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AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. The Acts of the Apostles was written to assure the Church in the Roman Empire that it still taught what Jesus and his earliest disciples taught, the coming of God's promised kingdom. Rome had little patience for people looking forward to a future kingdom other than Rome. The Church believed that Isaiah 52: 13 referred to Jesus, taken up to heaven by God. 'See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be lifted up, exalted, rise to great heights.' It believed that Elijah and Elisha in 2 Kings 2: 1-18, foretold the ascension and the wind and flames at Pentecost. It was confirmed for them by The Wisdom of Jesus bar Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus), 48: 4 -15. 'How Glorious you were, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Whose glory is equal to yours? You raised a corpse from death and from Hades by the word of the Most High. You sent kings down to destruction and famous men, from their sickbeds. Your heard rebuke at Sinai and judgments of vengeance at Horeb. You anointed kings to inflict retribution and prophets to succeed you. You were taken up by a whirlwind of fire in a chariot with horses of fire. At the appointed time it is written, you are destined to calm the wrath of God before it breaks out in fury, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and to restore the tribes of Jacob.' Jesus' disciples performed twice as many signs. Peter and Paul never trembled before any ruler. A book originally written for a Jerusalem audience, was revised for the Roman Empire. It carefully insisted on the continuity of hope and their role in a coming, future kingdom of God.
