Acts, General Epistles, and Revelation in Clear English

Ron Banuk

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781098005368
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Studi biblici

In clear English, using as much traditional biblical vocabulary as possible, and using between-the-verse notes where appropriate, the reader is able to discern the interaction in Acts among the Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, Herodians, Romans, native Jews, Hellenistic Jews, and Hebrew Christians, both native and Hellenistic. Peter's foundation and Paul's four journeys for the kerygma of the Kingdom of God are made easy to understand.James with his exhortive Decalogue on worldliness is shown to be the best written book in the NT. Jude, Jesus's other half brother, also shows genius as an author. John the theologian couples love to keeping God's commandments, while Peter, with authority, lays out the foundations of our faith.The multilevel metaphors of Revelation are explained in clear English. The story is shown to be the story of the Father and the Son with the power of the Holy Spirit interacting with four women: Jezebel, the wife of Yahweh, the Bride of Christ, and the Mother of Harlots. Notes reveal the reasons for and the timing of the Great Tribulation. The notes also discuss the timing of the Rapture and OT descriptions of the Anti-Christ.

Chapter 1

1. In my earlier work, Theophilus, I, (Luke) dealt with all that Jesus began to do and taught from the beginning
   Note: The phrase “from the beginning” is often used by the NT writers to indicate the time Jesus began to teach. The author is Luke, who wrote his account of the Gospel and the book of Acts, and was at Paul’s side during his imprisonment in Rome. Theophilus is Luke’s publisher or benefactor.
2. until the very day of His Ascension into Heaven (on the 40th day after His Resurrection) after He had left instructions with His chosen Apostles guided by and under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
   The Holy Spirit now assumes a prominent role in Scripture. Jesus, ascended or was taken up (assumed) into Heaven forty days after His death on the cross (Mark 16:19, Luke 24:50, Acts 1:9). Fifty days after His death on the cross on Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks, the Holy Spirit or Helper or Paraklete was sent to the church. Jesus was the first Paraklete or Helper. The Holy Spirit takes Messiah’s place as the second (another helper, John 14:16). Messiah was the promise of the OT. The Holy Spirit is the promise of the NT.
3. To these same Apostles, He presented Himself (in His glorified body) after His passion (before and on the cross), with convincing proof, appearing to them (ten times) over a period of forty days discussing the Kingdom of God, (i.e. the euaggelion or doctrine of the Gospel and the kerygma or means of spreading the Gospel for the expansion of the church).
   The book of Acts deals with the continuation of the Mystery Kingdom of the church (Mat 13) as revealed in the Parabolic Decalogue wherein Jesus foretold with ten parables the mystery of His church, the single pillar (stulos) representing truth upon which the Christian faith is supported (1 Tim 3:15).
   Matthew, writing to the Jews, speaks of the Kingdom of Heaven, while Mark, Luke, John, and Paul speak of the Kingdom of God. Even Matthew on four occasions used the term: “Kingdom of God.” This is one of the two topics that were on the eleven Apostles’ minds at this time.
4. Gathering the eleven Apostles together (under one roof), He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem (for the time being), but to wait for the Father’s promise: “Remember when I said:
5. John baptized with water, but you shall baptize under the power of the Holy Spirit (Mat 3:11 and Luke 24:49).” And then Jesus added: “This shall happen not many days from now.”
   The Great Commission and Ascension
6. (When the Apostles had assembled at the mountain in Galilee, because the last things they discussed were the Kingdom of God [v. 3] and the coming of the Holy Spirit [v. 5, Isaiah 32:15–20],) they asked the Lord: “Are You going to restore the kingdom of Israel right now?”
   Verse 6 picks up right after Luke 24:49.
   While in the upper room in Jerusalem, the eleven Apostles were discussing (1) the church (or Kingdom of God or Parabolic Decalogue) and (2) the coming of the Holy Spirit. After nominating Matthias, the twelve Apostles then relocated to Galilee where seven went fishing on the Sea of Galilee and met Jesus, and then all twelve met on the predetermined mountain to receive the Great Commission and witness the Ascension into Heaven.
   The Apostles knew that the Kingdom would be preceded by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit leading to Israel’s salvation. This outpouring of the Holy Spirit was foretold in Isaiah 32:15–20, 44:3–5, Ezekiel 39:28–29, Joel 2:28, 3:1, and Zechariah 12:10, 13:1—consequently the question above. The Apostles wanted to know if the Times of the Gentiles were over and the reestablishment of the Davidic Kingdom would begin. This was very important because in the Gospel (Mat 19:28 and Luke 22:30), the Apostles were promised to sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.
7. But Jesus replied: “It is not for you to know the times or dates which the Father has set by His own authority.
8. But you shall receive (divine) power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses not only in Jerusalem, but also in all Judea, and Samaria, and in the remotest parts of the Earth.
   This is the Great Commission. It is also expressed in Matthew 28:18–20 and John 17:18. They were told to make disciples for Jesus Christ (via kerygma) while going, baptizing, and teaching the Gospel. The command here is to the whole world, but that would come in stages to the Jews (Acts 2), the Samaritans (8), the Gentiles (10), and the Diaspora (19).
9. Right after Jesus said these things, He was lifted up and received (hupolambano) by a cloud as He disappeared from their sight while the people were looking on.
   Jesus had prophesied His Ascension in John 3:13, 6:62, and 20:17 where three represents divine completion.
10. As the crowd was gazing intently at the cloud into which He was enveloped, two men in white clothing appeared before them.
11. They said: “Men of Galilee, why are you looking at the sky. This man Jesus who has been taken up from you into the heavens will return in the same way in which He departed (at the Rapture and Second Coming).
    The Upper Room Gathering
12. Then the Apostles returned from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem about a mile away.
13. They returned to the upper room where they were staying (which was the site of the Last Supper and some of Jesus’s post Resurrection apparitions). Peter, John, and James (the Greater from the inner circle of three) were there, as were Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James (the Lesser) the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.
14. These (eleven men) devoted themselves continually to prayer along with some women (possibly their wives, Jesus’s two sisters, and Mary the mother of Mark) and Mary the Mother of Jesus and His (four) brothers.
    The Greek Scripture does not say “wives” but “women.” These women could only have been the wives of the eleven Apostles, the two sisters of the four mentioned brothers of Jesus, and the person who, according to church history, owned the room, Mark’s mother, named Mary, also called the “mother of John Mark.” It is interesting to note that Jesus’s brothers are now believers.
    Note that it is Luke who pays more attention to the women than any other author. See Luke 8:1–3.
    Peter’s Upper Room Speech to Replace Judas
15. Gathered together in the upper room were about 120 people. Peter stood up to speak:
16. “Brothers in Christ, Scripture had to be fulfilled. It was prophesied by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David that Judas would lead the arresting party to Jesus.
17. Judas was one of The Twelve and shared in our ministry.”
18. The money Judas received for betraying Jesus was used to buy a field. (After killing himself), he fell on his face and spilled his guts on impact.
    The description here is either an adjunct to Judas’s hanging (Mat 27:5) where the noose slipped and he fell to the ground, or that because of his profane act on the morning of the Passover service, his body was ignominiously dumped into the valley of Hinnom where his guts were spilled. A similar incident of a dishonored corpse being thrown face first (headlong) in judgment from God is told in the deuterocanonical book of Wisdom 4:19.
19. Because everyone in Jerusalem was talking about it, the...

Table of contents

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21
• Chapter 22
• Chapter 23
• Chapter 24
• Chapter 25
• Chapter 26
• Chapter 27
• Chapter 28
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21
• Chapter 22––Epilogue
• James
• 1 and 2 Peter
• 1, 2, and 3 John
• Jude
• Revelation
• Proofs that John Wrote Revelation