Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

Today everybody finds out what happened with the Gentiles in Cesaria yesterday.

When Peter gets back to Jerusalem, trouble is brewing.

Yesterday, Peter mentioned that Jews weren't supposed to associate with foreigners.

That's one reason why God had to correct his thinking by giving him the vision.

But the rest of the Christ followers back in Jerusalem didn't see that vision.

They don't understand what's going on. A group of them

known as the Circumcision Party are not happy with the fact that Peter, one of the

main apostles, has gone to hang out with a bunch of Gentiles. Their primary

argument is that any foreigners who commit to

following the Jewish Messiah should have to convert to Judaism and adopt the Jewish

practice of circumcision as well, since that's been the sign that has set them apart for

thousands of years.

Being set apart has been a major part of their culture for thousands of years

and any time foreigners have decided to follow Yawe,

they've assimilated into Judaism.

Now that the Messiah has come and said that the

gospel would go everywhere, they realize that lots of foreigners are probably going to

be converting. They really want to protect their culture. Plus this is all so new. They probably have no idea what to do with it.

And the different opinions are causing a lot of division and tension among the believers.

In these early days of the church, when they're figuring things out, it can feel kind of clunky.

It reminds me of the Israelites in the wilderness, fresh out of 400 years of slavery, trying to figure out how to live as a free people in a civil society and follow a patient God instead of an evil dictator.

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