Although I am not the intended beneficiary, I get so much out of our weekly Bible study.
We meet on zoom most Wednesday mornings. The other ladies are a little younger than me, all from China, and all with teenagers studying in Australia.
Valerie (pseudonym) is the driving force behind this group. I lead at her invitation. She is a passionate Christian lady, but today she has laryngitis and is quiet.
Melody (pseudoynym) is a dedicated mother and generous friend. She is not a believer. While she is quite happy to study the Bible as an English text, she remains an atheist.
Shelley (pseudonym) has ‘prayed the sinners prayer’ at a Chinese outreach event but doesn’t have time for church. Does our time together count as ‘discipleship’? She believes what she learns here. God alone knows where she stands in terms of salvation at this point in time. May this tender seedling of faith take root and grow well.
Week by week, we start with half an hour of chat, during which I help them express in English whatever they want to say. We then work through a passage of Scripture, using the New International reader’s Version (NIrV) because of its limited English vocabulary and short sentences.
Over time, women have come and gone. We have worked through all of Luke and now we are studying Acts. At the moment, the group is quite small, but small or large, week after week we continue to meet.
The Believers Pray (Acts 4:23-31)
Today we are studying the prayer of the believers in the early church as recorded in Acts 4:23-31. In recent weeks, we have studied passages in which Peter and John healed a lame man in Jesus’ name (Acts 3:1-10) after which Peter explained to the amazed onlookers how the death and resurrection of Jesus, through whose name the man had been healed, had been prophesied from long before (Acts 3:11-26). As a direct result of preaching about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, Peter and John were arrested by the religious authorities and jailed overnight, while thousands of people believed in Jesus (Acts 4:1-4) – thousands! The following day, those religious leaders questioned Peter and John at length and finally released them with a warning never to speak again of Jesus (Acts 4:-17). Of course, Peter and John had bravely refused to comply with such a command (Luke 4:18-20).
That brings us to today’s passage. The prayer of the believers.
Their own people (verse 23)
Peter and John went back “to their own people” following their release. What does the term, “their own people” mean?, the ladies asked.
When Melody and her child go home to China during the longer school holidays and is reunited with her family, she is with “her own people”.
No, the term isn’t necessarily linked to nationality. After all, Peter and John were Jewish, as were the religious leaders.
It is more about a shared sense of identity.
“…their own people.” I think of my church community. Are these ‘my people’? Where does my identity lie?
Raised voices (verse 24a)
After Peter and John had reported to their own people all that the religious leaders had said to them, the believers “raised their voices together in prayer to God.”
“What does it mean, ‘to raise their voices’?” the ladies asked.
Usually in my church we bow our heads and mumble, much to the frustration of those with hearing impairments. They often remind us to raise our voices when we pray. But those early believers raised their voices naturally. Not in anger, nor in excitement, but in desperation perhaps? I think of the prayer meetings I have been part of in Chinese churches where everyone prays out loud at the same time (同声祷告- literally ‘voices together prayer’) and it feels like you’re carried along in ocean waves, rising and falling together. Is this how they prayed back then? Sometimes, our prayers just feel limp.
That’s not how I answered the ladies though. I simply said that they prayed with loud voices.
Sovereign Lord (Verse 24b)
“Lord and King” is how those believers addressed God according to the New International reader’s Version (NIrV).
“Lords – like in British movies. I love British movies,” commented Shelley. “They have Lords and Ladies.”
“Yes,” I replied, “Only this ‘Lord’ was the absolute most powerful ruler.
“Like a landlord has power?” asked Melody. Her landlord has been quite unreasonable, and she knows all to well the power a greedy landlord can hold over a helpless tenant.
“Yes, but even more powerful,” I replied.
Actually, I’m not sure that the NIrV translators did so well here. The Greek word, Δέσποτα (‘despota’, from which we get the English term ‘despot’) is what they translated as ‘Lord and King’. The New International Version (not the reader’s version) translates this term ‘Sovereign Lord’, which is better. No doubt the English word ‘sovereign’ was considered a little difficult for readers of simple English.
In any case, it is fitting that, in the face of threats from Jewish religious authorities, the believers turn to one who holds unrestricted power. Our God is no ‘despot’ in the English sense of a despot exerting power with cruelty, but our Sovereign Lord is good, his power exceeding that of any other authority.
A God who speaks
Don’t you love it when God seems to communicate with you on the same matter but from different angles? At church recently, we have been studying Hebrews, and focusing on the God who speaks through prophets and through his son. We even had a podcast entitled ‘God is a God who Speaks’ in which our pastor elaborated on the theme. And now here it was again in our Bible passage today.
But wait … this Bible study is about these ladies and not about me. They were more interested in how God spoke “through the mouth of our father David” (Acts 4:25). David was an important ancestor, rather than a literal father, I explained.
Prophecy fulfilled (Acts 4:27-28)
In the believers’ prayer, they quoted from the Psalm 2, a Messianic Psalm, and went on to explain in prayer how this prophecy had been fulfilled. How often do we reflect back on Scripture fulfilled even as we pray? Too often our prayer times tend to be more about us and our more immediate requests. I’m challenged to do better at praying Scripture.
But again, this Bible study is meant to be about the ladies and not about me. They’re more interested in how the translators use the word ‘purpose’ here (verse 28).
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” said Shelley. “People say that a lot. It was not my intention. It was an accident. How is that use of ‘purpose’ different to this one in the Bible?”
“It isn’t different at all,” I replied. “The people thought that they were plotting to destroy Jesus, but actually this was in line with God’s purpose all along. It was his intention. It was no accident.”
I gave myself goosebumps even as I spoke. Prophecy had foretold kings, rulers and the people plotting against the Lord and his anointed king. And there we see King Herod (a king), Pontius Pilate (a ruler) and many people of Israel plotting against Jesus.
This was no coincidence. No, it was very much according to God’s purpose. It was his intention.
Their requests (Acts 4:29-30)
Finally, after this powerful prayer to the Sovereign Lord, reminding him of prophecy fulfilled, those early believers made their request.
“Now, Lord, consider the bad things they say they are going to do. Help us to be very bold when we speak your word. Stretch out your hand to heal. Do signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant, Jesus.” (Acts 4:29-30 NIrV)
It was not the time or place to point out that in this request, the believers used a different Greek word for ‘Lord’ – Κύριε (Kyrie) – to that which they had used at the beginning of the prayer, i.e. Δέσποτα (despota). The term Κύριε (Kyrie) means ‘Master’. This study was for the benefit of the Chinese ladies rather than me, and so I refrained. Instead we focused on the content of the prayer.
Prayer answered (Acts 4:31)
“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They were bold when they spoke God’s word.” (Acts 4:31 NIrV)
We had studied about the Holy Spirit a few weeks back when we read about God giving his Holy Spirit to the early believers that Pentecost Day. And here we see another instance where God’s power was clearly portrayed through the shaking of the place in which they met, and the Holy Spirit filled those early believers.
As a result of God’s empowering, they boldly went about speaking of Jesus, their view of reality restored. Power did not lie with the religious authorities, but with the Sovereign Lord, their Master, the One who Created the heavens, earth and sea and everything in them.
Applications
We usually finish our time together by sharing one truth which most impressed us.
People think that this weekly study is for the benefit of the Chinese ladies who are learning English, but actually it benefits me plenty too.
Through our study together this day, considering carefully every word and phrase, God has reminded me afresh of his sovereignty. I lose focus so easily, seeing only the problems about me. Yet when I focus on the One we serve, my perspective is restored and I am empowered to push on.
I closed our time together with a simple prayer, as we do each week, but perhaps raising my voice a little more than usual.
Lord and King, you made the heavens, the earth and the sea. You made everything in them.
You spoke to your people long ago, and still you speak to us today.
Thank you for sending Jesus. By your plan and purpose, he was put to death.
But death could not keep him, and he came back to life again.
Thank you that through Jesus, we can belong to your people.
Holy Spirit, will you open the eyes of our hearts so that we can recognise and believe in God as our Lord.
We pray this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
