Acts 4.1-37 tells us about the arrest of Peter and John by the captain of the Temple guard; his discourse before the Sanhedrin; the reaction of the leaders to the boldness of Peter and John and their command for Peter and John to stop preaching, and their reaction; their release with threats of future chastisement from the leaders; this story is shared with the eschatological congregation and their prayer for confidence to keep speaking and for more signs and wonders to take place; Yehovah answers their prayer with an earthquake, and they were filled with the Ruach again; biblical giving is seen again due to their unity in their Torah-based faith in Yeshua.
v 1…And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the Temple guard (Temple police, made up of Levites), and the Sadducees (who denied the existence of angels and the resurrection), came upon them (to confront them),
v 2…being greatly disturbed (angry and troubled) because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Yeshua the resurrection of the dead (this was an open repudiation of Sadducean doctrine).
v 3…And they laid hands on them and put them in jail (a guard house in the Temple complex) until the next day (it was too late for a judicial hearing and it was unlawful to hold a night time trial-Mishnah Sanhedrin 4.1-of course they disregarded all that when it came to the trial of Yeshua).
v 4…But many of those who heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand (believers now numbered about eight thousand).
v 5…and it came about on the next day, that their rulers and elders and scribes (the religious hierarchy) were gathered together in Jerusalem;
v 6…and Annas (Hebrew Chanan) the high priest (he had been high priest and retained the title in a patriarchal sense-he may have been the Sagan or deputy), and Caiaphas (the acting high priest) and John (Yochanon, son of Annas who will replace Caiaphas) and Alexander (his identity is unknown but must have been an influential person) and all who were of high priestly descent (all of these people probably took part in Yeshua’s condemnation).
v 7…And when they had placed them in the center (the Sanhedrin sat in a semi-circle in the Lishkat Ha Gazit or the Chamber of Hewn Stone), they began to inquire (cross-examine), “By what power or in what name have you done this (what medicine, or by what demonic power, magic art, etc)?”
v 8…Then Peter, filled with the Ruach Ha Kodesh (making them not so timid now), said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people (terms for the Sanhedrin),
v 9…if we are on trial for a benefit done to a sick man, and how this man has been made well,
v 10…let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of (authority and approval of) Yeshua the Messiah the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead-by this this man stands here before you in good health.
v 11…He (Yeshua) is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, which became the very corner (stone-Psa 118.22).
v 12…And there is salvation in no one else (Yeshua means “Yehovah saves”); for there is no other name given among men (as a gift from the Father to the world) by which we must be saved (spiritual, eternal salvation determined by God to be saved by him-Eph 1.4-14).”
v 13…Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John (they were empowered by the Ruach Ha Kodesh), and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men (in the Jewish schools of rabbinic law) they mere marveling (at their change of behavior since Yeshua’s trial and crucifixion), and began to recognize them as having been with Yeshua (they remembered they had been taught by Yeshua; this is what “Messiah in you” means-Yeshua does not literally “live” in a person but he “lives on” in the people he served; we say this all the time when a person dies; their life is a reflection of the life of Yeshua and the rulers saw this in Peter and John-2 Cor 13.5).
v 14…And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them they had nothing to say in reply (they couldn’t refute the healing, even they knew who he was).
v 15…But when they had ordered them to go outside of the council, they began to confer with one another (about what to do),
v 16…saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem (he had been at the Beautiful Gate so long everyone knew him), and could not deny it (a better question would have been, “What must we do to be saved?”-Acts 2.37).
v 17…But in order that it may not spread further among the people (the masses they were trying to control with their false doctrines), let us warn them to speak no more to any man in this name (they could not hold them any longer because clearly the man was healed, but they did not want the people to think that Yeshua was the Messiah, and the power behind this miracle, because they rejected him and killed him).”
v 18…And when they summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name (the approval of and authority) of Yeshua (this is the perverse spirit Yeshua warned about in Matt 23.13).
v 19…But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge;
v 20…for we can not stop speaking what we have seen and heard (Acts 5.29).”
v 21…And when they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which they might punish them) on account of the people (who knew better-there was no legal basis to hold them) because they were all glorifying God for what had happened (if it had not been for the witness of the people, they might not have waited for legal authority);
v 22…for he was more than forty years old on whom this miracle of healing was performed (he laid paralyzed for many years, even as Yeshua entered the Temple-Acts 3.2).
v 23…And when they had been released, they went to their own (companions) and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
v 24…And when they had heard (the report), they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O Lord, it is thou who didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them (everything is under his control-Rom 8.28),
v 25…who by the ruach Ha Kodesh, through the mouth of your servant David did say, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples devise futile things?
v 26…the kings of the earth took their stand; and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord (Yehovah) and against his Messiah (Psa 2.1-2).’
v 27…For truly in this city there were gathered together against thy Holy (he had a kedusha) servant Yeshua, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel (it wasn’t just the “Jews” who killed Messiah, but Jews and non-Jews were in collusion together by God’s design-v 28),
v 28…to do whatever thy hand and thy purpose predestined to occur.
v 29…And now, Lord (Yehovah), take note of their threats, and grant that thy bond-servants may speak thy word with all confidence (not their words),
v 30…while thou dost extend thy hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of thy holy servant Yeshua.”
v 31…And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken (a sign of acceptance), and they were all filled with the Ruach Ha Kodesh, and began to speak the word of God (the Tanak) with boldness.
v 32…And the congregation who believed were of one heart and soul (a parallelism for their intentions and thoughts were united); and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own; but all things were common property (they were not obligated to do this, it was free and voluntary on their part; persecution was coming and their property could be seized; Jerusalem was going to be destroyed according to Yeshua but they didn’t know when, so they decided to sell their possessions and put the money into a common account for mutual support).
v 33…And with great power the shaliachim were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Yeshua, and abundant grace was upon them all.
v 34…For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales (see v 32),
v 35…and lay them at the shaliachim’s feet (put the money under their authority for disposal) and they would be distributed to each, as any had need (the shaiachim acted as the Gabbai Tzedekah, one who manages funds given in charity).
v 36…And Joseph (he will add), a Levite (did not have an inheritance in the land but could own property as an individual like Jeremiah did in Jer 32.9) of Cyprian birth, who was called Barnabas by the shaliachim, which translated means, Son of Encouragement (exhortation/prophecy),
v 37…and who owned a tract of land (possibly in Cyprus, or elsewhere), and sold it and brought the money and laid it at the shaliachim’s feet (under their authority to distribute).
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