Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 15:17

"That the residue of men may seek after the Lord, And all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called," — Acts 15:17 (ASV)

James’s major contribution to the decision of the council was to shift the discussion of the conversion of Gentiles from a proselyte model to an eschatological one. Isaiah had expected Gentile converts to come to Jerusalem to learn God’s ways so that they might walk in them. But Isaiah also spoke of the Gentiles’ persistence as nations whose salvation did not destroy their national identities (cf. Isaiah 2:4; 25:6–7). Likewise, Amos 9:11–12 (in the LXX version) spoke of “the remnant of people” in the last days when “David’s fallen tent” would be rebuilt as being “all the Gentiles who bear my name” and whose continuance as Gentiles was understood. In the end times, James is saying, God’s people will consist of two concentric groups. At their core will be restored Israel (i.e., David’s rebuilt tent); gathered around them will be a group of Gentiles (i.e., “the remnant of people”) who will share in the messianic blessings but will persist as Gentiles without necessarily becoming Jewish proselytes. It is this understanding of Amos’s message, James insisted, that Peter’s testimony has affirmed, the result being that the conversion of Gentiles in the last days should be seen not as proselytizing but in an eschatological context.