'After this' refers to the time after God has finished taking out of the Gentiles a people for His name—the church, the body of Christ.
In Acts 15:14, James describes how God 'did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.' Les Feldick teaches that this is the church, the body of Christ, being called out of the mass of Gentiles. 'After this' in verse 16 then points to the next event in God's prophetic order: His return to rebuild the fallen tabernacle of David.
Acts 15:16 — This verse contains the exact phrase 'after this' and joins it to the future restoration of the tabernacle of David.
In Acts 15:13-18, James responds to the accounts of Peter, Barnabas, and Paul regarding God's work among the Gentiles. James says, 'Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name' (Acts 15:14). Then he adds, 'to this agree the words of the prophets,' and quotes from Amos: 'After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up' (Acts 15:16). The Scripture itself places the taking out of the Gentiles before the phrase 'after this,' and then links it to the future rebuilding of the tabernacle of David.
Les Feldick teaches that God is currently calling out a people for His name—the church, the body of Christ—from the masses of the Gentiles. He emphasizes that this is not a call to every individual, as it was with the nation of Israel; rather, it is a sampling, saving some (Clip 1). Les directs his students to underline the words 'after this' in Acts 15:16 and ask, 'After what?' In his teaching, it points back to the completion of that taking-out work. Once that is finished, God will return and rebuild the fallen tabernacle of David. Thus the phrase sets the time order: first the calling out of the church, then the restoration of Israel.
Les explains that the people being taken out for God's name are the church, the body of Christ. He describes this as a 'calling out' or 'sampling out' of the masses of the Gentile people—God is saving some, not every one, as was demanded when Peter preached to Israel (Clip 1). This identification is made explicit when Les says, 'What is that? The church, which is His body' (Clip 3).
Les says, 'You see the order' when he reaches the words 'after this' in Acts 15:16. The sequence is: first, God takes out a people for His name from the Gentiles; then, after this, He will return and build again the tabernacle of David. This order shows that the calling out of the church precedes the future restoration of Israel (Clip 1).
Les carefully distinguishes the James in Acts 15 from the apostle James, the son of Zebedee, who had already been beheaded. He explains that this James was one of the other children of Joseph and Mary, a half-brother of Christ, and was not even a believer during Christ's earthly ministry. By the time of the Jerusalem Council, this James was the chief spokesman, not Peter (Clip 0).
James the Half-Brother of Christ
Les identifies the James at the Jerusalem Council as the half-brother of Christ, not the apostle James, showing who speaks the words about the people for His name and 'after this.'
The Calling Out and 'After This'
Les explains that the people taken out for His name are the body of Christ—a sampling out of the masses of Gentiles—and he urges students to underline 'after this' to grasp the prophetic order.
Acts 4 Explained: The Only Name That Can Save You
A time of testing again, and Israel is on trial here, and Israel is going to be on trial until we come to the end of the book of Acts. But God is not going to wait all the way to the end of their 40 years to start calling out a people for His name, as we're going to see in Acts chapter 15.
The Church as the People for His Name
Les directly identifies the 'people for His name' in Acts 15:14 as the church, which is the body of Christ.
Why Paul Went to Arabia: The Revelation of Grace
Well, then, before you go to 15, just look up into chapter 14, verse 27. Paul and Barnabas have now come back from their first missionary journey up into Asia Minor, and they've established churches. Gentiles have been saved. I don't know by how many, but by quite a few.
Israel's Blindness & the Fullness of the Gentiles — Romans 11:25
Now Peter wakes up here in Acts 15, which is a long time after that, and he says, Acts 15, and you know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that is from amongst the Jewish believers, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the Word of the Gospel and believe. Now after Peter goes through all of his explanation, you come down for sake of time to verse 12.
Not Under Law but Under Grace — What Romans 6:14 Really Means
It's the same timeframe, 14 years after Saul's conversion, which is about 38 AD. So this is about 52 AD. That takes it about 22, three years after Pentecost. 22, 23 years after Pentecost. Don't lose sight of that. And certain men, verse one of chapter 15 of Acts, came down from Judea, taught the brethren, that is these Gentile believers at Antioch, and said, except you be circumcised after the man…
Why Paul Went to Arabia: The Revelation of Grace
Israel rejected it, crucified Him, by so doing they brought about God's plan of salvation by grace. All right, now come back quickly then, if you will, to Acts 15, and I'm not going to have time to do it justice, but we'll try to wind it up enough so that you can get the gist of it. Acts 15.
Acts 15:14: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
This verse describes the initial purpose of God's visit to the Gentiles—to call out a people for His name.
Acts 15:16: After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:
These words, quoted by James from the prophet Amos, contain the phrase 'after this' and reveal the future restoration following the taking out of the Gentiles.
In context, it means after God has completed taking out of the Gentiles a people for His name—the church. Then God will return and rebuild the fallen tabernacle of David (Acts 15:16).
Les Feldick explains that this James is not the apostle James, who had been beheaded, but the half-brother of Christ, a son of Joseph and Mary, who was not a believer during Christ's earthly ministry.
No, Les teaches that God is saving some—a sampling out of the masses of Gentile people—rather than calling every one, as had been required of Israel.
Watch the Teaching: Why Is Israel Blind? The Mystery of Romans 11 Explained