Seeing God's New Testament Economy in the Book of Acts - Part 1 of 2

     The book of Acts closes with weakness and compromise.  How did that happen?  Witness Lee points out in Chapter 65 of the  Life Study of Acts that the boldness Peter and John showed in Acts 2-5 changed.

     Soon after the apostle Paul returned from his third journey to the Gentile world, he went up to Jerusalem to visit the leading brothers in the church in Jerusalem.  In their conversation James boasts about the thousands of Jews in Jerusalem that are keeping the law of Moses  (Acts 21:20) and then he charges Paul with apostasy from the law of Moses (Acts 21:21).  In order to fix it, James told Paul he had to join some others in a Nazarite vow.

     Before I read these chapters from the Life-Study of Acts I didn’t get what was going on in this part of Acts.  Here's a helpful excerpt on page 489: 

In chapter twenty-one of Acts we see that James and the elders in Jerusalem had formed a mixture of God’s New Testament economy with the Old Testament dispensation.  Actually James and the elders were even promoting this mixture.  Of course, they did not neglect faith in Christ, but there was a religious mixture in Jerusalem.  We all need to have a clear understanding of this (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Acts. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1985, Print). 

    At first I didn’t get the importance of this.  In these chapters Witness Lee underscores the things that  should have been read flags to Peter and John when Judaism started to pervade the early church life in Acts.  He points out in this chapter that when the Lord was transfigured, God stopped  Peter when he made a proposal to build a tent for Moses (who represented the Old Testament law) and Elijah (who represented the Old Testament prophets).  And God’s own word to them was:  This is My beloved Son, hear Him! 

      Not only did they forget that speaking, but it's almost like everyone forgot the great commission at the end of Matthew on discipling all the nations, and  the Lord's own word in Acts 1:8  before His ascension on their being His witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth.  

     Witness Lee points out that Peter and John didn't say anything to counter what was going on, and Paul who was personally sent by God to preach the gospel to the Gentiles seems to have lost his boldness because of his own Jewish background. That only left God with one alternative and that was to intervene Himself and cause an uproar to occur (v. 27) to stop Paul from fulfilling that Nazarite vow. Why this uproar was extremely important will be the subject of my last post on Acts. 

Blog update 5-22-13:  You can order your free copy of The Economy of God from Bibles for America. 

You can listen to excerpts from the Life Study of Acts along with excellent commentary by tuning into the Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.

Other Blogs on the Life Study of Acts:

In the Book of Acts What is Christ Doing in Ascension?
What Does the Early Church Look Like in the Book of Acts?
According to Acts 5:31 What is the Lord Doing as the Ruler of the Earth?
How Did the Lord Spread the Gospel in Acts 8?
What Vision Did Saul Have at His Conversion in Acts 9:3-8?
How Does the Gospel Reach the Gentiles in Acts 10?
How is Acts a Book on God's Move & Prayer?
Seeing God's Move & Satan's Frustration in Acts 14
Prayer, the Spirit, & the Word - The Way the Lord Carries out His Work in the Book of Acts
Seeing God's New Testament Economy in the Book of Acts - Part 1 of 2 
Seeing God's New Testament Economy in the Book of Acts - Part 2 of 2