Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 15:5

"But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying, It is needful to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses." — Acts 15:5 (ASV)

In the ensuing debate among believers in general and in the council itself, some Christian Pharisees, in support of the Judaizers, insisted that it was necessary for Gentile Christians to “be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.” And by this necessity they meant that these things were not only expedient but required by the revealed will of God. In their thinking, they read that the prophets spoke of the salvation of the Gentiles as an event of the last days (cf. Isaiah 2:2; 11:10; 25:8–9; Zechariah 8:23) through the witness of a restored Israel (cf. Isaiah 2:3; 60:2–3; Zechariah 8:23). Thus they could hardly oppose reaching Gentiles through the ministry of the church. But they felt that the outreach to Gentiles should come from within their group and follow a proselyte model, not come from outside their group and be apart from the law. After all, in the last days, all nations were to flow to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem (cf. Isaiah 2:2– 3; 25:6–8; 56:7; 60:3–22; Zechariah 8:21–23), not depart from it.