Act 15:13-21 | KingComments | STEP | When Barnabas and Paul have spoken, James takes the floor. He is the leader of the church in Jerusalem and therefore has a special place in it. Although he does not belong to the twelve apostles, he is also called an apostle ( ). He is the brother of the Lord Jesus ( ) and the writer of the letter of James. It is of great importance that James will speak. His words will be decisive in this discussion about the meaning of the law for the Gentiles. His great zeal for the law is clear to everyone. If he says that the Gentiles do not have to keep the law, all zealots for the law will be silent. He starts his speech by drawing attention to what he has to say. First he points out what Peter has said. James uses the Hebrew name of Peter and speaks about Simeon. He connects to his report. From what he says, it appears that he has understood that the work Peter has spoken about does not consist of making proselytes. He understood that God is in the process of taking from the Gentiles a people for Himself, a people from among the Gentiles, and that “for His name”. For the zealots of the law, “for His name” can in fact only mean that it is about the people of Israel, because they are the people that God has chosen for His name. Therefore, all who come to faith from the Gentiles should join Israel. But James shows that even in the Old Testament there is already talk about Gentiles who are called by the Name of the Lord apart from the people of Israel. So this is not an unknown phenomenon, a new doctrine, but something the prophets have spoken about in the writings of the Old Testament. James quotes an example of this from the prophet Amos. It is not a fulfillment of what Amos said – that fulfillment only comes in the realm of peace – but it corresponds to it. This quote shows that in the realm of peace the nations will be blessed, not by joining Israel, but by seeking Yahweh. The expression “as it is written” is the end of all contradiction. It confirms what has already been said by the other apostles. James quotes the verse according to its tenor. God promises in Amos that “the tabernacle of David” will be rebuilt. The ‘tabernacle of David’ means the royal family. It has decayed since the Babylonian exile. Then the kingship of the house of David came to an end, while God promised that the house of David will exist forever ( ). The prophecy of Amos is fulfilled with the coming of the Lord Jesus. Although He has been rejected and His dominion is not visible on earth, all power has been given to Him in heaven and on earth ( ). This can only be seen in faith. Soon it will be visible to everyone, when He will sit on the throne of His father David in Israel. Then the Gentiles will seek Him and He will call out His Name over them. This is how it is now. Over all those who seek the Lord in faith, who turn to God and accept the Lord Jesus in faith, He will call out His Name. This is completely independent of Judaism and entering Judaism as a proselyte. It has been of eternity in God’s heart, when there was no mention of Judaism yet. Everyone who knows God knows that He is like that and acts like that.

‏ Acts 15:13-21

Reaction of James

When Barnabas and Paul have spoken, James takes the floor. He is the leader of the church in Jerusalem and therefore has a special place in it. Although he does not belong to the twelve apostles, he is also called an apostle (Gal 1:19). He is the brother of the Lord Jesus (1Cor 15:7) and the writer of the letter of James. It is of great importance that James will speak. His words will be decisive in this discussion about the meaning of the law for the Gentiles. His great zeal for the law is clear to everyone. If he says that the Gentiles do not have to keep the law, all zealots for the law will be silent.

He starts his speech by drawing attention to what he has to say. First he points out what Peter has said. James uses the Hebrew name of Peter and speaks about Simeon. He connects to his report. From what he says, it appears that he has understood that the work Peter has spoken about does not consist of making proselytes. He understood that God is in the process of taking from the Gentiles a people for Himself, a people from among the Gentiles, and that “for His name”.

For the zealots of the law, “for His name” can in fact only mean that it is about the people of Israel, because they are the people that God has chosen for His name. Therefore, all who come to faith from the Gentiles should join Israel. But James shows that even in the Old Testament there is already talk about Gentiles who are called by the Name of the Lord apart from the people of Israel. So this is not an unknown phenomenon, a new doctrine, but something the prophets have spoken about in the writings of the Old Testament.

James quotes an example of this from the prophet Amos. It is not a fulfillment of what Amos said – that fulfillment only comes in the realm of peace – but it corresponds to it. This quote shows that in the realm of peace the nations will be blessed, not by joining Israel, but by seeking Yahweh. The expression “as it is written” is the end of all contradiction. It confirms what has already been said by the other apostles.

James quotes the verse according to its tenor. God promises in Amos that “the tabernacle of David” will be rebuilt. The ‘tabernacle of David’ means the royal family. It has decayed since the Babylonian exile. Then the kingship of the house of David came to an end, while God promised that the house of David will exist forever (Psa 89:3-4 ; 35-37).

The prophecy of Amos is fulfilled with the coming of the Lord Jesus. Although He has been rejected and His dominion is not visible on earth, all power has been given to Him in heaven and on earth (Mt 28:18). This can only be seen in faith. Soon it will be visible to everyone, when He will sit on the throne of His father David in Israel. Then the Gentiles will seek Him and He will call out His Name over them.

This is how it is now. Over all those who seek the Lord in faith, who turn to God and accept the Lord Jesus in faith, He will call out His Name. This is completely independent of Judaism and entering Judaism as a proselyte. It has been of eternity in God’s heart, when there was no mention of Judaism yet. Everyone who knows God knows that He is like that and acts like that.

The Judgment of James

Because God wants to make a great people from among the Gentiles to be His people without having to become a Jew, James judges that the Gentiles should not be brought into trouble. The difficulties consist of imposing the yoke of the law. The nations have their own place in the ways of God.

The fact that the law should not be imposed on them does not mean that they have nothing to do with general statutes of the Lord. James mentions four things to which the nations must adhere. The things he mentions are not imposed by him as the four commandments of the law in order to impose commandments on the Gentiles by means of a detour. These things are not Jewish in themselves, but have to do with the rights of God as Creator.

The first, the idols, attacks the true authority of God. “Things contaminated by idols” is everything connected with idolatry. That they had to keep far away from idolatry did not have to be emphasized again. They had just converted from idolatry as such. The danger, however, is in its contamination. Eating meat in an idolatry temple is such contamination (1Cor 8:10), for it could give others the impression that whoever does so is still an idolater.

What applies to the idols also applies to the second, “fornication”. Everyone who is converted knows that fornication is sin. Fornication goes against the will of God with respect to marriage, where the woman is only bound to the man in the sacred bond of marriage. Therefore, what is meant by abstinence from fornication is mainly meant for forms of fornication that are condoned.

These are all kinds of associations that God calls fornication, while in society they are generally accepted and equated with marriage. We can think of marrying someone who is divorced (Mt 5:31-32 ; Mt 19:9; Mk 10:11-12; Lk 16:18), premarital sexual intercourse (Mt 19:5) or homosexual intercourse (Rom 1:24-27). They are all violations of the only marriage bond God has established.

The third and fourth, to abstain “from what is strangled and from blood”, has to do with the fact that the blood, the life, belongs to God. He is the only One entitled to life. After the deluge, man was given the flesh for food (Gen 9:3-4), but man must always remember that the blood was not given to him as food. The blood is the life that belongs to the Creator. Therefore, the blood of an animal that serves as food must run away into the earth, as it were, to give it back to God.

James does not hold up a new law to his audience. Nor does he meet the prejudices of the Jews, as if he treats the Gentiles on the level of the Jews after all. Nevertheless, the things he mentions are not foreign to Judaism. According to their character they may not be Jewish, but they are in accordance with the law. The Jews, too, must at least abide by these things. They can all know about this, because every Sabbath in the synagogues is read from the law. In reading the law, everyone present in the synagogue listens to the preaching of Moses.