[New Testament 2] Discussion post: "Church blog: Jewish setting & context of the early church" (92/100, 8/21/2025)

“Pentecost and the Eschatological Setting of the Early Church in Acts,” & “The Jewish Setting of Early Christianity.”

The biggest Jewish things regarding the first century Christians as depicted in Acts by Luke are as follows (Yes; let’s not forget that most of the early Christians were Jews):

1)    Their steadfast and unrelenting faith in One God YHWH of the Old Testament, the Everlasting Father (cf. Isaiah 9:6) adhering to monotheistic faith of their Hebrew ancestors (Deut. 4:35; 6:4; Isaiah 44:6 (“I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god,”; 45:5; 1 Kings 8:60, “That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.”) as depicted in Acts 3:12; 4:12 plus in latter passages in Acts 14:15-17;17:24; 17:29, etc.,

Upholding of centuries-old Jewish traditions passed down from generations ago  such as observance of the traditional Jewish holidays like Pentecost (“Shavuot”) in chapter 2, where a throng of Jewish diaspora comprising of multiple nationalities and continents gathered from all over the world to celebrate the occasion. This is where three thousand heard Peter speak, full of the Holy Ghost, and converted (cf.  2:8-12 KJV, “And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?”

      Apostle Paul even expresses his own desire to observe/keep the Feast (“Feast of Tabernacles”) in latter passage in 18:20-21, “When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not; But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.)

2)    Preaching/teaching as depicted 2:42 KJV, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers,” is indeed, a very Jewish thing, had always been at the heart of the Jewish community. We need to look no further than our Lord Jesus who regularly entered a Jewish synagogue to read a scroll and give an exegesis post-reading (cf. Luke 4:16-30) to His attentive audience as Elwell and Yarbrough write, “Scholars pay more attention to Jesus’s Jewishness and its significance than they sometimes did in former times,”[1]—if one studies it closely, being a Messiah was all about being fully, completely, entirely, orthodoxically, inerrantly and truthfully Jew in every little law, regulations and observances described in the Torah & keeping them.

Yes, breaking of bread or sharing of the foods, the communal prayers were all major parts of Jewish living—once again demonstrated by the Lord Jesus Himself to a great effect (cf.

3)    Communal living keeping a close-knit community with strong Jewish flavor and characteristics devoted to Jewish way of life as depicted in Acts 2:44 (“And all that believed were together, and had all things common;”); this is very Jewish since the Old Testament emphasizes taking care of its (poor) neighbors like orphans, widows, the have-nots, the oppressed, etc., of the society. King David (& Jesus) would not have been possible (sure, God would have found another route after the Bible had to be rewritten) if it weren’t for the generous heart of one rich man named Boaz who instructed his workers to leave the grains for the hard-luck stricken Ruth and Naomi to come and gather later (Ruth 2:15).  The spirit and purpose of the Year of Jubilee was also built on that same concept of mercy and love towards one’s neighbors (cf. Leviticus 25:8-55).

4)    Baptism; as Dr. Stacy explained in video lecture, baptism is not  entirely a New Testament thing ushered in by Christianity as John Baptist, the baptizer, eponymous for the act, technically an Old Testament prophet who made it a household name in one’s conversion to the faith. On the contrary, its root is in the Old Testament since the Old Testament describes a multitude of cleansing and washing rituals for the sole purpose of purification, penitence, consecration (of the priesthood) and redemption (cf. Exodus 30:17-21; Leviticus 1:9;14:7-9; Numbers 8:6-7)

"The Twelve Apostles", fresco by Enrico Reffo, 1914; in the San Dalmazzo churuch, Turin, Italy

How about Noah’s Flood? Worldwide deep deluge and cleaning act which signaled a brand-new start after the wicked/sin/contamination and impurity had been wiped off the face of the earth (Gen. 6-9).

The Jewishness of the early church as in the apostolic era (and extending into the patristic time frames until the mid-2^nd century or so) is critical because

1)    It serves as a link between the Old Testament and the New Testament; it functions as a bridge between the times of animal sacrifices and the Lamb of God (Genesis 3:21; 4:3-4; Leviticus 3:2; John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:19; Revelation 5:6, etc.)

2)    It validates the person of Christ as the promised/prophesied/foreshadowed Mesiah as written in the OT books like Genesis, Isaiah, Micah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Exodus, et al.

3)    It validates the whole sect of fledgling Chrisitan faith as a legitimate group as they also stayed within the Jewish faith of One God, One Savior, and One Lord monotheistic faith unlike their Roman pagan civilian neighbors who believed and took in elaborately laid out graven deities as the latter chose to worship triple/trinitarian, quadruple/tetranitarian, quintuple/pentanitarian godheads in some instances, and basically whatever they made up to appease to their fleshy whims and carnal desires.

In conclusion, it can be seen that the perfect storm was set and brooding in the backdrop of a major Jewish holiday as in Shavout/Pentecost, “the Giving of the Torah” as the pilgrims of Jewish diaspora from all over the world gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Word as Elwell and Yarbrough contemplate, “The coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was a watershed event…But in another sense they would never be the same again, They had become new people in Christ. The early beginnings of the church took shape.”[2] Indeed, the Crucified and Resurrected Jesus, the Word of God, who would send the Holy Spirit as in figures of tongues of flame to change the world Forever more as the HS empowered emboldened Peter and his Jewish brethren in thousands. The world will never be the same again as apostle Paul would soon follow the suit; that is a major coup for the Kingdom of God and the loss of the Judaism to be applauded and celebrated in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

[Bibliography]

Elwell, Walter A. and Yarbrough, Robert W, Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and    Theological Survey, (Grand Rapids, MI: BakerAcademic), 2022.

[1] Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough, Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey, (Grand Rapids, MI: BakerAcademic, 2022), 144.

[2] Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough, Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey, 188.

**My response to someone named Chauntina:

Dear Chauntina,

That was a pleasure to read as I was momentarily illusioned into thinking that I was reading my own post! You’ve captured pretty much what I’ve as you elaborated, “Luke intentionally presents the early church as faithful to Jewish tradition while proclaiming the Messiah, showing both continuity and fulfillment (Elwell and Yarbrough 2022, 200–202). Stacy also emphasizes that early Jewish believers relied on temple worship, Scripture, and communal leadership to maintain faithfulness under pressure (Stacy 2023). Leadership was another critical aspect of the early church. Peter emerges as a central figure, guiding the believers and preaching boldly.”

Well, I’d like to say a few things regarding the eschatological aspect/setting of the events described in the early parts of Acts, which were briefly discussed in my main post article.

The eschatological aspect/setting (“Already but not yet”) of the event surrounding the very first Jewish Christian Pentecost as described in the early chapters of Acts is that Jesus commanded them to wait in Jerusalem (cf. Luke 24:13-35) as He promised to send them the Holy Spirit as He assured them, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26 ESV). “There are times when the hardest thing in the world is to do nothing, yet there are some things we can work for; there are other things we can only wait for…Yet in religion there is a primary place for passivity. It is the mood in which the soul is receptive to power from outside, responsive to intimations from above,”[1] as one vulnerable expositor wrote in the commentary a long ago. Patience was indeed proven to be a virtue, and the good things did come down from above through the hands of God.

That was absolutely needed as He was about to go back to the eternal glory and power of which He was the initiator, the essence and sole possessor and the disciples needed to be fully empowered upon and within being tasked with the Great Commission (cf. Matt. 28) at the ascent of the Lord Jesus. So, He did send, and so He came down upon them like “tongues of fire” as they gathered together in fervent prayers. The Kingdom of God was already established with the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus with its final chapter in complete highlighted form to begin in earnest when Jesus returns with the celestial hosts to earth again as the Ultimate Judge, King of kings and Lord of lords as every tongue will then bow down and acknowledging Him to be so (Philippians 2:11). That is the consummation of the Kingdom of God as the Pentecostal event which proceeded to set the whole world on fire as it has thereafter continued to whisper, inspire, comfort, guide, lead, teach, instruct, enlighten, discipline, command, and empower the faithful all over the world with varying degrees of intensity in localities unceasingly (despite some strong objection of its valid trinitarian work from the cessationists (how ironic)).  

As we the Christians of the twenty-first century find ourselves living in ever-more-so-increasingly anti-Christian hostile time and space (cf. 2 Tim. 3:2-3 KJV, ^“For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,”) as allocated and designated by the Providence right before the Parousia to take place, the presence  of the HS within us, His indwelling, and full empowerment by the Holy Spirit is an absolute  necessity on daily basis. Without that, many of us will most likely fail to see the glorious day and hour in a favorable light but being cast outside gnashing our teeth (cf. Matt. 13:42; 22:13), so God help us all as the eschatological clock moves forward as it ticks on towards the inevitable and unavoidable day of the Lord’s Return and the consummation of the Kingdom of God in all its splendid glory and indescribable beauty and  honor.

[Bibliography]

Harmon, Nolan B., The Interpreter’s Bible: A Commentary on Twelve Volumes: Vol. 9 Acts/Romans, New York, Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1954.

[1] Nolan B. Harmon, The Interpreter’s Bible: A Commentary on Twelve Volumes: Vol. 9 Acts/Romans, (New York, Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1954),27.**

**My response to someone named Corey:

Dear Corey,

Thanks for your well-written and -researched post. I’d like to just add a few things, i.e., 1) Jewish components of communal private worship & 2) eschatological fulfillment at Pentecost as you wrote, “However, they also started gathering in private homes for study of the Bible and the teachings of the apostles, as well as for prayer and worship,” & “In the video, Dr. Stacey explains that "the early Christians were an eschatological community for the new age Kingdom of God." This understanding has influenced the Pentecostal movement's emphasis on the baptism in the Holy Spirit as a unique experience that equips believers for successful ministry.”

The community  I come from which is ethnic South Korean Christian community, with all their obvious shortcomings and faults (they might refuse to admit this), still does several things better than anyone else or rather I should’ve said that it does some things just as well as anyone else, which is a laser-sharp focus on communal living which is expressed in a close-knit cell bible study (at least that is how it was back in South Korea several decades earlier. Thins have changed for sure). Through the interactions of the well-organized cell group meetings, the members get to know each other really well at personal profound level, propelled forward by endless chat times, eating meals together, prayers and encouragements. However, it has some negative byproduct--sometimes to perhaps a detriment of some particular minor members being turned away due to infighting and unforeseen quarrels which might emerge and arise within.

Familiarity breeds contempt and egos clash in close encounters when lacking discernment and a full guidance of the Holy Spirit. We have seen this everywhere, so it is not something which is solely pertained to the Korean Christian community. However, if managed and run well, it could be really beneficial for one’s spiritual growth. One’s faith and commitment to one another can grow by leap and bounds in most ideal situation due to its unique Korean cultural thing, which really fosters a well-being of a group at large (over some individual sacrifices), which can really bind one another like glue in a group setting. I think that the Jews had it as they as a group also faced many obstacles, crisis,  challenges, and shared a common vision and hope for the better future in their well-documented illustrious history of worldwide diaspora.

I am sure that the same kind of communal spirit is alive and thriving somewhere among the contemporary American Christian communal scenes…

Dr. Stacy is wonderful, and I think your mention of many Moses-like prophets arising at Pentecost is correct (with Jesus being the prime example of that pre-Pentecost), with help of the Comforter, Peter and the rest of the disciples among one hundred twenty as the flag carriers (Acts 1:15) for the end time/final distinctive era of the Kingdom of God as seen through some scholars. Some do think that we have entered the last two thousand years and counting since the arrival of baby Jesus as the calling out of Abram out of land of Ur was the beginning of our very first church. This somewhat makes a sense when try to make a sense out of prophecies foretold in the Book of Daniel.

Yes, the full empowerment of the one hundred twenty in the upper room was an eschatological fulfilment for sure. I too look forward to the continuous trajectory of it as the contemporary post-Pandemic world of ours finds itself madly racing towards the consummation of Christendom in not-too-distant future as the biblical apocalyptic signs escalate at a rate unforeseen hitherto on all four sides of our squeezed time and space (cf. Daniel 7:25; Joshua 10:12-13).

As I close my reply, I’d like to add an excerpt from a book pertaining to minor prophet named Zephaniah: “The line between historical and eschatological fulfillment is often a very fine one and difficult to discern. Here in Zephaniah, as in all the prophets, this demarcation is blurry. It is clear, however, that God’s judgment on Judah and the nations took place more than once in Old Testament times and that there always emerged from it equally true that the judgments and restorations of historical times did not exhaust what the prophets had in view but there yet remains a climactic and final encounter between the Lord and all humankind in which judgment and salvation will find ultimate expression”[1] God always has something better in mind for the humanity despite the repeated offenses and not heeding His word by the latter as the earth-shattering Pentecost event would mark the God’s Grand Salvific Design and Divine Grace for the rest of the world becoming realized as it collides head-on with the throngs of Abrahamic descendants of the chosen nation to go become the international missionary messengers of the Good News as the new convers on their scheduled return to their respective diaspora homelands by hundreds.

[Bibliography]

Merrill, Eugene H, Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel, Grand Rapids, MI: BakerAcademic, 2008.

[1] Eugene H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel, (Grand Rapids, MI: BakerAcademic, 2008), 470-471.