Acts 11:27-30 The famine

Acts 11:27-30 A famine is prophesied and comes to pass, and the church members send relief to the church in Judea.  Some prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. We have no further information on why they came, other than the report that one of them, named Agabus, prophesied a famine over the whole world, which came to pass during the reign of Claudius Caesar (AD 41-54). There is no further detail in Acts regarding preparations made for the famine, as had occurred after Joseph had interpreted Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41:34-36). Nor do we know how much time elapsed between this prophecy and the events coming to pass. What we are told is that when it did happen, believers in Antioch who had means contributed to send aid to believers in Jerusalem. If the famine was over the whole world, one has to wonder why the believers in Antioch were better able to provide relief to believers in Jerusalem than the believers in Jerusalem to provide for themselves. Nevertheless, the key point is that this relief was sent by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

          In some modern churches, prophecy is given, but often the question is how we respond to it. We shall see this question arise again, in response to another prophecy by Agabus (Acts 21:10-14).