Conclusion
Chapter Three
Israel and the Gentiles: the kingdom and God’s promises of restoration
So far we have observed that the emphasis on the outworking of God’s saving promises in Acts is specifically describing the continued outworking of the inaugurated kingdom of God. In Acts the inaugurated kingdom of God is continued through the reign of the risen Christ, whose resurrection and exaltation demonstrate that the age to come and the hoped-for blessings of that age have already arrived. This chapter will now further develop this emphasis on the arrival of the blessings of the age to come by focusing on the fulfilment of God’s promises for the restoration of his people in Acts. We will examine those programmatic verses in the opening section of Acts where Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question says so much about how the narrative of Acts will proceed (1:6–8). We will then note the significance of Acts 2, 8, 13 and 15 as evidence that Luke is demonstrating in the narrative of Acts the outworking of God’s promises of restoration for his people.
Kingdom restoration and Israel? (Acts 1:6–8)
The promise of the Lord Jesus in Acts 1:8 that the disciples will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them and that they will be witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth is widely recognized as a programmatic introduction to the way the narrative of Acts unfolds. What is not so widely agreed upon, however, is the way this promise of Jesus relates to the question the disciples raise in 1:6 concerning Israel and the restoration of the kingdom. We will see that, in its context, this promise of the Lord Jesus provides more than a geographical outline for the narrative of Acts; it provides further evidence that Acts is about the inaugurated kingdom of God in this age. We will begin by placing the disciples’ question and Jesus’ answer in its immediate context before clarifying the relationship between the disciples’ question and Jesus’ answer to that question.
First, in terms of the immediate context, it should be noted that verse 6 is directly linked to the setting described in the previous verses with the conjunction oun, ‘therefore’ (‘so’ NIV). As we have already seen, in these verses the topic of discussion during the forty days between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension consisted of ‘many convincing proofs that he was alive’ and discussion about the kingdom of God. It was during this time in which the kingdom of God was the topic of discussion that Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for ‘the gift my Father promised’. This is the promise (as he reminded them of his own words) that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Thus we have in these few verses an emphasis on Jesus’ resurrection and his teaching to the disciples concerning the kingdom of God. More specifically, the focus narrows down to Jesus’ teaching his disciples concerning the ‘promise’ of the Father (a term that invites readers to understand the Spirit in terms of OT promises), the coming of the Holy Spirit in keeping with Jesus’ own words, and the location of this baptism as Jerusalem. It is because of this teaching concerning the nature of the kingdom of God (‘therefore’) that the disciples ask their question in verse 6.
Secondly then, sometimes Jesus’ answer in verses 7–8 is understood to be a discussion of something unrelated to the question raised by the disciples in verse 6. This is sometimes expressed in two opposing interpretations of this relationship between the disciples’ question and Jesus’ answer. (1) Jesus’ answer is sometimes understood as an implicit postponement of (though not disagreement with) what the disciples were supposedly looking for in verse 6. In this view the disciples are still looking for a kingdom dominated by blessing to national Israel. Jesus’ reply, however, speaks of events associated with the church age (i.e. the pouring out of the Holy Spirit and proclamation to the ends of the earth). Therefore, according to this view, Jesus redirects their attention to the immediate future, implying in his reference to times or dates that their Israelite concerns will be taken care of in the future.
(2) In contrast to the previous view, Jesus’ answer is sometimes understood as a rebuke to the disciples and therefore his answer is thought to be a change of topic to what the disciples were looking for. In this second view the disciples are entirely wrongheaded in still focusing on national Israel. They have misunderstood the universal emphasis of Jesus’ mission entirely and are still stuck with purely nationalistic and political views of the kingdom. Jesus’ reply, therefore, redirects their attention away from a national and political kingdom to a universal mission empowered by the Holy Spirit.
In both of these approaches Jesus’ answer changes the topic and does not directly answer the disciples’ question about the restoration of the kingdom and Israel. Either he talks of the church age while implicitly postponing a restoration of Israel to the future, or he talks of a universal mission empowered by the Holy Spirit in contrast to the disciples’ focus on purely national and political concerns for ethnic Israel. There are a number of indicators, however, that Jesus is in fact answering the disciples’ question and that the details of his answer in 1:8 relate to their question.
We will see below that Jesus rejects only the attempt to calculate the timing of the restoration rather than their interest in Israel and the kingdom. Jesus’ answer neither postpones that fulfilment to the distant future nor rejects such a prospect for the present. Although there are complex issues related to the timing of these plans and their full consummation, the inauguration of God’s kingdom, or the fulfilment of God’s saving promises for his people, are about to be worked out in the pouring out of the Holy Spirit and the declaration of Jesus’ reign in Jerusalem, Israel and beyond!
Evidence that Jesus is providing an answer to the disciples’ question regarding the restoration of the kingdom and Israel’s inclusion in that kingdom includes the following. First, in the immediate context it is Jesus’ forty-day instruction concerning the kingdom that leads to their question concerning the kingdom. It is unlikely, therefore, that Luke intends us to view the disciples as completely ignorant here. Secondly, Luke has already demonstrated the close tie between Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of God in verse 3 and Jesus’ teaching about the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in verses 4–5. It is likely, therefore, that Jesus is relating the two again when he refers to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in verse 8 in response to the disciples’ question about the kingdom in verse 6. Thirdly, Israel is in fact mentioned in Jesus’ reply. When Jesus refers to Jerusalem as well as to ‘all Judea and Samaria’, he is of course referring to Israel. Jerusalem was the religious capital of Israel, and the phrase ‘all Judea and Samaria’ was representative of the southern and northern kingdoms of Israel respectively. In the light of the division of Israel almost from the outset of its history under kings (Solomon being the last king to rule over a united Israel) and the prophetic hopes found in passages such as Ezekiel 37 for a united Israel, any talk of restoration would have to include some reference to the division between north and south known throughout much of Israel’s history. Fourthly, the language of ‘restoration’ in the disciples’ question recalls the promises and hopes of the OT for God’s people. It is the fulfilment of God’s OT promises for his people that Luke repeatedly highlights throughout Acts. We will now examine Jesus’ promise in verse 8, where OT promises of restoration are alluded to and which are programmatic for the narrative of Acts.
OT hopes for the blessing and transformation of God’s people are reflected in Jesus’ words ‘when the Holy Spirit comes on you’, ‘you will be my witnesses’ and ‘to the ends of the earth’. The language of Jesus in these three phrases reflects the wording of phrases in Isaiah that look forward to a coming salvation brought about by God and his (suffering) Servant. Though any one phrase on its own may not make a strong case for seeing the hopes of Isaiah here, the pervasive influence of Isaiah throughout Acts together with the combination of these three allusions to Isaiah indicate that the hopes of Isaiah are found here in Jesus’ words. The phrase ‘when the Holy Spirit comes on you’ reflects the wording of Isaiah 32:15. The context of Isaiah 32 refers to the end of the desolation of Judah and the coming of the new age with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit (cf. also Isa. 44:3–5). The phrase ‘you will be my witnesses’ reflects the wording of Isaiah 43:12. In the context of Isaiah 43 the people of God will be transformed and become witnesses to the salvation of God when the new age arrives (cf. also Isa. 44:8); they will know and believe that the Lord is the only Saviour. This transformation, of course, is in contrast to the way Israel is described in Isaiah 42:18–25 as deaf and blind. The phrase ‘to the ends of the earth’ reflects the wording of Isaiah 49:6. In Isaiah 49 a Servant who represents Israel (‘you are my servant, Israel’, 49:3), who is yet distinct from Israel in that he will restore Israel (49:5–6), will also include Gentiles in this restoration. Given the clear parallel in Isaiah 49:6 between ‘a light for the Gentiles’ and ‘salvation to the ends of the earth’, and the use of Isaiah 49:6 in Acts 13:47 to refer to ministry among Gentiles (cf. 13:46, 48), the phrase ‘to the ends of the earth’ in 1:8 refers also to the inclusion of Gentiles in this restoration program. What Jesus does then in his reply to the disciples is affirm that God’s promises of restoration are about to be fulfilled. As Pao correctly observes, Jesus’ reply includes ‘one city, two regions, and a reference to the Gentiles’ and therefore should be taken in ‘theopolitical terms’ and not merely as geographical markers. This sequence of restoration to Israel followed by the inclusion of Gentiles may also be found in Peter’s speech in Acts 3:26. Peter states that not only have all the prophets foretold these days, but God has also raised up his servant, the Lord Jesus, and has sent him to Israel ‘first’ to bless them in turning them from their wickedness.
Thus, in his reply to the disciples, Jesus does not reject their enquiry into God’s promises of restoration, whether in redirecting this hope to a distant future or in rebuking a nationalistic focus. He is, rather, affirming and clarifying their role in this restoration. As God has promised, this restoration will involve the enabling of God’s Holy Spirit, the transformation of God’s people who bear witness to the Saviour, and the inclusion of the nations. There are, of course, developments in this programme. Jesus is the one who will bring about this restoration (‘Lord, are you . . . going to restore the kingdom . . . ?’) and Jesus himself is the one who will be the object of the disciples’ witness (‘you will be my witnesses’, which places him in the position of the Lord God in Isaiah). Furthermore, the way that Gentiles will be included among God’s people has yet to be seen in the narrative of Acts. Nevertheless, the emphasis of Jesus’ words is on the fulfilment of God’s saving promises for his people. In the context of Jesus’ forty-day instruction and the disciples’ question concerning the kingdom, the fulfilment of these saving promises will characterize the outworking of the inaugurated kingdom of God. Acts 1:8 then is the programmatic verse for how the narrative of Acts will unfold.
Pentecost and ‘all Israel’ (Acts 2)
In Acts 1 the kingdom of God has been related to the ongoing reign of Christ, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, the people of Israel and the disciples’ role in the outworking of the promises of God. In Acts 2 these themes continue and are related together in further clarity. The question raised after the events of Pentecost ‘What does this mean?’ (2:12–13) becomes the launching pad for Peter’s lengthy explanation concerning the significance of these events. As we have observed already, the enthronement and reign of Jesus is the primary focus of Acts 2. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit is evidence of his resurrection and reign on the Davidic throne (2:30–33) and his authority as Lord at the right hand of God (2:33–36). Although we will focus more specifically on the role of the Holy Spirit in the next chapter, we will note here that these themes of Jesus’ lordship and his pouring out of the Holy Spirit are also placed within the framework, introduced in Acts 1, of Israel’s restoration in fulfilment of God’s saving promises.
In his description of what takes place in the pouring out of the Spirit and the speaking of various languages in 2:1–13, Luke repeatedly highlights a comprehensive picture of Israel gathered together at Pentecost. In verse 5 he states that there were Jews from ‘every nation under heaven’! Then Luke proceeds in verses 9–11 to give a comprehensive list of all those who heard these Galileans declaring the wonders of God in their own native languages. When we note not only the comprehensiveness of the list but also the geographical locations of those listed, we see that Luke is highlighting the arrival of Jews from far and wide. Visually, the map on p. 111 from The NIV Study Bible of ‘Countries of People Mentioned at Pentecost’ highlights nicely the arrival of Jews from the east, west, north, south and even those from the islands in the sea (Crete) and the distant peoples on the outskirts (Arabia), all to Jerusalem – the centre of this world. He even makes sure to note that those from Rome were both Jews and converts to Judaism (2:11). It is as if everyone associated with Israel from the four corners of the earth is here. The comprehensiveness of this description and the emphasis on the return of Jews from all directions highlights one of the expectations for the last days, that the exiles would return and Israel would be restored.
Further evidence that a ‘last days’ restoration of Israel is taking place here comes in Peter’s explanation in 2:14–36 answering the question ‘What does this mean?’ (2:12). Throughout his explanation Peter continues this emphasis on the comprehensiveness of Israel in the way he addresses the audience. Note the following:
2:14
‘People of Judea and all of you who live in Jerusalem. . .’
2:22
‘People of Israel. . .’
2:36
‘Therefore let all the house of Israel know. . .’
Peter’s opening reference to ‘Judea and Jerusalem’ recalls the words of the Lord Jesus in 1:8 concerning the first stage of the restoration programme. The comprehensive references to the ‘people of Israel’, and especially the climactic and emphatic reference to ‘all the house of Israel’ in Peter’s concluding words, recall the disciples’ question in 1:6 concerning Israel as well as the comprehensive picture of the gathering of all Israel already provided by Luke in the immediately preceding verses (2:5–11). Richard Bauckham’s study on the restoration of Israel in Luke-Acts also draws attention to the references to Jews ‘from every nation under heaven’ (Acts 2:5) and the concluding reference in Peter’s sermon to ‘the whole house of Israel’ (Acts 2:36) as evidence for the restoration of Israel. He particularly notes the concentrated use of the term ‘the whole house of Israel’ in Ezekiel 37, where it is associated with
the reunification of the southern and northern tribes and their restoration to the land (37:15–22), the giving of God’s Spirit to revive and restore his people (37:14; 39:29), and the rule of the new David (37:24–25). Accordingly, in Acts 2 Israelites from the whole diaspora return to God (‘repent’: Acts 2:38) and receive from the Davidic Messiah, enthroned in heaven, the promised gift of the Spirit (Acts 2:33, 38–39).
Bauckham concludes that the phrase ‘the whole house of Israel’ is ‘a term which naturally encompasses all twelve tribes, in the diaspora as well as in Jerusalem, and which readily suggests restoration (Ezek. 20:40; 36:10; 37:11, 16; 39:25; 45:6)’.
Final confirmation that the events of Pentecost are meant to be understood within the framework of the fulfilment of God’s promises for the end-time restoration of his people comes at the very beginning of Peter’s explanation. After stating that ‘this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel’, Peter notably adjusts the opening words of his quotation from Joel. In place of the general introductory wording found in Joel 2:28, ‘and afterwards I will pour out my Spirit’, Peter states, ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit.’ Thus in Acts the quotation from Joel is specifically related to God’s end-time promises of blessing for his people (the implications of the universal note in Joel and in Peter’s sermon are, of course, developed later in the narrative of Acts). The answer then to the question ‘What does this mean?’ is that Jesus is Lord and his enthronement as the Davidic King has ushered in the last days, the new age of the Spirit, in fulfilment of God’s ancient promises for his people. Israel is being restored, the exiles are returning to God and the promised age of the Spirit is here because Jesus is Lord and is reigning even now from the right hand of the Father!
Samaria and the restoration of Israel (Acts 8:1–25)
Having focused on the restoration plan of God in Jerusalem and Judea in Acts 1 – 7, Luke then focuses attention on Samaria in Acts 8. That Luke has a particular interest in Samaria may be seen in the number of references to Samaritans throughout Luke-Acts. Here in 8:1–25 references to Samaria or Samaritans occur in 8:1, 5, 9, 14 and 25.
The background to the relationship between Jews and Samaritans goes back to 1 Kings 12 (see esp. vv. 16–20) and the rebellion of the northern kingdom against the house of David, Jerusalem and Judea. Omri built the city of Samaria (1 Kgs 16:24) and it became the capital of the northern kingdom. The end of the northern kingdom eventually came (2 Kgs 17) when, following the capture of Samaria and the exile of the northern kingdom of Israel to Assyria (2 Kgs 17:5–23), the king of Assyria ‘brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites’ (2 Kgs 17:24). Later, in order to keep them from being judged by the Lord, the king of Assyria sent a priest back to Samaria to teach them how to worship the Lord (17:25–28). Although they ‘worshipped the Lord’, they also ‘served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought’ (17:33; cf. 17:29–41).
Moving closer to the time of the NT, in intertestamental times the Samaritans sought permission from Alexander the Great to build a temple on Mount Gerazim, denounced the Jews when Antiochus Epiphanes persecuted them, and dedicated their temple to Zeus – not exactly a high point in the biblical faithfulness of the northern kingdom! The Jewish Maccabean ruler John Hyrcanus destroyed the temple in approximately 128 BC and later destroyed the city of Samaria in approximately 108 BC. Herod the Great rebuilt the city of Samaria but renamed it Sebaste in honour of Caesar Augustus in 27 BC. So, leading up to this time, relationships were not exactly friendly between Jews and Samaritans. Samaritans were viewed as the descendants of Jeroboam’s rebellion against the house of David in Judah and Jerusalem (1 Kgs 12:16–20) who set up a second monarchy, and continued this trend as religious compromisers characterized by the syncretistic worship of the Lord and the gods of the nations (2 Kgs 17). There is little surprise then in Luke 17:18 that the Samaritan, as the only one who returns to give thanks to Jesus for being healed of leprosy, is called a ‘foreigner’. Although they are not called Gentiles in the NT, they are nevertheless grouped with Gentiles and viewed as outside God’s covenant people. The ultimate insult from the Jews to Jesus in John 8:48 appears to be that ‘you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed’.
Nevertheless, there remained the prophetic hope expressed in Ezekiel 37 that the restoration of Israel, described in terms of a resurrection with the presence of God’s Spirit in verses 1–14, would involve a restoration of the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel in verses 15–27. This restoration would be characterized by a gathering of Israelites from the nations where they had gone (v. 21) and a reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms under one king (v. 22). In keeping with God’s covenant promises that they will be his people and he will be their God (vv. 23, 26–27), they will be united under a Davidic King (vv. 24–25) and God will dwell among them (vv. 26–28). Thus, although they had not been under one king since Solomon, there was hope that one day great David would have a greater son who would reign over a restored people of God united under his rule.
Luke-Acts has particularly emphasized the Davidic descent of Jesus and his rule in fulfilment of the hope for a descendant of David to rule for ever (Luke 1:32–33; 2:1–12). This is especially highlighted in Acts 2, where the pouring out of the Spirit is evidence that this hope has been fulfilled in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus to rule at the right hand of the Father (cf. Acts 2:30–36). Given the emphasis on the resurrection of Jesus, the pouring out of the Spirit in Jerusalem and the response of ‘all the house of Israel’ in Acts 2, expectations ought to arise regarding the promises for the northern kingdom (i.e. as found in Ezekiel). These expectations have steadily built throughout Luke’s Gospel with references to Samaritan responses to Jesus, and continue with Jesus’ reference to ‘all Judea and Samaria’ in the programmatic statement in Acts 1:8. When read in the light of these eschatological hopes, it becomes clearer that the reference to Samaria in 1:8 is more than a geographical reference regarding the next stage of the spread of the gospel. It undoubtedly includes that geographical element, but it is more than that: it is the continued outworking of the fulfilment of God’s saving promises for his people.
When we come to the events that take place in Acts 8, it is likely that the introduction to this section concerning the persecution that led to the scattering of the disciples ‘throughout Judea and Samaria’ deliberately recalls Jesus’ words in 1:8 concerning ‘all Judea and Samaria’. At the outset of the events in Acts 8 there is an interesting textual variant in Acts 8:5. Although some versions read that Philip went down to ‘a city in Samaria’ (NIV, TNIV, HCSB, RSV), most commentators recognize that there is stronger textual evidence for translating this as ‘the city of Samaria’ with a definite article rather than an indefinite article. The perceived difficulty with this textual evidence, however, is that there was no city called ‘Samaria’ at that time (as noted above, Herod had renamed it Sebaste in 27 BC). Thus it is thought that the sense of the verse should be ‘a city in Samaria’. Given the weight of the textual evidence as the correct reading, however, the translation ‘the city of Samaria’ should stand. Pao is probably correct, therefore, to suggest that Luke is referring to the capital city as it was known in OT times and thus recalling the city of Samaria as symbolic of the northern kingdom.
The emphasis on Samaria as a collective term, however, is maintained throughout this account. Thus, following an emphasis on the widespread influence of Simon and his sorcery upon the people of Samaria as a whole in 8:9–11, Luke notes in a blanket statement that ‘Samaria had accepted the word of God’ (8:14). On the one hand, this highlights the power of the gospel to transform lives and confirms the validity of the message Philip preached (cf. 8:12). Nevertheless, as Pao also correctly observes, ‘This blanket statement concerning the conversion of an entire city or region appears only here in the narrative of Acts; and this peculiar fact can only be understood when the symbolic value of the name “Samaria” is recognised.’ Thus (1) prophetic hopes for the inclusion of the northern kingdom under the reign of the coming Davidic King, (2) the focus in Luke-Acts on the Davidic reign of the Lord Jesus and the fulfilment of God’s end-time promises, and (3) the emphasis on the acceptance of the word in Samaria as a whole in Acts 8:4–25 all indicate that God’s saving promises for his people are continuing to be fulfilled in the inclusion of Samaria under the reign of the Davidic King Jesus in Acts 8.
Outcasts and the restoration of Israel (Acts 8:26–40)
In the narrative of Acts to this point there has been an emphasis on the fulfilment of God’s saving promises in the rebuilding of the Davidic kingdom through the ascension of the Lord Jesus to the throne of David (2:30–33), the pouring out of the promised Holy Spirit of the last days (2:16–17), the ingathering of the exiles of Israel (2:5, 9–11) and the repentance and turning to the Lord of Israel in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, which unite under the one Davidic King (2:38–47; 4:4; 8:4–25). The remainder of Acts 8 continues this emphasis on the fulfilment of God’s saving promises. In view now are the promises to include outcasts among the people of God. This is particularly seen in the overwhelming emphasis in the passage on the identity of the man Philip speaks to as simply ‘the eunuch’. Although in 8:27 the man is said to be an ‘Ethiopian’, an ‘important official’ and a ‘eunuch’, it is only this designation as a ‘eunuch’ that is continued for him throughout the rest of the account. There are four more references to the actions of the man who is simply designated as ‘the eunuch’: ‘the eunuch’ asks Philip about a passage of Scripture (v. 34), ‘the eunuch’ asks about baptism (v. 36), ‘the eunuch’ goes down into the water with Philip for baptism (v. 38), and after Philip is taken away we read that ‘the eunuch’ did not see him again but went on his way rejoicing (v. 39). An attentive reader wondering what Luke is trying to highlight about the identity of this man should be wondering why he is so often called ‘the eunuch’.
Given the emphasis on the fulfilment of Isaiah throughout Acts (and in the key statement of Acts 1:8), together with the fact that a quotation from Isaiah 53 forms the focal point of this episode in Acts 8, it is most likely that the emphasis on the man as ‘the eunuch’ is meant to recall the promises for eunuchs in Isaiah 56. Isaiah 56 looks forward to the time of God’s salvation when the exclusion of those with defects from the assembly of God’s people in Deuteronomy 23:1–7 will be overturned. This salvation will be a time when the Lord says:
Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the Lord say,
‘The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.’
And let not any eunuch complain,
‘I am only a dry tree.’
The Lord says to the eunuchs that
to them I will give within my temple and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will not be cut off.
To these foreigners and eunuchs who love the name of the Lord and worship him the Lord will give joy in his house of prayer (56:6–7). The concluding verse of this section ties this inclusion of eunuchs to the restoration of Israel and the return from exile (56:8).
Thus this ‘eunuch’ who is reading Isaiah has a special interest in the ministry of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah. How might the humiliation and ministry of this despised and rejected Servant (in Isa. 53) relate to him, a despised and rejected eunuch (referred to just a little further on in that same section of Scripture)? Is the prophet talking about himself, or is there another who will come and bring about the restoration this Servant will bring by bearing the punishment that brings peace? In this episode Luke highlights the continuing fulfilment of God’s promises to restore his people. The Davidic King reigns over his people and, as Isaiah anticipated, the scattered people of Israel and those excluded from the assembly of Israel are united through the message of the good news of forgiveness brought about through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
The Servant who restores Israel and brings salvation to the Gentiles (Acts 13:47)
A further indication that the fulfilment of God’s saving promises is the framework for understanding Acts is found in Acts 13:47. In this passage Paul and Barnabas quote the words from the second ‘Servant Song’ in Isaiah 49:6, ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, / that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth’, as being directed to them and justifying their turn to the Gentiles.
In the wider context of Isaiah 49, Cyrus has been named as the ‘anointed’ one who will enable the captives to return to Judah (44:24 – 45:8; 47:1 – 48:22), and Israel is then supposed to bear witness to God’s salvation (43:10–13). However, Israel is described in this section of Isaiah as a complaining (40:27), fearful and dismayed (41:10), deaf and blind (42:18–19), and disobedient (42:23–24) ‘Servant’ (41:8–20). The question that arises in this context then is ‘how will the blind, deaf, rebellious Servant Israel be any different just because Cyrus has sent them home?’ The answer that the ‘Servant Songs’ progressively unfold is that a perfect Servant will embody all that Israel should have been and will give himself to remove sin and restore the relationship between God and sinful people. As noted above (regarding Acts 1:8), the Servant in Isaiah 49 both represents Israel (‘you are my servant, Israel’, 49:3), embodying all that Israel should have been, and yet is also distinct from Israel since the task of the Servant is to restore Israel (49:5–6). Thus the focus in this Servant Song shifts from physical captivity to moral and spiritual captivity. This Servant will be an infinitely greater deliverer than Cyrus: he will restore Israel to God (49:5–6) and bring light in the face of darkness (v. 6).
In the light of passages such as Isaiah 43:10 and 44:1–2, however, it should also be noted that just because there will be a greater Servant who will embody all that Israel should be and who will restore Israel, this does not mean that the servant role of restored Israel has been abrogated. In the immediate context of this Servant Song in Isaiah 49 the ‘returning’ people are told that the Lord will make them a ‘covenant for the people’ (49:8). In Isaiah 42:6 this phrase was applied to the Servant along with the phrase ‘light for the Gentiles’. As Motyer observes, the phrase ‘covenant for the people’ in 42:6 suggests that the Servant will be ‘the means through whom people will come into a covenant relation with the Lord’. The use of the same phrase in Isaiah 49:8 with reference to the returning people of God indicates that God will achieve the extension of his salvation to all peoples through the Servant (who restores the people to God) and through his restored people (who announce this restoration to the nations, 49:9). Thus, ‘As they are brought back into a right relationship with God, God’s people become one with God’s Servant in his worldwide mission.’
It is this understanding of the inclusion of the restored people of God in the mission of the Servant that enables us to understand how Paul and Barnabas are able to apply to themselves a commission that is given to the Servant. Allusions to this terminology from Isaiah 49:6 in Luke-Acts are applied therefore to Jesus by Simeon in Luke 2:32 and to Jesus’ followers in Acts 1:8 and 13:47. In Luke 2 Simeon is described as ‘waiting for the consolation of Israel’ (Luke 2:25). Then when Simeon sees the baby Jesus, he takes the Lord Jesus in his arms and praises God, saying that now he has ‘seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel’ (2:30–32). Allusions to Isaiah 49:6 (and 42:6) are clearly in view here. Simeon applies this role of being God’s salvation and a light to the Gentiles to Jesus. In keeping with the context of the Servant Songs in Isaiah then, Paul and Barnabas are able to fulfil this mission of being a ‘light for the Gentiles’ and bringing ‘salvation to the ends of the earth’ because of their identification with the perfect Servant who enables his followers to carry out his mission. As Barrett correctly concludes, Paul is a light to the Gentiles ‘only in virtue of the Christ he preaches; Christ is a light to the Gentiles as he is preached to them by his servants’. The implication of this citation from Isaiah 49, therefore, is that God is accomplishing the fulfilment of his saving promises. Israel is being gathered to God, as the early chapters of Acts have indicated. Therefore, the rest of the servant’s commission to bring salvation to the Gentiles is now underway. This sequence of restoration for Israel and inclusion of Gentiles is also found in Acts 15.
The rebuilding and restoring of David’s fallen tent (Acts 15:13–18)
How may Gentiles participate in the saving promises of God, and what will be required of them? In the narrative of Luke-Acts the fact that Gentiles would be included in God’s kingdom has been clear since Luke 2:32, though Luke 24:47 and Acts 1:8 showed that this was still to take place after Jesus’ earthly ministry. God’s acceptance of Gentiles was especially highlighted in Acts 10 – 11. Acts 15, however, clarifies how they will participate in this saving plan and how their participation relates to God’s promises to restore his people.
The narrative context of Acts 13 – 14 particularly helps to highlight the significance of the claim made by some from Judea in Acts 15:1 that circumcision is required of Gentiles in order for them to be ‘saved’ (15:1, 5). Acts 13 – 14 has just recounted a mission in which the ‘message of salvation’ is addressed to Jews and Gentiles together (13:26) concerning the promised Saviour, Jesus (13:23). Jews and Gentiles are both urged to respond in the same way: they are urged to ‘believe’ (13:39, 46, 48; 14:1). Although a variety of terms are used, both groups are offered ‘salvation’: forgiveness of sins, justification and eternal life are offered to ‘everyone who believes’ (13:26, 38–39, 46–48). Thus those who respond positively (both Jews and Gentiles) to Paul and Barnabas are those who have ‘believed’ (14:1), and those who respond antagonistically are those who ‘refused to believe’ (14:2). The concluding summary to this ‘work’ of God’s grace is that God had ‘opened the door of faith to the Gentiles’ (14:27). In this narrative context the claim that something else, namely circumcision, is ‘required’ for salvation is a departure from what has been proclaimed in Acts 13 – 14.
The account of the Jerusalem Council summarizes a report from Peter, then from Paul and Barnabas, and finally James’s conclusion. Peter perceives that the central issue in this debate is the nature of the gospel, and so he reminds the Council about the core features of his meeting with Cornelius: (1) God took the initiative in ensuring that the Gentiles heard the gospel and that their response would be one of belief (15:7); (2) both Jew and Gentile have received the same Holy Spirit by faith, indicating God’s acceptance of them (15:8–9); (3) both Jew and Gentile are saved by grace (15:11). Thus God himself has accepted Gentiles as his people not on the basis of circumcision but by grace, and the only requirement is faith. The account of Paul and Barnabas is summarized briefly as a supporting argument that God has worked through them among the Gentiles.
James’s opening words refer to Peter’s argument and highlight again God’s initiative in including Gentiles. James’s summary of God’s action in including the Gentiles, however, uses language from the OT that reflects God’s action for his people, Israel. Thus James begins by stating that God had ‘visited’ the Gentiles. This terminology reflects a way of speaking about God coming to save his people Israel. The following phrase also reflects language from the OT but adds a twist. The statement that God visited to take ‘from the Gentiles a people for himself’ indicates in this context that God is taking Gentile people for himself out of the Gentiles/nations. In the OT, however, the phrase normally indicates that God has chosen his people Israel out from among the nations (i.e. Gentiles). Now this same terminology is being used of God’s action in choosing Gentiles. The language that James uses here therefore indicates that he views the Gentiles who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus as being just as much a part of God’s people as Jews who have also placed their faith in the Lord Jesus.
James then declares that the words of the prophets are in harmony with this action of God in accepting the Gentiles (15:15). James’s reference to ‘the prophets’ (in the plural), together with allusions to other texts in his quotation, indicates that this acceptance of Gentiles is part of wider prophetic expectations concerning God’s saving promises for Gentiles and is not limited to the section from the prophet Amos that will form the substance of his quotation. The quotation from Amos, however, indicates that there will be a sequence. First there will be a restoration of the Davidic kingdom. This is described with three parallel phrases:
I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it.
The reference to ‘the dwelling of David’ is a reference to the restoration of the Davidic kingdom under Davidic rule and therefore anticipates the restoration of Davidic kingship as well as the restoration of the eschatological people of God under the rule of the Davidic King. Luke 1:32–33 also highlights the restored Davidic throne and reign together with the restored Davidic kingdom. Likewise, Zechariah’s praise to God in Luke 1:68–69 combines praise for a restored Davidic house with the restoration of God’s people. The restoration of the Davidic kingdom was especially emphasized in Acts 2: the resurrection and exaltation of the Davidic King to reign on the Davidic throne in Acts 2:30–36 led to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit (the end-times promise) and the inclusion of the exiles of ‘the whole house of Israel’. We observed above that prophetic hopes (i.e. Ezek. 37) for the restoration of the northern kingdom of Samaria into the Davidic kingdom under the reign of the Davidic King are also likely to be the reason why Luke highlights Samaria’s acceptance of the good news of the kingdom of God in Acts 8 (cf. 8:12). The fulfilment of the promises to David is especially the focus in Acts 13. The restoration of the Davidic kingdom in Acts 15 is therefore once again a significant feature of the fulfilment of God’s saving promises in Luke-Acts.
Amos indicates that the purpose of this restoration is that there will then be a large number of Gentiles who will seek the Lord. The sequence, therefore, will be a restoration of the Davidic kingdom, followed by an inclusion of Gentiles in this eschatological people of God who have been claimed (‘named’) by the Lord. James perceives that this pattern, anticipated by the prophets and succinctly stated by Amos, has taken place, by God’s grace, in their midst: the promises of salvation for God’s people are accomplished through the crucified and resurrected Christ, and men and women from ‘all the house of Israel’ (exiles, Judea and Samaria, outcasts) have responded with faith in Jesus; now Gentiles too are placing their faith in Jesus. Thus James recognizes that God is fulfilling his saving promises to accept Gentiles in this Davidic kingdom through their faith in the Davidic King Jesus.
Conclusion
In Acts, Luke emphasizes that God is keeping and fulfilling his saving promises and his kingdom has been inaugurated. The close relationship between the nature of God’s kingdom in this era (following Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension) together with God’s promises of salvation (for Israel as well as for the Gentiles) is established in the first chapter of Acts. In response to the disciples’ question concerning the kingdom, Jesus clarifies that God’s promises will be fulfilled: Israel will be restored and salvation will come to the Gentiles. The narrative of Acts then shows the unfolding of those saving promises as thousands of Jews respond to the message of the saving reign of the Davidic King, Samaria hears and responds to the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, outsiders (as illustrated in the previously excluded eunuch) joyfully respond to the good news about Jesus (as Isa. 56 anticipated) and Gentiles also receive salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus according to God’s promises in the prophets (Acts 13, 15). Readers such as Theophilus may be assured, therefore, that God’s plan of salvation is being carried out according to his purpose and promises. Gentiles are receiving God’s salvation not because God has failed to keep his word to Israel, nor because they must accept circumcision. Rather, Gentiles belong because God himself has included them by grace among his restored people by enabling them to hear the same good news of forgiveness of sins through faith in the crucified and risen Davidic King. Furthermore, this is what God promised he would do and this is what Jesus said would happen. God’s saving kingdom through the reign of the Lord Jesus is continuing according to plan. Throughout Acts, a sign that Jew and Gentile belong together as one people of God is the fact that Jew and Gentile together have received the same promised Holy Spirit. It is to this aspect of the fulfilment of God’s promises that we now turn.