In Acts 12:23-24, God deals with Herod Agrippa I who was responsible for the death of Apostle James and the imprisonment of Apostle Peter. All of this was done to placate the Jews. I suggest you go back and listen to the entire study of Acts 12 on Spotify (Five Minutes in the Word)! I found it interesting that two historians have completely different versions of death of Agrippa. Josephus says that Agrippa saw an owl sitting over his head, which he recognized as a messenger of evil to him. Eusebius, quoting Josephus Eccl. Hist.,' 2. 10.), leaves out the owl, and says that Agrippa saw an angel sitting over his head, whom he recognized as the cause of his sufferings. (Pulpit Commentary) Jews believed that owls are bringing messages of bad news. They also believe that an angel is assigned to each person Again, this is interesting because Agrippa was a Jew! Herod knew the word and worship of the living God. But he accepted idolatrous honors without rebuking the blasphemy.
Acts 2. On the day of Pentecost, the rushing mighty wind and the tongues, as of fire, accompanied the true gift – being filled with the Holy Spirit . In response to the filling of the Holy Spirit, those present (not only the twelve apostles) began to speak with other tongues. These were languages that they were never taught, and they spoke these languages, speaking as the Spirit gave them utterance. People from Galilee (Galileans) were known to be uncultured and poor speakers. This was all the more reason to be impressed with their ability to speak eloquently in other languages. “Galileans had difficulty pronouncing gutturals and had the habit of swallowing syllables when speaking; so they were looked down upon by the people of Jerusalem as being provincial” (Longenecker). This makes me think of my Dad. He had a speech impediment, until he began preaching! When he got up to preach, his speech was excellent. But, he still could not sing. Th...
Acts 2. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost marks the official inauguration of the new covenant and serves as a witness to the nation of Israel. The Church’s reception of the Holy Spirit, preaching, and sudden growth testify to the reality of Christ’s resurrection and His ongoing reign. It was when the day of Pentecost was fully come, that is, the night preceding, with a part of the day, was fully past. This was a Jewish feast held 50 days after Passover. It celebrates the first fruits of the wheat harvest. It was now 10 days after the time Jesus ascended to heaven (Acts 1:3); Jesus had commanded them to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost came down at the time of a solemn feast; there was then a great crowd of people to Jerusalem from all parts of the country, and the proselytes from other countries, which would make it the more public, and the fame of it to be spread the sooner and further, which would contribute much to the propagating of the gospel i...
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