MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL – WORK!
Acts 18:1-4, “After these things Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2There he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by kinship; he had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Caesar Claudius I had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome (c 49 AD); and Paul came to them; 3Paul lived and worked with them, because he was of the same trade. They were tallitmakers. 4So Paul reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath. He persuaded both Jews and non-Jews.”
Tallits today are the prayer shawls you see Jews and Messianic Hebrews wearing during their worship services, etc. In Paul’s day, a tallit may have been more of a long shirt undergarment, with the 4 tzitzyot tied to the four corners of the garment. Tallits came to be known as tents, because Jews pulled them over their heads while praying or worshiping. That’s probably why the King James translators used the word tentmakers instead of tallitmakers. Paul, Aquila, and Priscilla made and sold tallits as Paul traveled to dozens of Jewish synagogues to preach and teach the Gospel of Yeshua. Can you imagine Paul and the crew hauling heavy tent material and complete heavy tents all over Asia Minor and Italy? No, they bought lightweight linen and made kosher tallits for their brethren the Jews and the ethno-linguistic nations they ministered to. What a great opportunity to strike up a conversation about Yeshua! We should be so skilled to do the same!
Read all of 1 Corinthians 4, it’s a good study, but here’s just a couple verses from Paul, 1 Corinthians 4:11-12, “Up to this present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally beaten, and we are homeless. 12We work hard, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless. When we are persecuted, we endure.”
Read all of 1 Corinthians 9, but here’s just a couple verses to talk about now, verse 6, “Or is it only Barnabas and I who must work?” Verse 15, “But I have not claimed any of these rights. And I do not write this so something might be done for me. I would rather die than anyone deprive me of this boast.” Verse 18, “What then is my reward? That when I preach, I may offer the gospel of Messiah without charge and so not take full use of my right in the gospel.”
Yeshua was a carpenter or a stonemason. Peter and the brothers were fishermen. Luke was a doctor. Paul was a tallitmaker. Put your hands to work and make money, until your ministry brings in enough offerings to pay you a salary out of the ministry. Daniel paid forward his great wealth to launch the Messiah’s ministry. Several wealthy and poor women supported Yeshua’s ministry. Paul waived his right to live off the gospel, so he could offer the gospel freely to all people. We aspire to live like the Apostles and Yeshua. By faith and works we build up the Kingdom of Yahuwah on this planet. Read all of Jacob (James) 2.
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