What significant change happens at Acts 9?
Acts 9 marks a fork in the road: God leaves off dealing with Israel as a nation and begins something totally different, hidden in His own mind and unimagined by Peter and the eleven. It also records Saul's encounter outside Damascus, where the Lord strikes him down and speaks to him.
Les teaches that Acts 9 is the fork in the road. The nation of Israel had reached the high point of unbelief and rejection, saying they would not have Jesus of Nazareth to rule over them and that He was an imposter, with Saul egging them on. Now God has finally left off dealing with the nation of Israel and is going to do something totally different that Peter or the eleven had never imagined. Jesus never betrayed that this would happen, because God in His grace is doing something out of the secret recesses of His own mind. In chapter 9, Saul is still breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord—disciples meaning followers or believers, not the twelve. Saul goes to the high priest and asks for letters to the synagogues so that if he finds any who followed Jesus of Nazareth, men or women, he can bring them bound to Jerusalem. Outside Damascus, the Lord strikes him down, and he falls to the earth and hears a voice: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” That is the significant change at Acts 9.
And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
More Questions
Why is Acts chapter 9 a turning point in God's dealings with Israel?
Acts 9 is the fork in the road where God finally stops dealing with the nation of Israel and begins something totally different.
Who had never imagined the new thing God would do in Acts 9?
The new thing God begins in Acts 9 had never been imagined by Peter or the eleven apostles.
Who are the 'disciples' in Acts 9:1?
In Acts 9:1, 'disciples' simply means believers of whatever kind, not specifically the twelve apostles.