Question
In Luke 13:7-10 the vineyard dresser is requested to tend it for an additional year, which we understand refers to Israel being offered another year to repent. Did this year period end with the stoning of Stephen? Can this year be tracked?
Response
In view of what the Lord set forth in Luke 13:7-10, it is my understanding that the period of time during the opening chapters of the Book of Acts when God gave “repentance to Israel” did amount to the “this year also” that He spoke about in the parable; or in other words it did amount to a literal general one year period of time from when the “repentance to Israel” commenced with the events of “the day of Pentecost” in Acts 2 to when it concluded with the Lord being seen by Stephen to no longer be sitting but standing, as related at the end of Acts 7. Since the “these three years” in the parable are the literal general time of the Lord’s ministry during which God ‘sought fruit’ from Israel and its vain religious system, so also would the “this year also” be the literal general time during which it would be ‘let alone’ and given further attention, and thereby be given a further opportunity to “bear fruit”.
So then based upon this it is also my understanding that this is how we know that the time from Acts 2 to the end of Acts 7 lasted a year. Because the “this year also” information in Luke 13 is a literal general span of time, it then provides us with the ability to know that the time from Acts 2 to the end of Acts 7 was a year.
As far as the record of the opening chapters of the Book of Acts is concerned, it testifies to the reality of this by what God has Luke record concerning Stephen and the final opportunity that was given to Israel to ‘repent’ through his indictment. In Acts 6:9 where the account begins to describe God’s use of Stephen, the verse makes special mention of those who belonged to “the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen”. This synagogue is significant because it is composed primarily of ones who are not native to the land of Israel or to Jerusalem, but who come to Jerusalem when required by the law, as for the day of Pentecost. Hence this particular synagogue is mentioned in Acts 6:9 not simply because they were the ones who were “disputing with Stephen” but also because since this particular synagogue was ‘in operation’ it testifies that a year had now transpired since the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. And, of course, this tallies with what the Lord had said in Luke 13.
Keith Blades
Enjoy The Bible Ministries
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