Biblical Eldership Church Leadership

The Acts of the Apostles

(2) The pronoun them (autois), following the verb “appointed,” also confirms this conclusion. Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them (that is, the disciples), not by them.

Although we have concentrated our study on the first half of Acts 14:23, we ought not to overlook the second half of the verse. It records a solemn farewell meeting in which “having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” Some com mentators think that Paul and Barnabas commended only the elders to the Lord, thus “them” refers to the newly appointed elders. However, it seems best to interpret “them” as a reference to the disciples in gen eral, including the elders, because this interpretation fits best with the flow of thought (beginning in verse 22) concerning the new disciples. Paul and Barnabas knew that false teachers, persecution, and inter nal conflict would confront these new disciples. So in verse 22 they warned their new brothers and sisters that “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” Before departing, they earnestly prayed and fasted, thereby commending their new converts to the Lord’s safekeeping. (The clause, “having prayed with fasting,” relates to the verb “commended,” not to the verb “appointed.”) The verb “com mended” (paratithe'mi) implies entrusting something valuable to the care of another, and nothing was more valuable to the apostles than their new converts. The apostles knew that the Lord Jesus Christ, “in whom they [the disciples] had believed,” was the only sure protection in the apostles’ absence. And prayer was the means whereby the apostles entrusted the disciples to the risen Lord’s protection, guid ance, and care. It is important to note that Paul and Barnabas did not leave the new congregations in the care of apostles, priests, clerics, or even the newly appointed elders. They placed the new congregations in the care of Christ. The new believers had entered the life of faith, the life of prayer, and the life of obedience to and dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ. They would grow only as they depended on Him for everything. Like Abraham, and all the other great men and women of God before them, they had to learn to live by faith. The prayers of Paul and Barnabas were accompanied by “fasting,”

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