Act 4:23-31 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Acts 4:23-31: 4:23-31 The believers heard the report that their leaders had been threatened and commanded never again to speak about Jesus (4:18 ). The Christian movement was clearly under attack from the religious authorities, so they united in prayer . They turned to God, placing their troubles before him and asking him to make them bold in speaking the message and to divinely confirm its truth with signs and wonders . God dramatically answered their request.

Summary for Acts 4:23-31: 4:23-31 ^a The believers heard the report that their leaders had been threatened and commanded never again to speak about Jesus (4:18 ^b). The Christian movement was clearly under attack from the religious authorities, so they united in prayer. They turned to God, placing their troubles before him and asking him to make them bold in speaking the message and to divinely confirm its truth with signs and wonders. God dramatically answered their request.
Summary for Acts 4:25-26: 4:25-26 ^c This passage quotes Ps 2:1-2 ^d, which describes the response of the Gentile nations to the Lord’s anointed king. In a similar manner, the Jews and Gentiles in Jerusalem had gathered together against Jesus and now against his followers.
4:26 ^e The Hebrew term Messiah (“anointed one”) originally referred to Israel’s anointed king; it came to refer to the Messiah, the coming King of Israel who would establish God’s Kingdom forever (2 Sam 7:14-16 ^f; Ps 89:36-37 ^g; Isa 9:6-7 ^h; 11:1-9 ⁱ; 61:1 ^j; Jer 23:5-6 ^k; 33:14-16 ^l; Luke 1:32-33 ^m).
4:28 ⁿ God’s hand had been directing events all along in order to achieve his purpose. A similar awareness of God’s hand guiding the affairs of his people is found in the Old Testament (cp. Ezra 7:6 ^o, 9 ^p, 28 ^q; 8:18 ^r, 31 ^s; Neh 2:8 ^t, 18 ^u; Eccl 9:1 ^v; Ezek 8:1 ^w; Rom 8:28 ^x; 1 Pet 5:6 ^y).