Big Healing Book - Acts 11:19-21

Acts 11:19-21:

Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.
And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.
And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.

Notes on Acts 11:19-21:

The phrase “hand of the Lord” is used throughout Scripture to refer to the manifested power of God. In this passage, some believers who were NOT among the apostles went and preached and God backed them with His power.

There were no apostles mentioned from Cyprus or Cyrene, so these men were not apostles. In fact, there is no indication that these men held any kind of New Testament ministry office. It appears that they were “ordinary” laypeople. This is further confirmation that Jesus’ words in the “Great Commission” were for ALL believers, not just those separated to ministry offices.

There are too many references to “the hand of the Lord” to justify listing them all, but a few should prove the point that “the hand of the Lord” above indicates that God was doing miraculous things through these unnamed believers. Only a couple of chapters later (Acts 13:6-12), Paul said that the “hand of the Lord” would be upon the false prophet Bar-Jesus, and he went blind for a season. In Joshua 4:23-24, God said, “For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.” In 1 Kings 18:46, we see: “And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.” In this case the hand of the Lord allowed Elijah to perform a “superhero” feat – running ahead of Ahab’s chariot. You can find many other such examples of the use of the phrase “hand of the Lord.”