Bible Study series: Acts 4:23-31. They prayed for boldness to witness in the face of persecution.
Friendly greetings and a warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn. Let’s learn together and apply these truths to our lives.
I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click on this link:
At the link to the original post, next, I write more commentary and dig a little deeper into the Greek. I also offer a section titled Observations for Discipleship at the end. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided in the commentary section for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Acts 4:23-31
23 After they were released, they left for their own community and reported everything that the chief priests and the elders said. 24 As they were listening, they with one soul and spirit lifted up their voice to God and said:
“‘Sovereign ruler, you made the heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them.’ [Ps. 146:6; Neh. 9:6; Job 41:11; Is. 37:16] 25 You through the mouth of our ancestor and your servant David through the Holy Spirit said:
‘Why do the nations rage?
Why do they plan futile things?
26 And the kings stood over the earth
And the rulers gathered together,
Against the Lord and against his Anointed. [Ps. 2:1-2].
27 “Yes, in fact they were gathered together in this city against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed—Herod and Pontius Pilate with the nations and the people Israel, 28 accomplishing whatever your hand and plan foreordained would happen. 29 And now, Lord, fix your gaze on their threats, and give to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while extending your hand for the purpose that healing, signs and wonders would happen through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 And while they were praying, the place where they were gathered together was shaken, and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:23-31)
Comments:
23:
“community”: it means “one’s own, private, peculiar to oneself; one’s own people of fellow-Christians.” The three men went back to the core of the church community, their own people, to report back.
When Peter returned, no doubt his (unnamed) wife must have run up to him with joy and threw her arms around him. Their report was a “Holy Ghost” story!
“chief priest and elders” is a generic term for the august high council they had just walked out of.
24:
Once again “one soul and spirit” is one word that is a favorite of Luke (Acts 1:14; 2:46; 4:24; 5:12; 7:57 [negative!]; 12:20; 15:25; 18:12 [negative]; 19:29, and then one in Rom. 15:6). It is a compound word meaning “soul” or “mind” or “spirit.” It meant in earlier Greek literature a heroic and excellent fighting spirit. But here it means “united in soul and spirit.” Prayers are best and most effective when everyone is united.
Prayer can be (1) for oneself, like overcoming sins and vices in your heart and mind or receiving wisdom from above (James 3:17) and not being double-minded about receiving it (Jas. 1:5-8), but (2) it is also for the needs of the community. It was coming under attack, so prayers were offered. Praying for boldness to reach out and spread the word is wonderful. We should do it more often. (3) Further, prayer brings down the manifest presence of God. God is omnipresent (everywhere) of course, but his presence can make itself felt and experienced. God showed up and shook the place where they were gathered.
Prayer can be visualized like a pebble in a pond, and the ripples go outward. (1) It starts with oneself and one’s needs; (2) then it goes outward to one’s own family and (3) to the Christian community (your home church). (4) It goes out to evangelism and the needs of the world around the community, (5) and finally to parts around the globe. But this prayer here in Acts varies the order, which you may do, if you like. Prayer is ultimately and most deeply a conversation with God.
What Is Biblical Intercession?
“They lifted up their voice”: Voice is singular in Greek, adding to the atmosphere of unity. Surely they did not repeat this prayer phrase by phrase, so this prayer is a sample. What were their prayers? Did some utilize their prayer languages (also known as ‘tongues’), though of course maintaining decorum? Whatever happened, they did not pray silently. No wonder why some Pentecostals and other Renewalists get loud when they pray! They base their practice on verses like this one.
“Sovereign ruler” is used in the New Testament in these verses and always about God: Luke 2:29; here; 1 Tim. 1:6; 6:2; 2 Tim. 2:21; Titus 2:9; 1 Pet. 2:18; 2 Pet. 2:1; Jude 1:4; Rev. 6:10. (It is interesting that Peter’s two epistles use the term, perhaps indicating he was influenced by the prayer here, but let me not overread things.)
25-26:
The NIV smooths out the Greek thus: “You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David.” Ps. 2 is about David’s being enthroned. Jesus is the Messianic Son of David. He now takes over the throne and is exalted much higher.
“rage” is used in later Greek writers for the neighing of a high-fed, spirited horse (Bruce, p. 157).
“futile”: it means “empty” or “vain.” Nations rage and plot against God and his moral law, but they will come crashing down. Consider the old Roman Empire and various kingdoms in the Medieval West. Who sees them at the height of their power today? They no longer exist. But God’s kingdom endures forever, and when Christ returns, his kingdom will be visible and powerful for all to experience and submit to.
“his anointed”: the noun here is Christos (pronounced khree-stohss) and is related to the verb chriō (pronounced khree-oh), where we get the title “Christ,” which means “Anointed One”; see the next verse, too.
Their prayer picks out key persons in Ps. 2:1-2 and applies them to the political leaders and people in their own context.
“kings” = Herod Antipas and Pontius Pilate;
rulers = Sanhedrin;
nations = Roman authorities
People = Israel.
It must have been something special and stunning for the disciples to consider that they were living out Bible prophecy.
Knowing Messianic prophecies is important for your knowledge of God and witness for him. Here is a table of them:
At that link, there is a table of prophecies from the OT and NT. But Jesus fulfills more than just quoted verses. He fulfills themes and entire institutions like the temple or Aaronic priesthood.
27:
One of the most important names in the NT is Pontius Pilate because now we can pinpoint when Jesus was crucified. Old pagan myths claim that this or that god died and rose again, but no one knows when this might have happened in history. The coming of Jesus and the end of his life can be matched up with these rulers.
28:
“Your hand and plan preordained”: “plan”; BDAG is considered by many to be the authoritative Greek lexicon, and it defines the term thus: (1) “that which one thinks about as possibility for action, plan, purpose, intention”; (2) “that which one decides, resolution, decision”; (3) it can even be a council that takes up proposals and deliberates, council meeting. Here it is the first definition. It is used 12 times, and 9 times in Luke-Acts. He favors this word.
“preordained”: it comes from the Greek word meaning “decide upon beforehand, predetermine.” We will never be able to fully understand how God foreordains an act, yet man has a role to bring it about (also see Acts 2:23). I suggest you not spend much time quarreling or even discussing it, for no one will be satisfied, as endless online comments and debates demonstrate.
What Is Middle Knowledge (Molinism)?
Here’s the better point. The death and burial of Jesus did not catch God by surprise. It was predicted in Scripture. God’s resurrecting him means he got the final victory. Your own personal trials don’t catch God by surprise, either. God will raise you up after you walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Ps. 23). As the good shepherd, he will see you through your own valley.
29:
“fix your gaze” can be translated as “look at” or “concern yourself with” or “fix your glance upon.” Whichever one is chosen, God saw their threats and obstacles, and he sees the ones against you too.
“boldness” can mean “confidence” and can even be translated more expansively, “speak freely,” which leads to “freedom of speech.” See v. 13 for a deeper look.
“story”: in this verse it means “story” or an orderly sequence of the life of Jesus—his death and resurrection and exaltation. That’s the essential message of Acts 2-4.
30:
“hand”: it speaks of his working power, because humans work with their hands. It is anthropomorphic, which is a big word for speaking of God in human terms. He does not literally have a hand. He is spirit (John 4:24). But humans need a simple way of interpreting who God is on their level.
“name”: see v. 10 for a closer look at this noun.
“signs”: In the singular it is mostly translated as “sign” or “miraculous sign.” A sign points towards the loving God who wants to heal and redeem broken humanity, both in soul and body. Signs are indicators of God breaking into his world, to help people and announce that he is here to save and rescue them and put things right.
“wonders”: It is often translated as “wonders” and is always in the plural. Only once does it appear without “signs,” in Acts 2:19, where wonders will appear in the sky. Wonders inspire awe and worship of God through Christ who performs the wonders. The purpose is to patch up and restore broken humanity. They testify that God in his kingdom power is here to save and rescue people.
For nearly all the references of those two words and a developed theology of them, please click on:
What Are Signs and Wonders and Miracles?
For more discussion on “name,” see v. 7, above. It is a key word in this chapter.
31:
“gathered together”: The Greek the verb is used three times in this one section, alone: vv. 26, 27, and 30. In the first two times—the Sanhedrin and the worldly nations—God did not endorse their gatherings. However, God endorsed the gathering together of the disciples and their united prayer with a location shaking and an infilling of the souls and spirits.
“they were all filled”: the verb tense is aorist, which means it just happened at a point in time, and it is passive, meaning it happened to them; they did not have to hype it up. This is the divine passive, which means God was working behind the scenes, filling them. It came after they prayed. This is Peter’s third infilling (Acts 2:4, 4:8, and here) and the eleven apostles’ second (Acts 2:4 and here). and then the Spirit will empower him to receive a vision (Acts 10:9-16).
John was probably filled too, with Peter in v. 8, for he spoke up in v. 19, so possibly this makes three infillings for him. Further, John was “in the Spirit” twice towards the end of his life, implying an immersion or being surrounded and enveloped in a powerful encounter while receiving the Revelation (1:10; 4:2).
The women who were in the upper room were filled with the Spirit once again, as well. Though the text does not say it, surely some of them used their prayer languages (also called “tongues’).
Recall that Saul / Paul was filled with the Spirit, but his receiving his Spirit-inspired language is not mentioned (Acts 9:17-18), yet he often prayed in the Spirit, that is, in his prayer language (1 Cor. 14:18). Further, the Corinthians believed and were baptized, but they were not recorded as receiving the Spirit and the gifts of speaking in their prayer language or prophesying (Acts 18:8). However, they exercised those gifts often (1 Cor. 12-14), no doubt because Paul taught them about those gifts and prayed for them to receive them, during his eighteen months that he ministered to them (Acts 18:11). The same is true here, most likely. So why didn’t Luke mention it? Precisionist scholars and theologians demand too much of the NT. Luke merely assumes it. What gives me the interpretive right to say this? The whole context of Acts 2-4, and the entire book of Acts. It is charged with all sorts of manifestations and gifts of speaking. The NT is elliptical. That is, it does not give us every detail, so we have to draw inferences. And when an entire large group is filled with the Spirit, prayer languages are included, particularly when many of them got them in Acts 2:1-4.
Paul, after all, writing later, said he spoke in his Spirit-inspired languages more than the Corinthians did (1 Cor. 14:18). He said he wanted everyone to pray in their spiritual languages (1 Cor. 14:5) and not forbid this wonderful gift (1 Cor. 14:39).
What 1 Corinthians 14 Really Teaches
Therefore, Luke does not need to link the fullness or baptism of the Spirit with prayer languages in every verse that talks about this fullness. It would be like Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, intervening to tell his readers on every other page, “Don’t forget! We’re on a whaling ship!” In Acts, Luke omits some of these details, but that is how all four Gospels and Acts are presented to us: elliptical. But the entire context of Acts is Spirit-empowered and Spirit-filled. The entire book is very charismatic. Luke expects us to fill in the ellipses with the power of the Spirit and manifested gifts, like prayer languages.
It is like the anointing of Jesus at his water baptism with the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove (Luke 3:31-22; 4:18-19). From then on, Jesus worked miracles of nature and healing and demonic expulsion in the third Gospel, and Luke does not have to announce every time Jesus did those things: “Remember when I wrote that Jesus was anointed with the Spirit? He worked that miracle based on those verses!” Rather, Luke expects us to fill in those omissions with the power of the Spirit. Likewise, in the many cases of Christian witness from town to town in Acts, Luke expects us to fill in the omissions with the same empowerment because of Acts 2:1-4. And so Luke-Acts is all very charismatic, which is normative for the church throughout its history. Spirit-filled empowerment and anointing continues.
It is similar to his omitting water baptism in key places. Often he does say that new converts got baptized: Acts 2:38, 41; 8:12-13, 35-38; 9:18; 10:48; 16:14-15, 31-33; 18:8; 19:5), Yet in other cases water baptism is not brought up for new converts: Acts 9:42; 11:21; 13:12, 48; 14:1; 17:12, 34). Luke expects us to fill in these omissions. This is why I have nicknamed him Luke “the Omitter.” (Or he could be called Luke “the Condenser.”)
In any case, for Renewalists, infillings can happen many times in a believer’s life. It is not as if a believer “leaks”; the Spirit always abides and remains in her. But this is another power surge or anointing to edify the church and to reach out in ministry.
Baptized, Filled, and Full of the Spirit: What Does It All Mean?
“shaken”: not a natural earthquake, but the hand of God reached down and shook the place, endorsing their prayer and ministry. It was a similar major manifestation as the loud sound of the mighty, rushing wind in Acts 2:1-4. It seems that whenever God fills somebody to the fullest, something physical is manifested, like a prayer language or prophecy. A large gathering led to the physical surrounding to be impacted. In Acts 2:3 it was the house that was filled the Spirit accompanied with prayer languages. Here it is the place that was shaken.
It is my belief that Stephen and the other six (Acts 6) were in the place that was shaken and where they were (re)filled with the Spirit. Why not? They were, after all, well known and attested in the Jesus community. In Acts 6, they were selected to be one of the seven servants and was full of the Spirit when comes on the scene. It is not as if they were strangers. When did their first infilling happen? Probably here.
“with boldness”: see v. 13 for a deeper look.
Finally, if you would like to read about the practical reasons for their sharing everything in common, go to Acts 2:42-47.
Does Book of Acts Teach Modern Communism or Socialism?
Sixteen Characteristics of a Healthy Church
Sixteen Characteristics of an Unhealthy Church
GrowApp for Acts 4:23-31
1. The Christian community were united in prayer. Do you attend a prayer meeting to pray for outreach?
2. The community’s prayer was thoroughly biblical. Have you ever prayed Bible-based prayers?
RELATED
The Historical Reliability of the Book of Acts
Book of Acts and Paul’s Epistles: Match Made in Heaven?
SOURCES
For the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the very bottom:
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 