Studies by Book
01 Acts 06 01-07 THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL AS THE CHURCH LEARNS TO SERVE 01 Acts 06 01 To be healed in every aspect
📖 Acts 06:01-07
01 – 12Jul2023 – *To be healed in every aspect* - _Acts 06:01-07_ - THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL AS THE CHURCH LEARNT TO SERVE - Bible reading: _Psalms 68:05_
“Lord Jesus, help us realise that we cannot brush aside issues that are not pleasing to you, below the carpet. We must address these issues. Please show them to us. In your name, we pray. Amen.”
Reading of _Acts 06:01-07_
As the early church grew in numbers and obedience to His word, they faced a real and practical challenge within the church. _Acts 6:1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution._
We all face challenges and difficulties in life’s journey. Sometimes we are overcome by these challenges and we wish these trials were not there.
We watch a crisis unfolding in the early church and we have a ringside view of the crisis and also see the resolution of the crisis, resulting in the strengthening of His church and her greater growth.
Who were the Hebrews and Hellenists in His church?
The Hebrews were Jewish Christians who spoke Aramaic/Hebrew, and the Hellenists were also Jewish Christians whose mother tongue was Greek. They were Greek-speaking Jews of the diaspora, who returned to settle in Jerusalem.
The Palestinian or Hebraic Jews prided themselves on the fact that they had always lived in the land of the patriarchs and used the language of the fathers. They were near the temple and regularly worshipped there. On the other hand, the Hellenistic Jews, from other parts of the world, were jealous of the first group and were made to feel like outsiders. Sadly, the strife between the two groups was not automatically dissolved by their conversion to become disciples of Christ, as the complaints concerning food distribution to widows of the two groups show.
Therefore, this matter of food distribution was not just a simple matter of logistics. There were deeper issues involved, which needed to be dealt with, with care and prudence.
*We face challenges in life and we tend to solve these in a superficial manner and move on but we must seek God’s wisdom to know the root of the problem and accordingly work out a solution.*
Though we have come to Lord and have surrendered to Him, there are certain baggage of our past life that we still carry with us. We may consider these as minor issues but before the Lord, all of these need to be dealt with at the cross, for us to grow in faith in Christ.
The problem between Hebraic Jews and the Hellenist Jews was a longstanding difference and treated in general as an unsurmountable issue and therefore to be accepted as a part of life. Whereas, when we come to Christ, all old and long-term obstacles between various people groups are rooted out and we become one in Christ.
This does not mean that we cast aside our cultural moorings but we respect, appreciate and celebrate one another's uniqueness at the same time being one.
In this incident, we see that particularly, it was the widows of the Hellenists who were neglected in the daily distribution of food.
Across cultures and people groups, women are generally treated with disdain and widows are further neglected because there is no man to stand up for them.
*The word of God for us is that men and women are distinct but equal before God.* As men and women, we are assigned to be God’s viceroys to rule over His creation. _Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them._
Widows and the fatherless are of very special concern in the eyes of the Lord. _Psalms 68:5 A father of the fatherless, *a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation*._ Job says that he caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. Job was wholly aligned with the heart of God. _Job 29:13 The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, *And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy*._
Therefore, as this complaint of the Hellenist Jews came up, it had several implications that were close to the heart of God and that needed to be addressed.
Often, we make the big blunder of rushing into a crisis and we seek to work out a solution that is from our own understanding of the situation. The crisis further extends and deepens.
As many were being added to His church, this crisis emerged. The apostles sought the leading of the Lord in this matter. The matter of oneness and brotherly love in the body of Christ was a matter of importance and had to be addressed by His church. _Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue._ Let us not think that we must keep teaching and preaching Jesus and not be bothered to address these issues related to brotherly love and other such subjects.
There was oneness in the early church. This issue was rearing its head to break the oneness.
We see several issues in His church today that are causing divisions in the body of Christ. Are we prayerfully addressing these issues in the way the early church did so that God’s wonderful ways are manifested?
```Let us open our eyes to see the issues amongst us that are not pleasing to God and set them right.```