Commentary on Acts 13:1

By Bob Myhan

¹Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

The scene shifts back to Antioch of Syria, inasmuch as it will soon become the base for the missionary journeys of Paul. But perhaps it would be good to consider the history and development of the prophetic office.

Again, a prophet is not necessarily a foreteller of the future but is a forth teller of God’s will. That is, he tells forth what God has given him to speak, which may or may not involve future events. Interestingly, Abraham is the first person to be identified as a prophet (Gen. 20:7). Rather than foretelling future, Abraham communicated to others what God had spoken to him.

The second person identified as a prophet is Aaron, brother of Moses. (Ex. 7:1). God told Moses what to say and Moses communicated this to Aaron who relayed it to Pharaoh.

Seventy elders prophesied briefly while the Israelites were in the wilderness.

So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again. But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, "Moses my lord, forbid them!" Then Moses said to him, "Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the LORD'S people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!" (Num. 11:24-29)

Because there would be a long line of prophets in Israel, God gave to the people two tests of a true prophet.

"If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods'--which you have not known--'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.” (Deut. 13:1-5)

“’But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.' And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?'-- when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” (Deut. 18:20-22)

There were many prophets in Israel during the Old Testament period and not all of them are named. Some worked in conjunction with good kings while others worked in opposition to evil kings. The prophets served two purposes: to bring Israel and/or Judah to repentance and to let them know that God will one day send a deliverer who will set up a kingdom that will not be exclusively for Israelites. Some were writing prophets. There are seventeen prophetic books in the Old Testament—the five major prophets and the twelve minor prophets. Moses, too, was a prophet but not just a prophet. He was also the great lawgiver. Two kings—David and Solomon—were also prophets, in that they wrote inspired literature.

(To be continued)

A Study of the Holy Spirit (Part 3)

By Bob Myhan 

What God called into existence was initially formless, empty and dark. But the creation was not complete. Man could not have survived at this point. Genesis 1:1 records the fiat creation of undifferentiated matter, while verse 2 records the consequence of the creative act, as well as the readiness of the Holy Spirit to organize the formless mass into a cohesive whole by a process one might call “differentiation.”

In verses 3-10, we see Him differentiating between light and darkness, between the upper and lower waters and between the lower waters and the dry land. Then, in verses 11-13, we see that on the third day He differentiated the earth, the grass, the herbs, the seed, the fruit and trees. Having formed the earth and having filled it with vegetation, He then puts lights in the firmament in order to give man a natural means for measuring time and seasons (verses 14-19). In verses 20-22, He creates fish and fowl and differentiates them as to their very natures. Not only does each have its own habitat but neither can survive in that of the other.

Finally, in verses 23-31, He creates all earthbound creatures including man, who alone was created “in the image of God.” Man is thus differentiated from all other creatures not only outwardly, but inwardly. Man alone is “the upward looking one” (Greek, anthropos, from which comes “anthropology”); only man looks upward to his Creator. Unfortunately, not all men do so.

Consider the logical order in which the various kingdoms were created.

1. The mineral kingdom—consisting of all elements, whether solid, liquid or gas—was created first.

2. The vegetable kingdom—consisting of all plant life—was created second.

3. The animal kingdom—including man—was created third and last. Man is the crown of God’s creation.

Consider the process of nourishment.

1. When water enters the soil the minerals and nutrients in the soil are broken down into a soil solution.

2. Plants absorb this soil solution of water, minerals and nutrients.

3. Animals obtain minerals and nutrients by eating the plants. In this way, God provides for the growth and the development of His creatures (Gen. 1:30; Matt. 6:26; Psalm 104:21).

Because the seed of everything is in itself, there is no need for God to create things now. What began by creation continues by procreation, according to the physical laws of reproduction.

The members of the Godhead had these same respective roles in the spiritual creation, the church—the Father initiated, Jesus executed and the Spirit completed. (Eph. 1:3-14; 3:8-12; John 16:13; Acts 1:5-8; 1 Cor. 2:9-12)

The Father initiated His eternal purpose, by planning it; the Son executed the eternal purpose by His incarnation, life and death (the facts of the gospel); and the Holy Spirit completed the eternal purpose by organizing the facts into a cohesive whole in the minds of the apostles, and by enabling them to proclaim the gospel and confirm it as truth. (Acts 2:1-36)

While miraculous elements were of necessity involved in first century conversions, conviction and conversion are now accomplished according to laws of spiritual reproduction.

“The seed [of the kingdom] is the word of God.” (Luke 8:11) The soil is the human heart. (Luke 17:21) Thus, the seed of the kingdom must be “sown in the heart” (Matt. 13:18-23).

This does not necessitate a direct operation of the Holy Spirit, because we now have the written word of God. It is all that is necessary for the continuation of the church of our Lord on earth. Not only that, but the word of God is all that is needed for “the man of God” to “be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

Thus, the Holy Spirit continues His work by the instrumentation of the fully revealed, fully confirmed and fully preserved word of God.

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because "All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the LORD endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:22-25)

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 3)  

There is nothing more to be done in an individual, after he becomes a Christian, than can be done by the word of God.

(To be continued)