it is from God.
(2)This religion cannot be destroyed; it will triumph; opposition to it is vain; it will make its way throughout the world; and the path of safety is not to oppose what God is intending to establish in the earth. Sinners who stand opposed to the gospel should tremble and be afraid, for sooner or later they must fall before its triumphant advances. It is not safe to oppose what has already been opposed by kings and rulers in every form, and yet has triumphed. It is not wise to risk ones eternal welfare on the question of successful opposition to what God has, in so many ages and ways, pledged himself to protect; and when God has solemnly declared that the Son, the Messiah, whom he would set on his holy hill of Zion, should break his enemies with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potters vessel, Psa 2:9.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The apostles mind not so much second causes in what my Saviour or themselves suffered, but see and acknowledge God in all; who makes a straight line with a crooked stick; and is holy, wise, and good in overruling and permitting the greatest evils; and does deserve to have praise for all things, Eph 5:20; see Act 2:23.
Thy hand and thy counsel; thy power and right to dispose of all persons and things; alluding to Lev 16:8; as the lot cast for the two goats (the disposing of which being from the Lord, Pro 16:33) did determine which of the goats should be sacrificed, and which should escape; so it was not without a Divine disposition, that Christ was made a sin offering for us; though this no way excuses the wicked instruments of his death and suffering.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28. thy hand and thy counseldetermined . . . to be donethat is, “Thy counsel”determined to be done by “Thy hand.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For to do whatsoever thy hand,…. It was not the end of their gathering together against Christ, or it was not their intention and design, to fulfil the purposes and decrees of God, but to fulfil their own lusts, and satiate their rage and malice against him; but it was so in the event, according to the wise disposal of providence, that by their gathering together, by their consultations and conspiracies, they brought about what God in his everlasting council had decreed. By “the hand” of the Lord here is not meant, the grace and favour of God; or the power and providence of God; or his word of precept, his revealed will; but his secret will, the counsel of his will, the hidden purpose of his heart, the wise consultation of his mind, which is formed according to his infinite wisdom: so in 2Sa 14:19 it is said, “is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this?” that is, the head of Joab, the wise counsel of Joab; and so the Jewish writers interpret it, , “his counsel” o: and so the word is explained here immediately; for it follows,
and thy counsel determined before to be done: God’s decrees are from eternity; there is nothing comes to pass in time but what he has beforetime determined should be done, either by effecting it himself, or doing it by others, or suffering it to be done, as in the case here. Whatever was done to Christ, either by Jews or Gentiles, by Herod or Pontius Pilate, was according to the secret will of God, the covenant he made with Christ, and the council of peace that was between them both: what they wickedly did, God designed for good, and hereby brought about the redemption and salvation of his people: this neither makes God the author of sin, nor excuses the sinful actions of men, or infringes the liberty of their wills in acting.
o Kimchi in loc. & R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 36. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Foreordained (). First aorist active indicative of , “They rise above sight and seem to see the Hand which ‘shapes men’s ends, rough hew them how they will'” (Furneaux).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Thy hand. Thy disposing power.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel,” (poiesai hosa he cheir sou kai he boule) “To do (for the purpose of doing) whatever your counsel and hand,” or in order to do, Mat 26:24; Act 2:23.
The hand and counsel, power and prophetic foreclosure, of things to occur regarding Jesus Christ came forth from His foreknowledge and revelation for men, not by His prefixation decree, Act 1:24; Rev 2:23.
2) “Determined before to be done,” (proorisen genesthai) “Aforeordained (set in purpose-order) to occur,” Act 3:18. This He did, knowing “what was in man” and man’s natural hate for and antagonism against divine holiness, Joh 2:25; Joh 6:64; Mat 9:4; Mar 2:8.
BENEFIT OF PERSECUTION
As frankincense, when it is put into the fire, giveth the greater perfume; as spice, if it be pounded and beaten, smelleth the sweeter; as the earth, when it is torn up by the plough, becometh more fruitful; the seed in the ground, after frost and snow and winter-storms, springeth the ranker; the nigher the vine is pruned to the stock, the greater grape it yieldeth; the grape, when it is most pressed and beaten, maketh the sweetest wine; linen, when it is washed, wrung and beaten, is so made fairer and whiter; even so the children of God receive great benefit by persecution; for by it God washeth and scoureth, schooleth, and nurtureth them, that so, through many tribulations, they may enter into their rest.
– Crawley
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
28. That they might do. I have already declared to what end this is spoken; that the kingdom of Christ was so far from being overrun by that conspiracy, that in truth it did then flourish. Notwithstanding herein is contained a singular doctrine, that God doth so govern and guide all things by his secret counsel, that, he doth bring to pass those things which he hath determined, even by the wicked. Not that they are ready willingly to do him such service, but because he turneth their counsels and attempts backward; so that on the one side appeareth great equity and most great righteousness; on the other appeareth nought but wickedness and iniquity. Which matter we have handled more at large in the second chapter. Let us learn here, by the way, that we must so consider the providence of God, that we know that it is the chief and only guider of all things which are done in the world, that the devil and all the wicked are kept back with God’s bridle, lest they should do us any harm; that when they rage fastest, yet are they not at liberty to do what they list, but have the bridle given them, yet so far forth as is expedient to exercise us. Those men which do acknowledge the foreknowledge of God alone, and yet confess not that all things are done as it pleaseth him, are easily convict by these words, That God hath appointed before that thing to be done which was done. Yea, Luke being not contented with the word counsel, addeth also hand, improperly, yet to the end he might the more plainly declare that the events of things are not only governed by the counsel of God, but that they are also ordered by his power and hand.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
8. IN THE UPPER ROOM. Act. 4:28Act. 5:11.
a.
The Prayer Service. Act. 4:23-31.
Act. 4:23
And being let go, they came to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said unto them.
Act. 4:24
And they, when they heard it, lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, O Lord thou that didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is:
Act. 4:25
who by the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David thy servant, didst say,
Why did the Gentiles rage,
And the peoples imagine vain things?
Act. 4:26
The kings of the earth set themselves in array,
And the rulers were gathered together,
Against the Lord, and against his Anointed:
Act. 4:27
for of a truth in this city against thy holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together,
Act. 4:28
to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel foreordained to come to pass.
Act. 4:29
And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness,
Act. 4:30
while thou stretchest forth thy hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of thy holy Servant Jesus.
Act. 4:31
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they were gathered together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
Act. 4:23-30 The apostles left the assembly in triumphant joy but with no pride. Being let go they came to their own company. Who was this company and where were they gathered?
We are inclined to the opinion that the term refers to the other apostles and those who were their close friends and associates.
The upper room was the abode of the apostles (Act. 1:13) so it does seem reasonable that this was the place to which Peter and John returned upon this occasion.
Can we not imagine them entering the room and hurrying into the presence of their friends to tell with mingled joy and apprehension all that had been said and done?
Immediately upon hearing the news the whole assembly cried out in a united prayer to God. Note the appropriativeness of this prayer
(1) They were in need of protection and guidance and in their prayer they addressed God as the one who didst make the heaven and earth and sea and all that in them is. If He was indeed so great He could afford them protection and direction. (2) Then the second Psalm is quoted in which we have a description given by David hundreds of years before. The prophetic picture found its fulfillment in the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. What Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles and the people of Israel did to Jesus was only in fulfillment of Gods purposes. Since, then, God had thus delivered in the terrible days of His Sons adversity, He could now do the same for His chosen children. (3) The one petition made in this whole prayer was that God would consider the threatenings of His enemies and grant boldness to His servants as they spoke His word, that He would continue to accompany the words of the apostles with the signs and wonders that were already in evidence with their work. These supernatural demonstrations were to place the stamp of divine approval upon the words spoken by the apostles.
141.
Who composed the company to whom the Apostles went following their trial?
142.
Where was the company gathered? How do you know?
142.
Give the three points of appropriativeness in the prayer of the company.
Act. 4:31 Almost before the last word of the prayer had been uttered the answer arrived. Notice please how the petitions of their prayer were answered:
1) They prayed that God would consider the opposition and would in the face of it grant boldness. The answer: The place where they were meeting was shaken as a reed in the wind. This was the answer of the Lord reminding them that He had heard and was interested enough to let them know His concern. They, knowing His character, would realize that He would not thus answer them unless He was in agreement with their request. This gave them great boldness. 2) They prayed that God would continue to manifest His supernatural power; here in this earthquake He stamped an affirmative answer on the request.
And so they were indeed in accord with the Holy Spirit and He could thus literally fill their hearts and lives. The closer in accord our spirit is to the Holy Spirit, the more completely does He fill our lives. Following this experience the little company could go forth into the city with Gods own assurance. They could truly speak the work of God with boldness.
144.
Give the requests of the prayer and show how they were immediately answered.
145.
The earthquake had what relationship to all being filled with the Holy Spirit?
b.
The Unity of Believers. Act. 4:32-37.
Act. 4:32
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul: and not one of them said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
Act. 4:33
And with great power gave the apostles their witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
Act. 4:34
For neither was there among them any that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
Act. 4:35
and laid them at the apostles feet: and distribution was made unto each, according as any one had need.
Act. 4:36
And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas (which is, being interpreted, Son of exhortation), a Levite, a man of Cyprus by race,
Act. 4:37
having a field, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet.
Act. 4:32-35 Since Pentecost, the creation day of the church, our attention has been centered upon the work of Christ in the lives of but two of His servants. Luke now opens the door of information to let us behold something of the work of the Master in the life of the whole church. Observe the wonderful power of Christ in the multitude of them that believed:
1)
They were of one heart and one soul. There was total unity of love and faith.
2)
They knew that they had been bought with a price and therefore they were not their own. But this unselfishness reached right into their material possessions and caused them to seek the common good of all. We have much talk of this unselfish attitude today but not much of its fruits.
3)
This actual and practical unity afforded a bulwark of strength for the testimony of the apostles. The apostles could point to a group of living examples of the power of their resurrection message. Hence could they give with great power their witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
4)
Great grace was upon them all. Because of the aforementioned virtues proceeding from the surrendered lives Gods favor and approval rested upon them.
Luke tells us why Gods favor and approval rested upon them. He says it was because of the utterly selfless attitude and life of the believers. There was none that lacked for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles feet: and distribution was made unto each, according as any one had need.
146.
What change of thought is found beginning with Act. 4:32?
147.
Give the four points in Act. 4:32-37 which manifests the power of Christ in the lives of those that believed.
148.
How did the unity of the church afford to the apostles opportunity to give with greater power their witness of the resurrection?
149.
What is the meaning of the statement great grace was upon them all?
Act. 4:36-37 An example is given of one who portrayed the spirit and work of the united Jerusalem church. Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas did like many others, sold his own field that his brethren might not be in want.
150.
Who was given as an example of the unity of the Jerusalem church? What did he do?
c.
The First Church Discipline. Act. 5:1-11.
Act. 5:1
But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
Act. 5:2
and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles feet.
Act. 5:3
But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Act. 5:4
While it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
Act. 5:5
And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost: and great fear came upon all that heard it.
Act. 5:6
And the young men arose and wrapped him round, and they carried him out and buried him.
Act. 5:7
And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.
Act. 5:8
And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much. And she said, Yea, for so much.
Act. 5:9
But Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to try the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them that have buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out.
Act. 5:10
And she fell down immediately at his feet, and gave up the ghost: and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her by her husband.
Act. 5:11
And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all that heard these things.
Act. 5:1-2 There is a little three lettered word that can be set up most anywhere in the chain of narrated events to serve as a stop sign. That word is but. Here in the midst of the history of the onward march of the church Luke must set up this stop sign. There was a great unity of belief, of possessions, and great were the results of this unitybut. It is here we have the first effort of Satan from within the body. We have witnessed in the past record the evil forces from without, but this chapter opens with the account of the first marks of the evil one within the fold. Let us notice the first church discipline.
Two members of the Jerusalem congregation, two members in good standing as far as those of Jerusalem knew, were Ananias and Sapphira, his wife.
Someone might say that the possession of land was their trouble, that if they had not the possession they would have had no sin. This is not so for their sin was located in their heart and not in their field.
The sin was twofold: the love of the praise of men and the love of money. No doubt those noble souls who sold that which was theirs for the help of others were admired by those of the church. This was what Ananias and Sapphira wanted, but they were not willing to obtain it through unselfish effort. Their difficulty lay in that root in their heart which is the source of all kinds of evilthe love of money.
151.
What is peculiar about the efforts of Satan in the case of Ananias and Sapphira?
152.
If Ananias and Sapphira had not owned the field would they have escaped the sin they committed?
153.
What was the two-fold sin of Ananias and Sapphira?
Act. 5:3-10 According to Peter they were guilty of the sin of hypocrisy, of pretending, which amounted to nothing short of lying. Yes, of lying to the Holy Spirit. Peter also says that Satan was the one who suggested the decision of these two. How the words of Peter must have cut the heart of Ananias when he reminded him that he need not lay the blame upon the land, or by saying that if he had never had the land he would never have sinned (as we are so wont to do). Peter reminded him that it was purely a matter of his own choice, that he, in league with the Devil, decided to try to deceive God with a lie, to deceive not man, but God!
The congregation was no doubt greatly surprised when the sin of Ananias was brought to light before them all. But we are persuaded that even Peter himself was not prepared for the results of his rebuke. Here are the words of Luke which describe the startling incident.
Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the spirit.
We quote the fine expression of J. W. McGarvey as to the reason for such a stringent measure:
There is no evidence that Peter had any will of his own in this sudden death. It seems to have been a sudden stroke of the divine will, the responsibility for which attached not to Peter as an officer of the church, but to God as the moral governor of men. The propriety of it may be appreciated if we suppose Ananias to have succeeded in his undertaking. His success would have been but temporary for the fraud, like all other frauds, would have been detected sooner or later, and when detection came it would have brought with it a serious discount in the minds of the people on the powers of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the apostles. To learn that the Spirit could be deceived would have undermined the whole fabric of apostolic authority and might have overthrown the faith of many, if not all. The attempt brought on a crisis of vital importance and demanded such a vindication of the power of the Spirit as could be neither mistaken nor forgotten.
The immediate effect was precisely the effect desired: Great fear (or awe) came upon the whole church and upon all who heard these things.
The scene was too awe-inspiring for lamentation. Hence, there was no delay in the burial of this one. Such a one did not deserve anything more than a hasty burial of the Achan in the camp. The young men who acted as pall bearers were probably directed to do so by Peter. The whole congregation, the young men included, were also evidently explicitly told not to carry the sad news to Sapphira.
And so it came to pass that three hours had passed, probably spent in prayer and heart searching, when into the assembly stepped the wife of the deceased. With the discernment of spirits (1Co. 12:10) that was Peters he knew the moment Sapphira faced him that she was as guilty as her husband. But to bring before the minds of all present the complete evidence on the case and to allow Sapphira with her own mouth to condemn herself (knowing how much Ananias had laid at his feet as a full price for the land), he framed the question in the manner he did:
Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much (naming the price Ananias had given).
Sapphira was all ready to carry out her part of the act and she answered, Yea, for so much. Peter gives to her the same rebuke he delivered to Ananias but adds the punishment to her rebuke which he did not do in Ananias case. Peter says in essence: Your husband was struck dead for his part in this sinhe has just been buried; the feet of them that carried him to his grave are at the door to do the same for you. What a thought! Sapphira like her conspirator fell down under the hand of God and died at the very feet of the apostle. The young men who were about to enter came in and knowing the circumstances, finding Sapphira dead carried her out and laid her by her husband.
154.
According to this incident what definition does Peter give for hypocrisy?
155.
What portion of Peters rebuke must have cut Ananias the deepest?
156.
How was this sin originated?
157.
What two surprises are present in this incident?
158.
Why was so stringent a punishment necessary?
159.
What was the immediate result of the discipline?
160.
Why was there such an immediate burial?
161.
How it is that Sapphira did not know of the death of her husband?
162.
How did Peter detect the guilt of the pair?
163.
What did Peter add to the rebuke of Sapphira that he did not include in the rebuke of Ananias?
Act. 5:11 The failure of the plot proved as propitious to the cause of Christ as its success would have been disastrous. And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all that heard these things. This fear was excited not merely by the sudden and awful fate of the guilty pair; but also by the evidence which the incident furnished of the heartsearching power which dwelt in the apostles. The disciples now had a better conception of the nature of apostolic inspiration and the unbelieving masses were awed into respect and reverence. (Ibid. p. 87).
164.
What did the death of these two add to the conception of the disciples?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(28) To do whatsoever thy hand. . . .The great problem of the relation of the divine purpose to mans free agency is stated (as before in Act. 1:16; Act. 2:23), without any attempt at a philosophical solution. No such solution is indeed possible. If we admit a Divine Will at all, manifesting itself in the government of the world, in the education of man kind, in the salvation of individual souls, we must follow the example of the Apostle, and hold both the facts of which consciousness and experience bear their witness, without seeking for a logical formula of reconciliation. In every fact of history, no less than in the great fact of which St. Peter speaks, the will of each agent is free, and he stands or falls by the part he has taken in it; and yet the outcome of the whole works out some law of evolution, some increasing purpose, which we recognise as we look back on the course of the events, the actors in which were impelled by their own base or noble aims, their self-interest or their self-devotion. As each man looks back on his own life he traces a sequence visiting him with a righteous retribution, and leading him, whether he obeyed the call, or resisted it, to a higher life, an education no less than a probation. Man proposes, God disposes. God works in us, therefore we must work. Aphorisms such as these are the nearest approximation we can make to a practical; though not a theoretical, solution of the great mystery.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. To do thy counsel Happily, most happily, the rage of all these elements is limited and mastered, though not inspired or impelled, by the God which made heaven, Act 4:24. Upon the rulers there is an Overruler. Here, as in Act 2:23, (on which see our notes,) the dividing line between the human side and the divine side is so exquisitely drawn that God as Overruler is not made author or predeterminer of man’s sin. “It is not said,” Limborch well remarks, “that these powers gathered to do what thy hand and counsel decreed that they should do, or should by them be done, but simply to be done. God decreed that his Son Jesus should redeem the human race by his own sacrificial death, and that the Christian Church should be led through crosses and sufferings to life eternal. To this end it was not necessary that God should by his own decree or providence determine and powerfully direct the wills of certain particular men that they should slay Jesus or persecute his followers. But inasmuch as the kingdoms and powers of this world are, without divine prevention, in the hands of the wicked, to their power he simply leaves his Son. The very piety of Jesus and his followers becomes an incitement to men’s free voluntary malice, so that of their own wicked wills they accomplish the divine counsel of the sacrifice of Jesus, although God has neither foreordained their actions by his decree nor secured them by his providence.” And this distinction, we may add, is so carefully drawn by the disciples as to be plainly intentional. (See note on Act 2:23.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
Ver. 28. For to do whatsoever, &c. ] Divinum consilium dum devitatur, impletur. Humana sapientia dum reluctatur, comprehenditur. (Greg.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
28 .] There is an ellipsis in the thought between and : , ( , , ) As De Wette well remarks, ) is used subjectively , ‘they were collected, to do,’ and then the speaker changes his ground to an objective one in (as they believed but really ) as many things as Thy hand, &c.
must not be rendered, with Kuinoel, ‘ita ut facerent.’ It does not express the result , but the intention , of their assembling. Still worse is it to take with , ‘Whom Thou hast anointed, to do,’ &c., as some have proposed: the parenthesis, as well as the whole train of thought, forbidding it.
. . ] not a (Kuinoel): indicates the Power , the Wisdom of God. The Wisdom decreed, the Hand performed: but the same word is used of both by what grammarians call zeugma as in , 1Co 3:2 . See Winer, edn. 6, 66. 2, e.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 4:28 . , infinitive of purpose, see on Act 3:2 ; but even this purpose was overruled by God to the accomplishment of His will, cf. Luk 22:22 ; Luk 24:26 , , Oecum. , a common expression to signify the controlling power of God, cf. in the N.T. (peculiar to St. Luke’s Gospel and the Acts) the phrases , Luk 1:66 , Act 11:21 ; Act 13:11 . : only used by St. Luke, cf. Luk 7:30 , Act 2:23 ; Act 13:36 ; Act 20:27 . : only in St. Luke and St. Paul, but never in LXX or Apocrypha, Rom 8:29-30 , 1Co 2:7 , Eph 1:5 ; Act 1:11 , but the thought which it contains is in striking harmony with St. Peter’s words elsewhere; cf. Act 2:23 , Act 10:42 , and 1Pe 1:2 ; 1Pe 1:20 ; 1Pe 2:4-6 see above on Peter’s speeches cf. Ignat., Ephes. , tit. connected with . by Zeugma, since only directly suits the verb; cf. 1Co 3:2 , and Luk 1:64 . (The two verses (Act 4:27-28 ) are referred by Hilgenfeld to the “author to Theophilus”. In his view there is a want of fitness in introducing into the Church’s prayer the words of the Psalm, and their reference to the closing scenes of the life of Jesus; he thinks with Weiss that in the of Act 4:29 there is quite sufficient reference to the words of the Psalm.)
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Acts
OBEDIENT DISOBEDIENCE
Act 4:19 – Act 4:31
The only chance for persecution to succeed is to smite hard and swiftly. If you cannot strike, do not threaten. Menacing words only give courage. The rulers betrayed their hesitation when the end of their solemn conclave was but to ‘straitly threaten’; and less heroic confessors than Peter and John would have disregarded the prohibition as mere wind. None the less the attitude of these two Galilean fishermen is noble and singular, when their previous cowardice is remembered. This first collision with civil authority gives, as has been already noticed, the main lines on which the relations of the Church to hostile powers have proceeded.
I. The heroic refusal of unlawful obedience.
This first instance of persecution is made the occasion for the clear expression of the great principles which are to guide the Church. The answer falls into two parts, in the first of which the limits of obedience to civil authority are laid down in a perfectly general form to which even the Council are expected to assent, and in the second an irresistible compulsion to speak is boldly alleged as driving the two Apostles to a flat refusal to obey.
It was a daring stroke to appeal to the Council for an endorsement of the principle in Act 4:19 , but the appeal was unanswerable; for this tribunal had no other ostensible reason for existence than to enforce obedience to the law of God, and to Peter’s dilemma only one reply was possible. But it rested on a bold assumption, which was calculated to irritate the court; namely, that there was a blank contradiction between their commands and God’s, so that to obey the one was to disobey the other. When that parting of the ways is reached, there remains no doubt as to which road a religious man must take.
The limits of civil obedience are clearly drawn. It is a duty, because ‘the powers that be are ordained of God,’ and obedience to them is obedience to Him. But if they, transcending their sphere, claim obedience which can only be rendered by disobedience to Him who has appointed them, then they are no longer His ministers, and the duty of allegiance falls away. But there must be a plain conflict of commands, and we must take care lest we substitute whims and fancies of our own for the injunctions of God. Peter was not guided by his own conceptions of duty, but by the distinct precept of his Master, which had bid him speak. It is not true that it is the cause which makes the martyr, but it is true that many good men have made themselves martyrs needlessly. This principle is too sharp a weapon to be causelessly drawn and brandished. Only an unmistakable opposition of commandments warrants its use; and then, he has little right to be called Christ’s soldier who keeps the sword in the scabbard.
The articulate refusal in Act 4:20 bases itself on the ground of irrepressible necessity: ‘We cannot but speak.’ The immediate application was to the facts of Christ’s life, death, and glory. The Apostles could not help speaking of these, both because to do so was their commission, and because the knowledge of them and of their importance forbade silence. The truth implied is of wide reach. Whoever has a real, personal experience of Christ’s saving power, and has heard and seen Him, will be irresistibly impelled to impart what he has received. Speech is a relief to a full heart. The word, concealed in the prophet’s heart, burned there ‘like fire in his bones, and he was weary of forbearing.’ So it always is with deep conviction. If a man has never felt that he must speak of Christ, he is a very imperfect Christian. The glow of his own heart, the pity for men who know Him not, his Lord’s command, all concur to compel speech. The full river cannot be dammed up.
II. The lame and impotent conclusion of the perplexed Council.
III. The Church’s answer to the first assault of the world’s power.
The prayer of the Church was probably the inspired outpouring of one voice, and all the people said ‘Amen,’ and so made it theirs. Whose voice it was which thus put into words the common sentiment we should gladly have known, but need not speculate. The great fact is that the Church answered threats by prayer. It augurs healthy spiritual life when opposition and danger neither make cheeks blanch with fear nor flush with anger. No man there trembled nor thought of vengeance, or of repaying threats with threats. Every man there instinctively turned heavenwards, and flung himself, as it were, into God’s arms for protection. Prayer is the strongest weapon that a persecuted Church can use. Browning makes a tyrant say, recounting how he had tried to crush a man, that his intended victim
‘Stood erect, caught at God’s skirts, and prayed,
So I was afraid.’
Their courage is strikingly marked by their petition. All they ask is ‘boldness’ to speak a word which shall not be theirs, but God’s. Fear would have prayed for protection; passion would have asked retribution on enemies. Christian courage and devotion only ask that they may not shrink from their duty, and that the word may be spoken, whatever becomes of the speakers. The world is powerless against men like that. Would the Church of to-day meet threats with like unanimity of desire for boldness in confession? If not, it must be because it has not the same firm hold of the Risen Lord which these first believers had. The truest courage is that which is conscious of its weakness, and yet has no thought of flight, but prays for its own increase.
We may observe, too, the body of belief expressed in the prayer. First it lays hold on the creative omnipotence of God, and thence passes to the recognition of His written revelation. The Church has begun to learn the inmost meaning of the Old Testament, and to find Christ there. David may not have written the second Psalm. Its attribution to him by the Church stands on a different level from Christ’s attribution of authorship, as, for instance, of the hundred and tenth Psalm. The prophecy of the Psalm is plainly Messianic, however it may have had a historical occasion in some forgotten revolt against some Davidic king; and, while the particular incidents to which the prayer alludes do not exhaust its far-reaching application, they are rightly regarded as partly fulfilling it. Herod is a ‘king of the earth,’ Pilate is a ‘ruler’; Roman soldiers are Gentiles; Jewish rulers are the representatives of ‘the people.’ Jesus is ‘God’s Anointed.’ The fact that such an unnatural and daring combination of rebels was predicted in the Psalm bears witness that even that crime at Calvary was foreordained to come to pass, and that God’s hand and counsel ruled. Therefore all other opposition, such as now threatened, will turn out to be swayed by that same Mighty Hand, to work out His counsel. Why, then, should the Church fear? If we can see God’s hand moving all things, terror is dead for us, and threats are like the whistling of idle wind.
Mark, too, the strong expression of the Church’s dependence on God. ‘Lord’ here is an unusual word, and means ‘Master,’ while the Church collectively is called ‘Thy servants,’ or properly, ‘slaves.’ It is a different word from that of ‘servant’ rather than ‘child’ applied to Jesus in Act 4:27 – Act 4:30 . God is the Master, we are His ‘slaves,’ bound to absolute obedience, unconditional submission, belonging to Him, not to ourselves, and therefore having claims on Him for such care as an owner gives to his slaves or his cattle. He will not let them be maltreated nor starved. He will defend them and feed them; but they must serve him by life, and death if need be. Unquestioning submission and unreserved dependence are our duties. Absolute ownership and unshared responsibility for our well-being belong to Him.
Further, the view of Christ’s relationship to God is the same as occurs in other of the early chapters of the Acts. The title of ‘Thy holy Servant Jesus’ dwells on Christ’s office, rather than on His nature. Here it puts Him in contrast with David, also called ‘Thy servant.’ The latter was imperfectly what Jesus was perfectly. His complete realisation of the prophetic picture of the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah is emphasised by the adjective ‘holy,’ implying complete devotion or separation to the service of God, and unsullied, unlimited moral purity. The uniqueness of His relation in this aspect is expressed by the definite article in the original. He is the Servant, in a sense and measure all His own. He is further the Anointed Messiah. This was the Church’s message to Israel and the stay of its own courage, that Jesus was the Christ, the Anointed and perfect Servant of the Lord, who was now in heaven, reigning there. All that this faith involved had not yet become clear to their consciousness, but the Spirit was guiding them step by step into all the truth; and what they saw and heard, not only in the historical facts of which they were the witnesses, but in the teaching of that Spirit, they could not but speak.
The answer came swift as the roll of thunder after lightning. They who ask for courage to do God’s will and speak Christ’s name have never long to wait for response. The place ‘was shaken,’ symbol of the effect of faithful witness-bearing, or manifestation of the power which was given in answer to their prayer. ‘They were all filled with the Holy Ghost,’ who now did not, as before, confer ability to speak with other tongues, but wrought no less worthily in heartening and fitting them to speak ‘in their own tongue, wherein they were born,’ in bold defiance of unlawful commands.
The statement of the answer repeats the petition verbatim: ‘With all boldness they spake the word.’ What we desire of spiritual gifts we get, and God moulds His replies so as to remind us of our petitions, and to show by the event that these have reached His ear and guided His giving hand.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
counsel. App-102. Compare Act 2:23.
determined before. Greek. proorizo. Generally translated “predestinate”. See Rom 8:29, Rom 8:30; 1Co 2:7. Eph 1:5, Eph 1:11.
to be done. Figure of speech Hypo-zeugma (Zeugma. App-6). As “hand” could not determine.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
28.] There is an ellipsis in the thought between and : , ( , , ) As De Wette well remarks, ) is used subjectively, they were collected, to do, and then the speaker changes his ground to an objective one in -(as they believed-but really) as many things as Thy hand, &c.
must not be rendered, with Kuinoel, ita ut facerent. It does not express the result, but the intention, of their assembling. Still worse is it to take with , Whom Thou hast anointed, to do, &c., as some have proposed: the parenthesis, as well as the whole train of thought, forbidding it.
. . ] not a (Kuinoel): indicates the Power, the Wisdom of God. The Wisdom decreed, the Hand performed: but the same word is used of both by what grammarians call zeugma-as in , 1Co 3:2. See Winer, edn. 6, 66. 2, e.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 4:28. , to do) They could not do more, though they wished it. Construe this with, were gathered together, not with, Thou hast anointed: for the subject of the verb to do are the enemies gathered together, concerning whom the prediction had been given. Comp. ch. Act 2:23, Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God: Act 3:18.-, whatsoever things) not fewer things, but not more.- , Thy hand and Thy counsel) The order of the words is worthy of observation. The hand of God is felt sooner than His counsel. His power and His wisdom are meant.-) determined before.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
determined
Predestination, trans. predestinated. Rom 8:29; Act 4:28; Eph 1:5; Eph 1:11.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
to do: Act 2:23, Act 3:18, Act 13:27-29, Gen 50:20, Psa 76:10, Mat 26:24, Mat 26:54, Luk 22:22, Luk 24:44-46, 1Pe 2:7, 1Pe 2:8
and: Job 12:13, Pro 21:30, Isa 5:19, Isa 28:29, Isa 40:13, Isa 46:10, Isa 53:10, Eph 1:11, Heb 6:17
Reciprocal: Gen 37:8 – reign over us Exo 14:3 – Pharaoh Lev 16:9 – upon which Deu 31:21 – I know 2Sa 24:1 – moved 1Ki 12:15 – the cause 1Ki 16:7 – because he killed him 2Ki 19:25 – Hast thou not 2Ch 10:15 – the cause 2Ch 22:11 – she slew him not 2Ch 25:16 – determined Job 1:21 – taken away Psa 17:13 – thy Psa 33:11 – The counsel Psa 35:3 – stop Psa 86:14 – assemblies Psa 94:21 – gather Pro 19:21 – nevertheless Ecc 3:14 – whatsoever Ecc 5:8 – matter Isa 14:24 – Surely Isa 23:9 – Lord Isa 37:26 – how I Isa 45:7 – I make Peace Isa 46:11 – the man Jer 25:28 – Ye Jer 49:20 – the counsel Jer 50:45 – hear Dan 4:35 – and he Dan 11:36 – for Amo 3:6 – shall there Hab 3:14 – they Zec 6:1 – and the Mat 8:32 – Go Mat 20:18 – and the Mat 21:38 – This Mat 27:62 – the chief priests Mar 9:31 – The Son Mar 11:27 – the chief Luk 9:44 – for Luk 19:14 – General Luk 23:11 – Herod Luk 24:20 – General Joh 3:14 – even Joh 11:47 – gathered Joh 19:11 – Thou Act 12:4 – intending Act 13:29 – when Rom 3:25 – set forth Rom 9:19 – Why doth 2Co 13:8 – General Eph 1:9 – purposed Phm 1:15 – General Rev 17:13 – shall Rev 17:17 – God hath
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8
Act 4:28. They did not do this planning for the purpose of carrying out the work of God, for they were enemies of Him. The statement means that their schemes were what God had aforetime determined should be done. But although their work was according to the plans of God, they were not justified, for their motive was wicked throughout.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 4:28. To do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. These important words must be connected closely with the foregoing clause, thus: Herod and Pontius Pilate, etc., were gathered together to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done. Meyer well observes here: The Lords death was not the chance work of arbitrary hate, but, on the contrary, the necessary result of the Divine purpose, which must use mans free acts as its instrument. The words of cumenius are to the same purpose: They came together as enemies; but they were doing what Thou didst plan. Leo I. writes on this difficult question: The Lord did not direct the hands of those raging ones against Himself, but He allowed them to be so directed; nor did He, by His foreknowledge of what would be done, oblige it to be done; nor did He require them to will these things; but He gave them power (so to will) if they pleased. Wordsworths three great principles which he lays down as not to be lost sight of in discussions on this and similar texts, are admirable:
(1.) That God is the one great First Cause.
(2.) That He wills that all should act according to the law which He has given them.
(3.) That it is His will that mans will should be free.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes on verse 23
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 28
We observe that the apostles constantly gather strength and encouragement, in all their trials, from the reflection that every event that takes place, is only the fulfilment of God’s predetermined plan. However great the philosophical difficulty involved in it, they clearly believed that his sovereign purposes cover and control even those events which are accomplished by crime. This belief, in the decided form in which they held and expressed it, appears very obviously to be the foundation of the undaunted courage, and boundless confidence in God, which they displayed.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
4:28 For to {m} do whatsoever {n} thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
(m) The wicked execute God’s counsel, even though they think nothing of it, but they are not therefore without fault.
(n) You had determined by your absolute authority and power.