Witnesses unto me!

This morning, as I sat down to work on my project to study the huge polysyndeton ('many-ands' figure of speech) in Acts 2:41-47, I realized that it was bigger than I had imagined. The section records the effects of Peter's great sermon on the day of Pentecost. Actually is wasn't just Peter's sermon that got the 3000 excited, it was everything that had been going on!  Each 'and' in Acts 2:41-47 signified a change in their lifestyle. How they lived back then and worshiped, is not something I can readily relate to, but it is about everything they did in response. It represents a shift from Judaism.

Then I spotted another polysyndeton (thanks to E.W. Bullinger in his book, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible) in Acts 1:8 that totally got me going this morning:

Acts 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me (Jesus Christ) both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

This record is not just about one group of chosen people, it is for all. It starts with being 'witnesses unto me' in both Jerusalem and Judea, the capital of Judaic religion. It includes Samaria(Acts 8:5), the amended Judaic religion. The other group mentioned is the 'non-Judaic' gentile (Acts 10) world. The 'ands' represented the three groups. God has left no one out as He is willing to impart spiritual power to all:

John 3:14-16  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

This verse tied me back into Moses. I am continuing to work (very slowly) through Exodus (which has to include Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy*).  In Numbers 21:2ff, the record of the brazen serpent occurs which Jesus Christ referred to in John 3:14.  Considering Acts1:8 in this light really shows how beautifully intricate God's Word is!

* Exodus and Numbers advance the story of the Old Testament through Moses. In Leviticus there is a little history in chapters 8-10, but it basically complements Exodus. Numbers is an eyewitness account of the Israelites journey to the promised land and Deuteronomy complements it.