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The proposal of James:
v. 13. And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:
v. 14. Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
v. 15. and to this agree the words of the prophets, as it is written,
v. 16. After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up,
v. 17. that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom My name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.
v. 18. Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.
v. 19. Wherefore my sentence is that we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles a returned to God,
v. 20. but that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
v. 21. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath-day.
By the time Barnabas and Paul had finished their rehearsal of the success which attended their labors, the hearers could not have had any other impression but that the conversion of the Gentiles was a work of God, and that their discipleship, even without the observance of the ceremonial law, must necessarily he acceptable to Him. No one else, therefore, having asked for the privilege of the floor, James, that is, James the Just, the brother of the Lord, one of the pillars of the congregation at Jerusalem, according to common report its head after the removal of the apostles, arose and added the evidence of prophetical prediction to that of the facts presented by the previous speakers. Requesting the audience to listen carefully, he opened his remarks with a reference to the report of Peter: Simeon has explained in what manner God at first, from the beginning, resolved to gain a people out of the Gentiles unto His name, for the glory and praise of His holy name, and called by His name, as His children. With this fact agree the words of the prophets. Although James quotes only one of the prophets, he may either have had in mind the hook of the prophets or implied that the other prophets make similar statements. He quotes the words Amo_9:11-12 according to the Greek translation. There the Lord had promised to return after this, at the time fixed by Him in the future. He would then build anew, erect once more, the tent of David which had been destroyed, laid low. He does not speak of the Old Testament Church as the house of David, as in other places, but as a tent, a booth, a hut that had decayed and fallen into ruins. But this hut which was lying on the ground as though struck down by a storm the Lord wanted to build anew and to set upright again as the tabernacle of the New Testament. This rebuilding of the ruins took place in and through Jesus Christ, in order that those that remained of the people should seek the Lord most diligently, that the rest of men, that is, all the heathen, without respect of persons and of works, all upon whom His name is pronounced in the preaching of the Gospel, should strive to possess the blessings of the Lord. It was this Lord that was doing all these things, whose manner of performing them could not be gainsaid. For He was not in the habit of performing any of His works in a haphazard manner, but had worked according to definite plans from the beginning of the world. And He had made these facts known of old, from the beginning of the world. On the basis of this clear prophetical statement, whose fulfillment no one could deny after hearing the reports made to the assembly, James now ventured an opinion, not necessarily as the president of the meeting, but as a speaker that presents the result of his deliberations in the form of a resolution. He offered the motion that they should not trouble or molest in any way those people among the Gentiles that were turning to God, and had been accepted by Him in faith. But he suggested that letters be sent to them warning them against the contamination of idol worship, against committing fornication, against partaking of meat of strangled animals, and against eating blood, in the worship of idols was included idolatrous feasts, where meat was served that had been sacrificed to false gods. To some extent, also, the sins against the Sixth Commandment were practiced in connection with the temples of the idols, though these sins were prevalent otherwise as well, nameless breaches of the Christian law of purity taking place as a matter of fact. That is the will of God to the Christians of all times, that they avoid fornication and all uncleanness, and that they remain unspotted from the world and its lusts, including the unclean, idolatrous joys and delights of the world. But that James wanted to add the prohibition concerning the eating of animals that had been stunned or strangled without the loss of blood, and that of blood itself, Lev_17:13; Deu_12:16-23; Deu_15:23, was done for another reason. These practices had been forbidden in the Old Testament and were considered especially disgusting by the Jews, an abomination before the Lord. And the Jewish Christians had not yet been able to throw off this feeling of loathing and disgust, in the opinion of James, therefore, the Gentile Christians might well be asked to have some consideration for their Jewish brethren in this case. Christian charity demanded as much, especially where meals were eaten in common. James added, in concluding his speech, that Moses from ancient times had men in all cities that proclaimed him in the synagogues, since he was read in the services on every Sabbath, that is, his books were read and explained in the services. The chances were, therefore, that these Mosaic customs would be well known everywhere, and their non-observance might cause offense, as though the way of salvation in the New Testament were different from that of the Old. Then, also, there was danger that the intercourse between Jewish and Gentile Christians would cease entirely unless the latter would be willing, for charity's sake, to observe a decree which would make brotherly communion possible. And finally, those that still clung to the outward observance of the Mosaic customs need not be apprehensive, since Moses was at this time still being read. James knew very well that this would change in time, but did not propose to force the issue by tactless haste. Note: The draught which James proposed was not a Compromise resolution, as has been stated. It was not his opinion that the heathen Christians should indeed not be burdened with the entire Law of Moses, but only with certain ordinances. Even the smallest particle of the Mosaic Law, laid upon them as a condition of salvation, would have taken away the faith of the Christians in the free grace and mercy of the Savior. His suggestion was merely a proposal for the sake of Christian order, not to burden believing hearts, but to simplify the problem of uniting two races in the same congregations without the danger of continual friction. These directions did not concern the way of salvation, for this the Gentile Christians had learned from the Gospel.