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JULY 5
of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, up for them David as king, to whom also He
not seeing the sun for a time.” gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David
And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart,
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he went around seeking someone to lead him who will do all My will.’ From this man’s
by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, seed, according to the promise, God raised up
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when he saw what had been done, being for Israel a Savior— Jesus— 24 after John had
astonished at the teaching of the Lord. first preached, before His coming, the baptism
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13 Now when Paul and his party set sail from of repentance to all the people of Israel. And
Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘Who
John, departing from them, returned to Jerusa- do you think I am? I am not He. But behold,
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lem. But when they departed from Perga, they there comes One after me, the sandals of
came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’
synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.
15 And after the reading of the Law and the
Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to
them, saying, “Men and brethren, if you have 13:15 reading of the Law and the Prophets.
any word of exhortation for the people, say on.” The reading of the Scriptures. This occupied
16 Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his the third part in the liturgy of the synagogue,
hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear after the recitation of the shema (Deut. 6:4)
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God, listen: The God of this people Israel and further prayers, but before the teaching,
chose our fathers, and exalted the people which was usually based on what had been
when they dwelt as strangers in the land of read from the Scriptures. rulers of the syna-
Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He brought gogue. Those who had general oversight of
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them out of it. Now for a time of about forty the synagogue, including designating who
years He put up with their ways in the wilder- would read from the Scriptures.
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ness. And when He had destroyed seven
nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed 13:22 a man after My own heart. Some
their land to them by allotment. would question the reality of this designation
20 “After that He gave them judges for about for David since he proved to be such a sinner
four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the at times (1 Sam. 11:1–4; 12:9; 21:10–22:1). No
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prophet. And afterward they asked for a man after God’s own heart is perfect; yet he
king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, will recognize sin and repent of it,as did David
(Pss. 32; 38; 51).
a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
22 And when He had removed him, He raised
DAY 5: How does Acts 13 mark a change in the Book of Acts?

Chapter 13 marks a turning point in Acts in that the first 12 chapters focus on Peter while the
remaining chapters revolve around Paul.With Peter,the emphasis is the Jewish church in Jerusalem
and Judea; with Paul, the focus is the spread of the Gentile church throughout the Roman world,
which began at the church in Antioch. In this church were certain “prophets”(v. 1).These men had
a significant role in the apostolic church (1 Cor.12:28;Eph.2:20).They were preachers of God’s Word
and were responsible in the early years of the church to instruct local congregations.On some occa-
sions,they received new revelation that was of a practical nature (11:28;21:10),a function that ended
with the cessation of the temporary sign gifts.Their office was also replaced by pastor-teachers and
evangelists (Eph. 4:11).
The leaders in the church in Antioch “ministered to the Lord” (v. 2).This is from a Greek word
which in Scripture describes priestly service.Serving in leadership in the church is an act of worship
to God and consists of offering spiritual sacrifices to Him, including prayer, oversight of the flock,
plus preaching and teaching the Word.And they “fasted.”This is often connected with vigilant,pas-
sionate prayer (Neh.1:4;Ps.35:13;Dan.9:3;Matt.17:21;Luke 2:37) and includes either a loss of desire
for food or the purposeful setting aside of eating to concentrate on spiritual issues (Matt. 6:16,17).
While they worshiped, the Holy Spirit issued the first missionary outreach: “Separate to Me
Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them”(v.2).Saul and Barnabas chose to begin
their missionary outreach in Cyprus because it was Barnabas’s home,which was only a two-day jour-
ney from Antioch and had a large Jewish population.Here Paul established the custom of preaching
to the Jews first whenever he entered a new city because he had an open door,as a Jew,to speak and
introduce the gospel.Also,if he preached to Gentiles first,the Jews would never have listened to him.

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