BIBLE STUDY LESSON 14

SERIES U --- THE EARLY CHURCH

ARISE!

TWO MIRACLES OF LIFE

From Acts 9:32-43

Peter travelled throughout the land, visiting believers everywhere. On one such trip, he went to see YHVH’s people at Lydda. There he met a man named Aeneas, who had been in bed for eight years because he was paralyzed. [Aeneas,] Peter said to him, [Yeshua Moshiach has made you well. Get up and make your bed.] Aeneas got up immediately and was well. As he went about Lydda and the Plains of Sharon, many who saw him turned to Moshiach because of this miracle. In the city of Joppa there was a woman named Tabitha, a believer. Her name in Greek was Dorcas, which meant {Gazelle.} Dorcas was busy helping others all the time, especially the poor. One day Dorcas became sick and died. Her friends washed her body and laid her in an upstairs room to await burial. The believers in Joppa heard that Peter was in Lydda, not far away. They sent two men who begged Peter to come to Joppa as soon as possible. Peter returned with them immediately. When he reached Joppa, Dorcas’ friends took him upstairs. The widows surrounded Peter, crying and showing him the clothing that Dorcas had made for them. After Peter had them all leave the room, he knelt down beside Dorcas’ body and prayed. Then he turned to Dorcas and spoke. [Tabitha, get up!] he said. Dorcas opened her eyes and saw Peter standing there. When she stood up, Peter called for the Adonai’s people and presented Dorcas to them alive. It wasn’t long, of course, until all Joppa knew about this miracle, and many accepted the Adonai into their lives because of it. For several days, Peter stayed in Joppa at the home of a tanner named Simon.

COMMENTARY

TEAR BOTTLES

The little glass vials discovered in so many ancient tombs remain a mystery to archaeologists. What was in those delicate flasks, and why were they buried with the bodies of the dead? Some people think they were perfume bottles containing oils for the anointment of the dead. In Bible times, the living expressed their love and respect for the dead by perfuming the body with oil before burial. The empty alabaster vials found in several Jewish tombs recall the flask of precious ointment that Mary of Bethany poured over Yeshua’ head. Her gesture of love was offered to Moshiach in anticipation of His coming death. Other people have suggested that these little vials were {tear bottles} which held the tears of the mourners. They were buried with the dead man as a symbol of the grief suffered by the family and friends he left behind. The tears of the mourners were a testimony to the righteousness of the one who had died. Did the mourners who grieved for Dorcas save their tears in a bottle? If so, they did not need them because their tears were changed to joy when Peter raised her from the dead.