Acts 17:24 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,

NIV: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.

NASB: The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by hands;

CSB: The God who made the world and everything in it —he is Lord of heaven and earth —does not live in shrines made by hands.

NLT: He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples,

KJV: God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

NKJV: “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.

Paul is in the Areopagus in Athens, sharing the story of Jesus with Greek philosophers. He starts by pointing out an altar to "an unknown god" and compares this god to the God of the Jews. He can't start with an assumption of God and dive headfirst into history, as he does in synagogues, because the Athenians have a very different view of what "god" means—even the Epicureans and Stoics disagree. As in Lystra, Paul starts with God the Creator (Acts 14:15–17). Paul asserts that God can be known—to a degree—by His creation (Romans 1:19–23), but idolatry and sin cloud our view.

From the Areopagus, Paul can see the temple of Hephaestus, the Theatre of Dionysus, the Parthenon—the temple of Athena—the Sanctuary of Zeus, and many other monuments and altars to the gods. "Areopagus" itself means the "hill of Ares." Despite all these monuments and temples, Paul's assertion is familiar to his audience of Greek philosophers. Euripides, in fragment 968, said, "What house built by craftsmen could enclose the form divine within enfolding walls?"

This agrees with Jewish Scripture. When Solomon dedicated his great temple, he said, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!" (1 Kings 8:27). Jesus affirmed this when He told the woman at the well that a time was coming when people would worship God in spirit and truth, not in the temple (John 4:23–24).

Acts 17:22–34 contains the second of two sermons which Luke records from Paul. The more typical sermon explains to synagogues how Jesus is the Messiah (Acts 13:16–41). Here, however, Paul is speaking to a group of Athenian philosophers. Paul uses lines from classical poets to introduce the Creator God who cannot be represented by an idol. He calls his audience to repent of their idolatry lest they face judgment by the representative God has resurrected. But they don't believe in the resurrection of the dead or final judgment. The majority dismiss Paul as a fool and go on their way.

Acts 17 describes how Paul's ministry travels down the coast of Greece. In Thessalonica, some Jews and God-fearing Gentiles believe while other Jews start a riot (Acts 17:1–9). The Bereans study the veracity of Paul's statements—until the Thessalonian Jews arrive and threaten to start another riot (Acts 17:10–15). Paul flees to Athens where the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers accept Paul's argument when he uses Greek poets to introduce God as the creator of the world, but lose interest when he mentions the resurrection from the dead (Acts 17:16–34).

Acts 17 continues Paul and Silas' travels out of Macedonia and on to Greece. The two have been through modern-day Asia minor where they picked up Timothy in Lystra and Luke in Troas (Acts 16:1–10). They have established a strong church in Philippi but were forced to leave after being falsely imprisoned (Acts 16:11–40). They now skip down the coast to Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens. From here, they will spend a considerable amount of time in Corinth before heading back to Judea and Syrian Antioch (Acts 18:1–22).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.