Eternal Perspectives

Adrian Warnock, the preaching shrink, has thrown down the gauntlet once again. Here’s his challenge:

No, I haven’t gone sadistic. I would like to issue a challenge to bloggers – read Acts 15:28-29 and explain, using the passage context and the rest of the New Testament to demonstrate whether you feel that all the “requirements” of the Jerusalem council applies to Christians today or not. This time I will be declaring a winner – answers on a blog and to be linked to in the comments section of this post.

Setting

The place to start in understanding this pair of verses is the cultural-historical setting. Space, familiarity, and attention span limit the depth required but a bit of background information is certainly necessary.

First is the matter of chronology. It is likely that the Council of Jerusalem took place in 49 C.E. Paul, who was probably converted c. 33 C.E., was present at the council because of his apostolic mission to the Gentiles and the charge given him and Barnabus by the church of Antioch. By this time he had already begun to establish churches in Cilicia, Syria, Cyprus, and Galatia; in fact, the Letter to the Galatians may have been written just prior to the council.

The council was called because of Judaizers: certain Jewish believers came to Antioch, Syria, and taught that Gentiles needed to become Jews before they became Christians. After conversion, they argued, the Gentile believers needed to keep certain aspects of the Law even as the Jews did. Paul and Barnabas did not tolerate this teaching and opposed them forcefully. To resolve the matter, the church at Antioch sent the two missionaries to Jerusalem for a decision from the apostles and leaders there (Acts 14:26-28; Acts 15:1-2).

Context

Those present at the meeting, in addition to Paul and Barnabas, included the apostles and also the elders of the Jerusalem church. Recorded by Luke as having spoken during the council are Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and James; the words of James are those under consideration. Acts 15:19-21 is included in this discussion since it is a fuller description of the statement found in 15:29. James says:

19 Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles,
20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.
21 “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.

By the time of James’ summation, the others at the meeting had already had their say. Peter began by telling of the vision he received and the conversion of Cornelius and his household (Acts 10:9-48). If the dating of the Epistle to the Galatians is correct, then Peter would have been rebuked by Paul not long before he spoke to the council (Gal 2:1-10).

Paul and Barnabas followed Peter, telling the council of their ministry and all that they had seen God do among the Gentiles (Acts 15:12). It was then that James, the leader of the church and the half-brother of Jesus, rendered the decision of the council:

13 After they had stopped speaking, James answered, saying, “Brethren, listen to me.
14 “Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name.
15 “With this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written,
16 ‘AFTER THESE THINGS I will return, AND I WILL REBUILD THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID WHICH HAS FALLEN, AND I WILL REBUILD ITS RUINS, AND I WILL RESTORE IT,
17 SO THAT THE REST OF MANKIND MAY SEEK THE LORD, AND ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME,’
18 SAYS THE LORD, WHO MAKES THESE THINGS KNOWN FROM LONG AGO.
19 “Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles,
20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.
21 “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
– Acts 15:13-21

The church accepted James’ wisdom and drafted a letter to the sister church at Antioch to be taken by Paul and Barnabas, accompanied by Judas Barsabbas and Silas, leading members of the Jerusalem congregation (Acts 15:22). The letter read:

23 The apostles and the brethren who are elders, to the brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles, greetings.
24 “Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls,
25 it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
27 “Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will also report the same things by word of mouth.
28 “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials:
29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”

So the issue was resolved: Gentiles did not have to become Jews first nor did they have to keep the law following their conversion. Paul’s message was vindicated, even though he continued to observe aspects of the law himself and facilitated other Jewish believers in keeping it as well (Acts 18:18; Acts 21:20-26).

The matter Adrian asks to be dealt with is James’ statement in vv. 20 and 29: Gentiles were to refrain from eating food (1) contaminated by association with idols, (2) strangled, or (3) still containing blood. Lev 17:10-15 taught that it was unacceptable and a defilement to eat flesh that still contained blood. Every Jew grew up knowing and observing this important prohibition since “the life of all flesh is its blood” (Lev 17:14). Pagan sacrifices were sometimes strangled and the blood was not routinely drained from the animal.

The Apparent Problem

The problem arises for several reasons: first, because Paul later taught the Corinthians (and others) that it was perfectly permissible to eat food that had been sacrificed to idols (1 Cor 10:27-30) – food that may have been strangled and may have still contained blood; second, because the ceremonial and ritual purity laws were abrogated by Christ’s sacrifice (Rom 10:4) ; and, finally, because the Risen Lord scolds the churches at Pergamum and Thyatira and mentions “food sacrificed to idols” in each instance (Rev 2:14; Rev 2:20).

The Apparent Resolution

The “why” of James’ statement is fairly easy to understand; how it is to be reconciled with other passages is more involved. James apparently made the statement because of the thousands of Jews who had become believers and who were now fellowshiping with Gentiles (cf. Acts 21:20). Having been raised under the law, the Jewish believers continued to be very sensitive to many prescriptions and proscriptions of it: to sit at a table and share a meal with a Gentile enjoying a rare steak or a bit of strangled lamb would have been offensive to them. James asks - of the many verb forms that convey a command, none is used in his statement – that the Gentiles refrain from eating meat sacrificed to idols.

This is Paul’s point, as well, in 1 Cor 8:4-13: the consciences of some (perhaps including Jews) were weaker and these believers might have been caused to stumble if they joined others in eating meat sacrificed to idols. Therefore, Paul says, he will deny the exercise of his privileges for the sake of the weaker members of the Body of Christ. People, he says, are more important than freedoms.

James’ plea neither denies the efficacy of Christ’s sacrifice nor conflicts with Paul’s teaching to the Corinthians. He is calling for the Gentiles to take the higher road – the path of love – and to forego their appetites on behalf of the Jews. James was not saying that there was something wrong with the meat itself, but only that others might be wounded. Love calls for the stronger to sacrifice for the weaker.

There remains, however, Christ’s rebuke of the believers in Pergamum and Thyatira. Our Lord says:

And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:
‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.
‘So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. – Rev 2:12-15, emphasis mine

And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this:
‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.
‘But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
‘I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. – Rev 2:18-21, emphasis mine

Is the admonition of Jesus Christ in conflict with the declaration of Paul or the petition of James? He is not happy with these churches and, to each of them, He mentions the sin of eating food previously sacrificed to idols. The key to understanding lies in His references to Balaam and Jezebel.

The two figures harken back to times in the history of the Jewish nation, identifying the influences of Balaam and Jezebel and the resulting sins of God’s people. Balaam was hired by Balak to curse the people of Israel but, saved by his ass, he blessed them, much to the consternation of Balak. But Balaam had another way to accomplish the task: he instructed Balak on how to corrupt the people in order to lead them into sin and thus incur the consequences (Num 24-25).

Jezebel was the wife of Ahab and instigated him to worship Baal; the sin of Israel’s king spread throughout the land and was charged to all the people.

It came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went to serve Baal and worshiped him. So he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria. Ahab also made the Asherah. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife incited him. – 1 Kings 21:25

When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” And he answered, “What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?” – 2 Kings 9:22

Alluding to these historic events, what was Jesus saying to these two churches? The rebuke does not seem to be about eating foods that were left over from pagan sacrifices; rather, it is about leaving the path of righteousness and worshiping idols. It is about adding to the finished work of Christ, believing that some other god needed to be appeased or implored for goodness or grace.

Both Balaam and Jezebel corrupted the people of God by seducing them to worship other gods. Christ is concerned not with diets but with devotions: He alone is to be sought; to seek another is to be idolatrous.

Application

The answer to Adrian’s question – do the requirements voiced by James have application for the church today? – is both yes and no. It is no because, first of all, it was not a command but a request that the Gentiles voluntarily restrain themselves. More importantly, James was not adding dietary restrictions for the purpose of sanctification as though what goes into a person causes defilement. We are saved by the Spirit; we are sanctified by the Spirit (Gal 3:1-3). Eating meat that has been sacrificed to idols, strangled, or swimming in its own bloody juices are not sources of impurity.

But the principle espoused by James is certainly binding on the church. The stronger members of the body have the responsibility to be sensitive to the consciences of weaker members and to avoid offending them. Freedom in Christ is not so much a right or privilege as it is a responsibility: stronger Christians are to guard, protect, and educate weaker believers. They are not to flaunt their practices in a manner that might cause others to violate their own consciences (1 Cor 8:7-13).

James calls upon all believers of all times to walk in love, conducting ourselves towards one another in a way that edifies rather than erodes the other’s faith. He is providing a specific application in his time of the timeless command of Christ that we love one another (Jn 13:34-35). This command is unquestionably incumbent upon the church today.