Acts 5:17-32 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Acts 5:17-32. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
Acts 5:17-25 (NIV)
17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.
18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.
19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.
20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.”
21 At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin–the full assembly of the elders of Israel–and sent to the jail for the apostles.
22 But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported,
23 “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”
24 On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were puzzled, wondering what would come of this.
25 Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.”
On verses 17-25: The high priest is jealous of the apostles and the positive attention they were getting from the miracles God had enabled them to perform. The high priest throws the apostles in jail. Yet miraculously God sends an angel to deliver the apostles, taking them out of jail without being noticed. At daybreak the next morning, the high priest finds the apostles in the temple courts telling people “the full message of this life” (v20).
What can we learn from this? God is a mighty deliverer and nothing is impossible with Him. Also, the apostles’ miraculous rescue from jail reminds us that we too were once prisoners to sin, but God by His power set us free and brought us into the courts of His presence, that we might proclaim all that He has done for us.
Acts 5:26-32 (NIV)
26 At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.
27 Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.
28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!
30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead–whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.
31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.
32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
On verses 26-32: Questioned by the high priest as to why they disobeyed his orders not to preach the name of Jesus publicly, Peter and the apostles insist that they must obey God rather than men (v29) and they continue to point the high priest and all those in attendance to Jesus (v30-32).
What can we learn from this? Generally speaking we must respect and submit to those in authority over us, believing that God has sovereignly chosen them to lead us. But when human authorities command us to do something that is contrary to what God commands us to do, we must submit to God rather than submitting to those human authorities. As Peter says in verse 29, “We must obey God rather than men!”
That is why we see numerous examples of civil disobedience in the Bible. For example,
– In Exodus 1, when Pharaoh told the midwives of Egypt to kill every newborn Jewish boy, the midwives refuse and God honours them with families of their own.
– In Joshua 2, Rahab hides the Jews from the authorities in Jericho, and God blesses Rahab, making her a progenitor of Jesus.
– In Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refuse to obey King Nebuchadnezzar’s command to bow down and worship his image, and God rescues them, standing by their side when they are thrown into the fiery furnace.
– In Daniel 6, Daniel continues to pray to the LORD in violation of King Darius’ command to pray to no one except Darius himself, and God delivers Daniel from the lions’ den.
– In the Gospels, Jesus refuses to submit to the rules laid down by the high priest, Pharisees and teachers of the law concerning matters like the Sabbath day and washing hands before eating.
If ever we do practice civil disobedience, we must be careful that the stance we take has the strong and clear support of Scripture and is not simply based on how we feel. Also we must push for our stance humbly and peacefully, not arrogantly or violently.
Father, thank You for being my mighty deliverer who rescued me when I was in chains by sending Jesus Christ to save me. Thank You that You are the One I am called to obey. Please give me the courage and wisdom to obey You even when it is not popular or politically correct to do so. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
