Israel's Future Redemption

"On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all." (Acts 19:5-7)

The book of Acts records four separate outpourings of the SPIRIT on distinct people groups. Taken individually, they record the signs that accompanied the receiving of the SPIRIT by believers. However, Rabbi Thomson has a different take. The primary reason for recording these events was not to document the signs of the SPIRIT, but who the SPIRIT came upon. Taken collectively, these events document the chronological spread of the gospel throughout the world as unique people groups were added into the greater body of believers in JESUS CHRIST. First the SPIRIT was poured out on the Jews (Acts 2:4), then on the Samaritans (Acts 8:17), who had a Jewish heritage, and finally on the Gentiles (Acts 10:45). The three groups would appear to encompass the known world.

Now here’s my Midrash to the story. One final outpouring of the SPIRIT occurs on twelve men in the nineteenth chapter of Acts. The story seems insignificant against the backdrop of the "extraordinary miracles" (Acts 19:11) performed by Paul at Ephesus. If each of the previous three accounts is given to communicate the spread of the SPIRIT throughout the entire world, what people yet remains to be included?

Upon a detailed examination of the four passages, only this last account specifically says the number of people who initially received the SPIRIT, "about twelve men in all". Why did Luke tell us this number, while no mention of quantity is given in the earlier accounts? As we have often stated, numbers in scripture are understood first symbolically and then quantitatively. Often quantities are even qualified by the word "about" (Ex 32:28, Act 2:41, Acts 10:3, Luke 3:23, Luke 8:42), which indicates that the exact number is not as important as what the number represents. In other words, Luke told us the number because it represented the group of people mentioned and not just the number of people in the group.

We know from scripture that the number twelve is almost exclusively associated with the twelve tribes of Israel. Althought twelve is also the number of Apostles, these men are clearly Jews since they had received "John’s baptism" (Acts 19:3). Further, the twelve had "not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit" (Acts 19:2), which is consistent with Jewish belief that sees a "SPIRIT" as contrary to the belief that "the LORD is one" (Deut 6:4). Finally, the twelve have a repentant heart, consistent with "John’s baptism," a necessary condition that will open the door for the acceptance of JESUS as the MESSIAH of the Jews. Although the picture is left open to interpretation and I cannot be dogmatic about it, when viewed in the context of the previous three recorded outpourings of the SPIRIT, the fourth outpouring of the SPIRIT recorded in Acts appears to foreshadow the future redemption of the Jewish people and the land of Israel.

Shalom, Scott