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In short, Paul sees his outreach to the Gentiles as a ministry to Israel (Romans 11:12-15). God promised Abraham that in his seed all the nations (Gentiles) of the world would be blessed (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:15). And Isaiah prophesied In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it ...

On Pentecost the Apostle Peter alluded to the apocalyptic great and terrible Day of the Lord in Acts 2:17-21. Later in the same chapter the believers in Jerusalem started divesting themselves of all their worldly goods (Acts 2:45). For those who were not sincere in their personal sacrifice and who dissembled (Ananias and Sapphira), the discipline was ...

An alternative explanation could just be rooted in practicality. The pattern had already been established by the Antiochene church in Acts 11:27-30. Agabus predicted an imminent famine and the church in Antioch. There were many famines during Claudius's reign (41-54), the most severe of which occurred in Judea around 46-47. Because of the imminent threat, ...

No church was a stranger to persecution at this time, but it was especially severe and long lasting in Jerusalem. Here and here. I think it is to be expected that wide spread poverty among the church would be one of the many side effects of this persecution.

One possibility is that it came out of the meeting in Jerusalem described in Galatians 2, where Paul writes: and when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ...

It is always God who reveals Himself and speaks to Moses and to the prophets. However, if we take a close look, we may find that even though God is speaking and being addressed as God, He really is represented by His messenger who speaks in His Name and with His authority. The mention of God´s Angel in Moses´ encounter with God in the burning thornbush ...

In part, this is derived from Deut. 33:2 and Psa. 68:17. In Deut. 33:2, it is written, And he said, "YHVH came from Sinai, and He rose up from Seir to them; He shined forth from mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of holy ones; from His right hand, a fiery law for them." וַיֹּאמַר יְהוָה מִסִּינַי בָּא וְזָרַח מִשֵּׂעִיר לָמֹו הֹופִיעַ ...