from heaven. This coming of Christ, and the blessings that will flow from it, are in perfect harmony with the

testimony of Moses and all the prophets (Acts 3:22-24), and with the covenant made with Abraham and his seed

(Acts 3:25,26). It is impossible to read `the church' into this passage, especially when we read the concluding

`Ye are the children of the prophets ... Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless

you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities' (Acts 3:25,26).

The point of Peter's explanation lies in the word translated `salvation' (Acts 4:12). We read that the lame man

had been more than forty years a cripple, which makes us think at once of Israel in their unbelief. The words

`perfect soundness' (Acts 3:16) refer back to Israel's condition as described in Isaiah 1:6, where the LXX. uses the

same word, `no soundness'. The word `whole' in Acts 4:9: `By what means he is made whole', is sesostai, from

sozo, `to save'. The word `salvation' in Acts 4:12 is he soteria, literally `the healing': `Neither is there salvation in

any other'.

This, then, is Peter's explanation. The lame man who had been healed, and who was seen walking and leaping

and praising God (Acts 3:8) was a picture of the millennial day when the lame man shall `leap as an hart, and the

tongue of the dumb sing' (Isa. 35:6). Bringing the healed man forward, Peter says, in effect:

`Look at this man. He has been healed by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and stands before you as a

prophetic anticipation of Israel's restoration; neither is there THE HEALING (that is, the healing and restoration of

Israel) in any other. None but this despised and rejected Messiah can ever avail'.

Alas, Israel did not repent. The next outstanding typical miracle is that of a Jew stricken with blindness, while a

Gentile believes (Acts 13). The type is fulfilled in Acts 28, when blindness falls upon the whole nation and `the

salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles;' (Acts 28:28).

We believe that the reader will now be able to interpret the details of this great section of the Acts without need

of further exposition. We trust that we have made the dispensational character of the healing of the lame man clear,

and this must suffice. With a book like the Acts, which is so full of incident and detail, we can only deal with the

main outlines, and must leave the reader to fill in the details for himself.

The witness that began at Jerusalem in Acts 2 does not expand until after the death of Stephen:

`At that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all

scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judæa and Samaria, except the apostles' (Acts 8:1).

The record from Pentecost up to the time of Acts 8:1 comprises one main section of the Acts, and is

characterised by a repeated alternation of witness among believers and among the outside nation.

We have already considered the prophetic explanation of the healing of the lame man as representing the nation

(Acts 3:1 to 4:22), and now the record returns to the witness among the brethren (Acts 4:23 to 5:11).

This section falls into two main parts:

The return of the apostles to their own company, and their report of all that the chief priests

had said. The prayer that immediately followed, the answer that was given, and the resulting boldness

with which the disciples spoke the word of God.

4:32 to 5:11. The oneness of heart and soul that characterised the assembly, not only in prayer and doctrine,

but in having all things in common. Two examples are given of this community of goods, that of

Barnabas, which was acceptable to the Lord, and that of Ananias, which was visited by death.