The phrase "Acts Period" refers to the historical period that extends from the time of the Lord's ascension to the point at which God revealed "The Mystery" of Ephesians 3 to the Apostle Paul. This period would have started in AD 30 and ended some time after AD 62, after the stoning of James, the brother of our Lord, by the High Priest in Jerusalem.[1] These dates are estimates and vary depending on who is being consulted. During this period of time several of the New Testament books were written. Those that were undeniably written during this period include:
1. Romans
2. 1 Corinthians
3. 2 Corinthians
4. Galatians
5. 1 Thessalonians
6. 2 Thessalonians
7. 1 Timothy
8. 2 Timothy
9. Titus
10. 1 Peter
11. 2 Peter
12. Hebrews
13. James
14. 1 John
15. 2 John
16. 3 John
17. Jude
I would also add the Revelation.
Like all of Scripture, these epistles must be read and understood in their historical context. It is because they are not so understood that so many Christians are confused and unable to understand thier Bible.A failure to understand the dispensational place of these New Testament letters is a primary cause for the fact that the Church is so disoriented and fragmented today. As one Bible teacher but it, "the Church today suffers from an identity crisis." This situation persist precisely because the overwhelming majority of Christians do not bother to consider the historical context of the letters they are reading.
During the Acts Period, the miracle gifts of Mark 16:15-18 were in operation as signs to Israel that the message of those who were placing their faith in the Jesus as the Messiah, was from God.
We are told in Acts 10 that, “they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Act 10:45) How did they know that the Gentiles had received the Holy Ghost? It is because “they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God” (10:46). As late as Acts 28, Paul is bitten by a poisonous viper and suffered “no harm” (Acts 28:3-6). However, if we turn to those epistles written after the revelation of The Mystery, we will not find one mention of these miracles sign gifts because they were set aside with Israel’s program when the Acts Period came to an end.
During the Acts Period "the hope of Israel" as expressed in the question "wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6) was a primary motivation for those reaching out to Jew and Gentile alike (see Matt. 10:5-7). During the Acts Period, wherever Paul went he, like Philip before him (Acts 8:12), “confirmed [strengthened] the disciples, beseeching them to abide in the faith, and declaring that, through many tribulations, must [they] enter into the kingdom of God.” (Act 14:22 Rotherham) See also Acts 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 28:31.
Peter addresses the Jews gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost: ‘Repent…and He shall send Jesus Christ, Which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began…Ye are the children of the prophets…Unto you first…” (Acts 3:19-26). During the Acts Period, it is “yet a very very little, He who is coming will come, and will not tarry.” (Heb 10:37 YLT) Everywhen that Paul went he saught out the Jewish leadership in the local synagogue and was “persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening” (Acts 28:23) and “proving that this is the Christ” (Acts 9:22, YLT) This is the hope! Repent Israel! Believe that Jesus is the Christ and He will return to restore the kingdom to you! But Acts 28 after attempting to persuade them the that Jesus was the Messiah, the Jews of Rome refused to believe. In 25, Paul sends them away and quotes Isaiah 6:9: “…Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.’ (Act 28:26-27) and for the third and final time he declares, “Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it” (Act 28:28 see also 13:46 and Act 18:6).
For two more years, Paul continues “preaching the kingdom of God” (Acts 28:28) but by the time we come to the epistle to the Ephesians, Israel and Israel’s program has been set aside and we find that it is no longer for “the hope of Israel” that Paul is in chains, rather, he is, “the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you the nations.” (Eph 3:1, YLT)
Allen
[1] According to a passage in Josephus's Jewish Antiquities, (xx.9) "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James" met his death after the death of the procurator Porcius Festus, yet before Lucceius Albinus took office (Antiquities 20,9) — which has thus been dated to 62.
updated 8/16/2011 by Allen