Hello again! I’m writing this while much of the US observes a total solar eclipse (April 8, 2024). I can’t help but think again about God’s timing in the studies I do here. If things went according to my plan last year, I would not be studying Acts 1:6-11 with you now—it would have wrapped up in December 2023. But, instead, I’m thinking about the sign in the heavens this week, its relevance to the study text, and in particular, the only comparison I found (in verse 11)…
Last Week’s Work
COMPARISONS
This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven (Acts1:11 ESV, emphasis added).
Did you wonder if the sign in the heavens this week signals a second coming of Christ? It would seem not since His followers were told Jesus would return the same way He departed and there’s no description of an eclipse in our study passage. But I don’t know for sure. I do know this, though, Acts 1:7 reminds us:
“It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”
If the men Jesus trusted to begin the spread of Christianity weren’t privy to God’s timeline, neither are we. But that’s okay. I’m just marveling at how two verses in a study I was supposed to finish last year turn out to be so relevant to current events today. Only God can do that, friends!
CAUSES/MOTIVATIONS
Next, I looked for connectors that might indicate cause (because, for, in order that, in order to, lest, since, so, so that, that, to, therefore), and didn’t find a single one in this study text!
NOTE: although the words for and to do appear in verses 6, 7, and 8, they don’t join an action to an explanation. A simple way to determine this is to find the action before the connector and see if what comes after it explains why the action takes place. For example: I went to the store to buy milk. Why did I go to the store? To buy milk. Or I went to the store for milk. Why did I go to the store? For milk.
In verse 6, the action is restoring the kingdom. The word after the to connector, Israel, doesn’t explain why the kingdom would be restored, only to whom it would be restored. No causal connection there.
In verse 7, to is part of the verb itself—to know—not an explanation of why they don’t get to know times or seasons. The word for there doesn’t tell us why, either.
Neither does the word to in verse 8. It tells us one area of where “…you will be my witnesses,” (to the end of the earth) but not why.
Honestly, I’m surprised. I think this may be my very first study where I didn’t discover at least one cause or motivation this way!
CONDITIONS/METHODS
Last, I noticed two descriptions of conditions in verse 8 and verse 11.
In 8—my personal treasure verse for this study—I learned the condition under which they would receive power was the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them. I wonder what they thought of this prediction. Had Jesus spoken to them about the Holy Spirit before this mention? This week, I’ll dig a little more around that to see what I can discover.
In 11, I noted what was happening when the two men appeared and prophesied that Jesus would return: the “men of Galilee” were gazing into heaven, Jesus went up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
Dig-In Challenges
Now that we’ve collected all these fact gems, we need to make sure we’re viewing them the same way the author of Acts and his audience would have interpreted this story.
We know God intentionally chose the author and time and place for Acts to be written. That means the correct understanding of this writing is from the author and his audience’s first century perspective. Here’s how we’ll work toward that this week:
- As always, start with the prayer we created in Step 1.
- REFINE: next, let’s read all of Acts 1 to determine which writing type(s) he used, and list them in our study journals or on a copy of the passage.
NOTE: I’ll be looking for an overall type and individual instances where the author used instruction, law, letter, narrative, poetry, and/or prophecy. Knowing this will help us determine whether to take what is written literally or look for a potential symbolic meaning. - REFINE: At the same time, we want to notice and record any relevant details or events leading up to or following our study text. This will help us establish the literal context of the study passage.
- REFINE: Next, let’s find out what we can about the historical context by identifying the author of this book, and when, to whom, and why he wrote it. You can usually find this information in your bound Bible if it contains an introduction to Acts. If you don’t have a bound Bible with introductions, check out the Introduction to Acts from the ESV Global Study Bible.
NOTE: Bible introductions aren’t the inspired Word of God, but they usually provide factual details about the author and his audience we can use to adjust our perspective. Keep in mind, if you decide to research this further, stick with factual, historical resources and avoid commentary. - REFINE: Finally, examine key words and/or phrases using an interlinear Bible, and note what the Spirit reveals. These Bibles are available on several study websites (I’ll be using the Blue Letter Bible Interlinear tool). They show a verse in the original Hebrew or Greek and provide detail about each word, including its meaning in context. As usual, I encourage you to log anything the Spirit illuminates from this exercise.
This “refining” step is a little more involved than the “mining” we did earlier, but I encourage you to use these tools and dig as much as you can this week. I pray the Spirit will bless your efforts, my friend!