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Israel in the Book of Acts

Author:David Pawson
Series:Part 2 of the series Israel in the New Testament (2011)

ACTS
At first sight the book of Acts seems to favour ‘Replacement Theology’, the idea that the Church of the New Testament has taken the place of Israel in the Old, as God’s people and agent on earth. It begins in the Jewish capital of Jerusalem and ends in the Gentile metropolis of Rome. The first half concentrates on Peter, apostle to the Jews (with John), the second half focuses on Paul, apostle to the Gentiles. The finale shows Paul transferring his attention from stubborn Jews to sympathetic Gentiles for the third time in Dr. Luke’s record.
But a more careful examination of the relevant scriptures reveals that this switch is temporary, an example of the last coming first and the first last. Two crucial concepts are the Kingdom of Israel (in chapter 1) and the Tabernacle of David (in chapter 15). Both reveal God’s ultimate plan for his chosen people, while his immediate project is for the Jewish apostles to be witnesses of the Jewish messiah to the ends of the earth.

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