A Hebrew man or woman became a servant voluntarily (v.12).  After serving six years there was freedom and much blessing (vs.13,14). 

We too have become voluntary servants of the Lord and look forward to the seventh year, the Sabbath rest, when we will be abundantly blessed. 

Notice that this blessing applied only to covenanted servants of Yahweh.  And so too, the blessings that Jesus will bring will only be given to His brethren and not to strangers (even if those strangers claim to be followers of His).

One of the laws from God was that the firstborn males of the animals must not be used for farm work, but must be eaten by its owners in the place that God would choose  (Deut 15:19-23). This would ensure that everyone would be reminded that the firstborn was God's.

15:9       This law which commanded generosity did not command the degree to which generosity as to be shown. The degree to which generosity was to be shown was determined, not by the giver but by the need of the recipient.

15:9 The requirement that the Israelite should show generosity ‘for the poor shall never cease …’ demonstrates that Israel’s generosity was not so that poverty could be removed from the nation. Rather the point is being made that no matter how generous they were towards their poor brethren they would not be able to solve the problem of poverty. In like manner today we should realise that the solution to world poverty is not to be found through individual or national giving – as good and generous as that is. Poverty will only be removed when Christ returns.

15:11   Clearly the generous spirit of the Jews towards their brethren was not designed to relive poverty in totality for ‘the poor shall never cease out of the land’ So the giving was, primarily, for the benefit of the spiritual development of the giver.  This point is developed by Paul in 2Cor 9:6-7

15:10 It was not simply a matter of relieving the poor. The provision of the details of the year of release were for the benefit of the giver. That his mind might become like that of his God. He was not to be grieved in his giving. He was to be a ;’cheerful giver’ –2Cor 9:7 – not even expecting repayment of the debt – Luke 6:30-34

V.15 bondman (KJV) is translated from the Hebrew ebed which means servant (slave).  You might recall Ebed-melech who helped Jeremiah (Jer 38:7-9).  Although his name sounds like a proper name it was probably just descriptive of his station because his name means servant of the king.

V.21 Israel would later forget to honor Yahweh with the best of the flock. They thought: Why should we bring the best to be sacrificed, they are only going to be destroyed. Let’s keep the best for ourselves and bring the inferior animals to be burned in sacrifice. They considered sacrifice to Yahweh a weary exercise, but Yahweh was not amused (Mal 1:13,14).

7:1 2 3 [twice] 5 8 and finally a warning that we should not view the 'former days as 'better' - this is the basis of man's depression. Human nature is such that it always thinks of the things it no longer has as more appealing than what is currently available. Israel were like this in the wilderness - we remember … (Numbers 11:5)

Solomon had a thousand wives and concubines. He knew all of these intimately. In all of these women he could not find one who was upright (v28-29).  In v26 he explains that the most bitter thing in life, even worse than death itself, is a woman whose heart is snares and nets. He of all people knew this to be true, because he was the one who had wisdom and glory from God, yet fell from grace through the subtelties of the women he loved (1Kin 11:1-6). The word snares means the same as Rebekah. It is with her that we see the character trait he is referring to.

In Gen 27:1-17 Rebekah devises a plan in order to deceive her husband. Having done that, she then deceives him again in vs 45-46 by concocting a story based on half truth in order to undo the damage she has done with the first deceit. Even though we can say that she had the best motives, we can categorically say that deceit is always wrong, and always displeases God. His very character testifies to truth, and nothing but the truth. The same character trait is found in Eve, who for the best motives, so it seems, persuaded Adam to sin.

Women are of course very persuasive to men. Even the great Solomon in all his wisdom and splendour was unable to stop himself being swayed to do wrong. The correct word for it is subtelty, and is opposite to uprightness. Solomon is stating in Ecclesiastes that he has found in every single woman he has met a propensity to this character trait. When we think of the women he is referring to, however, we realise why this is. His thousand wives were largely from idol worshipping nations. It seems from v26 that these wives had deliberately set out to seduce him into their form of worship. Had Solomon chosen his wives more wisely, he would not have had to write these verses at all. Had he chosen more wisely, his wives might have mustered all their persuasion instead to keeping him in God's ways (Prov 31:10-12)

V.10 There are people who long for the good old days as they nostalgically reminisce.  There is nothing good about any of the days we have lived or are living.  We should be future-oriented (Phil 3:14) and take one day at a time (Matt 6:34).  It is not where we have been but where we end up that is important.

V.20 Being just or righteous does not mean being sinless.  A righteous person is one who falls, realizes his error, corrects it, and moves on (Prov 24:16).

V.18 "he that feareth God shall come forth of them all"  shall escape all such extremes Prov 3:7

7:9 ‘Be not hasty to be angry’ is the basis of the exhortation and warning found in James 1:19

7:12 Today’s materialistic society would have us believe that the possession of money solves all problems, as if one can buy one’s way out of problems. However money cannot give eternal life.

7:7 The two features described here both relate to the way in which a man many be prevailed upon to give a judgement that differs from what he knows to be right. ‘oppression’ is a threat of some action. The ‘gift’ is a bribe. Exo 23:8

7:13-15 The book of Ecclesiastes is making the point that God is at work in the lives of those who are ‘wise’ rather than trying to resist the Hand of God in our lives we should be willing to recognise His hand at work and take His correction. The whole objective in our lives is to submerge our will that it might become the will of the Father.

Vs.2-4 Too much merriment can prevent a person from reflecting the serious things surrounding life. Facing death brings sobriety.  That experience allows one to reflect about his/her life in order to bring changes for the better.

V.9 is echoed in James 1:19.

V.14 God is the creator of both good and evil (Isa 45:7). The phrase find nothing after him means that man can find nothing to blame after he has considered God’s work.

V.28 Solomon speaks from experience.  He had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1Kin 11:3).  His wives turned him to idolatry (1Kin 11:4,5).

7:10 Selective memory is a fault we all share. We tend to forget the evil things of the past and only remember the good – it was always hot and sunny in the school holiday when I was young – we tend to think. Rather the thinking of Jacob at the end of his life is more appropriate – Gen 48:6

5 v.2 The word 3557 keep back Acts 5:2,3 is translated 'purloin' Titus 2:10 which shows that we can behave in a way similar to Ananias and Sapphira.

5 v.32 The disciples are told that they are witnesses to God's work with Jesus Luke 24:48 Which point they are not slow to point out in their preaching. Acts 1:8 22 2:32 3:15 4:33 5:32 10:39 41 13:31 22:15 26:16

6 v.3 The word 'ordain' 2525 can be seen, from its use in the New Testament, to encompass rulership and judgment. Matthew 24:45,47 25:21,23 (made) ruler Luke 12:14,42,44 (made) judge / rule Acts 6:3 7:10,27,35 appoint / made Acts 17:15 conducted Romans 5:19 made Titus 1:5 ordain Hebrews 2:7 5:1 7:28 8:3 set / ordained / maketh James 3:6 4:4 is 2 Peter 1:8 make The use in the epistles indicates that, when appointment was made, it was at the father's instigation, not man's.

5:41 Would we rejoice if we were persecuted and beaten? I suspect that many of us would try to hide our faith. The gospel and the certainty of the resurrection of Jesus had certainly changed these men.

6:3 The counsel to the ecclesia in Jerusalem echoes what Jethro told Moses (Deuteronomy 1:13). Indeed it is a good principle to use in Ecclesial life today. Brethren should not try to control things by holding on to power. Rather brethren and sisters must be involved in decision making. We will return to this point when we come to this chapter again later in the year.

ch 5 - The behaviour of Ananias and Sapphira shows a complete lack of understanding of Proverbs 21:27

6:7 In telling us that 'a great number of priests believed' a potential problem would raise itself. They had just been discussing matters of welfare and having resolved it they were faced with a great multitude who were now out of work.

5:1 When Ananias and Sapphira 'kept back' 3557 part of the cost we learn that we can behave similarly for the same word (only used on this occasion outside Acts 5) is translated 'purloining'(Titus 2:10) which we can see may apply to us in our daily lives.

6:9 The disputing of these against Stephen matched the 'murmuring' of the Grecians against the Hebrews for those who disputed with Stephen were also Grecians.

5:1 The mention of the deceit and greed of Ananias and Sapphira immediately after the actions of Barnabus (4:37) is designed to force us to see the contrast. The chapter division is unhelpful here.

6:1 The first problem the ecclesia had to deal with was related to the care of widows. This was a major concern in the wilderness Deut 24:17, :19-21. So it is not surprising that James (1:27) addresses this issue in his letter

6:4  When we read of the apostles giving themselves ‘continually to prayer’ we should not assume that they did nothing but pray. We know that they preached and did miracles. The ‘continual’ prayer was prayer that was regularly offered. In like manner we can continually pray even though we do other tings. It is an attitude which sees prayer as a regular part of daily life which the apostles manifested.

5:13-14           Notice the contrast – ‘durst no man join’ with ‘believers were the more added …’. Clearly we are seeing two totally different views. The first being the group of Jewish leaders who were trying to subvert the gospel. The second being faithful men and women wanting salvation.

Stephen is considered the first Christian martyr. Stephen was appointed with six others to deal with disputes between Hebrew and Greek-speaking Jewish members of the ecclesia. The name Stephen is Hellenistic and underscores his Greek-Jewish roots. Stephen was brought before the Jewish Council on trumped-up charges (6:12). The Supreme Council was the Sanhedrin, but there were two lesser courts in Jerusalem and also one court in each town of the country. It is not clear which court, in Jerusalem, charged him. The authority of the courts also extended to Jews living in foreign countries. They were allowed to operate, of course, under the aegis of the Romans.

Acts 5:12  Strongs says the word accord is "A unique Greek word, used 10 of its 12 New Testament occurrences in the Book of Acts, helps us understand the uniqueness of the Christian community. Homothumadon is a compound of two words meaning to "rush along" and "in unison". The image is almost musical; a number of notes are sounded which, while different, harmonise in pitch and tone. As the instruments of a great concert under the direction of a concert master, so the Holy Spirit blends together the lives of members of Christ's church."

Now we know that in the dedication of the temple by Solomon 2Chron 5:12 how there was a unison of faithful (Heman) brethren, gathered together (Asaph) to praise (Jeduthun) the Lord. And these brethren "stood at the east end of the altar". It is interesting to note that the brethren in Acts were in Solomon's Porch Now Strongs tells us that, " the portico built by Solomon in the eastern part of the temple " . There is such a wonderful harmony between these two events.

6:5 All the names in this verse are Greek and it is probable that they were Jews of the troubled Grecian group.

5:34 Gamaliel was not simply stating a rational point. Being a Pharisee he doubtless was sympathetic to the way in which the apostles were preaching the resurrection. The very conflict between Pharisee and Sadducee provided a disunited front on the part of the religious leaders which assisted the work of the apostles.

TEAMWORK

When the complaints about the care of the widows in the early church started to come to the fore, the twelve apostles came to a decision to help in the situation. They said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." (Acts 6:2-4)

What the apostles had started was teamwork. They realised that they could not do everything by themselves and that they were going to be of more use praying and preaching than they were going to be serving meals or giving out welfare.

Once the decision had been made, the people selected, and the work begun, the comment was made "So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith." (v.7) It was once the teamwork was in place that the growth began to happen. So let us follow their example and allow each person to play their part in our gatherings. In doing so we will encourage more effective work and growth in our churches.