THE HOPE OF ISRAEL - The Preterist Archive

The Hope of Israel: What Is It? 125
The first
"CONTINUALLY IN THE TEMPLE"
Scripture that bears on the matter is the
concluding portion of Luke's Gospel whereof the book
of Acts is a continuation, written by the same hand.
Luke records the Lord's commandment to His disciples
to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they should
be endued with power from on high, Luke 24 :49. The
brief record of this verse does not state whether or not
the Lord designated any particular place in Jerusalem
where they were to await the promised enduement;
but the further record given in verses 52, 53 of what
they did in obedience to the Lord's commands, supplies
this information. For we read that "they worshipped
Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and
were continually in the Temple praising and blessing
God" (Luke 24:52, 53).
This passage definitely declares that the Temple was
the place where they assembled for the purpose of waiting
upon God in worship and prayer; and it declares
furthermore that they were there "continually". Hence
we need nothing further to tell us just where they
were assembled whenever we read of their being gathered
during that period, "in one place". We have the
emphasis of the word "continually", which leaves no
room for the supposition that during the ten days following,
they were assembled as a company in any place
other than the Temple. This passage alone seems to
make it clear that the Lord had told them to wait in
the Temple for the promised enduement.
When, moreover, we bear in mind the fact (which
appears both from the Scriptures and from other contemporary
records) that the Temple, with its vast corridors
or "porches", was the regular gathering place