Now let’s consider Acts 28:24-31 in some detail.

Paul was come to Rome as a ‘prisoner’ with Roman soldier who “kept him” (Rom. 28:16). “After three days he called “the Chief of the Jews together.”

We can assume he then made his final appeal for them to recognize and receive Jesus Christ as their Messiah, the Son of God, and “¹⁹when the Jews spoke against him, [Paul, as a Roman citizen] he was constrained to appeal to Caesar.”

The Jews “²¹ said unto him [Paul] they knew nothing out of Judea concerning charges against him [Paul], and said

²²BUT we desire to hear of you what you think for as concerning this sect (the Christians], we know everywhere it is spoken against ²³ and when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the Law of Moses  and out of the prophets, from morning till evening ²⁴ And some [Jews of Rome] believed the things which were spoken [by Paul], and some [Jews of Rome] believed not. ²⁵ And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, …  Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias [Isaiah 6:9-10] the prophet unto our fathers, ²⁶ Saying,

“Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: ²⁷ For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Acts 28:22-27 KJV  

After the Acts 8 stoning of Stephen, Israel “diminished” all during Acts. Paul then in Acts 28:28 pronounced the ‘Fall of Israel,’ then turning directly “to the Gentiles” with his “revelation of the mystery.”

²⁸ Be it known therefore unto you [Israel], that the Salvation Of God Is Sent Unto The GENTILES, and that they will hear [HEED] it.

²⁹ and hen he had said these words, the Jews departed] were dismissed], and had great reasoning [disputation] among themselves.  ³⁰AND Paul Dwelt Two Whole Years [continuing] in his own hired house, and received ALL [Gentiles and Jews alike] that came in unto him, ³¹ Preaching the [overarching] kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him. Acts 28:31

Verse 29 tells us the leaders of these Jews “departed.” Here the word “departed” is in the passive voice and really means, ‘they were dismissed.’ This phrase was used such as by a Jew when he divorced his wife (See Matt. 5:31-32, she was “put away” or dismissed).

Acts 28:28 is where Israel, for the last time, became Lo-Ammi (“NOT MY PEOPLE,” Hosea 1:9). As of today, Israel has been Lo-Ammi for nearly 2,000 years. (For more Lo-Ammi detail see: https://artlicursi.com/articles/present-%E2%80%9Cloammi%E2%80%9D-condition-israel-0 

Nobody could have imagined what this Acts 28:28 event did to world history.

• Today Israel, in God’s eyes, is not a kingdom, nor a nation, nor even a people. Israel will remains “blinded” until this Gentile age ends with its “fullness of the Gentiles” (cf. Rom. 11:25). Israel may claim to be a nation, but God has not recognized it, nor will He until the day when Christ returns and they ‘look upon Him who they have pierced’ (Zech. 12:10; Jn. 19:34).
• Simultaneously, this event began today’s age of the Post-Acts Gentile “church, which is His body” (Eph. 1:22b-23a). Acts 28:28 is ‘the dispensational divide.’

Now carefully study the POST-Acts 28 verses of Acts 28:29-31. Note every word and its significance in relation to others. Note: To the Jews we find these words, “Paul expounded the Kingdom ... Jesus... from the law of Moses and the Prophets ... morning till evening.” Then AFTER DISMISSING THE JEWS (v29), in verses 30-31 (AD 62), we can presume that since Paul was through with Israel and ‘Israel’s kingdom hope,’ Paul must not have continued teaching Israel’s ‘Kingdom gospel,’ but rather his new “revelation of THE MYSTERY” to “ALL that came in unto him” now seeing all men as Gentiles; that is Jews and Gentiles alike, irrespective of race.

Did Paul wait during those two years of verse 30 after Acts 28:28, while still under house arrest before revealing The “Great Mystery [secret]” that concerns “Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:32)? I say No! It is not stated but I suspect that the “Great Mystery” was the theme of his teaching after ‘dismissing’ the Jews in verse 29. The dispensation had changed. What else would he preach after Israel was set aside? It’s a foregone conclusion that Paul was Then FREE to Preach the “Great Mystery” to ALL men (Gentile and Jew) that came to call on him. No doubt, Paul was given the fuller “revelation of the “Mystery [secret]” from the Lord soon after dismissing the Jews. It appears then that the saints in Ephesus were the ‘first’ to hear this from Paul in Rome about “the revelation of the MYSTERY” and they believed it (Eph. 1:12-15) as did the saints noted in Col. 1:3-8.

³ We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ⁴  Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, ⁵  For the hope which is laid up for You In Heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; ⁶  Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, Since The Day Ye Heard Of It, and Knew The Grace Of God In Truth [Gk. verity, Reality]: ⁷ As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; ⁸ Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. Colossians 1:3-8 (KJV)

It took ~4,000 years before God “chose” (cf. Eph. 1:4) a people from among ALL Nations of the Earth To Ultimately Forever Inhabit “The Heavenly Places,” taking The Place That Satan’s host had occupied in the government of the heavens.

In all this time, there was the problem that required a Redeemer who would be sinlessly qualified to take care of the problem of ‘sin and death’ and bring in “everlasting life” (Jn 3:16).

But God’s FIRST purpose was to rectify and replenish the corrupted “heavenly places” that had become “unclean” [cf. Job 15:15] due to Lucifier’s rebellion whereby;

“Behold, he [the Lord] putteth no trust in his saints [angels]; yea, The Heavens Are NOT Clean In His Sight. (Job 15:15).

The recovery of “the heavens” is a key issue involved with the “Great Mystery [secret]” (Eph. 5:32) that concerns the eternal destiny of “the church, which is His body” in “the heavenly places”  This “mystery [secret]” within “the Great mystery” was the secret that Satan and his corrupt “princes” in heaven and on earth Never Knew [cf. 1Cor. 2:7-8] until it was revealed to Paul and written down for believers in Paul’s POST-Acts truth that is for us Gentiles today.

⁷ But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery [a God-kept secret], even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: ⁸ Which None Of The Princes Of This World Knew: for Had They Known It, They Would NOT Have Crucified The Lord Of Glory. 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 (KJV)

Certainly, Lucifer would “not have crucified the Lord of Glory” if he knew “the mystery [secret]” of the power of the cross of Christ that would destroy all the power of the Devil [Lucifer] in heaven and on earth.

In the next installment we will look into “The recovery of “the heavens and the earth.”