God’s Action, Then and Today
A Review of
God’s Acts for Israel, Gentiles, and Christians: A Theology of the Acts of the Apostles
Joshua W. Jipp
Hardcover: Eerdmans, 2025
Buy Now: [ BookShop ] [ Amazon ] [ Kindle ]
Reviewed by Anthony Giles
God’s Acts for Israel, Gentiles, and Christians, by Joshua W. Jipp, contains a variety of essays stating that “the Acts of the Apostles is best understood as a text that narrates the implications of the God of Israel’s divine actions for ancient Jews and gentiles, and also for Christians who continue to read the text as scriptural communication” (ix). Jipp, who has written extensively on Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, wants us to understand what makes the Apostles tick. This book is broken up into three parts, looking at God’s Acts for Israel, for the Gentiles, and for Christians.
Jipp begins by examining God’s Acts for Israel, with Paul considered as either the Hope for Israel or the Teacher of Apostasy from Moses. Here, Jipp shows the accusations made against Paul in Acts 21 as well as Paul’s defense speeches in Acts 22-28. Paul, through the eyes of Luke, is shown as someone who states his faithfulness to his Jewish heritage and follows it closely, as we see with the circumcision of Timothy, celebrating Jewish festivals, and participation in rituals.
Next, Jipp shows Paul as a Prophet of Jesus, showing how much of what Paul experienced is correlated with God’s commissioning of Israel’s prophets, such as his Christophany experience, being commissioned with a prophetic task, and being equipped to accomplish that task through divine intervention.
God’s ultimate deed for Israel is the fulfillment of the scriptures by the Suffering Messiah. Jipp highlights the extensive use of the Psalms in Luke-Acts as the foretelling of Jesus’s mission, seeing Psalm 22, 31, 38, 69, 109, 118, 146 all echoed in Luke-Acts. Most significantly, in Acts 4:11 Luke is quoting Psalm 118:22 to connect the story of rejection and suffering to salvation and exaltation. Additionally, Jesus is referred to as the one “whom you [God] anointed” (4:27), which brings Psalm 2 to mind, giving Jesus the “messianic position of that of David in the Psalm, the one described as God’s Christ” (63).
In Part Two, Jipp focuses on God’s Acts for the Gentiles, starting with Paul’s engagement with new cultures and territories. Jipp mentions, referencing Lamin Sanneh, that the earliest Christians, “did not spread the gospel through diffusion or cultural adoption,” but rather via “translation.” This means that the Christian message was brought into the cultures of the recipients, becoming intertwined with those cultures, making the religion multicultural.
For example, Jipp looks at the relationship between Stoicism and Hellenistic Judaism, an important aspect of the cultures reached by Paul. He mentions Philo, who considers himself a follower of “the philosophical school of Moses” (113) and uses Hellenistic philosophy to expand on the law of Moses. Philo postulates that the Jewish people’s knowledge of the true God positions them as devoted to “the most esteemed philosophy” (113). In Acts 17, Paul couples his gospel message with Stoic ideas of deity and humanity, prompting his audience to “embrace the truth of the gospel as the superior and true philosophy” (116). Towards the end of the sermon, Paul “one-ups” the Stoics, saying “What you worship in ignorance, I proclaim to you” (17:23), communicating they are “the superstitious ones who worship in ignorance” (119).
The final part of God’s Acts for Israel, Gentiles, and Christians is God’s Acts for Christians, in which Jipp discusses topics that are still debated today. Jipp brings forth a discussion on the Migrant Messiah and Boundary-Crossing community. It’s clear Luke knows that Israel’s history has been one of constant movement and migration. God demands “hospitality for the vulnerable,” for Jesus, who is dependent on care from others, and for the early church, who were migrants pursuing their mission (209). In Luke 9:53-58, the Samaritan villages do not receive Jesus, showing the Messiah as someone migrant, and highlighted more when Jesus states, “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (212). However, Jesus receives hospitality and care from unexpected sources, such as sinners and tax collectors (213). In Acts 2, the Spirit’s power manifests, enabling the Spirit-given ability to speak in other languages. Jipp shows us the cross-cultural impact as they visit the Samaritans, Ethiopians, and Pagans.
Jipp also touches on how Jesus and the early church interacted with those who struggle with illness. In Luke’s gospel, Jipp lays out five instances of Jesus healing the sick: cleansing the leper (Luke 5:12-16), healing the women with the flow of blood (8:43-48), restoring life to the widow’s son (7:11-17), removing demons (8:27), and healing the bent women (13:10-17). These healings not only restore the sufferers but also bring each of them back into society to take part in the community. Jesus’s acts of healing reflect “his compassionate concern for holistic human flourishing and the restoration of humans to total-capacity healthy, well-being, and social functioning” (227).
These are only small glimpses into Jipp’s extraordinary work; we have not even touched the impactful hospitality passages covered in the book. Jipp paints a wonderful story, tying together what God has done for Israel and how it was accomplished, the mission of bringing the message to the Gentiles, and how God continues today. This excellent book gives insight into how God has acted historically and how God works with and through us today in our mission.
Anthony Giles
Anthony Giles is a Manager at a payroll company with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Over the past eight years Anthony has studied he intersections of theology, psychology, and leadership. He loves spending time with his wife and enjoys reading and drumming in his free time.
 Reading for the Common Good From ERB Editor Christopher Smith "This book will inspire, motivate and challenge anyone who cares a whit about the written word, the world of ideas, the shape of our communities and the life of the church." -Karen Swallow Prior Enter your email below to sign up for our weekly newsletter & download your FREE copy of this ebook! |
Understanding Christian Nationalism [A Reading Guide] |
 Most Anticipated Books of the Fall for Christian Readers!
|
 Hilarious One-Star Customer Reviews of Bibles |
