Acts 15:12-21

    The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. When they finished, James spoke up: "Brothers, listen to me. Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

 

  " `After this I will return

    and rebuild David's fallen tent.

  Its ruins I will rebuild,

    and I will restore it,

  that the remnant of men may seek the Lord,

    and all the Gentiles who bear my name,

  says the Lord, who does these things'

    that have been known for ages.

 

    "It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."

 

Peter’s testimony had silenced everyone. They spent more time listening to Paul and Barnabas describing God’s work among the Gentiles, and with Peter’s testimony shaping their understanding, they listened silently until Paul and Barnabas were finished.

 

But the final word on the matter needed to come from God. And it did. James spoke up to remind everyone that God had promised not only to restore Israel, but the Gentiles, too. It had been God’s intention to bring the Gentiles into His family all along. And since God was doing this already, without waiting for the Gentiles to be circumcised, James proposed four simple limitations on the Gentile believers designed to tell the pagan Gentiles and the Jews around them that these Gentiles were now following the Jewish God: they were to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating strangled animals and from blood. These were the basics that everyone should know about following the Jewish God, the marks that would distinguish Gentile believers from unbelievers in the eyes of both Gentile pagans and Jews.

 

Father, thank You for speaking in the midst of this situation. Thank You that the words You recorded in Scripture – in the Old Testament – directed Your people and taught them that Gentiles were supposed to be restored along with Jews. Thank You for teaching them so that they did not overburden us Gentiles. Thank You for removing the obstacles that would have made it hard for us to come to You. Because we need You. Thank You for caring about us. Thank You for caring about me.