Summary of the Acts
A historical book of the New Testament placed in the canon after the Gospel of John, describing the history of the early church from the ascension of Jesus to the visit of the Apostle Paul in Rome. The author of Acts is considered to be the evangelist Luke, although his name does not appear in the text. In the account consisting of 28 chapters, three main threads can be distinguished: 1) Chapters 1-12 describe the activity of the church in Judea, in which the Apostle Peter plays a special role, 2) Chapters 13-20 describe Paul's missionary activity among the Gentiles, 3) Chapters 21-28 concern the final stage of Paul's activity, during which he arrives in Jerusalem, is accused by the Jews, and preaches Christ through the various stages of his trial. Besides the strictly historical threads, the book also contains doctrinal elements, which are highlighted in the summary below:
- Acts 1 - the announcement of baptism in the Spirit; It is not for you to know the times or dates; You will be my witnesses; ascension; the fate of Judas and the selection of Matthias as the twelfth apostle;
- Acts 2 - baptism in the Spirit on Pentecost; preaching in all languages to those gathered for the feast; Peter's speech: 1) fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, 2) announcement that Jesus was raised and is the promised Christ, 3) David's prophecy ("for you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let your Holy One see decay"); And all who believed were together and had everything in common, selling their possessions and goods and distributing them to all according to need;
- Acts 3 - healing of a man lame from birth; Peter's speech: 1) And you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead ... But now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your leaders did, 2) a call to repentance, 3) heaven must hold Jesus until the restoration of all things, 4) Moses' prophecy about Christ;
- Acts 4 - the imprisonment of Peter and John, their interrogation before the high priest; testimony about Jesus: 1) through him the lame walk, 2) he is the rejected cornerstone, 3) there is no other name by which we can be saved; There was not a needy person among them, for those who owned fields or houses sold them and brought the money from what they had sold; And they laid it at the apostles' feet; it was distributed to each according to need;
- Acts 5 - Ananias and Sapphira punished for lying; many miracles and healings through the apostles; arrest of the apostles and miraculous release by an angel: Go, stand in the temple, and speak to the people all the words of this life; we must obey God rather than men; testimonies before the Council and Gamaliel’s statement: If this plan or this matter is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is from God, you will not be able to destroy it; and they left the Council rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus;
- Acts 6 - selection of deacons; trial of Stephen;
- Acts 7 - Stephen's speech summarizing the history of the chosen people, selected points: 1) 400 years of persecution of Israel in a foreign land; Abraham as a stranger without property rights, 2) And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifices to that idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. Then God turned away from them and delivered them into the service of the hosts of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: Did you offer me slain animals and other sacrifices in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel? Rather, you carried around the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, images you made for yourselves to worship, 3) The Most High does not dwell in temples made by hands, 4) You who received the law through the disposition of angels, but did not keep it; the stoning of Stephen;
- Acts 8 - persecutions of the Church; the activities of Saul; the mission of Peter and John to Samaria; prayer that the Samaritans may receive the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit had not yet come upon any of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit; Simon wants to buy the power of the Spirit with money; Philip proclaims the Gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch;
- Acts 9 - Saul asks the high priest for letters to the synagogues in Damascus so that he can persecute the believers there; the revelation of Christ on the road to Damascus; Saul loses his sight and is led into the city; Ananias lays his hands on Saul, he regains his sight and receives the Spirit; Saul proclaims the Gospel but has to flee from Damascus to Jerusalem from the Jews who want to kill him; the activities of Peter: healing of Aeneas, raising of Tabitha;
- Acts 10 - Peter's vision concerning clean and unclean animals; the conversion of Cornelius; God shows no favoritism, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him;
- Acts 11 - Peter explains in Jerusalem what happened to Cornelius in Caesarea; and when they heard this, they became quiet and praised God, saying: So God has granted repentance that leads to life even to the Gentiles; Barnabas and Saul in Antioch; It was also in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians; a great famine in the land during the reign of Emperor Claudius;
- Acts 12 - persecutions under Herod's rule; the death of James, the brother of John; the imprisonment of Peter and miraculous release by an angel; the death of Herod;
- Acts 13 - the commissioning from Antioch of Barnabas and Saul for evangelistic work among the Gentiles; the blinding of the sorcerer Elymas; Paul's speech in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch: 1) Through him, everyone who believes is justified in everything in which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses, 2) The word of God was first meant to be proclaimed to you. But since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we turn to the Gentiles;
- Acts 14 - healing of a man lame from birth in Lystra; the crowd declares Paul and Barnabas to be Mercury and Jupiter, begins offering sacrifices; Jews come from Antioch and Iconium, who, having persuaded the people, stone Paul and drag him out of the city, thinking he is dead; Paul and Barnabas proclaim that through many hardships we must enter the kingdom of God; appointing elders in local churches;
- Acts 15 - the Jews teach the newly converted that they must undergo circumcision; a meeting in Jerusalem regarding the observance of the Mosaic Law; the speeches of Peter and James; the decision: Abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality; the separation of Paul and Barnabas due to a dispute over whether to take Mark on their further journey;
- Acts 16 - Paul meets Timothy, has him circumcised because of the Jews, and takes him on the journey; Paul's night vision calling him to Macedonia; the baptism of Lydia and Paul's hospitality; casting out the spirit of divination from a girl who brought income to her masters in that way; Paul and Silas in prison; an earthquake and the release of the prisoners; the faith of the jailer: Believe, and you will be saved;
- Acts 17 - preaching and riots in Thessalonica; the Bereans were nobler than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word of God with all readiness and daily examined the Scriptures to see if these things were so; the Jews follow Paul and stir up riots; preaching in Athens, disputation with Greek philosophers: 1) God does not dwell in temples made with hands, 2) God although overlooked the times of ignorance, now commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a man He has appointed, providing assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead;
- Acts 18 - Paul proclaims to the Jews in Corinth: Your blood be on your own heads, I am innocent. From this moment I will go to the Gentiles; Paul's further journey; arrival in Ephesus and a profile of Apollos from Alexandria;
- Acts 19 - Paul meets disciples baptized by John; an evil spirit in a possessed man attacks Jewish exorcists invoking the name of Jesus; the rebellion of the followers of the goddess Diana against Paul in Ephesus;
- Acts 20 - a journey in Greece and Macedonia; the resurrection of Eutychus, who fell out of a window during Paul's speech; meeting with the elders of the Ephesian church; announcement of Paul's martyrdom and the coming apostasy after his death; journey to Jerusalem for Pentecost;
- Acts 21 - Agabus's prophecy about Paul's martyrdom; a meeting in Jerusalem on how to prevent riots caused by the news that Paul is turning Jews away from Moses; the Jews try to kill Paul;
- Acts 22 - Paul's defense against the Jews: 1) a reminder of conduct in Judaism and the revelation of Jesus on the road to Damascus, 2) during prayer, Paul receives the command to preach to the Gentiles; the apostle avoids whipping because he invokes his citizenship;
- Acts 23 - Paul stands before the Council and causes a rift between the Pharisees and the Sadducees over the hope of the resurrection; the Jews intend to kill the apostle; after the plot is revealed, the commander arranges for Paul's transfer to Caesarea for an interrogation before the governor Felix;
- Acts 24 - interrogation before Felix; the resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous; Felix leaves Paul in prison;
- Acts 25 - the trial before the new governor Festus; Paul appeals to the emperor; Festus arranges with King Agrippa that Paul will appear before him for a hearing;
- Acts 26 - Paul's defense before Agrippa: the apostle called to the Gentiles to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among the sanctified by faith; Then Agrippa said to Paul: You almost persuaded me to become a Christian;
- Acts 27 - a journey to Italy; difficult conditions at sea; the ship runs aground, but everyone manages to be saved and reach the shore;
- Acts 28 - hospitality in Malta; the healing of the father of the island's chief; journey to Rome; Paul's two-year stay in Rome.
Acts 13
Acts 13:19,20
"...and having destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He did divide by lot to them their land. (20) 'And after these things, about four hundred and fifty years, He gave judges -- till Samuel the prophet" (YLT)
Commentary: the version of Acts 13:19-20 in Young's Literal Translation is today commonly challenged as inconsistent with the latest findings. However, there is also no uniform position among scholars regarding what the 450-year period mentioned in this passage actually means. The two most frequently expressed views assume that 1) the 450 years refers to the period of conquest and division of Canaan among the tribes, and 2) it is the period from the birth of Isaac to the division of the land and the beginning of the judges' period. Each of these positions, however, seriously conflicts with contextual information contained in the Bible. The only argument that excludes accepting the 450 years as the period of the judges is 1 Kings 6:1, which allocates 350 years for this period. However, there is a direct conflict here with Judges 11:26 – these two verses simply cannot both be true at the same time. Therefore, it seems reasonable to adopt the view of some scholars that a copying error crept into 1 Kings 6:1 and that the period mentioned there actually lasted 580 years.
Related themes:
- Expanded commentary on Acts 13:19,20
- Expanded commentary on 1 Kings 6:1
- Bible chronology timeline