Where should the apostles have been six or seven years after the Great Commission?
They should have been throughout the whole Roman Empire, carrying the Great Commission to the nations. Instead, the apostles remained in Jerusalem and would not leave even under intense persecution. The scattered Jewish believers went throughout Judea and Samaria, but the apostles stayed put.
Les points to Acts 8:1 after Stephen’s death. A great persecution arose against the assembly at Jerusalem, and Saul was consenting to Stephen’s death. The Jewish believers were all scattered abroad throughout Judea and Samaria—except the apostles. Les asks where the apostles should have been six or seven years after the Great Commission: throughout the whole Roman Empire. Instead, they were still in Jerusalem and would not even leave under intense persecution. He asks why they would not leave, saying they knew they had no God-given right to.
And Saul was consenting unto his death. And 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 Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
More Questions
Why did the twelve apostles stay in Jerusalem instead of going to the ends of the earth with the gospel?
The apostles were not neglecting their duty by staying in Jerusalem for seven years during persecution, because they knew they had no ministry to the ends of the world until the covenant program was fulfilled; their ministry was to the Jew.