Acts 17:26 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,

NIV: From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.

NASB: and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,

CSB: From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.

NLT: From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

KJV: And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

NKJV: And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,

Paul knows that when sharing the gospel, it's helpful to start from a common point of view. In Athens, surrounded by temples, monuments, altars, and idols, Paul finds an altar dedicated to "the unknown god." He uses this "god" as an illustration of the God who created the world and everything and everyone in it. This God is so great, He cannot be contained by human-made structures like temples. He is our Creator, and we can do nothing for Him. He even orchestrated our lifetimes and places—individually and as people-groups—with the purpose of inviting us to look for Him (Acts 17:22–25).

Even the Greek poets believe He created us and gives us life—how could His creation think He could be represented by an idol? To think so is ignorance that God fortunately overlooked. Now, however, is time to face the truth. It is wrong that we try to confine God in buildings and idols, and He will judge us for it. In fact, He has already identified His judge by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17:29–31).

Paul's strategy is good, but he must know it will largely fail. The message of the gospel includes aspects which run absolutely contrary to the worldviews of his audience: Stoic and Epicurean philosophers. Epicureans were materialistic, in that they didn't believe in the supernatural such as souls. If there is no soul, there cannot be resurrection from the dead. And if there is no resurrection, there is no purpose for judgment. Stoics believed souls enter the logos and become one with the law of the cosmos. A handful in Paul's audience believe his message, some express interest in hearing more, but it seems that the majority are more convinced more than ever that Paul is a "babbler" (Acts 17:18, 32–34).

Although the purpose of Paul's comment is not to argue the validity of God's creation of Adam and Eve as described in Genesis 1—2, there's no reason to think Paul doesn't affirm a literal reading of the creation story. Athenians believed the first Athenians had popped up out of the soil like Athena from Zeus's head. They believed they were the first to come to Greece, so they had no collective memory of the journey, but that they remember everyone else coming. "Periods" is from the Greek root word kairos. It means a set amount of time during which a defined qualification is fulfilled. Not only does God authorize who will rule (Romans 13:1–7) and what the boundaries of a nation will be (Deuteronomy 32:8), He also determines how long a nation should last. He arranges the time and place for every nation "that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him" (Acts 17:27).

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).

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.