Acts

 

In Acts 2: 25-31, the apostle wrongly attributes Psalms 16 as David talking about the resurrection of Jesus. On the contrary, there is no change in author in Psalms 16. David is talking about himself. Also, the same person who says in Acts 2 that “I have set the Lord before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved,” is the same person who says in verse 10 “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer the thine Holy One to see corruption.” This is a common mistake where Christians take one verse out the entire chapter and assign it to Christ when the whole chapter should be attributed to the same author. Another error is that the apostle says that David actually saw the Lord in Psalms 16 because of verse 8 “...I have set the Lord always before me”, whereas the author is simply saying that he follows the Lord’s counsel and commandments. Verse 7 says “I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night season.”

Chapter 4 in Acts provides a common contradiction between the real Messiah and Jesus Christ. The real Messiah prevails against the kings of the earth, whereas Jesus Christ is crucified. Chapter 4 versus 25-26 say “Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.”This translation isn’t word for word what Psalms 2 says, but the main problem is in Psalms 2, God gives his Son the heathen for his inheritance, he sets him on his holy hill, he rules the people with a rod of iron, kings and judges are told to serve him with fear, and a warning is given to the whole earth to not make God’s Son angry. Again, the real Messiah in Psalms 2 is clearly different than Jesus.

Most Christians don’t understand what the new testament teaches regarding the life experience of the man of God. The new testament clearly teaches that if you follow Jesus in life, you will suffer. The life experience of the righteous man in the old testament is one of blessings and prosperity, not suffering. Anyways Acts 5: 41 says “And they departed from the presence of the counsel, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” There are many scriptures you could use to highlight the differences in doctrine between the old and new testament. One I like is Proverbs 13:18 “Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.” The Christian experiences shame, while the Man of God is honored. The New Testament clearly teaches that many Christians will be killed. Whereas, the Old Testament guarantees safety for the man of God. The book of Job 5:11 says that "...those which mourn may be exalted to safety." Another verse in proverbs says that "The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord." Also in Proverbs 18:10 we find "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe."

The Christians proclaim that they are God’s people because of their faith in Christ. In my religion Awake Afflicted Jerusalem, I believe that the afflicted people of this world are God’s chosen people. This view obviously differs from Jews who claim they are God’s people. Regardless, the new testament teaches that faith in Christ is the only way to find God’s favor. In reality, God places his favor on a certain type of man who grows into God’s favor. A description of this man is found in Isaiah 66: 2 “...but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word.”In Acts 7: 49, the writer quotes this verse in Isaiah, and tries to apply it to Christians. However, the poor and contrite man in the old testament does not need faith in Christ to be chosen by God.

Acts 8:32 -33 is supposed to be a reading from Isaiah 53:7-8. I have already discussed Isaiah 53 and how there is no way it can be about Jesus. There are a couple more points I want to make. First, verse 7 in Isaiah 53 says the Lord will not open his mouth. Now, Jesus did open his mouth a lot. Even when he was on the cross he said a few things. Also, verse 7 is describing a pattern of life, not just a few hours when Jesus was crucified. Furthermore, Acts 8:33 says “In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth.” The writer completely changes Isaiah 53:8, to fit the life of Jesus. Isaiah 53:8 actually says “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.”

Jesus made it clear that he was the only begotten Son of God for all eternity. However, Psalms 2: 7 “I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” It is possible that this is just an expression and that “this day” doesn’t actually mean a certain day. However, we find additional scripture which point to the Messiah not knowing God the father at all. Isaiah 45 speaks of the Lord and verses 4 and 5 tell the Messiah “I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not know me”, and “..i girded thee, thou thou has not know me.” God is clearly telling his son he is his father even though his son hast not know him. When Acts 13: 33 quotes Psalms 2:7, he highlights a big difference between Jesus and the righteous servant of God. Jesus claims he had his father from the beginning and the real Messiah still does not know his father.

 

A glaring error made by Paul and Barnabas is that they take a verse supposed to be about the work of the Lord, and turn it into a verse about their work as apostles. In Acts 13: 47 “For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.” The verse in Isaiah 49 they are claiming to fulfill is about the righteous servant of God spoken of in verse 3. It is about one person, not two, and it is about the work of the Lord himself. The apostles mistakenly view Isaiah 49: 6 to be about their work as apostles, when it is actually about the work of the Lord himself. Isaiah 49:13 continues to talk about the work of the Lord by saying “...for the Lord has comforted his people, and will have mercy on his afflicted." Furthermore, if you read the entirety of chapter 49, it is about the last times when the Messiah is exalted for the whole earth to see, not about the apostles preaching to the world. Verse 26 “And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet win: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the might one Jacob.

If you look at Acts 20:19 “Serving the Lord with all humility…” is found. Now, I agree that humility is a huge part of being a man of God. However, the proverb 22 says humility gives “...riches, honour, and life”, to the righteous. However, if you look at the life experiences of the apostles their humility led to shame and death.