June 21 – Acts 13:13-52

June 21 – Acts 13:13-52

Dear Father, we come before You in praise and with thanksgiving for You give us our ‘But God’ moments. You orchestrate our lives for Your glory. May we in our quiet time recognize You for who You are: our Lord God, the God of Israel.

First, do your own quiet time and 4R journaling.  When you are completed, come back here for the lesson.

Request Gods’ help

Read  Acts 13:13-52

Record a verse that stands out to you

Respond to God

But God raised Him from the dead

So far we have read many ‘But God’ moments, some life changing and some of protection.  But this moment “should” have brought everyone to their knees, everyone “should” have recognized what happened, especially the Jewish people.

Paul had gone on to Antioch and after going to the synagogue to listen to the reading of the law, he began to speak encouragement.  Speaking about the good news of Jesus, Paul had expertly and with great precision laid out the facts and evidence through historical records and accounts that this ‘But God’ moment was THE moment.  He used their own history and reminded them of God’s promise to them, the chosen people, from rescuing them from slavery to David being appointed by God.  From John the Baptist to Jesus Himself.  All the wickets and benchmarks that pointed to Jesus as the Messiah, where generation upon generation looked forward to all these ‘events’ in time to pass.

He reminded them of Psalm 22 where it told of Jesus’ death and in Deuteronomy 21, where it predicted the means of death which was a death not used at the time.  He presented Isaiah 53:9 that predicted a tomb, where most crucified persons were thrown into pits. He presented to them Psalm 2:7 in verse 33 of Acts 13, then Isaiah 55:3 (Love that chapter!) in verse 34, Habakkuk 1:5 in verse 41, and Psalm 16:10 in verse 35.

And they missed Him.  Completely missed Him.  God was working and showing up in their now, right there.  And they missed Him. THE God moment above all God moments.  Oh man.  Then, praise be to God, that same ‘but God’ moment was for us Gentiles, too.  Sadly, we read in verse 46, that the Jews listening to Paul thrust it aside and judged themselves unworthy of eternal life, so then Paul turned to the Gentiles.  And the Gentiles heard, they rejoiced, and glorified the word of the Lord.  The same ‘but God’ moment this group of Jews squandered, many of the Gentiles swept up and embraced.

Paul pointedly used facts and evidence from the very documents the Jewish people and leaders studied. He presented his evidence first to God’s chosen people.  Because they rejected the salvation plan, Paul then turned his focus on the Gentiles and wow what a different response to the same exact ‘but God’ moment.  And for them, in verse 47, he quoted Isaiah 49:6, “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”  I love that SO much!  He was telling the Gentiles that they were not second best or an afterthought.  They didn’t get dibs on salvation just because some Jewish people passed on it.  Nope, they (we) were part of the plan the whole time!  The. Whole. Time.  From the very beginning, God wanted us, too.

But God

We who were not the chosen people.  We who were not in hope of Hope.  But God!!!!! We are called His children!

“There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
who rides through the heavens to your help,
through the skies in his majesty.”

Deuteronomy 33:26

Dear Lord, we praise You!  We praise You!  You who had us in Your hand from the dawn of time. You who wanted us with You from the very beginning!  We praise You for the salvation plan

What’s next?

As the Spirit leads, in the comment section below, share what He has laid on your heart.

Then join us again tomorrow for the next commentary.

My Verse: Acts 13:29-30, “And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead,”