Acts (Part 37) – Acts 4:25

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Acts (Part 37) – Acts 4:25

Acts 4:25 – Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

1. Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said,
   1. Peter is about to quote David’s words in Psa 2:1-2.
   2. Notice a couple of things:
      1. Peter attributes David’s words to God.
         • God said these words by the mouth of David (Act 4:24-25).
         • Holy men of God spake by the Holy Ghost (2Pe 1:21).
         • The Spirit of the LORD spake by David and His word was in his tongue (2Sa 23:2).
      2. Peter said that David spoke the words written in Psa 2:1-2.
         • At times, prophets spoke God’s word and it was not written down, or no written record of it was given for many years (Mat 2:23; Mat 27:9; Act 20:35).
         • In David’s case, he both wrote and spoke God’s words in Psalm 2.
      3. Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
         1. Peter is quoting Psa 2:1.
         2. This is a prophecy of the conspiracy against Jesus Christ by the Roman and Jewish leadership.
            1. “The heathen” refers to the Gentile kings of the earth, Herod and Pontius Pilate, and other Gentiles such as the soldiers who gathered together against Christ (Psa 2:2 & Act 4:27).
            2. “The people” refers to the Jewish people and their rulers who conspired with the Romans to put Christ to death (Psa 2:2 & Act 4:27).
         3. The Gentiles raged against Christ.
            1. Rage – 1. intr. To go mad; to be mad; to act madly or foolishly. Obs. 2. To show signs of madness or frenzy; to rave in madness or fury; to act or speak wildly or furiously; to storm; Sc. to scold. Also, to have frenzied or angry feelings, to be full of anger.
            2. Rage n. – 1. a. Madness; insanity; a fit or access of mania. Obs. exc. poet. Madness, folly, rashness; an instance of this, a foolish act. Obs.  2. Violent anger, furious passion, usually as manifested in looks, words or action; a fit or access of such anger; †angry disposition.
            3. The Gentiles were raving lunatics toward the sinless Son of God.
               • They smote and buffeted Him (Mat 26:67; Joh 19:3).
               • They spit in His face (Mat 26:67; Mat 27:30).
               • They violently scourged Him (Joh 19:1).
                 1. Scourge – 1. trans. To beat with a scourge; to whip severely, flog.
                 2. Scourge n. – 1. a. A whip, lash. Now only rhetorical, with reference to the torturing of human beings, or to ascetic discipline.
               • They smashed a crown of thorns on His head (Mat 27:29).
               • They hit Him on the head with a reed (Mar 15:19).
               • They mocked Him (Luk 22:63).
               • They nailed Him to a cross (Mat 27:35).
            4. The Jewish people imagined vain things.
               1. Vain adj. – 1. Devoid of real value, worth, or significance; idle, unprofitable, useless, worthless; of no effect, force, or power; fruitless, futile, unavailing.
               2. The Jews dreamed up false ideas about Christ.
                  • They thought Christ was a blasphemer (Mar 14:64).
                  • They thought that He was guilty of death (Mat 26:66), despite the fact that He did no sin (1Pe 2:22) and they couldn’t convict Him of any (Joh 8:46).
                  • They assumed His guilt without proof (Joh 18:29-30).
                  • They suborned witnesses to give false testimony against Him (Mat 26:59-60).
                  • They imagined that He was perverting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar (Luk 23:2 c/w Luk 23:14 c/w Mat 22:21).
                  • They deluded themselves into thinking that the murderer Barabbas was to be preferred over Jesus (Mat 27:20-22).
                  • They conceived that their king was Caesar rather than Jesus (Joh 19:15).