Acts 8:1-3, opens with Saul approving of Stephens execution, and there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house. He dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. We have this scene where things, they’re just not going well, great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. The believers get scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the Apostles. The Apostles are going to be focused in Jerusalem. But the reference to Judea and Samaria, Acts 1:8 you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.
Verses 4-8, those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city, but what’s so significant about Samaria? This was the place in Old Testament history, this region and of course the particular city is where the 10 tribes of Israel had forsaken the line of David. They go off into their own area, their own kingdom, their own government and they commit idolatry and they set up their own system of worship, they become apostates. God sends them into exile at the hands of the Assyrians and the rest is history.
This is the area, where the gospel is taken into Samaria. Samaria, which had apostatized, is going to be reclaimed. The Bible presents the Samaritan population as being the product of the fallout of this exile. The Assyrians had a policy when they conquered a people, they would deport them to lands and then they would take other people they had conquered and bring those people into a specific region. They’re breaking up regional loyalties and national loyalties. In 2 Kings chapter 17, to make a long story short, the Samaritans were half breeds. They were not pure in their lineage or in their ethnicity because of the exile situation. The Samaritans would claim that they’re direct descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh who survived the exile, who weren’t deported and somehow escaped the act of the Assyrians, they’re going to reject this notion that they’re half breed.
Acts chapter 8, the messaging is important, people who live here, regardless of how they got here, can be the people of God. The gospel is taken to Samaria, and this area is now going to be reclaimed as turf for Yahweh. When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they got to check this out, they need to verify what’s going on, because they didn’t have representatives from Samaria in Acts chapter 2. So they sent to them Peter and John. So they pray that these new converts would receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not fallen on any of them, like in Acts chapter 2 at Pentecost to start this whole thing off. Samaria is a spiritually awful place, it’s kind of icky. They lay hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
Verses 4-8, those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city, but what’s so significant about Samaria? This was the place in Old Testament history, this region and of course the particular city is where the 10 tribes of Israel had forsaken the line of David. They go off into their own area, their own kingdom, their own government and they commit idolatry and they set up their own system of worship, they become apostates. God sends them into exile at the hands of the Assyrians and the rest is history.
This is the area, where the gospel is taken into Samaria. Samaria, which had apostatized, is going to be reclaimed. The Bible presents the Samaritan population as being the product of the fallout of this exile. The Assyrians had a policy when they conquered a people, they would deport them to lands and then they would take other people they had conquered and bring those people into a specific region. They’re breaking up regional loyalties and national loyalties. In 2 Kings chapter 17, to make a long story short, the Samaritans were half breeds. They were not pure in their lineage or in their ethnicity because of the exile situation. The Samaritans would claim that they’re direct descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh who survived the exile, who weren’t deported and somehow escaped the act of the Assyrians, they’re going to reject this notion that they’re half breed.
Acts chapter 8, the messaging is important, people who live here, regardless of how they got here, can be the people of God. The gospel is taken to Samaria, and this area is now going to be reclaimed as turf for Yahweh. When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they got to check this out, they need to verify what’s going on, because they didn’t have representatives from Samaria in Acts chapter 2. So they sent to them Peter and John. So they pray that these new converts would receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not fallen on any of them, like in Acts chapter 2 at Pentecost to start this whole thing off. Samaria is a spiritually awful place, it’s kind of icky. They lay hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
