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Acts Bible Study

Acts: Apostles Choose Helpers

Acts 6:1-7 New International Version (NIV)

The Choosing of the Seven

6 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

At this point, there were two groups of Jews in the first church.

1.         One group of Jews spoke Greek. They had come from different countries. Probably they had traveled to Jerusalem for Pentecost. And then they had joined the church there. Many such Jews had been born in foreign countries. Their ancestors had also lived far away from Israel. So, they did not know how to speak Hebrew. They spoke Greek because it was the most common language.

2.         The other group of Jews spoke Hebrew. They spoke the Jews’ language and they were very proud about Jewish traditions. They lived in Jerusalem or they lived in the areas round it.

The church was growing quickly. Soon there was a problem between the two groups of Jews. It was an argument about the Jewish custom to help widows. (Look at Exodus 22:22 and Deuteronomy 10:18.) Women whose husbands had died did not have a regular income. Those women could not buy food. So, in the first church, they continued the custom to help them. Some people wanted to help, so they gave money or possessions. Every day they gave something to the widows among them. They gave to them whatever they needed. But the Jews who spoke Greek complained. They complained that the Hebrew widows were receiving more than the other widows. Perhaps they did not trust each other much. That may be was why they quarreled.

The 12 apostles realized that this small problem might become much bigger. They did not have time to organize all the practical matters. They needed time to preach. Jesus had told his 12 disciples that their work was to preach. If they did not do this, the church would not grow bigger. They knew that they must do something about this problem quickly.

But the 12 apostles did not just tell everyone what to do. Instead, they ‘called the whole group of believers together’. They told the whole church about the problem.

The 12 apostles said, It is not right for apostles to distribute the food. But they did not think that they were too important for this task. They did not mean that to preach is better than practical help. To give practical help is also good. God calls people to do different things. God had called the 12 apostles to tell everyone the good news about Jesus.

The apostles suggested a solution. They wanted the Christians to choose 7 helpers. These must be spiritual men who were also sensible. Then the 12 apostles would not have to worry about this responsibility. They could continue to preach and they could continue to pray.

The believers chose 7 men. These men all had Greek names. Because of this, some students think that they all spoke Greek. Then it would show that the Christians wanted to be fair to the Greek Jews and their widows.

‘The apostles said a prayer and they put their hands on the men’ (verse 6). This showed that they were giving authority to the 7 helpers. And God was giving authority to the helpers. This work was very important. So, the helpers needed authority to do it.

Verse 7 shows that the first part in ‘Acts’ has ended. The first part is about how the church in Jerusalem grew.