Bible Discussion Thread

INTRODUCTION TO 1 PETER (Part 5):

You should understand that as Peter is leading in the first part of the book of Acts, at the persecution when the apostles left town in Acts Chapter 7, James (the Lord's half-brother), took over as the head of the church in Jerusalem. So, they actually had a council there that was the head of all ministry in Jerusalem. It wasn't Peter.

Then in Acts Chapter 15, here's where Peter comes, and Paul comes, and the council in Jerusalem gets together and they want to discuss the issue of salvation for the Gentiles. So, Peter is standing in front of the leaders in Jerusalem in Acts Chapter 15 giving testimony concerning the salvation of the Gentiles. After Acts Chapter 15, Peter disappears from the historical records until he writes his letters.

Galatians 2:7 states that Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, and Peter was the apostle to the Jews. After a few years, the leader of the church in Jerusalem was James while Paul and Peter traveled.

So, Peter was not there in charge. He was a missionary and traveling, and that's when he came back and reported to the council what he found about the Gentiles being born of the Spirit of God.

Paul died in Rome around 64 A.D. Peter died in Rome around 66-67 A.D.

III. TO WHOM IT WAS WRITTEN:

According to Verse 1, Peter wrote his letters to the DIASPORA, which is the designation for the Jews who had been displaced from Jerusalem. Starting in Acts Chapter 7, there was persecution against the believing Jews. And they all left the city of Jerusalem because of the persecution.

All of these Jews who left because of that reason were called the DIASPORA, which literally means the spreading over, or spreading out. It's a word used for a farmer planting seed as he goes through his field.

Remember, this word is also found in James. James ministered to the 12 tribes of the DIASPORA. Peter also writes to the DIASPORA. As a matter of fact, all the Jewish literature is written to the DIASPORA.