The Ephesians (Acts 18:18 et seq.)

To Ephesus, twice

Paul leaves Corinth with Priscilla and Aquilla.

Meanwhile, Paul has his hair cut and makes a vow.  This seems to be a Nazarite vow in accordance with Numbers 11.

Paul makes his way to Ephesus where the Jews in the synagogue like him and want him to stay. So, although he told the Jews in Corinth that he was going to the Gentiles, it was not an exclusive rule as he still taught in other synagogues outside of Corinth.

Paul promises to come back if it is the will of God.  He then travels around to a few other areas, but does go back to Ephesus where the text focuses on.

In the meantime, Priscilla and Aquilla stay behind in Ephesus and meet a man named Apollos.  Apollos is a bold preacher for Jesus.  Priscilla and Aquilla mentor him before letting him go to Corinth.

We are seeing an exchange of people and leaders between the early churches.  They did not have email or even the New Testament back then, so this exchange of people was an important part of keeping the church unified.

Ephesians and spiritual power

Paul arrives in Ephesus a second time and finds a group of disciples who had received a water baptism (John's baptism), but had never heard of a Holy Spirit baptism.  Paul explains that the water baptism is about repentance.  Paul lays his hands on them and they begin to prophesy and speak and tongues.

This anecdote shows that there really are two baptisms, one of water and one of the Holy Spirit.  One is an introduction to a life of faith and the other is a step further into faith with the potential for the miraculous.  One can have a life of faith without ever having received a Holy Spirit baptism.  

If we contrast this anecdote with that of Cornelius in Acts 10 (esp., 10:44) then perhaps the order can be reversed.

In Ephesus, Paul speaks at the synagogue at first, but then must change to the lecture hall of Tyrannus, where he has daily discussions.

God also seems to have honored the (Nazarite?) vow Paul made and gives Paul more miraculous power.  Paul heals people second-hand in which handkerchiefs that had touched Paul are then used to heal the sick.

This second-hand miraculous power leads to something unusual.  Meanwhile, seven brothers, sons of a Jewish priest named Sceva, are going around casting out demons.  Their ritual is "in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to get out."

This apparently works for a while, but they come upon a demon-possessed person who resists

  The demon says, "Jesus I know and I know about Paul, but who are you?". The demon-possessed person then beats them all up and leaves them bloody and naked.

The effect of this was that the believers began to publicly speak about their faith.  Likewise, they then burned their sorcery scrolls.  According the marginalia in the NIV, the value of the scrolls was worst about 50,000 daily wages.  (50,000 drachma silver coins).

This is an odd anecdote.  What is going on here?

Ultimately, I think it is about the role of miracles leading to a relationship with God.  Miracles themselves are not the end of faith, rather, they should confirm that it is Jesus that is Lord.  

Here, the seven sons seem to not have a relationship with Jesus.  They are going around and saying his name as if it were an incantation in a spell.  This works at first, but it cannot continue.  They are aware of the spiritual power of the name of Jesus and are aware that Paul is a source of knowledge about Jesus.  

The text is silent about them going up to Paul and then asking him "how can we learn more about Jesus?". 

This story parallels one of the parables that Jesus spoke of.  Jesus had said in a parable that just because people might perform miracles in his name, the Lord might reply "I never knew you".  Here, we have an example of just that.  Performing miracles is not a relationship with Christ.

Looking ahead to Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, perhaps some of this is indirectly discussed in that book.  There, Paul discusses the spiritual armor of God.  Without a relationship with Jesus, these seven sons lack that spiritual armor of God, which leaves them vulnerable to a beating by a demon-possessed man.

The story and its aftermath also gives us a framework to consider Paul's letter to the Ephesians.  Clearly, the volume of the scrolls of sorcery shows the stranglehold that sorcery had on the city and its influence on the believers.

This story also shows that demon possessed people can be supernaturally strong.  This gives caution that it can be a very dangerous field.  On one hand, it should only be pursued within the context of the church with the spiritual guidance to navigate it.  That said, it is an important field as Jesus commissioned and directed his disciples to do it and in fact, told them not to intervene when someone who was not in their group was doing it.

A final note, it faintly echoes the question the Sadducees asked Jesus about the Resurrection.  In the hypothetical, there were seven brothers who each died and the widow married each in turn.  Here, we have seven brothers all doing the same thing with catastrophic consequences.  However, the parallels probably end there.

Peter and John are arrested and released (the first time) (Acts 4)

Right after healing the beggar, the priests, temple guard, and Sadducees seize Peter and John.  They are disturbed by the teachings of Peter and John.  To them, the "Jesus issue" had been dealt with when the crucified Jesus, although a lot of strange things have happened since then (tombs opening and dead walking around, the temple curtain was ripped).

Peter and John spend a night in prison because it was late in the day when they were arrested.

The next morning, they are brought before the Sanhedrin.  They are questioned about their teaching and again Peter gives a speech testifying to Christ.  

The Sanhedrin wants to punish them, but is not sure how to given the popularity of Peter and John.  Further, they know the beggar was healed and they cannot deny this.  

Meanwhile, the preaching by Peter and John led to an increase in the number of believers.  They now number 5,000.

The Sanhedrin eventually release Peter and John unharmed, but with a stern warning not to preach about Jesus.  When Peter and John make it back to some of their believers.  There they give thanks to God, pray, and have another mini-Pentacost in which the house shakes and the entire group is filled with the Holy Spirit.

If we take that literally, then we have another manifestation of the Holy Spirit - physical shaking.  Here, it seems to apply to the house.  Based on Peter's speeches and actions, it would also be boldness in preaching, physical healing, and words during speeches.

The chapter concludes with another assessment of the state of the church.  As the numbers grow, they are continuing to pool their resources together.  

We also are introduced to a man who will be a central character later on.  He is Joseph, the Levite from Cyprus.  The Apostles nickname him "Barnabas", meaning "Son of Encouragement".

Barnabas sells a field he owns and gives the money to the Apostles.

The Feast of Weeks (Acts 2)

The Feast of Weeks, otherwise known as Pentacost, was required under Exodus 34:22 and Leviticus 23:15-22.  Pentacost occurs 50 days after the Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover.

Thus, Pentacost of Acts 2 occurred exactly seven weeks after Resurrection Sunday and probably a little over a week since Jesus ascended to heaven.

The entire congregation of about 120 members is gathered together "in one place".  So, wherever they normally gathered, this is probably where it happened.  This was probably not the temple in Jerusalem.

Suddenly, a sound of a mighty came rushing and what looked like fire appeared among the believers.  They began to speak in foreign languages which were understood by foreign visitors.

The speaking of foreign languages is a unifying aspect of the power of God and the Holy Spirit.  In fact, it reverses the confusion and disunity that occurred at the Tower of Babel.

This also parallels we the text in Leviticus 23 where Pentacost observance was detailed.  In between discussing Pentacost (the Spring harvest) and the Feast of Trumpets (the Fall harvest), God gives general details about how to harvest.   In 23:22, God says that they are not to harvest their fields to the edges, but leave the edges for the poor and foreigners.  

At leas with this textual proximity in the Leviticus, God associates his heart for foreigners with the  Day of Pentacost.  This is redeemed and fulfilled in the New Testament as God bridges he linguistic gap among people through the Holy Spirit.   

This equips the church to take to the Gospel to the ends of the earth, to all foreigners, everywhere.

Back to the story, Simon Peter stands up among the crowd what has happened.  He cites a prophecy of Joel 2:28-32 discussing the "last days" and interprets it to mean a time when the Spirit of God is given to all people, young and old, male and female, that they may see visions and dream dreams.  They will experience wondrous things, perhaps even disturbing and unexplainable, like the sun turning to darkness, fire, and blood.  But the Spirit of God must be released on people before the day of the Lord.

Peter then ties this to the ministry of Christ and salvation of all mankind.  He gives a long speech explaining that Christ was the Messiah.

After this testimony alongside the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, about 3,000 people become believers.  So, the church grew from about 120 to about 3,120 in a single day.

Based on this, what can we say about the Holy Sprit?  

Its presence can be analogized to fire or the sound of wind.  It can supernaturally give people the ability to speak other languages.  Based on Peter's interpretation of Joel 2 within the chapter, the Holy Spirit can produce dreams and visions.

Also, the "Last Days" perhaps started at Pentacost.  Other possibilities based on this text could be the Resurrection or Ascension of Christ.

The chapter ends with a discussion about the early church.  They met every day for prayer and Scripture and pooled their financial resources together to meet the needs of the group.