Acts - Gods are Among Us!

We are continuing to look at the ministry of Paul and Barnabas as they travel along…

The fights are continuing, and it is going to get a bit strange…

Acts 14:8–18 NASB 2020

In Lystra a man was sitting whose feet were incapacitated. He had been disabled from his mother’s womb, and had never walked. This man was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul looked at him intently and saw that he had faith to be made well, and he said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet!” And the man leaped up and began to walk. When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us!” And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, since he was the chief speaker. Moreover, the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men, of the same nature as you, preaching the gospel to you, to turn from these useless things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything that is in them. In past generations He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” And even by saying these things, only with difficulty did they restrain the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.

“The same thing occurred in Iconium… a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers.” (Acts 14:1)

Again, it is not predestination. It is belief. It is always, has always been, and will always be about belief.

Paul calls a disabled man of faith forward, and he is healed! The crowds notice this and begin to speak in their dialect, “‘The gods have come down to us in human form!’ Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.” (Acts 14:11-12)

Ancient Greeks saw their gods differently than we often assume. They were powerful, but not all-knowing, all-powerful, or creators of the universe

There were varying categories:

Olympian gods (Zeus, Athena, Apollo, etc.)

Chthonic deities of the earth and underworld (Hades, Tartarus)

Heroes (Hercules)

Notably, there is excitement that ‘gods’ have appeared among them in human form, which is absolutely a part of their theology.

In this area, there is a story of Zeus and Hermes visiting Phrygia in human disguise

This was done to test the people’s human hospitality

Only two welcomed them (Philemon and Baucis) while the rest of the population suffered judgment

Thus, the people are NOT going to repeat the mistake

Hermes was known as a divine messenger and spokesman

What is interesting, to me, is that the people recognized this was a work of “a god”

And they don’t immediately suspect the God of the Jews…

Why would they?

I want to take a moment to call attention to something already in progress when this is written: The Greek concept of physical gods was subsiding in the 5th century, BCE.

Plato gradually began to strip the gods of human characteristics and made them transcendent deities who were unknowable and depersonalized

It led to allegorizing their ancient stories and traditions

The early church adopted these views, and, thus, over time the elohim of the Hebrew Bible were allegorized

If you spend any time reading the church fathers, you will notice they have been influenced by Platonic thought.

I.e., The gods are not real, idols are nothing, they are more like impersonal forces that are not really part of our lives.

(Jesus met with his internal bad thoughts in the desert for 40 days, not an actual satan)

All of this is church father thinking, Christian tradition, and we have inherited those ideas.

Paul kind of addresses this, and the Deuteronomy 32 worldview...

Paul makes the claim that the God he represents is the creator of all things, which makes Yahweh the Most High God over all gods, and Jesus, his messiah, the Lord over all lords. And then he says, “In past generations he (Yahweh) allowed all peoples (the nations) to follow their ways, yet he has not left himself without a witness in doing good, giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.” (Acts 14:16-17)

To permit the nations to walk in their ways is a direct reference to Genesis 11 (tower of Babylon) and Deut 32:8-9

They were placed in the ‘safe keeping’ of the lesser gods

That is interesting and all, but the more interesting piece is this...

He gave them a witness by doing good for them:

Giving rain from the heavens

Fruitful seasons

Filling you with food

(many call this common grace)

But he also gave them joy in their hearts...

Not because of rain or food, as some would say...

What Paul is claiming is that all the gods who they ascribed as responsible for the natural world are not the gods that provide that. It is Yahweh who provides.

Acts - Gods are Among Us!