authority. It is precisely this theological notion that guides Luke’s interpretation of events in the early church. God is in charge of the work Jesus has begun. “Times or periods” refer to a theological and political notion that it is God who gives sovereignty to each nation in its turn. God establishes a nation’s sovereignty at a particular time and for a particular duration. In the book of Daniel, the beasts described in chapter 7 refer to the successive rise of empires: Babylonia, Media, Persia,