Paul's Missionary Journeys - Part 2

First Missionary Journey

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

February 23, 2025

Scripture Reading: Galatians 3:28:  “

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye [Jew and Greek] are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Saul was in his youth a member of the Jews’ religion (Judaism) and “…persecuted the church of God and wasted it” (Galatians 1:13). But when it pleased God to reveal His Son to Paul, that he might preach among the lost tribes of the former divorced House of Israel, Paul, to prepare for this task, spent three years in Damascus and Arabia. From there he thwarted an attempt to murder him by the Jews in Damascus, and went to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him for fifteen days (Galatians 1:18) until he escaped another plot by the Jews to murder him. He then went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia for about five years. (Galatians 1:21). Saul later was found by Barnabas in Tarsus and was brought to the church in Antioch, Syria, where they both taught for over a year. It was to Antioch in Syria that a host of Christian Judeans in Jerusalem and nearby areas fled after the death of Stephen.

Acts 11:19:  “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice [Phoenicia], and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews [Israelite Judeans] only.” 

Stephen’s death was part of a dividing segment in the history of Israel. There was a great persecution against the Jerusalem church and many of the Israelite Judeans fled throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria. Philip converted many of them in Samaria and when the apostles heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John. They then had an encounter with Simon Magus. Philip then was sent by an angel of God to Gaza and had his miraculous visit with the Israelite eunuch from Ethiopia.

The person who had the greatest hatred towards the Christians was an Israelite from Tarsus, Asia Minor who was a chief Pharisee named Saul. It was during this time that Saul, who was on his way to capture more Christians in Damascus, Syria had his miraculous conversion. 

And then Peter and Cornelius both had a vision. Cornelius had his vision in the middle of the afternoon and Peter had his at noon while he was on the rooftop while he was praying the next day. Peter became very hungry, and he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him:

Acts 10:12-16:

12) “Wherein were all manner of beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

13) And there came a Voice to him, Rise Peter; kill, and eat.

14) But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.

15) But the Voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

16) This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.

There are many lessons that are taught from these verses about the meeting of Cornelius and Peter. Some are wrong; and some are right:

(1) The short-sided view of this vision is held by many in Judeo-Christianity. They say that since Peter was shown this vessel that came down from heaven three times, which contained“…all manner of four-footed beasts and wild beasts, and creeping things and fowls of the air,” that he was taught that these unclean animals were now clean.

They say that Peter was being shown that there was a “sudden change” in God’s law. They believe that this is an example of the changeover from living under the Law and then, suddenly, living under Grace. 

This is why Israelite Christians, my parents included, ate all kinds of products that the Bible gives as examples of not to be eaten. The most common unclean animals that are consumed by modern-day Israelites are what my parents provided for me and my two siblings to eat:

• The pig/hog: for example: ham, pork chops, pig’s feet, and bacon.
• All kinds of fish that do not have scales or fins: for example: catfish, clams, oysters, shrimp, and shellfish.
• All kinds of animals that are hunted in the woods: for example: squirrels and rabbits.

Why is this view wrong? It looks okay when you first look at it. But let us consider a few things that they overlooked.

(2) Why was Peter perplexed by this vision? It says in verse seventeen that Peter doubted in himself what this vision should mean. While he was doubting, “…the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate”(Acts 10:17).

If this vision meant that God had cleansed all the unclean animals, what did the men sent by Cornelius coming to Simon’s house mean? If God were telling Peter that it was now okay, after over one thousand years, to eat pig, why would He have to send men from Cornelius? All He would have to do was show Peter the vision.

And then it says in verse nineteen that “While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.” What do these “three men” have to do with the unclean animals now being clean? 

Peter had said three times that “…he had never eaten any thing that was common or unclean” (verse 14). Was there a connection between the three men who were seeking him and the three times the vision appeared to him? Peter said that he had never eaten any unclean animal. And Peter was never told that what he replied was wrong. 

It only says, “What God has cleansed, that call not thou common” (verse 15). What had God cleansed? I believe that it wasn’t the unclean pig; for I believe that it is still “unclean.”  So do many doctors who tell their patients not to eat pigs after they have heart problems. 

But there is more to the story.

Acts 10:19:  While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men [two of Cornelius’ household servants and a devout soldier that waited on him continually, verse seven] seek thee.

The men told Peter that their master was warned of God by a holy angel to send for him to go to his house. So, they (Peter and six other Judeans and the three men of Cornelius) traveled from Joppa to Caesarea. Cornelius waited for them and called together his relatives and near friends (Acts 10:24, Acts 11:12).

(3) Now what does the rest of the story have to do with the unclean animals that are supposedly now clean and can be eaten by all the Israelite Christians? Was this what the vision of the unclean animals was teaching Peter. No! The unclean animals represented the unclean, divorced House of Israel, who for over 700 years were “unclean.”  What does this statement have to do with “unclean” animals now being “clean”?

Acts 10:28:  And he [Peter] said unto them [Cornelius and his kinsmen and near friends], Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew [Israelite Judean] to keep company, or come unto one of another nation [nation of former house of Israel]; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man [former divorced Israelite, not animal] common or unclean.”

Luke says in verse 28, that God had shown Peter that he shouldn’t call, any animal common or unclean, but he shouldn’t“…call any MAN common or unclean.” For seven centuries it was unlawful for the Judeans to keep company, or associate with or eat with any one from the former House of Israel, for the latter were in a state of divorcement and cut off from Almighty God. God was showing Peter that something drastic had changed. But now, since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there was not one Israelite who were unclean.   

(4) The majority of Christians say that it was not the former House of Israel that was cleansed, but all the people of any race who are alive or who lived from that time to the present. They say that Cornelius was the first “Gentile” to be saved.

But is this true? This is the critical point of division! God had shown Peter in his vision, which He showed him three times, that He had not cleansed any animal; but what man did he cleanse? Was it all men or was it just the former divorced, uncircumcised Israelites?

In Acts 11:1, the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the “Gentiles” had also received the word of God from what happened in Peter’s and Cornelius’ meeting. These men questioned and contended with Peter when he came to Jerusalem. They said that he had had fellowshipped with men who were uncircumcised and had eaten with them. Oh, that was the message that the vision gave when the voice told Peter to rise and eat the unclean animals; it meant to rise and eat with the now clean Israelites!

Acts 11:3:  "Saying [Apostles and brethren of the church of Jerusalem], Thou [Peter] wentest in to men uncircumcised [unclean Israelites], and didst eat with them.”

This was forbidden for over seven hundred years for the former House of Israel was “uncircumcised” and “without God in the world.” They were like unclean animals.

Ephesians 2:11, 12:

11) “Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hand;

12) That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”

Timothy, a fellow laborer and Israelite with Paul, was born in Galatia in Asia Minor. He was uncircumcised, but was circumcised by Paul because he did not want any unnecessary problems with the Judeans. All the formerly divorced sheep were uncircumcised. So, why was it that an angel came to Cornelius, who was uncircumcised, and told him to seek out Peter? It was because of the death and resurrection of the Redeemer; Jesus Christ had recently happened. Cornelius was not an uncircumcised non-Israelite but was a former Israelite. He was part of most Israelites who had been in a situation of having “no hope” for seven centuries.

Ephesian 2:13:  “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off [because you were divorced] are made nigh [no longer divorced] by the blood of Christ.”

The book of Ephesians then tells us that the two (house of Israel and house of Judah) are made one. This echoes what was said by the prophet Ezekiel who had prophesied years before this occurrence:

Ezekiel 37:16, 17:

16) “Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it. For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions:

17) And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thy hand.”

If this was not a fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy, then when did it happen? Cornelius and his kinsmen and near friends heard and believed what Peter preached, and they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit the same as the men of Judah had at Pentecost. The six men (Judeans) who were with Peter, who were circumcised and believed, were astonished, because on the Gentiles, former divorced House of Israel, was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost Spirit.

Acts 10:44, 45:

44) “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost Spirit fell on all them which heard the word.

45) And they of the circumcision [Judeans] which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles [was this non-Israelites or the former divorced Israelites] also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost Spirit.”

So, God cleansed either the “Gentiles” or God cleansed the people of the House of Israel. I believe that He didn’t cleanse all the nations of the world – just the nations of the former house of Israel.

If God cleansed all the nations of the world, meaning all the people who existed, then, the people who believe this error say that there are two lessons to draw from this. Here is what one website that believes this:

“One [lesson] is that no human being is common or unclean. None is to be spurned, shunned, rejected, despised because of his ethnic origin or race or culture or physical traits. Christians should have no part in the kind of renewed racism that is cropping up around ourland, for example, in the white supremacist groups on the university campus.”

That means that the Kenite, Canaanite, Edomite, Ashkenazim are part of the “human beings” that are not to be rejected.If this is true, this means that Martin Luther was wrong. King Louis IX of France was wrong. Jesus Christ was wrong. Everyone has the opportunity to be saved is the cry of the modern-day Christian. The people who say that our Redeemer was born of a prostitute and is now in hell are now included in who has the opportunity to be in the kingdom of God. The people who constantly tried to murder the leaders and followers of the movement, the people who are called the “tares” are now cleansed. That is pure hogwash!

“The second lesson from the text is that in every nation – that is, every ethnic people group around the world (v. 35) – there are people being prepared by God to seek him with acceptable prayer…Cornelius would not have been saved if no one had taken him the gospel. And no one [everyone in the world] will be saved today without the gospel [what gospel?].”

Let’s look at the verse he referenced and then look two verses further:

Acts 10:35:  “But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.”

Do the next two verses help explain who he is talking about in verse 35?

Acts 10:36, 37:

36) “The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is the Lord of all:)

37) The word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;”

The word that God sent to the children of Israel which began in Galilee after the baptism of John. What was this word?

Mark 1:9, 14:

9) “And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in the Jordan.

14) Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.”

It was the message of the gospel of the kingdom, not the message of salvation is available to everyone on the earth!

(5) And when the apostles and brethren who were in Jerusalem heard what had happened (the first time in over seven hundred years) they questioned Peter and contended with him. Then Peter rehearsed what had happened. He concluded with this statement:

Acts 11:17, 18:

17) “Forasmuch then as God gave them [House of Israel] the like gift as He did unto us [House of Judah], who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?

18) When they [apostles and brethren] heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles [former House of Israel] granted repentance unto life.”

Was Cornelius and his family and close friends all “Gentiles” that is “non-Israelites or non-Jews” (well, they really were not Jewish) or were they the former divorced house of Israel? What happens next in the story should help us decide. 

(6) So, shortly after the Judeans were scattered to the other nations after the stoning of one of the first deacons of the church, Stephen:

Acts 11:19:  “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice [Phoenicia], and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews [Judeans] only.

 But shortly after Peter’s vision occurred and was agreed to by the Judeans in Jerusalem, this also happened:

Acts 11:20:   And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch [Syria], spake unto the Grecians [Greek speaking; House of Israel], preaching the Lord Jesus.

21) And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.”

The men of Cyprus and Cyrene (modern-day Libya) went to Antioch in Syria and spoke to the Grecians. Who were the Grecians? The former divorced House of Israel who were Greek speaking. It was in thischurch that the disciples were first called “Christians.” And it was this church that separated Paul and Barnabas for their first missionary journey. The prophets and teachers:

• Fasted,
• Prayed,
• Laid their hands on Paul and Barnabas, and
• Sent them away.

Do you think that today our missionaries to our people should be sent from a church, or do the missionaries just decide to go wherever they want on their own?

Acts 13:4:  “So they, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.

After Paul and Barnabas were sent forth by the Holy Spirit, they departed unto Seleucia, then sailed to Salamis and Paphos, Cyprus, then sailed to Perga and traveled to Antioch (both in Asia Minor). At Perga, Mark decided to return to Jerusalem alone.

When Paul was in Antioch of Galatia (Acts 13:14), the Bible says:

Acts 13:16. 17a:

16) “Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.

17a) The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers….”

Paul then rehearses a short history of Israel, (why would he do this if they weren’t “Men of Israel?) and he gives as one of his conclusions:

Acts 13:32, 33a:

32) “And we declare unto you [Israelites of Antioch] glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the [our] fathers,

33a) God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children….”

So, what Paul preached, in his message to his audience at Antioch, was a racial message. The promise made to “us” the children of “our” fathers [Abraham, Isaac and Jacob] is fulfilled in their children [the Israelites he was exhorting, including himself]. Notice Paul was teaching people who were the same race as himself. He was born only about 350 miles from where he was now preaching; Tarsus to Antioch (Asia Minor).Remember, Paul had preached previously in Tarsus and the surrounding area for about five years.

Then after Paul preached his sermon, this happened:

Acts 13:42:  And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath”(KJV).

Wait a minute. Why does it say “Gentiles”?  I thought the Apostle Paul called them “Men of Israel” at the beginning of this sermon? (Acts 13:16). Why is Paul calling them “Gentiles” at the end of this sermon? (13:42). In 26 verses, the people Paul was preaching to was changed from “Men of Israel” to “Gentiles”. I don’t think that Paul was wrong, but rather the translation is what was wrong!

Remember what the lesson of Peter’s vision was? It was that the people of the former divorced house of Israel were now cleansed. They were the same as the house of Judah; they were now one. The English Bibles refers to them as being “Gentiles.”

The Judeo-Christians say that the “Jew” was anyone from the tribe of Judah, an “Israelite” encompasses all twelve tribes of Jacob, and a “Gentile” was everyone else, then how does this verse make any sense? If they are correct, then the congregation switched from a person from the tribe of Judah to everyone else.

Then what happened?

Acts 13:43:  Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them [Paul and Barnabas], persuaded them to continue in the grace of God” (KJV).

Who are the “Jews”, “Gentiles”, and “religious proselytes”?  Look at how the New International Version (NIV) translates these verses, King James Version in [red].

Acts 13:42, 43:

42) “As [Jews] Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the [Gentiles] people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath.

 43) When the congregation was dismissed, many of the [Jews] Jews and [religious proselytes] devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God” (NIV).

The NIV translates “Jews” in verse forty-two as meaning “Paul and Barnabas” (who were not Jews) and “Gentiles” as “people” and then in verse 43, translates “Jews” as “Jews” and “religious proselytes” as “devout converts to Judaism”!Would any devout convert to Judaism be a follower of Paul and Barnabas? No, he wouldn’t. Wouldn’t the following be a better translation of these two verses:

Acts 13:42, 43:

42) “And when the Judeans[including Paul and Barnabas] were gone out of the synagogue, the former divorced nations of Israel besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.

43) Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Judeans and pious converts followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.”

Paul was a Benjamite and Barnabas was a Levite of the House of Judah or Judeans. The “Gentiles,” were people from the former House of Israel, who wanted the missionaries to talk to them the next sabbath. When the congregation broke up, many of both houses of Israel (Judah and Israel) followed Paul and Barnabas.

In Judeo-Christianity, you can read the opposite opinion in many of their websites, like this one, Jews & Gentiles in the Bible | History & Differences:

“The terms ‘Jew’ and ‘gentile’ are not used in the Hebrew Old Testament, but they come from terms used to describe two distinct groups in the text. A gentile is a modern English term that is used to mean non-Jewish person. An Israelite was a descendant of Jacob who later became the Jewish people.”     

In my opinion, this is the wrong definition of both words. The Antichrists/Christians are not only incorrect on who the “Gentiles” are: the non-Jews, but they are also wrong on who the Israelites are: the Jewish people. And almost all of Christianity has fallen for these lies published by the Jews.

As an example, The Dake Bible says in its note “a” on Acts13:16, that: 

“The terms Jews and Israel are used interchangeably in all the N. T. and after the captivity of the ten tribes in 2 Kings 17. The term Jew is used but one time in the Bible before this (2 Kings 16:6) …”

[In this passage the “Jews” and “Israel” are not interchangeable because they are on different sides in a war!] 

“The term Jew became equivalent to Israelite, and this is the way it is used in Scripture…”

[Where in the Bible does it say that these two entities are equivalent? The word Jew is a modern English word that wasn’t even in the old manuscripts. See the previous quote.]

“The term Israel is found in Scripture 1280 times before the division of the twelve tribes, and 1069 times after the ten-tribe kingdom was destroyed in 749 B.C.”

[Where does the Bible say that the northern kingdom was destroyed? It just says that their nation, the House of Israel, would go out of existence; but afterwards the people would become other nations.  Dake says in note “o” on verse Hosea 1:6 that “The 10-tribe kingdom was never restored and never will be, as such, again.”

Then what does Romans 9:24, 25 mean? 

Romans 9:24, 25:

24) “Even us, whom He hath called not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

25) As He saith also in Osee[Hosea], I will call them My people, which were not My people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.”

Hosea, chapter one, is talking about the House of Israel not the House of Judah nor the Gentiles, whoever they are!]

“Our honest study [?] of these words in both testaments proves that the Anglo-Saxon or British-Israel theory of making a distinction between Israel and Jews and making Anglo-Saxon the ten so-called lost tribes is false.” 

[Finis Jennings Dake was an American Pentecostal minister who is known for his writings on Pentecostalism and dispensationalism. When he was 35 years old, he was convicted of willfully transporting a 16-year-old girl across state lines “for the purpose of debauchery and immoral practices.” Dake pleaded guilty and served six months in the House of Corrections in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Dake’s notes influenced numerous Charismatic and Word of Faith leaders such as Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, and Benny Hinn.]

So, who did the Apostle Paul speak to at Antioch, Asia Minor? Were they “Men of Israel” or were they “Gentiles.” How could they be both “Men of Israel” – Jewish and “Gentiles” – non-Jewish? That takes in everyone who is living on the earth! This is a major mistake of the King James Version and almost all the other English Bible translations.

There were two distinct kinds of people in the synagogues and population written in the New Testament—in modern-day terms, Jews and Christians. The King James Version is not alone in producing different words, some even contradictory words, to describe each one of these contrasting people. They make the Bible so hard for the average person to correctly determine the identity of the people in the Bible. It’s even hard for learned people to decipher almost all English Bibles, especially if they do not know the original languages.

Almost all the English Bibles make the same mistake. They, like the KJV, call one set of people at different times and places:

• “Gentiles,”
• “Jews,”
• “Judeans,”
• “Son of a Jewess,”
• “Apostles,”
• “Greeks,”
• “Heathen,”
• “House of Judah,”
• “House of Israel,”
• “People,”
• “Men of Israel,”
• “Judah,”
• “Israel,”
• “The brethren,”
• “Uncircumcised,”
• “Circumcised,”
• “Nations,”
• “The disciples,”
• “Offspring of God,”
• “Residue of men,”
• “People of God,”
• “Flock of sheep,”
• “Wheat,”
• “Believing Jews,”
• “His (God’s)inheritance,”
• “Religious proselytes,”
• “Christians,” and
• So forth.

It is impossible for one set of people to have all these distinctive characteristics. 

Then they refer to the other people as being:

• “Jews,”
• “Unbelieving Jews,”
• “Circumcised,”
• “Canaanites,”
• “Judahites,”
• “Kenites,”
• “Grievous wolves,”
• “Vagabond Jews,”
• “Exorcists,”
• “Jews which believe not,”
• “Tares,”
• “Believing Jews,”
• “Offspring of the Serpent,”
• “Lewd fellows of the baser sort,”
• “Religious proselytes,”
• “Son of a Jewess,”
• “Judeans,”
• “Child of the devil,”
• “Edomites,” and
• So forth.

The problem is that Judeo-Christianity has said that there are only two distinct people in these chapters—“Jews” and “Gentiles”-- when there were really three:

1. Edomite Judeans or Jews,
2. Israelite Judeans (Benjaminite, Judahite and Levite), and
3. Israelite nations (formerly divorced by the LORD God of Israel for over seven hundred years).

And Judeo-Christianity’s theology has another problem –“Jew” and “Gentile” can’t have all these different characteristics that they list for them. Some words are used for both! It is very easy to charge that the translators didn’t understand what the Scripture was saying, or one could say that that they did it on purpose; either way, their translation is very difficult to keep straight as to, who is who, the way it is written.

In Acts 13:44-51, the rest of the story is told. The next sabbath day most of the people of Antioch (Asia Minor) came to hear Paul preach. The Jews saw the big crowd and were filled with envy and began to contradict and blaspheme Paul. But both Paul and Barnabas said that the Word of God should first be spoken to the “Jews”, and since they judge themselves unworthy of everlasting life, they would turn to the “Gentiles” (which most of Christendom says means everyone else; Acts 13:46). 

Now, who were the “Gentiles” that the apostles turned to? Paul, after saying these words, quotes Isaiah 49:6 in Acts 13:47:

Acts 13:47, quoting Isaiah 49:6b which is capitalized:

47) “For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I HAVE SET THEE TO BE A LIGHT OF THE GENTILES [formerly divorced nations], THAT THOU SHOULDEST BE FOR SALVATION UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.”

So, shortly after these words were spoken, the Jews once again stirred up the honorable and chief men and women of the city (Antioch) and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them out of their coasts. As a result of being expelled from Antioch, Paul, and Barnabas:

Acts 13:51b:  “…shook off the dust of their feet against them [Antioch Jews] and came to Iconium.”

When Paul and Barnabas came to Iconium, they spoke in the synagogue where:

Acts 14:1:  “And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both [Paul and Barnabas] together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.”

Are the words Greeks and Gentiles interchangeable? If they are, then it means that all the different races of the world that were there in Iconium, some of them believed. But all the races of the world were not in Iconium at this time, especially in the synagogue; there were only three different kinds of people that were there – Jews, Israelites of the dispersion, and Israelites of the southern kingdom!

And what about the word “Jews.” Is that the right translation? Are Jews and Israelites interchangeable? It is getting very confusing. It even gets more confusing when the KJV says the following in the next verse:

Acts 14:2:  “But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.”

It was so troubling that this became the situation in the city of Iconium:

Acts 14:4:  "But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles.”

The town of Iconium was split right down the middle—half siding with the Jews and the other half with the apostles of Christ. This is just another reference that the Jews were against Christ and His apostles. Which side was correct, the Jews or Christ’s Apostles? 

It should be obvious that this verse teaches that the Jews were not the apostles and the Kabbalists and Talmudists, after two thousand years, are still on the wrong side. There are two main opponents in this vicious war – Satan’s people verses God’s offspring.

The next few verses in Acts 14 tell of Paul and Barnabas fleeing from imminent persecution in Iconium to Lystra and Derbe and there they continued to “preach[ed] the gospel” [of the kingdom] (14:7). 

They didn’t preach the gospel of personal salvation that almost every church preaches today in the Israel nations. Why do the churches today omit preaching the “gospel” that the disciples and Jesus preached? Maybe it is because they have an inclusive church membership that the gospel of the kingdom would mean nothing to its congregation; but a universal gospel would.

There at Lystra, Peter and Paul met a man who was impotent in his feet from birth. He had never walked in his life, and they healed him. He began to walk, and the people were amazed. As a result of this miracle, the people thought that Barnabas was the god Jupiter and Paul was his messenger, Mercurius. It took the two missionaries a while to convince them that they were just men like they were and shouldn’t receive sacrifices.

But it wasn’t long after this miracle, that Jews arrived from Antioch (about 100 miles) and Iconium (about 20 miles)and persuaded the people to stone Paul. This is just another example of the Jews’ evilness in their attempt to destroy Christianity and its messengers. After stoning Paul, they dragged him out of the city of Lystra thinking that he was dead.

Acts 14:19:  “And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he [Paul] had been dead.”

Soon after the Jews left, the disciples stood around Paul, and he immediately got up and departed to the cities of Derbe, then went back to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch preaching the gospel of the kingdom. He went right back among the Jews and preached the gospel after they had attempted to murder him. He feared not, because God was with him.

After leaving Antioch (Asia Minor), Paul and Barnabas preached in Pisidia, Pamphylia, Perga, and Attalia. They ended their first missionary journey when they sailed to Seleucia and then went to the church at Antioch (Syria) and rehearsed all that God had done for them.

To be continued.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel.