Paul’s Testimony
on the Steps of Fort Antonia
21:37 to 22:21

57 AD

Paul’s testimony on the steps of Fort Antonia DIG: From 21:30-36 why might the commander think Paul was this Egyptian revolutionary? Under the circumstances, why did Paul think it was so important to address this hostile crowd? How would the situation fall apart even further if the charges of 21:28 were left unanswered? How did Paul’s use of this Hebrew (along with the content of his speech) force the Jews to listen? His speech in 21:1-10, recounts the events of 9:1-18. In how many ways does Paul point out how much alike he and the crowd are? What is he hoping to achieve by calling that to their attention?

REFLECT: Paul told his own story instead of preaching a sermon to this crowd. When do you find your story the most effective and helpful to others? How has your faith in Yeshua changed your life in a surprising way? What is one of the hardest things you have had to experience because of your faith? What strikes you as the most intriguing part of Paul’s testimony? What about your own salvation story? How many times have you told it to someone? No one can refute it because it is your experience. Can you tell your story in just a few minutes? When was the last time you did so?

Having been attacked by a mob at the Temple under false assumptions and about to be stoned to death, Paul was miraculously rescued by 500 Roman soldiers (to see link click Co – Paul’s Arrest in Jerusalem). They stopped the mob in their tracks and proceeded to take Paul up the steps of Fort Antonia for interrogation when, Paul spoke to Claudius Lysias, the commander of the Roman cohort stationed in Jerusalem.

Paul’s surprising request: Up to this point, Paul had remained silent. But, as he reached the top of the stairs and was about to be brought into the headquarters, he said to the commander, Claudius Lysias (23:26), in Greek, “Can I say something to you?” Paul, in contrast to the mob was quite calm. Both the Spirit of God (20:22) and the prophet Agabus (21:10-11) had told him that that bondage and afflictions awaited him in Jerusalem (21:37). Lysias said, “You know Greek? Paul’s language was polite, polished Greek, and Lysias was amazed that this. But, he was multilingual. Paul spoke Greek, the universal language of the Roman Empire, and Aramaic, the everyday language of the Palestinian Jews (21:40, 22:2), and as a trained rabbi, he was also fluent in Hebrew, the holy tongue (see below) and the language of the TaNaKh.

Suddenly, realizing Paul was no terrorist, Lysias said: Then you’re not the Egyptian who stirred up a rebellion some time ago – and led four thousand men of the Assassins (literally the dagger men) out into the desert” (21:37b-38). The first-century historian Josephus reports that he came to Jerusalem around 54 AD, during the time of Felix (23:24). At this time someone came out of Egypt who said he was a prophet and advised the masses of the common people to go with him to the Mount of Olives, where he would show them how, at his command, the walls of Jerusalem would fall down; and he promised he would enable them to enter the city through those walls after they had fallen down. When Felix was informed of these things, he ordered his soldiers to take their weapons, and he came against them from Jerusalem with a great number of horsemen and footmen. Felix attacked the Egyptian and the people with him, slaying four hundred of them and taking two hundred alive. The Egyptian himself escaped from the battle but did not appear any more (condensed from Antiquities of the Jews 20:8;6).₅₁₇ And because the Egyptian had escaped, the commander assumed that Paul was that Egyptian.

Paul replied: I am a Jewish man, from the Hellenistic city of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. The reference at this point is to his Tarsian citizenship, not his Roman citizenship, which is not divulged to Lysias until later (22:25-29). I beg you, let me speak to the people (because he had the assurance of God that he would not be killed). Compared to the Jewish mob, Lysias was an honest, fair, and open-minded. He gave Paul permission to speak. At that point, Paul stood on the top of the steps and motioned to the people with his hand. When there was a great hush on the crowd, he spoke to them in Hebrew (21:39-40). The crowd had accused him of teaching against the Jewish people, the Torah, and the Temple. Paul’s speech was his defense against these three charges.

The fact that Paul chose to address the mob in Hebrew is important. In presenting his defense, Paul evidently wished to demonstrate first and foremost his devotion to the Torah and the commandments. This was normally expressed by the use of the holy tongue – a description given to Hebrew, but not to Aramaic. Hebrew, apparently, bore the values of “folklore” of the Jews, while Aramaic was not perceived as carrying any cultural message and merely served as a means of communication without commanding any loyalty. Hebrew was regarded as the “language of creation” that an angel revealed to Abraham (Jub. 12:25ff; Gen. R. 18:4). The rabbis taught that not only was it the angelic tongue (Hag. 16a; Sot. 33a), but it was also God’s own language because every name in Genesis up to the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) is a Hebrew name. Therefore, despite Aramaic’s function as the common language in Jerusalem and in many parts of the diaspora (Josephus War 1.3), Paul may have preferred to use Hebrew to convey the primary point of his loyalty to the Torah and the Temple at the possible expense of not being understood by every single person present. The fact that Paul chose to address the crowd in the holy tongue – which Lysias did not understand – indicates that he considered himself to be replying to the Jews and specifically to their objections.⁵¹⁸

Paul’s dynamic defense: Paul begins by respectfully acknowledging being in the presence not only of his brothers, but also of his elders or fathers. He said: listen to my defense which I now present to you. When they heard that Paul was addressing them in Hebrew, that gained their attention and they became even more quiet (22:1-2a). Then he proudly declared: I am a Jewish man (becoming a believer in Yeshua did not negate his Jewishness). Sha’ul started off saying that he was born a Jew; by announcing this he increased his identification with his Asian accusers. When we speak about Yeshua, we need to speak in the language our listeners can understand. Paul never forgot his national identity. He identified with his listeners.

But he was brought to Jerusalem, probably about the age of twelve or thirteen. But even though he was in the Holy City until he was an accomplished adult, he evidently never saw Jesus in the flesh. And he was trained at the feet of Gamaliel. Among the Jews he is known as Rabban Gamaliel. In Jewish schools the rabbis sat on a high chair, the elder pupils on a lower bench, and the youngest on the ground. That is why they were said to be learning at the rabbis’ feet.⁵¹⁹ In other words, Paul was raised in Pharisaic Judaism as taught by Rabban (our master) Gamaliel. He continued: I was trained strictly according to the Torah of our fathers, being a zealot for God just as all of you are today (22:2b-3). Paul understood their zeal because he himself was once guilty of the same misplaced zeal as he was about to confess. It is said that a fool learns from their own experiences, but the wise learn from the experiences of others. Paul was hoping that even among the zealots in the mob there would be some who were wise and could profit from hearing where their present path would lead.⁵²⁰

Paul had been the believers most-feared persecutor from Stephen’s martyrdom until his conversion. I persecuted this Way (9:2, 19:9 and 23, 24:14-22; also see Galatians 1:13) to the death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prisons. And if anyone still doubted his zeal for Ha’Shem, Paul could call on the kohen gadol and all the council of elders in the Sanhedrin (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Lg – The Great Sanhedrin) who could testify about him. This was Paul’s zeal in Judaism (First Timothy 1:13-15). The point Paul was trying to make was that his attitude toward the Way did not incline him to accept the gospel either. I also received letters from them to the brothers, and I went to Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem even those who were there in chains – to be punished (22:4-5). His zeal even led him to pursue believers outside the Land. Then Paul delivered the second report of his coming to Messiah. He diverges in some details from his first recounting of 9:3-19 (see Cy – Paul’s Defense Before Agrippa on reconciling the differences).

Paul’s salvation story: But it happened that as I was traveling and drawing near to Damascus, about noon when the sun a brightest, a great (Sh’khinah glory) light from heaven suddenly flashed all around me. Speechless with terror, I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, Sha’ul, Sha’ul (the only reason Paul refers to himself as Sha’ul is because of his past), why do you persecute Me? I answered, “Who are you, Lord? He said to me, I am Yeshua ha-Natzrati, whom you are persecuting (22:6-8). The Jews would have understood the concept of the Voice that Paul heard. The rabbis taught that when God speaks in heaven, “the daughter of His voice” the bat-kol, or an echo is heard on earth. After the last of the prophets, it was considered that God provided the bat-kol to continue to give guidance to the people (Tractate Yoma 9b).

Now those who were with me saw the (Sh’khinah glory) light, but did not understand the sound (Greek: phone meaning a sound) of the One who was speaking to me (22:9). The Greek text makes a distinction between hearing a sound as a noise or as a message. It appears that Paul’s companions heard Messiah’s voice as a sound but not as distinct words so as to understand the message (for a similar example see John 12:28-29).⁵²¹ Likewise, they also saw the light but they did not see Jesus (see Bf – Peter’s Vision: A closer look at visions or dreams), they also heard a voice but they couldn’t make out what it was saying. So Paul submitted immediately and said: What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me: Get up, and go to Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been appointed to do (22:10). Paul was to complete the journey, but for a different purpose for which you left.

But since I could not see because of the brilliance of that Sh’khinah glory light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus. Then a certain Ananias – a devout man according to the Torah, well-spoken of by all the Jewish people living there – came to me. In this way, Paul emphasizes the fact that his (prophetic) call was made in a Torah-observant context by a pious man and the bat-kol, as well as excluding the possibility that he has been directed by a “mystic or a dreamer of dreams” to do anything forbidden by the Torah.⁵²² Standing before me, he said to me, ‘Brother Sha’ul, look up!’ In that very moment, I looked and saw him (22:11-13)! This fact about Ananias, not reported in 9:3-19, was relevant for Paul’s present audience.

And he said: The God of our fathers handpicked you to know His will – to see Tzaddik, or the Righteous One, and to hear an utterance from His mouth. This meant that in addition to being an apostle, Paul was as prophet, receiving direct revelation from God (Ephesians 3:1-13). For you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard. Now why are you waiting? Get up and be immersed, and wash away your sins, calling on His Name” (22:14-16). Just like 2:38, some use this verse to try and prove that immersion is necessary for salvation. But at this point Paul was already saved and addressed as a brother by Ananias. While immersion is not necessary for salvation, it is necessary for obedience. Paul’s sins were already washed away not by immersion, but by calling on the name of the Lord (Romans 10:13).

Acts contains two other accounts of this same story: Luke’s third person report in (see Bc – Sha’ul Turns from Murder to Messiah), and another first person account before governor Festus and King Agrippa II (see Cv – Paul’s Defense before Governor Felix). Each time the story is told, the details vary (see 26:13-18 on recording these differences). This is Luke’s way of emphasizing the importance of Paul’s conversion and it actually ends up being eight percent of the entire book!

Paul’s changed life: After Paul was saved, and a brief period of ministry in Damascus (9:20-25), he spent three years in Nabataean Arabia (Galatians 1:17-18). Having returned to Jerusalem (22:17a), Paul was speaking and arguing with the Hellenists, but they were trying to kill him (9:29). But, as he was praying in the Temple Compound, Paul said: I fell into a trance (Greek: ekstasis, meaning standing outside oneself). This describes a unique apostolic experience of being transported beyond the normal senses to the supernatural realm to receive divine revelation. The word is used twice to describe Peter’s vision at Joppa (10:10 and 11:5).⁵²³ At that time, Paul declared: And I saw Messiah saying to me (see Bf – Peter’s Vision: A closer look at visions or dreams): Hurry! Get out of Jerusalem quickly, because [the Jewish people] will not accept your witness about Me (22:17b-18). When the brothers found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus (9:30). The Jewish people didn’t believe Stephen when he said: he said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (7:55-56), and they wouldn’t believe Paul. This is the third of four times that Paul saw the Lord in a vision (9:5; 18:9-10; here, and 23:11).

Paul immediately trots out his Jewish credentials, objecting that the Jews of Jerusalem ought to accept what he says because they know how diligently he opposed the believers in the past. And I said: Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another, I was imprisoning and beating those trusting in You. Even when the blood of Your witness Stephen was spilled, I too was standing by and approving, and guarding the clothing of those who were killing him. But Yeshua repeated his command: Get going! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles (22:19-21). This reminds us of Abram’s call: Get going out from your land, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. My heart’s desire is to make you into a great nation, to bless you, to make your name great so that you may be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). This passage may also have resonated in Paul with Jonah’s calling to the Gentile city of Nineveh, “Now the word of ADONAI came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to the great city of Nineveh . . .’ (Jonah 1:1-2).”

Why won’t the Jews of Jerusalem listen to Paul? Because a believer’s having opposed the gospel in the past in not what makes a nonbeliever believe. On the contrary, the believer’s faith now outweighs everything else about him. No matter how reasonable his beliefs seem to himself now, a believer cannot substitute his own stormy process of coming to faith for that of someone else.

Commanding Paul to get on with his task of evangelizing the Goyim, Yeshua saved Paul years of fruitless ministry that would have been the outcome of following his own natural desire to devote all his energy to converting the Jews (Romans 10:1). Paul’s earthly wisdom would not have lead him to the specific ministry Messiah had designed for him. Our Lord knows better than we do how we can best serve Him. Moreover, the book of Acts shows that Paul experienced no small measure of success with Jews as well.⁵²⁴ There is a lesson here for all of us.

Paul’s Gentile mission was therefore connected closely to the refusal of the Jews to accept his witness to Messiah. One recalls Yeshua’s parable that makes the same point (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Hp – The Parable of the Great Banquet). It was also a problem Paul wrestled with in Romans 9-11. His answer was that the stubbornness of Isra’el was a temporary hardening to allow for the gospel to be taken to the Gentiles. In any event, the reference to the Goyim led to an immediate fulfillment of Jesus’ warning that the Jews would not accept Paul’s witness. The silent crowd became, once again, a vicious mob, and Paul was silenced once again.⁵²⁵

Acts 22 relates Paul’s account of his own Damascus-road conversion. His approach contains several elements the build a powerful witness, and is a model for us to tell of our personal salvation experience. You can learn from the following four elements in sharing your testimony.

First, Paul communicated simply and clearly. Paul spoke in Greek to the commander and in Hebrew to the Jews. Few of us are fluent in several languages, as Paul was, but we can apply his example, learning to communicate more effectively by speaking the language of our hearers. We need to be careful with speaking with unchurched people that we do not use theological terms that they don’t understand. We have to resist the assumption that every listener knows our biblical or theological terms. Of course, learning to speak understandably doesn’t mean adopting any level of vulgarity. It simply means putting the cookies on the bottom shelf so they’re easy to get to, and speaking with a great level of clarity.

Second, Paul honestly described his former life. We lose our listeners the instant they sense an attitude of superiority. Paul spoke with honesty and humility. As he explained his background and his persecutions of the Church, he related with the crowd as one who had been exactly where they were. Not all of us have a background as dramatically different from our present lifestyle as Paul did, yet we have all been lost. Lost is lost.

Remember an important principle about sharing our former conduct. Generalizations are usually best. I try to avoid becoming specific about ungodly actions in my past. I want the listener to focus on my Savior, not my behavior. Sometimes we glorify ungodly behavior by highlighting how bad we were. This can dishonor God, and it can dishonor the listener by stirring up unnecessary mental images of sin. Share past conduct with caution!

Third, Paul described his conversion experience. Few of us have experienced the dramatic conversion Paul described, but we can all tell how we accepted Christ. We each have our own story to tell. Don’t think your testimony is meaningless if you didn’t have a dramatic conversion. Every conversion cost the same amount of Messiah’s blood shed on the cross. Your story is just as meaningful as the most dramatic conversion ever told!

In the parable of the prodigal son (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Hu – The Parable of the Lost Son and His Jealous Brother), the older brother father accepted his brother after a season of riotous living. He didn’t understand the biggest difference between them was that the prodigal son had to live with the personal loss and suffering. If your conversion was less sensational than others, praise God for less drama! With it probably came less pain! You don’t have to see a bright light from heaven to tell your story. The determining factor is not how exciting your conversion was but how excited about the Lord and what He is doing in your life now!

Fourth, Paul shared how he received his commission. Paul was very clear that God had a purpose for his life. The people we talk to need to know that there is life after salvation! Salvation is not only about eternity. Salvation is also the open door to a rich life here on earth in which we enjoy the love and direction of an active God. Many unbelievers are turned-off accepting Yeshua as their Lord and Savior because they’re afraid they’ll have to give up something to live for Him. As we share our testimonies, we can help them see all we’ve gained since we were saved; all the ways our lives have been blessed and enhanced by His presence within us. Make your sense of ongoing purpose a part of your testimony. We often have no idea how much people are struggling to find a reason to live and to persevere through difficulty.

Father God, You have given me a marvelous story to tell – how You have rescued me from the domain of darkness and transferred me into the Kingdom of Your beloved Son, in whom I have redemption and the forgiveness sins (Colossians 1:13-14). I have been crucified with Messiah; and it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me. And the life I now live in the body, I live by trusting in Your Son – who loved me and gave Himself up for me (Galatians 2:19-20). May I not hide this from my children, but tell the next generation the praises of ADONAI and His strength and the wonders He has done, so that the next generation might know, even the children yet to be born: they will arise and tell their children. Then they will put their trust in God, not forgetting the works of God, but keeping His commandments (Psalm 78:4 and 6-7).⁵²⁶

Paul’s Arrest in Jerusalem
21: 27-36

57 AD

Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem DIG: Paul spent more time in Asia than anywhere else (19:8-10). Why might these men be especially upset when they see Paul? Gentiles were forbidden beyond the middle wall of separation under penalty of death. Were these accusations against Paul true? Compare the reaction against Paul in verses 30-31 with that against Stephen in 6:11-13 twenty-five years earlier. What does this tell you about the relationship between Messianic Jews and unbelieving Jews during this period? What memories of lynch mobs does Paul have (see 20:23 and 21:13)?

REFLECT: How consistently do you keep up with the persecution of fellow believers in nations around the world? Why is it important to pray for them? What difference does it make? Which groups or cults do you think are the most critical of believers today? What could be done to lessen the animosity? What can you do to help? Have you stopped to ponder how you would react under life-threatening conditions, when one word of renouncement in Yeshua Messiah would get you off the hook? What makes endurance possible? What would you die for?

This marks a major turning point in the life and ministry of Paul. Since his conversion on the road to Damascus (to see link click Bc – Sha’ul Turns from Murder to Messiah), he had ministered freely (except for brief imprisonments such as in Philippi). But from this point forward in Acts, Paul will be a prisoner. The prophecy of Agabus would come true (see Ck – Paul Went on to Jerusalem Despite Warnings). The turn of events, however, did not end his ministry. No longer free to travel, he became an ambassador in chains (Ephesians 6:20) for Yeshua Messiah. As a free man, he preached the gospel to throughout the Roman world. As a prisoner, he preached the gospel to Roman officials – possibly including the emperor himself. And like John Bunyan, who wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress while in the Bedford jail, Paul wrote four New Covenant books (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon) during his imprisonment at Rome.⁵⁰⁹

The attack of the mob: The seven-day purification process required a cleansing on the third and seventh days (Numbers 19:2). Likely, it was on the prescribed seventh day that Paul returned to the Temple with the four Jewish men to complete the ritual. But Jacob’s plan for reinforcing Paul’s as a loyal Jew backfired (see Cn – Paul’s Advice from Jacob and the Elders at Jerusalem). There, he encountered some old enemies, the unbelieving Jewish leaders from Asia who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate Shavu’ot. They were likely from Ephesus, since they recognized Trophimus, who was a resident of that city (see verse 29 below). Since Paul had ministered in Ephesus for three years so they had no trouble recognizing him. They^, saw Paul in the Temple compound and began stirring up the whole crowd. They grabbed him, shouting, “Men of Isra’el, help (21:27)! They made it appear that Paul had committed an act of blasphemy, and called for help in dealing with it. To stir up the crowd against Paul, they made three false accusations similar to the ones made against Stephen (see Aw – Stephen’s Testimony to the Sanhedrin).

First, they said that Stephen was an enemy of Moshe (7:17-37) and their religion. In the same way, they said that Paul taught all men everywhere to be against our people (21:28a). But the truth was what Paul taught was that being a Jew by itself would not save. Obviously, Paul was no enemy of the Jewish people, as Romans 9:1-5 and 10:1 make clear. Nowhere did Paul teach Jewish believers to forsake their customs – merely that Gentiles not be pressured to observe them.

Secondly, they accused Paul of false teaching against the Torah (21:28b), like they had accused Stephen (6:13b and 7:38-43). That was an especially serious accusation at that time, since many tens-of-thousands of Jewish believers in Jerusalem were zealous for the Torah (21:20b). Originally a celebration of the first-fruits of the harvest, in Paul’s day Shavu’ot had come to be a celebration of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. Charging Paul at that time with teaching against the Torah was sure to infuriate the crowd. But the truth was that Paul taught that the 613 commandments of Moshe were no longer binding on believing Jews or Gentiles.

Thirdly, they said that Stephen taught against the Temple (6:13a and 7:44-50), and in the same way, they accused Paul of speaking against this place (21:28c). Because the Jewish people revered the Temple, an accusation of blaspheming or defiling it was also a very serious matter. Yeshua was also accused in the same way (Mark 14:57-58), which helped lead to His death. Paul’s accusers undoubtedly hoped for a similar result in his case. The truth, however, was that Paul taught that the Temple was not the only place to worship ADONAI, and moreover, Paul himself honored the Temple as he was worshiping there before their eyes. These charges couldn’t have been more serious.

To substantiate these general accusations, Paul’s accusers came up with a specific one, crying out to the crowd, “Besides, he has even brought Greeks past the middle wall of separation in the Temple (see Cn – Paul’s Advice from Jacob and the Elders at Jerusalem) and defiled this holy place” (21:28d)! False or not, the accusations spread like wildfire This, however, was not a surprise to Paul because the Ruach ha-Kodesh warned him earlier that bondage and afflictions awaited him in Jerusalem (20:22). 

The charges were unfounded, and Luke makes that clear. For the unbelieving Jews had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city streets with him, and they assumed that Paul had brought him into the Temple. But that was not true, in fact they never actually saw Trophimus in the Temple compound. They made the assumption that since Paul was with Trophimus, a Gentile, publicly in the streets of Jerusalem, he would not hesitate to bring him past the middle wall of separation in the Temple compound.⁵¹⁰

The uproar quickly spread. However, Rome demanded civil order in its provinces. A riot was a serious breach of the Pax Romana (Roman peace) carrying serious consequences. The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together in the vicinity of the Temple. Their intent was to drag Paul to a place where he could be stoned as they had done with Stephen (see Ax – The Stoning of Stephen), so they grabbed Paul and drug him out past the middle wall of separation, to the outer court of the Gentiles. At that point the chief of the Temple guard shut the Beautiful Gate  to prevent any human blood being spilled in the Court of the Women, and thus defile the holy Place (21:29-30).⁵¹¹ The mob would have succeeded in dragging Paul out of the Temple compound and stoning him to death, but ADONAI providentially intervened to protect His servant. Help arrived in the form of Roman soldiers!

It is important to stress that at the beginning of this legal process Paul was arrested by the Romans, and not by the Temple guard. Had the latter happened, he would have been tried and sentenced by the Sanhedrin. But Paul had no intention of leaving Roman jurisdiction; he would fight any attempt by the Sanhedrin to have him extradited. Even if he had to appeal to Caesar, he would not accept “justice” at the hands of his fellow Jews. He knew very well what had happened to Yeshua, and even more to the point he knew what had recently happened to Stephen, and probably the killing of Jacob the brother of John as well (12:2). ⁵¹²

The arrest of the Romans: The headquarters of the Roman occupation forces was Fortress Antonia, located on a precipice overlooking the Temple grounds. As they were trying to kill him, the news came to the commander of the cohort of Roman soldiers that all Jerusalem was in chaos (21:31). In Acts 23:26, Luke gives his name as Claudius (a Latin name because it was from Emperor Claudius that his citizenship was purchased) Lysias (his Greek name after he purchased Roman citizenship). Once again, Luke artfully introduces a character that will play a major role in the next two chapters. Lysias was the ranking Roman official in Jerusalem when the governor (whose official residence was in Caesarea) was not in the City. He was therefore the Roman official most concerned with maintaining order in Yerushalayim. During major religious holidays, such a Shavu’ot, the Romans were especially watchful. Thus, it didn’t take the alert sentries long to spot the riot breaking out below them, and they had easy access right into the court of the Gentiles where Paul was being beaten.

Having received the report, Lysias wasted no time in exercising his responsibility to maintain order and hurried straight down to the Court of the Gentiles. Immediately he took a cohort of 500 Roman soldiers and centurions and immediately rushed down to them. This was the same number of Roman soldiers that arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Le – Jesus Betrayed, Arrested and Deserted). The massive show of force broke up the riot. Upon seeing the commander and the soldiers, the Jews suddenly stopped beating Paul. Then the commander came up and arrested Paul, incorrectly assuming that Paul was an Egyptian terrorist (see Cp – Paul’s Testimony on the Temple Steps). Then Lysias ordered him to be bound with two chains (meaning Paul was handcuffed to a soldier on either side), thus the prophecy of Agabus in 21:11 was fulfilled. And they immediately began investigating what he had done. Some in the mob shouted one thing, and some another, being confused as to why they were there. As Lysias could not determine the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into headquarters in Fortress Antonia (21:32-34). There he intended to question the apostle in private, and if necessary, use torture to extract a confession.

The soldiers began escorting Paul through the enraged mob however, renewed their rioting and made it impossible for the prisoner to walk safely up the stairway to the barracks. The mood of the scene is much like the riot in Ephesus in 19:1-40. Therefore, Paul had to be carried by the Roman soldiers. In mindless, faceless fury, losing all sense of fear of the soldiers, the mob pushed and shoved, desperately trying to get to Paul. All the while they kept shouting, “Away with him,” that is, “kill him” (21:35-36)!⁵¹³ With those words, the majority of Jerusalem had reacted against Yeshua, Peter, John, Stephen and Paul. For our study in Acts, this is the final, key, rejection of the gospel.⁵¹⁴

Later, in his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul made a reference to wanting the fellowship of sharing in Christ’s sufferings (Philippians 3:10). Paul received Messiah by faith, knew Yeshua by name, but came face-to-face with Jesus through experience. He spoke of Him through prayer. He grew in Him through the Word. However, this particular day, Paul experienced a fellowship in His sufferings unlike any He had ever encountered.

Luke seems to be drawing a deliberate parallel between the sufferings of Messiah and the sufferings of His apostle Paul. Earlier we have seen the similarity between their respective journeys to Jerusalem (see Ck – Paul Went On to Jerusalem Despite Warnings). Now, Luke takes it a bit further, although, of course, Paul’s sufferings were not redemptive like Yeshua’s. Nevertheless, first, both Jesus and Paul were rejected by their own people (Luke 11:14-15; Acts 21:36), and arrested without cause and imprisoned; secondly, they were both unjustly accused and willfully misrepresented by false witnesses; thirdly, both were slapped in the face in court (23:2); fourthly, they were both hapless victims of secret Jewish plots (23:12ff); fifthly, both heard the terrifying noise of a frenzied mob screaming, “Away with him” (21:36); and lastly, both Jesus and Paul were subject to a series of five trials (Jesus by Annas, the Sanhedrin, King Herod Antipas, and twice by Pontus Pilate; Paul by the crowd, the Sanhedrin, King Herod Agrippa II and by the two governors, Felix and Festus).⁵¹⁵

Both Messiah and Paul knew suffering was inevitable. Both Christ and Paul knew they would end up giving their lives – One as Savior of the world, the other as His servant. Both grieved over Jerusalem. Both felt compelled to return to the holy City. Both knew the horror of being swept up by an angry mob. Both experience the newness of every rejection. But no matter how many times it comes, on can hardly prepare for people who want you dead. Paul did not know when it would happen to him, but he did know his Savior. As the apostle fellowshipped in His sufferings, he had never known Him better.

Lord, it encourages my heart to know that just as the sufferings of Messiah overflow into me, so my comfort overflows through Messiah. As I share in the sufferings, so I will share in the comfort (Second Corinthians 1:5 and 7). So, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me: Your rod and Your staff comfort me (Psalm 23:4).⁵¹⁶

Paul’s Advice from Jacob
and the Elders at Jerusalem
21: 17-26

57 AD

Paul’s advice from Jacob and the elders at Jerusalem DIG: What pressures do Jacob and the elders face as Paul comes to Jerusalem? How might Paul’s teaching cause those of the circumcision to be upset? This issue was supposedly settled at least six years earlier (see Chapter 15). Why do these tensions still plague Jerusalem believers? How would Jacob’s suggestion to Paul solve the problem for both of them? Why remind Paul’s Gentile companions what to do (see 15:20)? How does Paul’s action in verses 24-26 square with his view of grace and the Torah (see 20:24 and First Corinthians 9:10-20)?

REFLECT: How do you decide when you should use your freedom in Messiah and bend for the sake of others, and when you should stand for your principles? What are some of the first things to go through your mind when your good intentions are misunderstood? When was the last time you were stuck in the middle of a situation involving believers on both sides? What was the problem, and how did it work out? How difficult is it for you to seek common ground with unbelievers without compromising your faith? What are the struggles inherent in this juggling act? How do you find the balancing act?

Paul returned to Jerusalem during a very turbulent time, when political feelings were preparing to boil over. If one cannot say things were already quite violent by 58 AD, they were certainly quite volatile, and anything perceived to threaten the purity of the holy Temple, such as bringing a Gentile past the middle wall of separation (see below), would be reacted to with great passion and possibly with violence.⁴⁹⁷ Josephus described this period as a time of intense Jewish nationalism and political unrest. One insurrection after another arose to challenge their Roman overlords, but Governor Felix had brutally suppressed them all. This only increased the Jewish hatred for Rome and inflamed anti-Gentile sentiments.

Considering this political environment, Paul’s mission to the Gentiles would not have been well received, and this put the Jerusalem elders in a difficult position. On the one hand they had supported Paul’s witness to the Gentiles at the Jerusalem Council (to see link click Bt – The Council’s Letter to the Gentile Believers). But now they found Paul’s mission discredited not only among the Jewish populace (whom they were seeking to reach), but also among their most recent converts. The elders did not want to reject Paul. Indeed, they praised God for his success.⁴⁹⁸ Nevertheless, they needed to be careful how to handle his return.

The arrival: When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us gladly (see Bx – Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia: A closer look at the “us” or “we” passages and sea passages). There were reservations, however, and these quickly unfolded the next day. Paul went in with us to Jacob and all the elders of the Messianic community in Jerusalem were present. They were more than willing to meet with the representatives of the Gentile churches (20:4). Jacob, or James, was the half-brother of Jesus, spokesman, and the leading elder. They all probably went to his home. After greeting them, Paul reported to them in great detail what God had done among the Gentiles after three missionary journeys. And when the elders heard, they began glorifying God. They were overjoyed that so many Gentiles had been saved, but Paul’s success had created some problems for them. As Jacob explained: You see, brother, how many tens-of-thousands (or a minimum of twenty-thousand Jewish believers in Jerusalem alone not counting the rest of the country) there are among the Jewish people who have believed – and they are zealous for the Torah. They saw no contradiction in their faith in Yeshua and their zealousness for the Torah (21:17-20).

And so it is today. Messianic Jews today regard themselves as loyal Jews. Most have increased their Jewish consciousness as a result of coming to trust in the Jewish Messiah, and most are actively concerned for preserving the Jewish people. The idea in the Church that when one believes in Yeshua one leaves the Jewish people is false and misleading. There is no grounds for it in the New Covenant, which time and again demonstrates exactly the opposite. Christians who spread the lie that Jewish believers in Yeshua are no longer Jewish do incalculable harm to the gospel, to the Jewish people and to the Church – not the least of which by leading credibility to unbelieving Jews who have their own defensive reasons for holding the same view.

The lie: These zealots for the Torah have been told about you. Jews from the Diaspora likely were the ones who spread the reports among the Jerusalem believers that Paul taught all the Jewish people among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to walk according to their ancestral traditions. The accusation against Paul, then, was that he was a traitor to the Jewish people who taught all over the Diaspora to stop functioning as Jews. Actually Paul was teaching just the opposite (Acts 16:3; First Corinthians 7:18 and 9:20). What’s to be done then? It was as if Jacob was saying, “How shall we deal with this situation where people are so misinformed and feelings run so high. No doubt they will hear that you have come” (21:21-22).⁴⁹⁹

We all know what it means to be misunderstood. You try to do the right thing, the godly thing, and you get criticized by other believers. Or even worse they gossip about you. It just drains your energy and excitement. Have you ever thought, “I expected this kind of thing from unbelievers, but I wasn’t expecting this from my brothers and sisters in the faith?” If so, you are part of a large fraternity, with Paul as a charter member. And as far as Paul was concerned what they were saying wasn’t even true. He had never told Jewish believers not to circumcise their boys. He told them not to insist that Gentile believers circumcise theirs! He was trying to make the point that circumcision had nothing to do with salvation.⁵⁰⁰

To correct this false interpretation of Paul’s ministry the elders said: Therefore, do what we tell you (they had obviously thought this through beforehand). We have four men who have taken a Nazarite vow on themselves (21:23). The law of the Nazirite was regulated in detail (Numbers 6:1-21). According to these decrees of the Torah every Israelite could specially dedicate themselves to ADONAI by a vow. During the period of this special dedication one was not permitted to consume wine, vinegar, or any other alcoholic drink. Furthermore, one was also not allowed to eat fresh or dried grapes. The Nazirite thus demonstrated that he was prepared to do without the Creator’s gifts, which are good in themselves – so long as they are not abused.

As a sign of the unlimited devotion to YHVH, the hair might not be cut even a little. Long hair had the same significance a woman’s veil in the worship service (First Corinthians 11:2-15): separation and dedication. The picture of the veil can be beautifully illustrated by the love story between Isaac and Rebecca. When Rebecca saw her future husband for the first time, she veiled herself (Genesis 24:65). By that she wanted to demonstrate to him: I am withdrawing myself from the glances of all men in order to be exclusively yours. The Nazirite, with his uncut hair, declared in symbolic language, “I am reserved for God!”⁵⁰¹

The usual length of the Nazirite vow was thirty days.⁵⁰², although Sampson (Judges 16:17), Samuel (First Samuel 1:11), and John the Immerser (Luke 1:15) were Nazirites for life. Paul had not started any Nazirite vow himself and the four men’s vow would expire in seven days. As their sponsor, Paul could participate in the ceremony marking the culmination of the four men’s Nazirite vows by going through the last seven days with them. But before he could do that he would have to purify himself and undergo a ritual bath (Hebrew: mikveh).⁵⁰³ So the elders told him, “Take them with you and purify yourself along with them and pay their and your own expenses, so that they may shave their heads.”

In addition, Paul also had to buy a year-old lamb, as well as two young doves as sacrifices, for each of the four men. The lamb was intended as a guilt offering (see the commentary on Exodus Fd – The Guilt Offering). One dove was to be presented as a burnt offering (see the commentary on Exodus Fe – The Burnt Offering), and the other as a sin offering (see the commentary on Exodus Fc – The Sin Offering). Furthermore, according to the Torah’s commands the purification by the ashes of a red heifer were in addition to this (Hebrews Bx – The Insufficiency of the Blood of Bulls and Goats).⁵⁰⁴ While these involved blood offerings, not all blood offerings were for atonement purposes. And the blood offerings for the completion of a Nazarite vow were not atonement offerings.

Displaying humility and a desire for unity, Paul agreed to the elder’s proposal. Doing so would not compromise biblical truth since, as Paul himself would write about in Romans 14 and 15, such matters were issues of our liberty in Messiah (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Dg – The Completion of the Torah). However, paying for himself and four others would be very expensive and would demonstrate that he took the Torah seriously, and that the charges against him were false. Jacob continued: That way, all will realize there is nothing to the things they have been told about you, but that you yourself walk in an orderly manner, keeping the Torah (21:24, also see 23:6 and 26:5). The authority of Jacob stood behind the declaration that Paul was Torah observant.

To complete a Nazarite vow, the four [Jewish] men would go to one of the four chambers in the corners of the Court of the Women  called the Chamber of the Nazirites, where they would cut their hair and solemnly burn it, along with a Peace Offering (see the commentary on Exodus Fg – The Peace Offering), on a special fireplace as a symbol of their dedication ADONAI (Numbers 6:13-20).⁵⁰⁵

But to get to the Court of the Women, they had to pass through the middle wall of separation (Ephesians 2:14). Both Jews and Gentiles were permitted to enter the Temple Compound in order to approach the Golden Sanctuary, the dwelling place of the Eternal One. Yet after some dozen meters they came to a barrier. It consisted on a low wall of 75cm (or 2.46 feet) upon which a wooden lattice of 52.5 cm (1 foot 8.67 inches) was secured for a total of 127.5 cm. In rabbinical literature this barrier is referred to with the Hebrew word soreg (meaning a fence, a grill, or netting). The middle wall of separation was deliberately built low and furnished with lattice allowing a view through so that no one, not even a child, might be prevented from seeing the glorious view of the golden Sanctuary.

But this middle wall was the complete separation between Jews and Gentiles. No Gentile was allowed to go beyond this barrier, not even the God-fearers or Proselytes at the Gate – this “gate,” this middle wall separation (see Bb  – An Ethiopian Asks about Isaiah 53). If, however, a heathen (in the sense of being a non-Jew) converted to Judaism and became a Proselyte of the Covenant, then the separation was lifted because they were no longer considered a heathen, but a Jew.

How complete the separation between Jews and heathens was can be deduced from the stone inscription that was placed at various intervals along the middle wall of separation. The texts on these tablets (57 by 86 cm) threatened the death sentence in Latin and Greek to every Gentile crossing the barrier. Even though the Romans had taken the death penalty away from Isra’el in 6 AD, there was still one exception. If a Gentile disregarded the middle wall of separation, he would be immediately executed, even if he were a Roman citizen. The tablet read: No foreigner may enter with the barricade that surrounds the Sanctuary and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuring death.⁵⁰⁶ Paul would later explain that Messiah is our shalom, the One who made the two (Jews and Gentiles) into one (Church) and broke down this middle wall of separation (Ephesians 2:14a).

Then the Jerusalem elders summarized the din (Hebrew for ruling, or a halakhic decision) of Acts 15. As for Gentiles who have believed, however, we have written by letter what we decided (see Bt – The Counsel’s Letter to the Gentile Believers) – for them to abstain from what is offered to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from immorality (21:25). So, Jacob reaffirmed Gentile freedom from the Torah, and he wanted Paul to reaffirm the freedom of Jewish believers to keep the Torah.

Like Messianic Jews today, Paul didn’t believe that he had to give up being Jewish when he accepted Messiah as his Lord and Savior. He was free to participate in Jewish worship and ritual as long as it was considered nonessential for salvation (First Corinthians 9:20). As a result, the next day Paul took the men, purifying himself in a ritual bath along with them. He went into the Temple compound announcing when the days of purification would be completed (six days from then) and also brought the sacrifices that would be offered for each one of them (21:26). Paul was required to undergo a seven-day purification as a result of being defiled by Gentile-land impurity (Numbers 19). Unlike the completion of his vow, the initiation of it apparently brought no controversy.

In the final analysis, what we see here is Paul being asked to act with cultural sensitivity to the Jewish context he found himself in, without compromising the gospel. Both Jacob and Paul demonstrated a generous spirit towards each other. On his part, Paul was quite willing to do so for the sake of unity it would create. Oftentimes, we may be asked, in ministry or in a given community, to engage in neutral practices that are culturally driven, not because we have to, but because it may prevent an unnecessary distraction of sharing the gospel, or doing damage to the unity of the congregations of God.⁵⁰⁷

Sometimes, Lord, it is not an enemy taunting me – otherwise I could bear it; it is not
a foe who rises up against me – otherwise I could hide from him. But it is one who is my peer, my companion and close friend. We used to have a close relationship, even fellowship. We walked together into the house of God. His buttery words are smooth
as silk, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, but they are like drawn swords. As for me, I will cast my burden on You, Lord, knowing that You will support me; You will never allow the righteous to be shaken (Psalm 55:12-14, 22-23).
May I be true to You though others are false to me.⁵⁰⁸

Paul’s Witness before the Jews
21:17 to 23:22

57 AD

In a sense all of 21:17 to 26:32 could be described as Paul’s witness before the Jews, since even in the Caesarea trial scenes of Chapters 24 to 26, Paul appeared before a Jewish legal team and a Jewish king. However, the Roman officials have a more conspicuous presence in those chapters. First, he appeared with the elders of the Messianic community in Jerusalem. There he experienced something of a mini-trial even before them, as they urged him to demonstrate his faithfulness to those Jewish believers who were zealots on behalf of the Torah (to see link click Cn – Paul’s Advice from Jacob and the Elders at Jerusalem). To comply with their wishes, he sponsored four Jewish men completing their Nazirite vows at the Temple. There Paul was falsely accused of some Asian Jews of having violated the middle wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles, and a riot ensued (see Co – Paul’s Arrest in Jerusalem).

Rescued from certain death at the hands of the mob, Paul requested from the arresting Roman commander permission to address them. When permission was granted, Paul delivered a moving speech before his hostile Jewish audience (see Cp – Paul’s Testimony on the Temple Steps on Fort Antonia). They listened intently as Paul spoke of his Jewish background and of being Torah observant. But then he told them about his experience on the Damascus road. Only when he mentioned Yeshua’s commission for his witness to the Gentiles did they become a mob again, and Paul had to be quickly taken away again by the Romans.

In an attempt to find out more about the causes of the riot, the Roman commander instead learned of Paul’s Roman citizenship (see Cq – Paul is Protected by Roman Law). The commander then led Paul to the Sanhedrin in his attempt to ascertain the Jewish complaint against him. With Paul’s mention of the resurrection, the Sanhedrin session ended in utter chaos, with Sadducee pitted against Pharisee (see Cr – Paul’s Defense Before the Great Sanhedrin). When Paul’s nephew learned of a plot by forty Jews to ambush Paul, he warned the Roman commander of it (see Cs – The Conspiracy to Kill Paul).

The narrative is long and given in considerable detail. That Luke considered this material especially significant is demonstrated by the slowness of the time in the narrative. Less than twelve days elapsed between the time between Paul received advice from the Jerusalem elders about sponsoring four Jewish men completing their Nazarite vows, and his being escorted to Caesarea to face the Roman Governor Felix. In contrast, the events of the next three chapters cover two years (24:27).⁴⁹⁶

Paul’s Journey to Rome
21:17 to 28:31

57-62 AD

Paul wrote his prison letters of Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon and Philippians
from 60-61 AD in Rome.

This long section of Acts could be considered the most uninteresting portion of the whole book. It consists of seemingly endless legal scenes and has more than its share of speeches. That the Ruach ha-Kodesh and the inspired author Luke considered this material of vital importance, however, is seen by the fact that these chapters constitute the fulfillment of the divine promise given to Paul at the time of his conversion that he would bear the Lord’s name before Gentiles, kings, and the people of Isra’el (9:15).

Three major speeches that form the framework of this section illustrate the accomplishment of that promise. At the beginning is Paul’s witness before a mob in the Temple compound (to see link click Co – Paul’s Arrest in Jerusalem). It is in every sense a witness before the people of Isra’el. The witness before Gentiles is seen in the constant conversation between Paul and the Roman officials and particularly in the defense before Felix, which stands at this section’s midpoint (see Cv – Paul’s Defense before Governor Felix). Finally, there is the climactic speech before the supposed Jewish King Agrippa II (see Cy – Paul’s Defense before Agrippa). Considerable overlap occurs in the content of the speeches. This repetition should be a clue in itself that Luke considered the material to be of vital importance. In fact, it is in this portion of Acts where the major themes of the entire book come together. In this sense, these chapters comprise the climax to Acts.

A useful manner of outlining these themes is to consider the main characters who appear in these chapters. Basically, there are three – Paul, the Roman officials, and the Jews. As for Paul, one might consider this period as the lowest-point of his ministry. At the beginning he was nearly killed by an angry mob, was placed in chains by the Roman commander, and thereafter was moved from one official to another, one place of confinement to another. He was constantly under accusation, continually placed on the defense.

If one looks carefully at Paul’s “defense,” however, it always appears as more of a witness, a positive witness to his faith in Yeshua. This is in keeping with the Lord’s voice saying: He is a choice instrument to carry My name before the nations and kings and the children of Isra’el (9:15). Paul is not to be seen as having to give his legal defense so much as to bear witness to the name of his Lord. With this section 23:11 is the key verse, which reads: The Lord stood beside Paul and said: Take courage! For just as you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome! Whomever Paul stood before – whether the Jews, the Roman procurator, or Caesar himself – it was above all to testify for his Lord. In so doing, he fulfilled the commission of Yeshua (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Jk – Everyone Will Hate You Because of Me, But Not a Hair of Your Head Will Perish). The role Paul shared with the Twelve was that of witness. This was perhaps Paul’s time of greatest witness. Far from a low point, it was in many respects the high-point of Paul’s ministry. His witness had no social or political bounds. He would ultimately testify to Christ before Caesar himself!⁴⁹⁵

Paul Went on to Jerusalem Despite Warnings
21: 1-16

57 AD

Paul went on to Jerusalem despite warnings DIG: How might Paul be interpreting these warnings differently than his friends do in verses 4 and 10-13 (see 20:22-23)? Why does he not listen to their advice? How are Paul’s companions faring on this trip? Are you impressed with Paul’s courage? Or do you think he was foolish? Why? For Paul it’s “Jerusalem or Bust!” How does that compare with Yeshua’s determination in Luke 13:31-33?

REFLECT: In your eyes, did Paul make the right decision to go to Jerusalem, even though godly people through the Spirit urged him not to go? Why or why not? When have you made decisions against the wishes of people you admired and trusted? What happened? In retrospect, was your decision a wise one? Explain? What has been your most recent, most serious struggle with God? What do you suspect would happen if you totally submitted to His will and way? Is that what’s holding you back? How so?

The first stage of the journey: After tearing ourselves away from the Ephesian elders we set sail (to see link click Cj – Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders). This officially ended the Third Missionary Journey. We (see Bx – Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia: A closer look at the “us” or “we” passages and sea passages) set a straight course on the first ship to the small island of Cos forty miles due south of Miletus.

The next day we sailed to Rhodes, a larger island southeast of Cos, and from there to Patara, a seaport of Lycia on the south coast of Asia Minor. Because the first ship made so many stops, the traveling missionaries sought out a ship going directly across to Phoenicia hoping to save time. Finding a much larger ship, we went aboard and set sail. Their route took them southeast into the middle of the Eastern Mediterranean. When we came in sight of Cyprus, passing it by on the left, we kept sailing on the approximately 400 mile trip to the province of Syria (that included Isra’el). We landed at Tyre, which was the port of entry into the province of Syria. But to their dismay, the ship docked in Tyre for seven days to unload the cargo (21:1-3). Have you ever noticed how often ADONAI has a blessing on the unscheduled stops along your way? God had a blessing waiting for Paul and the others on their unscheduled stop.⁴⁸⁷

We looked up the disciples and we stayed there seven days strengthening the believers. There had been believers in Tyre as early as 11:19 as a result of the Dispersion after the stoning of Stephen (11:19). They kept telling Paul through the Ruach not to set foot in Jerusalem (21:4). Some believe that the Ruach ha-Kodesh forbid Paul to go to Jerusalem, but the text doesn’t say that. Through the Ruach in this context means that the Ruach’s message concerned what would happen to Paul when he set foot in Jerusalem. So the Ruach ha-Kodesh did not forbid Paul to go to Jerusalem, it was the believers in Tyre who were encouraging Paul not to go. They loved him and were afraid for his safety. Yet Paul had to go (19:21, 20:22: 21:14).⁴⁸⁸ Furthermore, nowhere in the Scriptures does it suggest that Paul sinned by going to Jerusalem. After he got there he declared: I have lived my life in all good conscience for God up to this day (23:1). It would be difficult to see how he could have said that if he had just deliberately sinned against ADONAI.

When our days there were completed, we departed and went on our journey. They all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were clear outside the city. This was similar to Paul’s experience with the Ephesian elders at Miletus (20:38). After kneeling down on the shore and praying, we said farewell to one another. The reference to prayer is not incidental. Everyone was fully aware of the danger facing Paul in Jerusalem. Then Paul and Luke boarded the same ship that brought them to Tyre, and the believers of Tyre returned home again (21:5-6).

The second stage of the Journey: When we had finished the trip from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais. Known in Judges 1:31 as Acco, Ptolemais was about 25 miles south of Tyre. Never one to miss a ministry opportunity (Ephesians 5:16), Paul immediately sought out the believers in that city. After greeting the brothers and sisters, Paul and his companions and stayed with them for one day, perhaps again being tied to his ship’s schedule (21:7). The church at Ptolemais, like that of Tyre, had likely been founded by those who fled Jerusalem following Stephen’s martyrdom (11:19). Paul’s care for them was no less because he had not founded their church; his was a concern for all the churches (Second Corinthians 11:28).⁴⁸⁹

And the third stage of the journey: On the next day, we departed and came to Caesarea Maritima, thirty miles south of Ptolemais. It was a major harbor city, a Roman city and the official residence of the procurator, where Pontius Pilate lived and where Felix and Festus lived in the book of Acts. We entered the home of Philip, the proclaimer of Good News (see Az – The Good News Spreads to Samaria), who was one of the seven deacons, and we stayed with him. Indeed Philip may have been one of Luke’s sources when started gathering information about the early Messianic community in Jerusalem. Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied (21:8-9). Luke presents five cameos of important believing women in a variety of roles they assumed (see Bd – Signs and Miracles Follow Peter: A closer look at Luke, Women and Ministry). Perhaps it was then when Philip revealed the facts about himself and Stephen, which Luke later incorporated into Acts 6-8.

Prophets and prophetesses, like emissaries, were specially appointed by God in the church. They were distinguished from individual believers. They complemented the ministry of the emissaries (Ephesians 4:11), functioning exclusively with a particular local congregation, while the emissaries had a broader ministry. In contrast to the emissaries, whose doctrinal revelation was foundational to the church (Acts 2:42; Eph 2:20), the message of the prophets was more personal and practical. They sometimes received new revelation from ADONAI concerning matters that would later be covered in Scripture. The main thrust of their ministry, however, was the confirming or explanation of existing divine revelation, much like today’s preachers and teachers of the Word (see the commentary on First Corinthians Dl – The Word that Builds Up).

The revelatory aspect of the gift of prophecy ceased at the close of the ear of the emissaries with the completing of Scripture. The non-revelatory aspect of the prophets’ ministry of doctrinal and practical encouragement has been taken over by the evangelists, pastors and teachers. In fact, the last letters Paul wrote, the pastoral letters, he does not refer to prophets at all; instead, teaching was to be done by the elders (First Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:9).⁴⁹⁰ These four prophetesses had the gift of prophecy (First Corinthians 11:5); however, they could not use the gift during public worship (First Corinthians 14:33-35). The place they used this gift was in their home as verse 8 makes clear. During their stay, another prophecy of great interest was given.

While we stayed there for a number of days, a prophet who had received direct revelation from God named Agabus (11:27ff), came down from Judea. He was a trustworthy prophet because he had already been authenticated by a previous prophecy he made in 11:27-18. But here Agabus gave another prophecy. He came to us, and performed a symbolic act like prophets in the TaNaKh did (First Kings 11:29ff; Isaiah 20:3ff; Ezeki’el 4:1ff). He took a long piece of cloth that Paul used as a belt, tied his own hands and feet, and then explained the significance of his actions: The Ruach ha-Kodesh says this: “In this way shall the unsaved Jewish people in Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles” (21:10-11). It would take many years to get out of those hands. Here Agabus was merely confirming what the Ruach ha-Kodesh had said earlier, that bondage and afflictions awaited Paul in Jerusalem (20:22). Nevertheless, his bondage and afflictions gave him the opportunity to witness to mobs, to kings, to Jews, to the Great Sanhedrin and to Gentiles.

The scene that followed was emotional. When we heard these things, both we and the local people urged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. Their love and concern for Paul caused them, in view of his inevitable capture, to try to dissuade him from risking his life. Then Paul responded, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? The prophecy from Agabus was divine, while the urging was merely human. For I am ready not only to be bound but to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Yeshua!” Since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, saying only, “May the Lord’s will be done” (21:12-14). This was not a fatalistic resignation, but a confident trust in God’s sovereign and perfect will (First Samuel 3:18; Matthew 6:10; Luke 22:42).

Then came the fourth stage of the journey: After several days spent in Caesarea, we packed our bags and started going up to Jerusalem 50 or 60 miles away depending on which route they chose. A rough calculation of the trip from Philippi to Caesarea meant that Paul arrived on the coast of Isra’el about two weeks before the Festival of Shavu’ot. Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us, bringing us to Mnason of Cyprus – one of the early disciples by whom we might be hosted (21:15-16).Thus, after many weeks or travel and suspense, and in spite of dire warnings, Paul reached his destination. It would be an exaggeration to call this Paul’s “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem. But at least his warm reception strengthened him to bear the mob’s shouts of, “Away with him” (21:36), a few days later.⁴⁹¹

In fact, it is hard to resist the conclusion that Luke sees a parallel between Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, which is prominent in his gospel, and Paul’s journey to Jerusalem, which he describes in Acts. Of course the resemblance is far from being exact, and the mission of Jesus was unique; yet the correspondence between the two journeys seems too close to be a coincidence. First, like Jesus, Paul traveled to Jerusalem with a group of His disciples (Luke 10:38 and Acts 20:4ff). Secondly, like Jesus, he was opposed by hostile Jews who plotted against his life (Luke 6:7 and 11, 11:53:54, 22:1-2 and Acts 20:3 and 19). Thirdly, like Jesus, Paul made or received three successive predictions of his sufferings (Luke 9:22 and 44, 18:31-32 and Acts 20:22-23, 21:4 and 11), including his being handed over to the Gentiles (Luke 18:32 and Acts 21:11) Fourthly, like Jesus, Paul declared his readiness to lay down his life (Luke 12:50, 22:19, 23:46 and Acts 20:24, 21:13). Fifthly, like Jesus, Paul was determined to complete his ministry and not be deterred from it (Luke 9:51 and Acts 20:24, 21:13). Sixthly, like Jesus, Paul expressed his surrender to the will of God (Luke 22:42 and Acts 21:14). Even if some of these details cannot be pressed, Luke surely intends his readers to envision Paul as following in his Master’s footsteps when he was determined to go up to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51).⁴⁹²

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey was complete, having begun after a visit to the Messianic community in the Holy City (18:22) and now ending there. His Greek mission was also complete. He would not return to the churches he had started. Luke had prepared his readers well for this reality. Paul had made the fact clear in his address to the Ephesian elders (20:25). Paul’s own forebodings (20:22ff), and those of the believers at Tyre and Caesarea have prepared us for the events that are about to unfold in Jerusalem. Paul would no longer bear witness as a free man in the rest of Acts. He would be in chains, but the chains would be unable to bind his witness. His witness would indeed become bolder still.⁴³⁷

You have made the contrast clear, Lord. Those whose lives are according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh, but those whose lives are according to the Spirit, set their minds on things of the Spirit. For the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and shalom. For the mindset of the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not submit itself to the law of God – for it cannot. We, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since Your Spirit lives in us (Romans 8:5, 7-9a). May I want only what You know is best. May I not only let You have Your way with me but consider it a joy to follow You.⁴⁹⁴

Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders
20: 13-38

Late 56 AD to early 57 AD

Paul’s farewell to the Ephesian elders DIG: Why might Paul want to be in Jerusalem for Shavu’ot (2:1)? What has characterized his ministry so far? Why does he emphasize how he lived among them? From your reading of Acts, what types of hardships has Paul already encountered? Compare 20:24 with Philippians 3:7-8, how would you explain what motivates Paul to keep going on? What does it mean to Take care of yourselves in verse 28 (First Timothy 4:11-116)? How does their divine appointment as elders highlight the seriousness of their responsibility? What two dangers does Paul warn them about in verses 29-30? How is the message of grace in verse 32 and example of Paul in verses 33-35 protect them from these dangers? Some people viewed the office of elder as a way of gaining power and wealth (see First Timothy 5:6-10; First Peter 5:3). How does Paul fight against that idea here? What do you suppose the Ephesians will miss most about Paul?

REFLECT: If someone watched you the past year, what would they assume the lifestyle of a believer is like? How would you like to change so they might get a more accurate picture? How would you paraphrase Paul’s summary of the gospel in verse 21 to explain faith to someone? Who makes up the “flock” for whom you are responsible? In what specific ways can you shepherd them? What is the one thing you must accomplish in life? How does that relate to Paul’s goal (verse 24)? What might be some parting words or themes you’d like to leave behind to those who follow you? What are the most important warnings and encouragements to pass on? In the race toward doing God’s will, are you in the front of the pack, one of the stragglers, or an onlooker? Why?

The arrival: Paul’s party, along with Luke this time, went on from Troas (to see link click Ci – Paul Raised Eutychus From the Dead at Troas) and set sail for Assos, twenty miles away. But Paul had made this arrangement for the other men because he was going there on foot. Travel along the coastal road would be quicker than a sea voyage round the cape. Evidently he wanted to be alone to collect his thoughts about what he believed would be his farewell address to the Ephesian elders. Then on the second leg of the trip, Paul met the travel party at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene, Italy, some thirty miles away (see Bx – Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia: A closer look at the “us” or “we” passages and sea passages). On the third leg of the journey, sailing from Mitylene, we arrived the next day opposite the island of Chios; the next day we crossed over to the island of Samos, and the day after that we came to Miletus. For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he might not spend much time in Asia, because he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Shavu’ot (20:13-16). There were fifty days between Pesach (20:6) and Shavu’ot. So, Paul decided not to go to Ephesus lest he lose any more valuable time. Paul’s desire to hurry to get to Yerushalayim for Shavu’ot shows that as a Messianic Jew, he saw no conflict between his faith in Yeshua and Jewish practice (13:9). We can also see this from the fact that on another occasion he felt he had to justify a decision to remain in Ephesus and not go up to Jerusalem for this pilgrim festival (First Corinthians 16:8-9).⁴⁸⁰

A review of the past: Instead, Paul invited the leaders of the Ephesian church to come to him, where a ship was waiting to unload cargo and take on more. From Miletus, dispatching someone to Ephesus, Paul called for the elders-overseers (Greek: episkopous) of the community to Miletus. As a crow flies, Ephesus was only thirty miles north of Miletus, but the rather winding road was longer. It must have taken about three days for a messenger to travel to Ephesus and bring the elders back to Miletus. But in due time they arrived. When they came to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know how I behaved among you all the time from the first day I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and tears and trials which fell upon me through the plots of the Jewish leaders (Second Corinthians 2:4). I did not shrink back from proclaiming the Scriptures to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly as well as from house to house, testifying to both Jewish and Greek people repentance to God and trust in our Lord Yeshua (20:17-21). The gospel is the same for Jews and Gentiles . . . repentance and trust in YHVH though Yeshua Messiah. The Dual-Covenant theory, advocated by unbelieving Jews, believing that Christians are saved through Jesus and that Jews are saved through Moses, is clearly wrong. Yeshua declared: I AM the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6; also see Acts 4:12).

A testimony of the present: Having reminded the Ephesian elders of his example during his presence with them, Paul now prepared them for his absence: And now, look, bound by my spirit (Greek: pneumati, meaning spirit or wind), I am compelled to go to Jerusalem – not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Ruach ha-Kodesh bears witness to me from city to city, saying that bondage and afflictions await me (20:22-23). Paul recognized the dangerous road ahead of him. In his spirit, Paul sensed that something bad was going to happen to him in Jerusalem, but he simply didn’t know any details. But it didn’t trouble him. He could give it all over to the LORD, singing from his heart: I have set ADONAI always before me. Since He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken (Psalm 16:8). Paul was indeed being led to Jerusalem. God had a purpose for his going there. He was ready to surrender his life for the sake of the gospel.⁴⁸¹

It has been said that the best use of one’s life is to spend it for something that outlasts it. The truth is, only the Kingdom of God is going to last. Everything else will eventually vanish. That is why we must live purpose-driven lives committed to fulfilling our mission on earth. That result will last forever. Paul said: I don’t consider my life of any value, except that I might finish my life’s work and the office I received from the Lord Yeshua (see Bc – Sha’ul Turns from Murder to Messiah), to declare the Good News of the grace of God to the Jew first and then to the Gentiles (20:24). There are people on this earth whom only you will be able to reach, because of where you live and what ADONAI has made you to be. If just one person will be in heaven because of you, your life will have made a difference for eternity. Start looking around at your personal mission field and pray, “Lord, who have you put in my life for me to tell about Jesus?”⁴⁸²

Based upon his limited knowledge, he said: Now, look! I know that none of you, among whom I have gone proclaiming the Kingdom, will ever see my face again. This fact added a touching finality to the occasion. Later, when he was in Rome, he wrote Timothy about his desire to come to Ephesus again (First Timothy 3:14 and 4:13), but he never made it. But on this day he declared: I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all (20:25-26). Paul made a solemn declaration that, as a watchman like Ezeki’el (Ezeki’el 33:1ff), he was innocent of everyone’s blood. His conscience was clear. He withheld nothing from them. He did not hesitate to preach anything that would be helpful. He loved them enough to teach them everything that would be of benefit, even if they didn’t like it. In other words, he was willing to hurt their feelings momentarily if it would help them eternally. He was clean in the sense that he did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole Word of God (20:27). He didn’t just teach them the many wonderful things ADONAI wanted to do for them. He also taught them the truth about the hardships that would inevitably come and the calling of a crucified life.⁴⁸³

A warning about the future: Paul had a sense of urgency as he spoke to them. He warned the Ephesian elders about the vulnerability of the young church. Take care of yourselves and all the flock of which the Ruach ha-Kodesh has made you overseers-elders (Greek: episkopous), to shepherd the community of God in Ephesus – which He obtained with the blood of His own (Ephesians 1:14). I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock (see the commentary on Jude Ah – Godless People Have Secretly Slipped In Among You). Even from among yourselves will arise men speaking perversions, to draw the disciples away after themselves. Unfortunately, Paul’s words here were fulfilled and necessitated the writing of the letters to Timothy (First Timothy 1:3-7 and 19-20, 4:17, 6:3-5; Second Timothy 1:15, 2:16-18, 3:1-9). That false teachers did soon arise to prey upon the Asian churches is well documented by Ephesians 5:6-14 and Colossians 2:8, as well as by the letter to Ephesus in Revelation 2:2. Therefore be alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning you of the truth of the gospel with tears (20:28-31). By the second century Asia was a virtual seedbed for Christian heresy. Paul’s warning was both essential and timely.

A final warning about greed: There was, however, one more matter of personal conduct that he had not touched upon: the leaders’ relationship to material goods. He, himself had never used his ministry as a mask to cover up greed (First Thessalonians 2:5 NIV). At Corinth he supported himself with his own hands (Acts 19:2ff; First Corinthians 4:12. 9:12 and 15; Second Corinthians 11:7 and 12:13). The same was true at Thessalonica (First Thessalonians 2:9; Second Thessalonians 3:7-8). And here he seems to indicate that he followed the same pattern of self-support in Ephesus. Now I commit you to God and the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who have been made holy. I coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have provided for my own needs as well as for those with me. Greed is a universal human problem, and church leaders are not exempt. That is why Paul insisted that a major qualification for church leaders is that they should free from the love of money (First Timothy 3:3 and 8; Titus 1:7 and 11). The servant of God is to be a giver and not a taker. False teachers are particularly marked by their greed (First Timothy 6:3-10). Paul had begun his farewell address by listing the qualities of his own ministry as an example for the Ephesian leaders to follow. He concluded with a final quality he had sought to model. In all things I have shown you an object lesson – that by hard work one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Yeshua, that He Himself said: It is more blessed to give than to receive (20:32-35).⁴⁸⁴ This quotation of Jesus is not recorded in the gospels but was nonetheless known among early believers. If fact that it is the only quotation of Messiah outside the gospels gives significant weight to the truth it reveals. The gospels no more contain every word our Lord spoke during His earthly ministry than they do all His deeds (John 21:25). Only the divinely inspired Bible, however, contains those words and deeds that He wished for us to remember. The fanciful deeds and sayings recorded in extra biblical writings are to be rejected.⁴⁸⁵

The departure: When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. They all began weeping and falling upon Paul’s neck and they kissed him repeatedly, grieving most of all over the statement he made that they would never see his face again. Their visit ended with Paul and his friends walking side by side walking down the path to the docks, beards wet with tears (20:36-38). Obviously, the Ephesian leaders had some idea of how blessed they were to have the kind of leader Paul was to them. He was a leader who kept watch over himself and his followers. In nautical terms, he was the best kind of captain – one who kept the vessel on course even if his compass took him far from those he loved. He had given them all he had. The best kind of good-bye is the kind with no regrets.

When all is said and done, Lord, my prayer is that we, Your people – through Your mercy – will present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to You; this is our spiritual worship. May we not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we may discern what is Your will – what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2).⁴⁸⁶

Paul Raised Eutychus from the Dead at Troas
20: 1-12

56 AD

Paul raised Eutychus from the dead at Troas DIG: One reason for this trip was to collect money for believers in Judea (Romans 15:25-29). Why them might Paul want companions for this task (First Corinthians 16:1-4 and 2 Corinthians 8:16:23)? Why else might Paul want these Gentiles along for the presentation in Jerusalem (Chapter 15)? What can you learn about Paul and the church in Troas form this lengthy meeting? Peter raised a dead person in 9:40. Why would Luke tell a similar story about Paul? How many people did Yeshua raise from the dead?

REFLECT: Paul’s companions protect him from anyone accusing him of misusing the funds. How might Messianic communities, churches, and independent ministries of all sorts be helped by such accountability? How would this enhance unbeliever’s view of Christian integrity? Are you at all related to Eutychus? Do sermons put you to sleep? Or are you wide-awake spiritually? How can keep from falling flat on your face? Another interesting side of Paul, huh? After all the time we’ve spent studying his life, what do you find most inspiring about him? Most puzzling? Most interesting? Most refreshing?

Paul was ready for another journey. He wanted to make at least one more visit to the churches the Lord had helped him to found, because Paul was a man with a concerned heart. The care of all the churches was his great joy as well as his heaviest burden (Second Corinthians 11:23-28). After the uproar ended (to see link click Ch – Idol-Makers Start a Riot in Ephesus), Paul left Ephesus and headed toward Macedonia and Achaia (19:21). He expected to meet Titus at Troas and get a report on the problems at Corinth, but Titus did not come (Second Corinthians 2:12-13). The men finally met in Macedonia where Paul wrote Second Corinthians (Second Corinthians 7:5-7). Paul had originally planned to make two visits to Corinth (Second Corinthians 1:15-16), but instead he made one visit that lasted three months (Acts 20:3; First Corinthians 16:5-6). During that visit, he wrote his letter to the Romans.

The collection for the Messianic community in Jerusalem: Paul had two goals in mind as he visited the various churches. His main purpose was to encourage and strengthen the Gentile believers so that they might stand true to the Lord and be effective witnesses. His second purpose was to finish Jerusalem collection (Romans 15:25-27; First Corinthians 16:1-9; Second Corinthians 8 and 9). Paul had spent close to ten years soliciting those funds. This was a collection he took up among the Gentile churches to help Judean believers who were facing harder than usual economic times as a result of a famine during the late 40s. Paul and Barnabas made an initial famine-relief visit to Jerusalem in 46 AD and delivered a monetary gift from the church at Antioch (Acts 11:29-30). At that time the Judean believers expressed the hope that the Gentile believers associated with Paul would continue to remember them, which Paul was more than eager to do (Galatians 2:10). The collection effort was successfully completed in 57 AD (see Ck – Paul Went on to Jerusalem Despite Warnings). Paul viewed this as a symbol of unity that would help his Gentile converts realize their debt to the Messianic community in Jerusalem. The men who accompanied him (see below 20:4) were representatives of the churches, appointed to travel with Paul and help him handle the funds and provide security (Second Corinthians 8:18-24).⁴⁷⁵

Paul leaves Ephesus and stays three months in Greece: Then, Paul sent for the disciples at Ephesus; and when he had encouraged them to stand fast in the faith and said farewell. He informed them of his plan to leave, and then he departed to go to Macedonia. This summarizes about a year of ministry. When he had passed through those parts of Macedonia and given them a great word of encouragement, he came to Greece. There he spent three months, the winter months of 56-57 AD, while he wrote the book of Romans. At this point he became aware of a group of unbelieving Jewish leaders from Corinth who had been thwarted in their earlier attack on Paul (18:12-17). They had formed a plot to assassinate him as he was about to sail directly back to Syria (where Paul’s mother church at Antioch was). But this plot changed his mind and he decided to set off in the opposite direction and return to Syria on the overland route via Macedonia (20:1-3). That meant that he wouldn’t be able to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem, but he did so in Philippi with Luke where the “team” agreed to rendezvous.

Paul did not travel alone to Yerushalayim for the collection to the Jews. It is noteworthy that Paul hardly ever travelled alone, and that when he was alone, he expressed his longing for human companionship, for example in Athens (17:15-16) and in his final Roman imprisonment (Second Timothy 4:9 and 21). That he favored teamwork is especially clear during his missionary journeys.⁴⁷⁶ The use of teamwork in ministry is a good example for us today. He was accompanied by Hellenistic representatives of the various Gentile churches he had founded to help him handle the funds and provide security. They were Sopater of Berea, son of Pyrrhus; as well as Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica; Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy of Lystra; Tychicus and Trophimus (20:4). Sopater accompanied Paul only as far as Asia, and left the group for reasons unknown. But some of the others went with Paul much further. Trophimus went as far as Jerusalem (21:29) and Aristarchus followed Paul as far as Rome (Acts 27:2; Colossians 4:10).

The seven-man security detail went on ahead and were waiting for Paul and Luke at Troas. But we sailed from Philippi (where Luke joined him again) after the Days of Matzah, that is, after Pesach (see Bx – Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia: A closer look at the “us” or “we” passages and sea passages). In is important to note that Paul, continuing to be the observant Jew (13:9), kept the Passover. In five days, no doubt due to the direction of the head winds, we came to them in Troas, where we stayed for seven days (20:5-6). Troas was another strategically placed city, where the congregation there seems to have been founded by Paul. He was in a hurry to reach Yerushalayim, if possible, for Shavu’ot (20:16).

Motza’ei-Shabbat in Hebrew means departure of the Sabbath and refers to Saturday after sundown. Now on the first day of the week, we gathered to break bread. By sharing and eating together, the church enjoyed fellowship and also gave witness of their oneness in Christ. Slaves would actually eat at the same table with their masters, something unheard of in that day.⁴⁷⁷ Sunday is never referred to as “The Lord’s day.” It is always referred to as the first day of the week. The context of these verses show it was nighttime and in Jewish reckoning, because the night precedes the day, the first day of the week was Saturday evening after sunset when it gets dark enough to see three stars. It would be natural for Jewish believers who had rested on Shabbat with the rest of the Jewish community to assemble afterwards to celebrate their common faith in Yeshua the Messiah. The Gentile believers who came later would join in the already established practice since many of them would have been God-fearers (10:2) already accustomed to following the lead of the Jews in whose company they had chosen to associate.⁴⁷⁸

Paul Raised Eutychus From the Dead: Paul was talking with them at length, intending to leave the next day (Sunday morning), so he prolonged his speech, going on and on till midnight. There were many torches in the large upper chamber where we were meeting, which would tend to stifle the air, depleting the oxygen. Now a young man (Greek: pais, he would likely have been between eight and fourteen years old) named Eutychus, meaning fortunate, was sitting in an open windowsill, gradually sinking into a deep sleep as Paul kept on talking. He probably had taken refuge in the window to catch a breath of fresh air, fighting drowsiness. That effort, however, brought disastrous results. Overcome by sleep, he fell from the third story and was picked up – dead (20:7-9). Luke was there, and being a medical doctor, and he would know.

Then Paul went down from the third floor, and like Elijah in First Kings 17:21 and Elisha in Second Kings 4:32-37, he fell on him and then threw his arms around him. He said, “Don’t be upset, for his life is within him” (20:10). This does not mean he only appeared to be dead, it means he was dead, but his life had returned only after Paul had ministered to him. Compare Peter’s raising Tabitha from the dead (9:40), and Yeshua. Our Lord raised four people from the dead. He raised Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:22-43), a widow’s son in the town of Nain (Luke 7:11-15), His friend Lazarus (John 11:1-44), and Jesus raised Himself from the dead (John 2:21 and 10:18). Anyone claiming to have the gift of healing today, should be able to do the same. And one final thought, if we go to sleep during the sermon and die, there is no apostle to bring us back to life!

After he went back up to the third floor, resumed his teaching and broke the bread and ate the agape meal, then he talked with them a long while until daybreak. This was a second sermon that lasted even longer than the first one. And then he left only after finishing what he wanted to say. So they took the boy away alive, greatly relieved (20:11-12). They were more than relieved, they were more than comforted. They were encouraged and strengthened in their faith by what they had witnessed that night.

The Torah of ADONAI is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of ADONAI is trustworthy, making the simple wise (Psalm 19:8). Your Word, Lord, is a constant source of delight and renewal. So, today I thank You for filling me from the abundance of Your house and letting me drink from Your refreshing stream, for You are life’s fountain. In Your light I see light (Psalm 36:9-10). In Your Word, I find all I ever need, right when I need it.⁴⁷⁹

Idol-Makers Start a Riot in Ephesus
19: 23-41

54-56 AD

Idol-makers start a riot in Ephesus DIG: Why would Demetrius rally people against Paul (see 17:29)? Since this temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, what businesses would be affected by Paul’s teachings? What do you think the crowd was seeing and hearing? Why are they there? Why are the Jews trying to get a speaker to represent them? Why would Paul be shouted down? How is concern of the town clerk unlike that of Demetrius?

REFLECT: Success, money and independence are some cultural “idols” (values most people accept without question). What others come to mind? How has your faith affected your relationship to these idols? Could Demetrius have become a believer and kept his business? Can you think of situations today where someone in a “respectable” trade would be forced to choose between that trade and Christ? How have you seen religious and patriotic loyalties used as a cover for economic concerns? What does it mean to follow Yeshua in those times? What originally started as Artemis-worship became Artemis-business. How might believers fall into the same trap?

One lesson that history teaches is the paradoxical truth that the Church thrives under persecution. Effectiveness and persecution usually go hand in hand, since an effective church is a bold church, and a bold church is often a church made strong through suffering. The Lord Jesus Christ called His Church to be salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13-14); salt stings when rubbed in wounds, and light reveals the evil deeds done in darkness. Both can provoke a hostile reaction.

The early Church faced persecution from its inception. In Yerushalayim, that persecution came from pharisaic Judaism (4:1-31, 5:17-42, 6:9-15, 8:1-4). In Pisidian Antioch, it stemmed from prejudice and envy (13:44-52). In Lystra, it was the result of ignorant paganism (14:8-19). In Philippi, it was the reaction to a victory over the demonic realm (16:16-40). In Thessalonica, it came from an unruly mob, urged on by jealous religious leaders (17:1-9). In Athens, the gospel faced the opposition of worldly philosophy (17:16-34). In Corinth, as in Jerusalem, it came from Judaism, but in a Roman court (18:5-17). Whenever the Church boldly and faithfully proclaims the gospel it faces Satanic opposition. It comes as no surprise, the, that persecution also arose in Ephesus, stemming from a pseudo-religious materialism.⁴⁶⁶

First, the cause of the riot: Luke informs us that around that time – before Paul left Ephesus as he had panned (19:21-22) – there arose no small uproar concerning the Way (9:2, 19:9, 22:4, 24:14-22). This is probably the context that Paul refers to figuratively in First Corinthians 15:32 when he said: For I fought wild beasts in Ephesus. She was not only the capital of the Izmir province, but also the capital occultism, witchcraft and idolatry. The city’s greatest claim to fame was the temple of Artemis, the goddess of love, fertility, and nourishment. This temple was larger than a football field. It was an impressive building, some 165 feet by 345 feet in dimension and built on a platform 240 by 420 feet. Its roof supported by 127 sixty-foot-high stone columns. The entire edifice was elaborately adorned in brilliant colors and gold leaf. The altar was 20 feet square and contained a massive image of the goddess with a veiled head, with animals and birds decorating her head.⁴⁶⁷

While the Diana of the Romans corresponded to the Artemis of the Greeks, the Artemis of the Ephesians was a totally distinct deity. The original Ephesian image was said to have fallen from heaven (19:35). The temple statue of Artemis also wore a zodiac necklace indicating her power over the control of the stars (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Lw – The Witness of the Stars). She was a multi-breasted goddess who was supposed to be the goddess of fertility in mankind, animals and nature. She was known as the Great Mother. Every year in May there was a great festival in her honor.

Artemis worship was not confined to Ephesus. Scores of priests and prostitute-priestesses served worshipers and tourists from all over the world. There was a sanctuary in Rome also and a similar festival there every April. All told there were at least thirty-three shrines to the mother goddess throughout the Roman Empire. Ephesus, however, was considered to be the center of the cult, and pilgrims flocked from all over the empire to worship at its famous temple, which was the center of everything in Ephesus, including religion and the arts.⁴⁶⁸ The temple of Artemis was also a major treasury and bank of the ancient world, where merchants, kings, and even cities made deposits, and where their money could be supposedly kept safe under the protection of their deity.⁴⁶⁹

The “lusty month of May” brought the annual month-long Festival of Artemis, honoring the goddess. The highlight of the festival was a solemn processional in which the image of the goddess was carried through the streets between the theater and the temple. Nearly the whole province converged on Ephesus to “worship,” and indulge in sin of every imaginable kind . . . and spend money. Souvenir salesmen and merchants depended on the festival for their yearly prophets. Tens-of-thousands bought trinkets and such to remember the occasion. Especially popular were wooden, silver, or gold images of the goddess and the temple.⁴⁷⁰

The instigator of the riot was a man named Demetrius , a silversmith, a maker of silver shrines of Artemis – was providing no small amount of business to the craftsmen (19:23-24). These silver shrines were miniature representations of the most sacred portion of the pagan temple; that part of it where the statue of the goddess stood. They were set up in homes and worn as good luck charms.

Concealing his real motive, which was greed, Demetrius concealed this with the appearance of civic pride. Being the leader of the silversmith guild, he gathered these together, along with those of related occupations, and he said, “Men, you know that our wealth is from this business, thus revealing that is wasn’t a religious issue, but an economic issue. They had become wealthy because of idolatry. You see and hear that not only in Ephesus but also throughout all Asia (19:10), Paul has persuaded and perverted a considerable crowd, saying that handmade gods are not gods at all (17:29). Not only is there a danger that this trade of ours might come into disrepute, but to also seem that it was a religious issue, he said that the temple of the great goddess Artemis might be considered as nothing. She whom all Asia and the world worships might even be thrown down from her majesty (19:25-27). All this was going to be set aside by only one man . . . and a Jew at that.⁴⁷¹

Second, the characteristics of the riot: Demetrius’ scheme worked. The specter of financial disaster, the challenge to their fervently held religious beliefs, and the threat to their civic pride were too much for the mob to bear.

The first characteristic of the riot was anger: When they heard his lies, they were filled with anger and began shouting and kept yelling, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians for hours (19:28)!” Demetrius had accomplished his goal and whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Inflamed by his incendiary speech, the people surged into the streets, invoking the name of their goddess. Like Jeremiah’s far eschatological prophecy of the end times, people will go mad as a result of their own hand made idols (see the commentary on Jeremiah Fc – Babylon’s Enemy and Isra’el’s Redeemer). This is the typical response to the gospel. When the Jewish leaders heard Stephen’s masterful speech in defense of the Good News, they were cut to the heart (literally sawed in half). And began gnashing their teeth at him (7:54). The gospel makes people angry because it confronts them with their false religion, and their sin, and it forces them to recognize the inadequacy of their world view, exposing the emptiness of their lifestyle.

The second characteristic of the riot was confusion: As the frenzied rioters swarmed through Ephesus, the city was filled with confusion. Then surging through the main streets, they came down the hill where the mob rushed into the open-air theater, which could seat 25,000 people. Many didn’t have any idea what all the confusion was about, but they joined the mob. They didn’t want to miss whatever was happening. Unable to find Paul, they dragged with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were travel companions of Paul (19:29). 

The theater in Ephesus where Paul faced the mob.

When he heard what was happening, Paul was wanted to enter among the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. He wanted to face that howling mob even though it could mean certain death. This is the background of Paul’s comment in his letter to the Corinthians, “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our trouble that happened in Asia. We were under great pressure – so far beyond our strength that we despaired even of living. In fact, we had within ourselves the death sentence – so that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead” (Second Corinthians 1:8-9). But some of the high-ranking government officials of Asia, being his friends, sent a message to him and insisted over Paul’s protest, begging him not to surrender himself in the theater. In so doing, they probably saved Paul’s life. Now some of the mob continually cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in utter confusion. Most did not know why they had come together (19:30-32). 

The third characteristic of the riot was closed-mindedness: Some of the unbelieving Jews, fearing that the mob might turn on them as well, solicited Alexander to try and explain that they didn’t believe in Yeshua. He motioned with his hand to the crowd because he wished to offer a defense to the crowd, but never got a chance. The mob might have recognized that he was Jewish, but it made little difference. To the pagan crowd, both Christians and Jews worshiped an invisible God, and both rejected idolatry. Their minds were closed to whatever Alexander might have said.⁴⁷² Instead, they drowned him out and for about two hours they all with one voice cried out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians,” not letting Alexander speak at all (19:33-34)!

Third, the calming of the riot: Finally, after two hours of riotous confusion, order was restored by the town clerk. As the chairman of the city government (the equivalent of the mayor of a modern city) and liaison between the city council and the Roman authorities, he was the leading citizen of Ephesus. As such, he knew the Romans would hold him personally responsible for what happened. After quieting the crowd because his presence demanded respect, he said: Men of Ephesus, what man is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis and of her image fallen from heaven?  Since these things are undeniable, you must be calm and do nothing reckless. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor revilers of our goddess. Even this pagan official testified to the character of Paul and his Macedonians traveling companions (19:29), they were not thieves, nor did they use insulting language. Despite the claims of Demetrius, they had not acted improperly. Having reassured the crowd, he next criticized Demetrius and the craftsmen for sparking the riot. Rather than resorting to mob violence, they should have followed the due process of the law.⁴⁷³ After all, he reminded them, if they had a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them accuse them. But if you seek anything further, it will be settled in the lawful assembly. This assembly was clearly an unlawful one. Ephesus was permitted by Rome to exist as a “free city” with its own elected representatives. But if riots were to occur, Rome would move in and reestablish order and with it, Roman taxes. Therefore, the town clerk concluded his speech with a sobering warning: For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, there being no reason which we are able to give to justify this mob. Upon saying this, he dismissed the assembly and they went quietly (19:35-41). The same tactics that the silversmiths used to arouse the mob, the town clerk used to quiet and reassure them – the greatness of their city and their goddess.

Luke records the official statement that the believers were innocent of any crime, either public (19:27) or private (19:38). Paul had this same kind of “official approval” in Philippi (16:35-40) and in Corinth (18:12-17), and he would receive it again after his arrest in Jerusalem. Throughout the book of Acts, Luke makes it clear that the persecution of the Church was incited by unbelieving Jews, not by the Romans. In anything, Paul used his Roman citizenship to protect himself, his friends, and the local congregations of God.

The crowd was dismissed, and no doubt the people went home congratulating themselves that they had successfully defended their great city and their famous goddess. It is doubtful that any of them questioned the truthfulness for their devotion to Artemis or determined to investigate what Paul had been preaching for three years. It was much easier to believe a lie and follow the crowd.

But Ephesus is gone, and so is the worldwide worship of Artemis of the Ephesians. The city and the temple are gone, and the silversmith’s guild is gone. Ephesus is a place visited primarily by archeologists and people on Holy Land tours. Yet the gospel of God’s grace and the Church of Jesus Christ are still here! We have four inspired letters that were sent to the believers in Ephesus – Ephesians, First and Second Timothy, and Revelation 2:1-7. The name of Paul is honored, but the name of Demetrius is forgotten (were it not for Paul, we would have never heard of Demetrius in the first place)!

The Church ministers by persuasion, not propaganda. We share ADONAI’s truth, not mankind’s religious lies. Our motive is love, not anger; and the glory of God, not the praise of mankind. We have an audience of One. This is why the Church goes on, and we must keep it so.⁴⁷⁴

God’s Power Displayed in Ephesus
19: 1-22

54-56 AD

God’s power displayed in Ephesus DIG: From 18:19-21, why do you think Paul headed right to Ephesus on his next trip? Apollos was from Egypt (18:24), and these disciples were about 800 miles from Jerusalem. What does the fact that they were both followers of John the Immerser tell you about the extent of his influence? How would their awareness of John be good preparation for them to hear the gospel (John 1:19-34)? Since Paul had to teach these people about Jesus, they apparently had not heard about him or the Ruach ha-Kodesh. From 2:38 and 10:43-44, as well as this section, what do you learn about the relationship between faith in Yeshua and receiving the Ruach? What seems to be the signal throughout Acts for Paul to stop teaching in the synagogue? Why? What do these “stop and go” signals teach you about ministry in general? Compare verses 8-9 with 13-15. How do these two groups of Jews view Messiah differently? From the reaction of the crowd in verses 17-19, how would you describe the general response to Jesus prior to verses 13-16? Why would those events change people’s ideas so much?

REFLECT: How do people today try to use Jesus for their own purposes? What is the difference between that and real faith in Christ? What did you have to change in your lifestyle when you first begin to follow Yeshua? Are there still some things you’re reluctant to do away with in order to be really honest with God? What would it cost you to do away with them? How has God personalized His revelation of Himself to you? Think of an example when He met you at a particular point of need, showing His complete knowledge both of you and your situation. What are some things this tells you about Him?

After the interlude describing Apollo’s conversion and ministry, Luke returns to the story of Paul for his final example of transition. While Apollos was at Corinth (to see link click Cf – Priscilla and Aquila Teach Apollos), Paul traveled through the upper region and came to Ephesus (18:27-28). The upper region is a term used for the highlands of the Ephesian area. This meant that Paul didn’t travel on the usual Roman road, but took the more direct route through Colosse and Laodicea (Colossians 2:1). And he came to Ephesus in fulfillment of his promise in 18:21. He found some disciples and said to them, “Did you receive the Ruach ha-Kodesh when you believed?” Paul recognized them as believers of some sort. But there was something obviously lacking in their faith. They replied to him, “No, we’ve never even heard that there is a Ruach ha-Kodesh (19:1-2).

As soon as Paul heard their response, he began to probe. Then he asked, “Into what were you immersed?” They said, “Into John’s back to God immersion” (19:3). Like Apollos, these were disciples of John the Immerser, and had been immersed as Apollos had been. But Apollos was with John long enough to know that Yeshua was the Messiah. He was with John when he declared: Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). These disciples of John, however, had left the Land beforehand and never even heard of Jesus. In other words, they had even less knowledge about the gospel than Apollos. But they were remnants of the righteous of the TaNaKh, still hanging on, still looking for their Messiah twenty years after John the Immerser had died.

After Paul recognized who those men were, he spoke about Jesus Christ, not the Ruach ha-Kodesh. He said: John immersed with an immersion of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One coming after him – that is, in Yeshua (19:4). Because they had identified with John’s back-to-God movement, they were also committing themselves to accepting whomever John pointed out as the Messiah. But then Paul taught them concerning the One John identified – Jesus Christ.

When they heard the gospel, they were immersed in the name of the Lord Yeshua. They had been immersed in John’s immersion, but they had not immersed themselves in believer’s immersion in the name of the Lord Yeshua. They served as a mini-Shavu’ot for this pocket of Jewish believers who had not yet heard that Yeshua, the Messiah, had come. And when Paul, an emissary, laid hands upon them, the Ruach ha-Kodesh came upon them. And the evidence that they had received true Spirit immersion was that they began speaking in different languages (nowhere does the Bible teach that the gift of tongues is anything other than human languages)⁴⁵² and prophesying, receiving direct revelation from God.  In all, there were about twelve men (19:5-7). The historical situation makes this a unique experience during the transitional period of Acts.

As we proceed through the book of Acts we will be comparing the way salvation comes to the Jews, the Samaritans and the Gentiles, showing, as was the case with the way Yeshua healed, there is no set order. Acts is a transitional book and a historical book, and you can’t establish doctrine based upon history. You base doctrine on clear theological statements. The historical facts can illustrate the doctrine but they cannot develop doctrine on their own.

The gift of languages (tongues) can be seen four times in the book, Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 10 and Acts 19. There is not set order leading up to immersion by the Spirit and subsequent speaking in tongues. Here in Acts 2 with salvation coming to the Jews, the order was first repentance, then water immersion, and then receiving Spirit immersion by the Ruach ha-Kodesh as evidenced by speaking in languages. In Acts 8 with salvation coming to the Samaritans, the order was this, first they believed, then came water immersion, then the emissaries arrived, next they laid their hands on the Samaritans, and then they received Spirit immersion by the Ruach ha-Kodesh as evidenced by the speaking in languages. Again, you don’t build doctrine on history. Keep this order in mind and we will see how it was different with the Samaritans, the Gentiles and John’s disciples. Here in Acts 10 with salvation coming to the Gentiles, the order was first belief in Yeshua as the Messiah, then spirit immersion by the Ruach ha-Kodesh as evidenced by the speaking in different languages, and finally, water immersion. Here in Acts 19 with the salvation of the disciples of John, the order was first belief, then they were immersed again into the immersion of Messiah, then Paul laid his hands on them, and then came spirit immersion by the Ruach ha-Kodesh as evidenced by the speaking in human languages. So there was no pattern in all four instances. Remember, you go to the Epistles for theology, you don’t build doctrine on Church history like the book of Acts.

To understand the differences in the four appearances of languages in Acts, we will ask six questions as we come to each passage. However, the one key common element in all four cases is that languages (tongues) are for the purpose of authentication.

1. Who received it? Jews who were disciples of John the Immerser.

2. What were they? They were disciples of John the Immerser who had not heard that the Messiah of whom John had spoken about had already come. They were members of a distinct Jewish group within the Jewish world.

3. What were the circumstances? Paul came to Ephesus and when he found them, he recognized that they were believers of some sort but they had a limited knowledge of the gospel. Therefore, Paul told them about Yeshua and presented the gospel. They believed, received the Ruach ha-Kodesh by the laying on of hands by Paul. As a result, they spoke in languages and prophesied.

4. What was the means? Faith in the Person of Jesus Christ, the immersion into believers’ immersion, then the laying on of hands by the emissary Paul.

5. What was the purpose in this context? Authentification. The disciples of John were in a similar danger as the Samaritans, that of starting a rival John-the-Immerser Church. This was a real threat as there are groups in the Middle East to this day that consider John-the-Immerser as their prophet. The fact that the Ruach ha-Kodesh did not come upon them until after believers’ immersion authenticated that believers’ immersion was now the accepted immersion and no longer John’s immersion. And the fact that Spirit immersion came by the laying on of hands by Paul the emissary authenticated two things. First, it authenticated the message of Paul about Messiah. And secondly, it authenticated that fact that one didn’t need both John’s immersion and believers’ immersion since Paul was not among those who were immersed by John.

6. What were the results? The disciples of John the Immerser became believers in the messiahship of Yeshua, were immersed as His disciples, and the schism was avoided.⁴⁵³

The development of the opposition to the gospel within the synagogue was relatively slow in coming – it took three months. But when it did come it grew strong enough to cause Paul to strategically withdraw to Tyrannus’ yeshivah. The Hebrew word yeshivah comes from the word that means sit and it signifies a place for learning Torah. The Greek word schole, which gives us the English word school means lecture hall. No English word really comes close to the real meaning of yeshivah, but the Yiddish word shul, or school, comes the closest.⁴⁵⁴

This section gives a brief summary of Paul’s long period of ministry in Ephesus, covering both his testimony to Christ (19:8-10) and the miracles accomplished through him (19:11-12). Paul went into the synagogue and for three months and continued to speak boldly, debating and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when they were hardening and refusing to believe, speaking evil of the Way (9:2, 19:23, 22:4, 24:14-22) before the whole group, Paul withdrew from the synagogue, taking his new Jewish believers with him. Thus, the church at Ephesus was planted. They moved to the public lecture hall (Greek: schole, meaning a school) of Tyrannus, who was probably a God-fearing Gentile (see Bb – An Ethiopian Asks about Isaiah 53). There, Paul set up a yeshivah in Tyrannus’ school and continued teaching them daily. He evangelizing all who would listen for two years, so that all the residents of Asia Minor heard the word of the Lord – Jewish as well as Greek people (19:8-10). Yet later when addressing the elders of Ephesus in 20:31, Paul comments that he ministered to them for three years. But there is no real discrepancy between the two accounts. Paul arrived in Ephesus in the spring of 53 AD and remained there until the spring of 56 AD, a period of three years. The two years mentioned here refers to the period of his teaching in the yeshivah in the home of Tyrannus.⁴⁵⁵

Therefore, without ever leaving Ephesus, Paul, through his converts evangelized the entire province of Asia Minor. During that time the churches of Colosse, Hierapolis, and probably also the seven churches of Revelation 2-3 were founded, and First and Second Corinthians were written. Paul’s very effective strategy for evangelism was to teach the Word . . . make disciples . . . and then let them spread the gospel.⁴⁵⁶

It is important for modern Messianic Judaism to have available the concept of a Messianic yeshiva. Restoring the Jewishness of the gospel should involve presenting it in a Jewish religious, cultural and social environment. While today the word yeshivah, to most Jewish people, means a school for Jewish studies, particularly Torah, Talmud, halakhah, and so on, it is right for Messianic Judaism to adopt this term and apply it to Messianic Jewish institutions of learning that relate to Jewish and New Covenant materials. This is the way to meet the challenge of Matthew 13:52: Therefore, every Torah-teacher who has been instructed about the kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.

To provide undeniable evidence that the message was true, God was doing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands (19:11). Such miraculous confirmation was a standard feature of the preaching of the emissaries. In the absence of a written B’rit Chadashah by which to measure someone’s teaching, God used signs and wonders to authenticate His message and authority as an emissary (Second Corinthians 12:12; Hebrews 2:3-4; Acts 2:22). One goal of Acts is to show that in every way Paul, the emissary to the Gentiles, had a ministry equal to that of Peter, the leading emissary to the Jews. These extraordinary miracles compare to Peter’s healing miracles in 5:15-16. That shows that these powers were limited to the emissaries. There are no examples in the book of Acts where regular believers are able to do these types of miracles. In fact, Paul himself did not even possess those powers (Second Corinthians 12:8; Philippians 2:27; First Timothy 5:23; Second Timothy 4:20).⁴⁵⁷

Paul healed like Yeshua healed – with a word or a touch, he healed organic diseases from birth, he healed instantly and completely, and he raised the dead. Strangely those who claim the gift of healing today rarely, if ever, come out of their television studios. They always seem to exercise their “gift” only in a controlled environment, staged their way, and run according to their schedule. Why don’t we hear of the gift of healing being used in hospital hallways? Why aren’t more healers using their gift on the streets in India or Bangladesh? Why aren’t they in the leper colonies and AIDS hospices where masses of people are racked with disease? Why? Because those who claim the gift of healing do not really have it.⁴⁵⁸

Steeped in superstition and failing to understand that Paul was merely the human channel for God’s power, the Ephesians did some amazing things. The handkerchiefs, or sweatbands, and aprons Paul wore during his tent making labor were carried from his body to the sick. The idea that healing power could be so magically transmitted was prevalent in the ancient world (Matthew 9:21; Acts 5:15). The fact that the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them through those means does not commend the method (as some today would have us believe). It must be viewed as nothing more than God’s accommodation to the mentality of those people at that time. And if further proved that Paul was from ADONAI and thus spoke for Him (19:12). As a doctor, Luke carefully distinguishes between diseases and afflictions caused by evil spirits to make clear that not all illness comes from demonic causes. The miracles YHVH performed through Paul were essential to convince the Ephesians that he was from God. Impressed with him as the messenger of Ha’Shem, their hearts were prepared to hear his message of salvation.⁴⁵⁹

The example of Paul’s miracle-working is followed by two episodes that involve false attempts to accomplish the miraculous. The first relates the unsuccessful attempt by a group of Jewish exorcists to use the name of Jesus in their practice (19:13-16). The second shows the triumph of the gospel over magic and the occult (19:17-19). There were imposters who went around making a living by various kinds of pseudo-scientific or clairvoyant powers, including the practice of exorcism. They were ready to call on the names of any and every god or divinity in their chants – and often they recited long lists of the names so as to be sure of including the right god in any particular case. Even pagans used the various names of God.⁴⁶⁰ These Jewish exorcists (Luke 11:19) now proceeded to use the name of Yeshua in an effort to match Paul’s powers. But some traveling Jewish exorcists also tried to invoke the name of the Lord Yeshua, by using the formula: I charge you by the Yeshua whom Paul preaches. Unlike Paul, however, they did not know the Person they named nor have His power delegated to them. Seven sons of a Jewish ruling kohen named Sceva were doing this. Sceva was a Latin name. He was a Jew but had perverted Judaism in Ephesus because any acting high priest would be ministering in the Temple in Jerusalem, not Ephesus.⁴⁶¹ Like Simon (see Ba – Simon the Sorcerer), he was power hungry. But the attempted formula failed. The evil spirit answered them, “I recognize Yeshua and I am acquainted with Paul, but you, who are you to give me this order” (19:13-15)?

The result may be described as the comic relief in an otherwise serious narrative. The evil spirit realized that those phony exorcists had no real power or authority, so they turned the tables on them, driving them out! Then the man who was controlled by the evil spirit sprang at them, subduing and overpowering all seven of them, so that they fled out of that house naked and traumatized. This became known among both Jews and Greeks who lived in Ephesus, and the effect among superstitious people was to cause both fear and the name of the Lord Yeshua to be magnified. As a result, many also of those who had believed kept coming one after another confessing and recounting their practices. So even some believers had been caught up in the occult practices of Sceva and his sons. It took time for the Church to purify the concept of God from their pagan ways of thinking. In fact, this is still true today. We still have the tendency to let our ideas of God be influenced by contemporary thinking.⁴⁶²

The demonstration of the futility of pagan attempts to master evil spirits led many of those who practiced magic arts to bring their books together in a heap (Ephesus was the great center of sorcery in the time of Paul) and burn them completely before everyone. The books mentioned were probably made up of directions for producing magical results and were of great value to all who practiced sorcery. They totaled the value of the books and found it to be about fifty thousand pieces of silver, or the equivalent to fifty thousand days’ wages for an average laborer (19:16-19). The destruction of these books was one of the best investments believers have ever made. Not only did they publicly give up their pagan ways, but the demonic contents of those books went up in flames, never to poison the minds of anyone again.⁴⁶³

This is a transition statement that provides reasonable clues to the development of Luke’s material that follows, the gospel is declared in Europe (but with a return to Ephesus). So the word of the Lord kept on growing in power and prevailing (19:20). On this high note Luke ends the account of Paul’s successful ministry in Ephesus, although the story of what happened there is not yet complete (see Ch – Idol-Makers Start a Riot in Ephesus).

Now after the three years of ministry in Ephesus, Paul resolved in the Ruach to go to Jerusalem after passing through Macedonia and Achaia. Many in the Messianic community in Yerushalayim were poor and in need of financial assistance. To meet that need, Paul wanted to take to Tziyon a collection from the largely Gentile churches that he had founded. So before returning to Jerusalem, he revisited Macedonia and Achaia to collect that offering (Romans 15:25-27; First Corinthians 16:1-4; Second Corinthians 8-9). By contributing to the financial needs of the Jewish believers at Jerusalem, those Gentile believers would emphasize the unity of the Church (First Corinthians 12:26).

But the City of David was not Paul’s ultimate goal, saying: After I have been there, I must also see Rome (19:21). This is a major turning point in the narrative of Acts. From here on, Rome becomes the major focal point. In keeping with his desire to proclaim the Good News not where Messiah was already named, lest I build on another man’s foundation (Romans 15:20b), he had not yet visited the imperial capital. Rome was so strategic, he could not stay away indefinitely. As he explained to the believers there: I long to see you, so I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you (Romans 1:11). Paul’s brief mention of his desire to visit Rome marks a turning point in Acts. From this point on until the end of the book, the target in his mind was Rome. He would eventually get there, although not by the means he envisioned.⁴⁶⁴

So after sending Timothy and Erastus on ahead of him so that the collection could be gathered before he arrived in Jerusalem, Paul himself stayed in Asia for a while (19:22). Paul delayed all his travel plans temporarily because as he wrote at this time to the Corinthians, “But I will stay on at Ephesus until Shavu’ot, for a great door has opened wide for me, though many are in opposition (First Corinthians 16:8-9). Those opposing Paul would soon make themselves known in the next file, as a riot erupted in Ephesus over the success of Paul’s ministry.

I receive Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians as my own today, asking that You give me a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You. I pray that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened so I may know what is the hope of Your calling, what are the glorious riches of Your inheritance among the believers everywhere, and what is the immeasurable greatness of Your power to us who believe, according to the working of Your vast strength. You demonstrated this power in Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at Your right hand in the heavens – far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age, but also in the age to come (Ephesians 1:17-21).⁴⁶⁵

Priscilla and Aquila Teach Apollos
18: 23-28

52-53 AD

Priscilla and Aquila teach Apollos DIG: These verses sum up a lot of traveling. How far did Paul travel at this time? What do you make of his companions Priscilla and Aquila? What kind of a man was Apollos? What type of influence did Apollos have in Achaia, specifically Corinth (see verses 27-28 and also First Corinthians 3:4-6)? How effective would he be in the intellectual circles?

REFLECT: Who was very helpful to you when you were young and enthusiastic about your faith? How did this person help? Who are you helping now? How? Where do you sense God has equipped you to serve? How can you do so this week? How does your place of worship balance evangelism with the strengthening and equipping of believers? What makes one preacher or Bible teacher more “popular” than another? And which of these attributes should have little or nothing to do with how accepted their teaching is?

After spending some in Antioch, probably from the early summer of 52 AD to the early spring of 53 AD, and having doubtless given his church a full account of his Second Missionary Journey, Paul departed from there, on what proved to be his Third Missionary Journey. His ultimate destination was Ephesus. He had been prevented from going there before (16:6). He had to cut his first visit there short (18:20) and was eager to begin his mission in the city. Nevertheless, his desire for the new ministry did not prevent him from neglecting the old.⁴⁴² Paul returned to his former fields and further ministered from one place after another throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, and discipled all the believers (18:23). In this one verse Luke summarizes about 1,500 miles of travel. Luke does not give us all the cities Paul visited, but what he does tell us is that when traveling through this region Paul discipled all the churches that were planted during the First Missionary Journey. In any case, this trip through the Cilician gates and on to Ephesus would have happened during the summer of 53 AD when the passage through the gates was possible.

Ephesus was a deceptively beautiful metropolis. The magnificent temple to the fertility goddess Artemis – one of the seven wonders of the ancient world – dominated the skyline and religious social and economic life. No sensual pleasure was denied. It was a world financial center. Dreams of material success and affluence captured the minds and consumed the energies of its populace. All the happiness money could buy was at their fingertips.

But when the early Christians looked at Ephesus, they saw something very different. They saw a culture of fear barely veiled by the architectural, artistic, and sensual beauty on display. Christ’s followers saw a half a million souls trapped in a Satan-dominated world of necromancy, occultism, witchcraft, and useless worship of a lifeless, powerless goddess. Magic symbols and incantations failed to give them control over their world. Their false worship failed to connect them to the One True God. Nearly the entire population lived on a treadmill of superstition, confusion and terror. Into this environment walked Paul.⁴⁴³

With the knowledge that Paul was making his way towards Ephesus, Luke fills in the background to the events that had been taking place in his absence. Now a Jewish man named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, Egypt, where a million Jews lived, came to Ephesus. Highly educated, he was well-versed in the TaNaKh. A skilled speaker, he was a fiery, courageous preacher. A student of John the Immerser, Apollos knew the basics about Yeshua, but he lacked some important facts needed to effectively communicate the gospel.

While not its capital (Pergamum was the province’s official capital), Ephesus (2:1b) was the most important city in Asia Minor. In fact, since the Roman governor lived there, it could be argued that Ephesus was the de facto capital. It had a natural harbor situated at the mouth of the Cayster River on a gulf of the Aegean Sea.⁴⁴⁴ Located on the main highway, Ephesus connected the Four great trade routes in the east, and as a result, it was the main commercial center of Asia. In fact, no better site could have been picked for the evangelization of all of Asia Minor than Ephesus. The seven churches there (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Ay – Write, Therefore, What Is Now) may well have owed their origin to Paul’s Ephesian ministry.⁴⁴⁵

The city’s theater, where Paul and his companions were dragged (Acts 19:29), seated some 25,000 people. Athletic events, rivaling the Olympic games, were held in a stadium there. As a free city, it was granted self-government by Rome and no Roman troops were stationed there. It also served as a legal center in which the Romans tried important cases and dispensed justice on a regular basis.₄₄₆

It was also a religious center. The cult of emperor worship was very strong there, and temples were built for Claudius, Hadrian and Severus. No matter what gods they worshiped, each individual was required to swear allegiance to Cesar as the supreme lord over all. It was also known for its magical arts and was one of the centers of occultism. It had long been the home of the Mother Goddess, who was identified by the Greeks as Artemis, or Diana in Latin (Acts 19:35). To this goddess was dedicated a huge temple that was known as one of the wonders of the ancient world with a tree of “salvation” in the midst of it. About four times the size of the Parthenon, it was 425 feet long, 200 feet wide, and 60 feet high. It had 127 marble pillars, 36 of them overlaid with gold and jewels. Because its inner shrine was supposedly sacred, this temple served as one of the most important banks in the Mediterranean world. The temple also provided sanctuary from criminals. Further, the sale of little idols used in the worship of Artemis provided an important source of income for the city (Acts 19:24). Every spring a month-long festival was held in honor of the goddess, complete with athletic, dramatic and musical events.⁴⁴⁷

The worship of Artemis was unspeakably evil. Sexual immorality was rampant in Ephesus, and it was one of the most immoral cities of the ancient world. This temple also became the site of the worship of the goddess Roma and of the Roman Emperor.⁴⁴⁸ Thousands of priestesses, who were little more than ritual prostitutes, played a major role in the worship of Artemis. The temple grounds were a chaotic scene made up of priests, prostitutes, bankers, criminals, musicians, dancers and frenzied, hysterical worshipers. The philosopher Heraclitus was called the weeping philosopher because he said no one could live in Ephesus and not weep over its immorality. Huddled in the midst of such pagan idolatry that characterized Ephesus, was a group of faithful believers. It was to them that the Messiah addressed the first of His seven letters (see the commentary on Revelation Az – The Church at Ephesus).⁴⁴⁹

Apollos (a shortened form of Apollonius) was a learned man, well versed in the Scriptures. He had been orally instructed in the way of the Lord in general as far as the TaNaKh was concerned. With a fervent spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the facts about Yeshua – while only being acquainted with the immersion of John. This fervent scholar exploded like a bombshell on Corinth’s unconverted Jewish community. But what was his message? First, John was the forerunner of the Messiah; Secondly, John has pointed out that Yeshua was the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bm – John Identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God); and thirdly, he knew that Yeshua was the Messiah. So, Apollos did not have believers’ immersion, only John’s back to God immersion. However, this man began speaking out boldly in the synagogue (18:24-26a). In other words, he was faithful in what he knew. His error was not understanding about believers’ immersion.

Priscilla and Aquila had remained in Ephesus to carry on the ministry until Paul returned (18:18ff). Evidently the ministry in there had not yet extended beyond the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard Apollos’ preaching, they immediately took him aside privately and explained the way of God concerning immersion more accurately (18:26b). The fact that both Priscilla and Aquila instructed Apollos is significant. Both men and women can have the New Covenant gift of teaching. When Paul writes: I do not permit a woman to teach (First Timothy 2:12a), he uses the present infinitive, and is not forbidding a woman to teach universally. In other words, he does not forbid all teaching, but because the present tense is used, Paul is saying, don’t become the teacher. Priscilla was not Apollos’ sole teacher, she taught alongside of her husband (even though it seems counterintuitive, see the commentary on Genesis Lv – I Do Not Permit a Woman to Teach or Have Authority Over a Man, She Must Be Silent). Additionally, Luke wishes to show the variety of roles women played in the early Church. Luke presents five cameos of important believing women in a variety of roles they assumed (see Bd – Signs and Miracles Follow Peter: A closer look at Luke, Women and Ministry), and Priscilla was one of them. After that, Apollos was an unstoppable apologist for Messiah.

Once he understood about believers’ immersion, Apollos wanted to cross over the region of Achaia on his way to where Corinth (19:1) and Athens were located. The brothers in Ephesus encouraged him and wrote a letter of recommendation to the believers in Corinth to welcome him. Upon arrival, he greatly helped those who by grace had believed (First Corinthians 3:5-6 and 4:6). Apollos’ power in scriptural interpretation (18:24) suited him for debate with the Jews of Corinth. Much like Peter with the Jews of Jerusalem (see An – Peter Speaks to the Shavu’ot Crowd), he would have used the TaNaKh to demonstrate that the Messiah must suffer and be raised from the dead, which was, in the final analysis, the fulfillment of the Jewish Scriptures.⁴⁵⁰ And he also powerfully refuted (Greek: diakatelencheto, meaning to overwhelm someone in an argument) the Jewish people in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that the Messiah was Yeshua (18:27-28).

God is wooing people to His table for the meat of His Word like never before. He is joyfully using many different methods and styles to accomplish His goal of equipping His Church to be effective and holy during difficult days. God has raised up many fine teachers and preachers for our day. Let’s reap the benefit of as many as possible and value their contributions whether they are magnetic like Apollos, analytical like Luke, forthright like Paul, or warm like Priscilla and Aquila.

In the wise words of Paul, we know that neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow (First Corinthians 3:7). May my focus be entirely on You – on the Holy Spirit, who is faithful to guide us into all truth (John 16:13) – that You will protect me from ever being deceived into embracing a different gospel (Galatians 1:6). I cling to Your Word, Lord, and find confidence in Your way.⁴⁵¹

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey
18:23 to 21:16

53 AD to 57 AD

First Corinthians was written in 55 AD from Ephesus,
Second Corinthians was written in 56 AD from Macedonia,
and Romans was written in 57 AD from Corinth

Paul launches out on what is often call his Third Missionary Journey. Paul’s ministry in Ephesus followed the pattern already established at Corinth of setting up his mission in the major metropolitan center of the region and then working out from there.⁴³⁹ Therefore, the material we find in this section of Acts focuses almost entirely on Ephesus. He revisited cities associated with his Second Missionary Journey; however, this was not a journey. This was not just another stop on a journey. It was Paul’s last major place of ministry as a free man. Once he reached Ephesus, he stayed there for three years. He worked long and hard to plant a solid community of believers there. The fact that Paul’s farewell speech will be addressed to the Ephesian elders is a further indication of the special importance of Ephesus.⁴⁴⁰

The unit’s major incident occurs in Ephesus as her citizens react when the commerce associated with the goddess Artemis was affected and magic books were burned. An exorcism there also made a deep impression. Toward the end of his stay, Paul directs the Ephesian elders to be careful in their oversight of the body of believers. Then he returned to Jerusalem, where he would be arrested and begin his long trip to Rome. Paul was warned of what he would face in Yerushalayim, but he went nevertheless. In the midst of his suffering, Paul trusted in ADONAI.⁴⁴¹

Luke was with Paul on this journey and later chronicled these events. But he was also reliant on Ephesian traditions and information from Priscilla and Aquila. This would explain the information that does not involve Paul.

The End of Paul’s Second Missionary Journey
18: 18-22

51-52 AD

The end of Paul’s Second Missionary Journey DIG: About how long did Paul minister in Corinth? Why did Paul sail from Corinth at that time of year? What kind of a vow did Paul take? Why wasn’t this a Nazarite vow? What did taking the vow show about his faithfulness to his Jewish roots? Where did Paul sail to next? Why didn’t he stay very long? Where was he destined to go?

REFLECT: What is your gauge for determining whether a particular ministry opportunity is yours to accomplish or somebody else’s? Thinking of a time when you said yes to something but should have said no, what resulted from your decision to barrel ahead? Did you end up getting burned? Explain?

This section provides a transition between Paul’s Second and Third Missionary Journeys. On the one hand, it concludes the Second, with Paul returning to Antioch where his missionary journey began (to see link click Bv – Disagreement between Paul and Barnabas). On the other hand, Paul’s brief visit to Ephesus looks toward the Third, which would be spent primarily in that city.⁴³⁴

Paul, having stayed many more days, the court of Gallio freed Paul to continue his ministry in Corinth (to see link click Cc – Many Respond to the Good News in Corinth). Yeshua had kept His promise to protect him (18:10), and the chief means of protection would be Roman law. That was in addition to the one-and-a-half years mentioned in 18:11. Second Thessalonians was probably written during this period. So it seems that Paul was in Corinth about two years. Then Paul decided it was God’s will for him to leave Corinth and return to his home church in Antioch. He said farewell to the brothers and set sail to the province of Syria that included the land of Isra’el, and with him were Priscilla, Aquila, and presumably Timothy (18:18a). Since Silas’ arrival in Corinth is the last time he is mentioned in Acts (18:5), he seems to have stayed there to minister. The trial in the court of Gallio probably took place in July or August of 51 AD. It may be that that Jewish leaders wanted to take advantage of Gallio while he was still new at his post, and before he heard anything negative about them (if this was their aim, Gallio disappointed them). If this was the correct timing, it meant that Paul stayed another month, leaving Corinth before the shipping closed down for the year.⁴³⁵

At Cenchrea, their point of departure and the Aegean harbor of Corinth, Paul had his hair cut off, for he was keeping a vow (18:18b).  Yeshua rules out oaths for believers but not vows, although the distinction between them is not clear (Matthew 5:33-37). What kind of vow did Paul take, and what did cutting his hair have to do with it? Nothing is said of what he vowed to do, but Numbers 6:1-21 describes the Nazirite vow, which involves allowing the hair to grow during the vow; and the Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law) tractate Nazir spells out the details of such vows, including their minimum length, thirty days. Strictly speaking, however, this could not have been a Nazirite vow; for if it had been, Paul would not have been shaved in Corinth but would have waited till he arrived in Yerushalayim to shave his head and offer the proper sacrifice in the Temple. Furthermore, if we assume that the patterns described in the Oral Law, compiled around 220 AD, were already being followed in Paul’s day, he would have had to spend at least thirty days in Isra’el to validate his vow (Nazir 3:6 and 7:3), since a Nazirite vow undertaken in the “land of the Goyim” was invalid.⁴³⁶ Perhaps it was in connection with his vision (18:9-11), a means of expressing thanksgiving and seeking the continued blessing of the Lord in the Corinthian mission. But no matter what the details of Paul’s vow were, this verse proves that he did not abandon his Jewishness and the Torah, on the contrary, even when he became as a Gentile among the Gentiles he continued to observe Jewish practices (First Corinthians 9:20-22).⁴³⁷

When they arrived at Ephesus (once again, Luke subtly introduces that main city of Paul’s Third Missionary Journey, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. They undoubtedly continued to evangelize in the city until Paul’s return. Now, Paul’s plan was simply to change ships and continue on to Jerusalem. Nothing more. But since there was some time between ships he continued to follow the principle of Romans 1:16 and went into the synagogue and debated with the Jewish people. When they asked him to stay longer, he declined, instead taking leave of them while saying, “God willing, I’ll return to you again.” Then he set sail from Ephesus (18:19-21). Thus, the stage was set for Paul’s Third Missionary Journey. Art by Sarah Beth Baca: see more information on Links and Resources.
After landing at Caesarea (back within the borders of the Promised Land), he went up and greeted Messiah’s community in Jerusalem. Each of Paul’s missionary journeys began, and ended in, Jerusalem. It appears that the direction of the prevailing winds made it easier for ships to reach Caesarea than Seleucia, the port for Antioch (13:4), which was about 250 miles to the north. Then he went down to Antioch and reported to his home church all that God had done on his Second Missionary Journey (18:22). He had been gone from Antioch perhaps two years or more, and the believers there were overjoyed to see him and hear about the work of ADONAI among the Gentiles. Paul rested up and spent some time in Antioch before beginning his new missionary journey. His goal was Ephesus.

Lord, Your Word says that people without knowledge are doomed (Hosea 4:1-6) – doomed
to making continuous mistakes, doomed to finding ourselves separated from Your will and purpose. May I walk so closely to You and in step with Your Spirit that whenever I turn to the right or to the left, my ears will hear this command behind me, saying “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). Teach me good judgment and knowledge, Lord, for I rely on Your mitzvot (Psalm 119:66).⁴³⁸

Many Respond to the Good News in Corinth
18: 1-17

51-52 AD

Many respond the the Good New in Corinth DIG: Claudius’ order was given in 50 AD after a Jewish riot in Rome over the preaching of Christ there. What else shows the Roman attitude toward Christianity (verses 12-17)? Would this help or hinder Christian witness? What happened to Crispus successor, Sosthenes (see First Corinthians 1:1)? What effect might these two conversions have on the Jewish community? How might Paul feel about the beginning of his ministry at Corinth (First Corinthians 2:3)? How might the vision from God in verses 9-10 and the gift from the Philippians encourage him?

REFLECT: What missionaries are you supporting? What difference would it make if they were not supported by other believers? How might you begin to encourage some missionaries in this way? How has God brought encouragement to you? What are some of the particular circumstances or temptations you are enduring right now, challenges that might require you to be more concentrated in your submission to Messiah? How can you keep yourself constantly reminded of His presence in your life and of your sold-out devotion to Him?

After these things (to see link click Cb – An Unknown God in Athens), Paul left Athens and went to Corinth, because Claudius had commanded all Jewish people to leave Rome in 49 AD (18:1-2b). The expulsion is usually connected with the remark of Suetonius, “Since the Jews were continually making disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he [Claudius] expelled them from Rome’ (Claudius 25:4); and it is presumed that the pagan Suetonius was speaking not of some otherwise unknown Chrestus but of Christos, and misspelled the word. If so, Suetonius (75-160 AD) is one of the earliest writers outside the New Covenant to mention Jesus Christ, and his expression, “instigation of Christos,” would refer to disputes between Messianic and non-Messianic Jews. And the Romans, not knowing what was going on within the Jewish community, simply expelled all of them.⁴²¹ But that was short lived, and later the Jews returned to Rome. By the time Paul arrives in Rome in Chapter 28, there was a Jewish community in Rome.

Corinth was fifty miles west of Athens with some 750,000 people. In Paul’s day Corinth was the largest, most cosmopolitan city of Greece. It was the capital of the Roman province of Achaia. Corinth was famous for being “the Bridge of Greece.” Situated on the Corinthian Isthmus, the narrow neck of land that keeps southern Greece from becoming an island, its geographical position made it a key commercial center. The only overland trade route between northern and southern Greece passed through Corinth. It had two seaports, one on the Aegean Sea and one on the Adriatic Sea. Small ships were carried from one port to the other across the isthmus on a tramway, saving two hundred miles of treacherous sea travel.

It seems to have been Paul’s deliberate policy to move purposefully from one strategic city-center to the next. What drew him to cities was probably that they contained the Jewish synagogues, the larger populations and influential leaders. So on his First Missionary Journey he visited Salamis and Paphos in Cyprus, and Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe in Galatia; on his Second Missionary Journey he evangelized Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea in Macedonia, and Athens and Corinth in Achaia; while during the greater part of his Third Missionary Journey he concentrated on Ephesus.⁴²² Therefore, each strategic location gave it potential as a center from which news of Yeshua could spread in all directions.

The depravity of the city: As in Athens, the religion of the Corinthians seems to have been primarily that of the traditional Greek gods. Towering some 1,900 feet above Corinth was the Acropolis, on top of which was the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Each evening the temple’s one thousand priestesses, who were ritual prostitutes, would descend from the temple to the town to engage its male citizens and visitors in “worship” of the goddess. In stark contrast to the sedate (by comparison) intellectual and cultural center of Athens, Corinth was city where none but the tough could survive. Corinth was the center of immorality, in fact, it was the most depraved city of the ancient world, characterized by drunkenness, dishonesty and debauchery. In the first-century world, to be called a “Corinthian” did not mean you were from Corinth – it meant you were hooked on pleasure and sexual excess.⁴²³ So the name of the city became a verb. This was the kind of city that Paul came walked into.

The discouragement of Paul: When Paul arrived in Corinth, he was discouraged. The combination of loneliness, and the prospect of facing the depravity of the city, with its commerce and vice, accounts for the weakness and fear that gripped the apostle as he arrived to begin his ministry. Reflecting on his state of mind when he first arrived in their city, Paul later wrote to the Corinthians, “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling” (First Corinthians 2:3). Paul also spoke of his trial in his first letter to the Thessalonians, writing from Corinth, he wrote: Because of this, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and trouble, we were comforted about you by your faithfulness (First Thessalonians 3:7). Their faith was a beacon of hope in the darkness. Besides discouragement, Paul may have been physically ill, perhaps from the lingering effects of the flogging he received in Philippi (16:22-24). Physical weakness often makes discouragement even worse.⁴²⁴

The companionship of friends: There he found a Jewish man named Aquila – a native of Pontus. He had been a resident of Rome, but had been compelled to leave Italy by an edict of the Emperor Claudius (see above). He came with his wife Priscilla (18:2a). She is more frequently mentioned before her husband (Acts 18:18 and 26; Romans 16:3; Second Timothy 4:19), which suggests that she was the more important figure from our perspective.⁴²⁵ Luke presents five cameos of important believing women in a variety of roles they assumed (see Bd – Signs and Miracles Follow Peter: A closer look at Luke, Women and Ministry). By this time both Aquila and Priscilla were believers, but we are not told how they were saved. Once again, Luke introduces two important characters in the story in a very casual way.

Paul went to see them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and began working, for by trade they were tent-makers (18:2c-3). Paul earned his own living (First Corinthians 9:1-19), even though he taught that those who proclaim the Good News are entitled to be supported by their fellow believers (First Corinthians 9:14). In observing the Oral Law’s admonition, “Do not make the Torah . . . a spade with which to dig (which means, don’t use you knowledge of spiritual things as a means of getting rich), he went beyond the call of duty.

And because it was his pattern to do so, Paul was debating every Shabbat in the synagogue (Romans 1:16), trying to persuade both Jewish and God-fearing Greeks (18:4). So Paul was able to reside with Aquila and Priscilla, support himself by sharing in their work, and enjoy their fellowship. Now began a period of evangelism in which Aquila and Priscilla no doubt assisted Paul, who was successful in his evangelism among both Jews and God-fearing Gentiles who attended the synagogue.⁴²⁶

The blessing of converts: Now when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia they came to report on the condition of the church at Thessalonica (First Thessalonians 3:6), to give Paul comfort (First Thessalonians 3:7-10), and to give Paul financial support from the Philippian church (Second Corinthians 11:9 and Philippians 4:14-17). They also reported some malicious rumors that were being said about Paul in First Thessalonians 2:3-6 and they had some unanswered questions concerning the return of Christ according to First Thessalonians 4:13. So it was at this point that Paul wrote First Thessalonians. A few weeks later he probably wrote Second Thessalonians.

The financial support given to Paul by the Philippian church allowed him to stop making a living by making tents and to be free to preach the message of the gospel during the week, urgently testifying to the Jewish people that Yeshua is the Messiah. But when they resisted and reviled him, he shook out his garments (in the traditional, dramatic Jewish gesture of rejection) and said: Your blood be upon your own heads; for my part – I am clean! In Ezeki’el 3:16-19, ADONAI tells the prophet that he will be guilty if he fails to warn the wicked person to leave his wicked ways, but if does warn him he will be guiltless. Paul is, in effect, applying the passage to himself and saying, “I have done what I could to bring you the message of salvation; you choose to reject it at your peril. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles, which I would not do if you were responsive, but you give me no other choice. The gospel is especially for you (Romans 1:16), but it will also save them” (18:5-6). This was a turning point for Corinth, now Paul would turn away from the Jews and emphasize Gentile evangelism.⁴²⁷

After leaving there, Paul went into the house of a man named Titius Justus, a God-fearer whose house was next door to the synagogue as an additional base for teaching. This was definitely a confrontational tactic. Paul had no intention of being intimidated or dropping out of sight. He continued to preach the gospel and to be very visible in the Jewish community. Believers today should consider following his example and making the saving message of Yeshua perfectly clear to the Jewish people. The wisdom of Paul’s policy was evident when Crispus, the synagogue leader, put his faith in the Lord, along with his whole household. In fact, Paul himself immersed Crispus (First Corinthians 1:14).⁴²⁸ That astounding conversion must have sent shock waves through Corinth’s Jewish community, which watched in mounting fear as many of the Gentile Corinthians, upon hearing, were believing and being immersed in a mikveh (18:7-8). Desperate to halt the rising tide of faith in Yeshua as Messiah, the Jewish leaders would soon haul Paul before the Roman authorities. Before that ordeal, however, the Lord provided the apostle with the most encouraging comfort – He came to Paul Himself.

Now the Lord said to Paul through a vision in the night (see Bf – Peter’s Vision: A closer look at visions or dreams). This is the second of four times that Paul saw the Lord in a vision (9:5-6; here; 22:17-21 and 23:11). Yeshua’s message was one of encouragement in light of the opposition both present and future. ADONAI said: Do not be afraid, but continue speaking and do not be silent! For I am with you when two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst (Matthew 18:20) and no one shall attack you to harm you – many [of the elect] in this city are for Me. So after the vision he stayed in Corinth a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them and establishing a church there (18:9-11).

The frustration of his enemies: But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia between 51 and 53 AD, according to an inscription from Delphi, there was an important factual landmark discovered that was very important in establishing the chronology of Paul’s travels (Galatians 1:17-2:2). Desperate to halt the rising tide of faith in Yeshua as Messiah, the Jewish leaders made a united attack against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat. This was intended to be a trial. Their charge was: This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law (18:12-13). It is obvious that in this appeal to the proconsul the Jews must have meant, not the Torah, but the law of Rome. Their contention was that though Jews had been banished from Rome as a measure of policy, Judaism as such was still a religio licita, tolerated and recognized by the State. Rome said that there could be one religion per recognized unit of people. Because Judaism was the recognized religion for the Jewish people, their claim was that the gospel was against the Torah and therefore was a new religion.⁴²⁹

Unlike the annually elected magistrates of the ancient Roman Republic, whose courts functioned with a formal jury, the proconsul was not bound by any specific criminal laws. Gallio was free to follow the rules of Roman law, he was not obligated to do so. It seems that he was given no general instructions from the central government about this matter. Therefore, for all those crimes not covered by Roman law, he was able to fall back on local custom or his own judgment.⁴³⁰

But when Paul was about to open his mouth and defend himself, Gallio interrupted and said to the Jewish people, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or a vicious crime, there would be a reason to put up with you, O Jews. Gallio clearly had anti-Semitic overtones. But since it is issues about words, names (should Yeshua be called the Messiah), and your own Jewish law, see to it yourselves. I do not wish to be a judge of these.” This dispute was strictly Jewish and had nothing to do with Roman law. As far as Gallio was concerned the Good News was not distinct from Judaism and he drove the Jews from the judgment seat. Then all the anti-Semitic Gentile bystanders, seeing that Gallio was not interfering, grabbed Sosthenes, the new synagogue leader, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. As they indulged in their anti-Semitic feelings, Gallio paid no attention to these things (18:14-17).⁴³¹ Gallio’s refusal to take the Jewish case against Paul seriously or to prosecute him was extremely important for the future of the gospel. In effect, he passed a favorable verdict on the Christian faith and therefore established a significant precedent. From that point on, the gospel could not be charged with being an illegal religion, for its freedom to be practiced freely had been secured as the imperial policy.⁴³²

ADONAI provides in strange and wonderful ways! The Jews tried to force the Roman proconsul to declare the Christian faith illegal, but Gallio ended up doing just the opposite. By refusing to try the case, Gallio made it clear that Rome would not get involved in cases involving Jewish religious disputes. As far as he was concerned, Paul and his disciples had as much right as the Jews to practice their religion and share it with others.

In the book of Acts, Luke emphasizes the relationship between the Roman government and the Church. While it was true that the Great Sanhedrin (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Lg – The Great Sanhedrin) had forbit the apostles to preach (4:17-21 and 5:40), there is no evidence in Acts that Rome ever did so. In fact, in Philippi (Acts 16:35-40), Corinth and Ephesians (19:31), the Roman officials were not only tolerant but also cooperative. Paul knew how to use his Roman citizenship wisely so that the government worked for him and not against him, and he was careful not to accuse the government or try to escape its authority (25:10-12).⁴³³

An Unknown God in Athens
17: 16-33

51-52 AD

An unknown God in Athens DIG: To be noticed by these Greek philosophers, how extensive must Paul’s activity have been? What are these philosophers like (17:18-21)? The Stoics believed “god” was in everything and so everything was “god” (Pantheism); while the Epicureans had little or no belief in “god” at all. What does Paul emphasize about God in vs 23-30? How does Paul use their own culture to help them see the weaknesses in the way they related to deity? How is this sermon different from that in 13:16-41? Why? Is his lack of using Scripture in Chapter 17 a strength or a weakness? Why? How are the sermons alike in terms of what they teach about Jesus? In what they call people to do? How does the response in Athens (17:21, 33-34) compare with Berea (17:12) and Thessalonica (17:4)?

REFLECT: What distresses you spiritually about the area in which you live? What specific needs do you see? What do you feel God is calling you to do about them? Who do you know that has very little or no background in the gospel? How would your witness to them be different than to someone who has some biblical background? Paul uses idols and Greek poetry as points of contact between these people and the gospel. How might you use movies, etc. as a way of relating the gospel more efficiently to others today? What keeps you most distracted and unaware of openings for spiritual conversation with others? What could keep you more tuned in to these opportunities. Which do you find it more difficult to deal with: opposition or apathy? How have you experienced both?

There is something gripping about Paul in Athens, the great apostle to the Gentiles amidst the glories of ancient Greece. Of course he had known about Athens since his boyhood. Everyone knew about Athens. She had been the foremost Greek city-state since the fifth century BC. Even after her incorporation into the Roman Empire, she retained a proud intellectual independence and also became a free city. She boasted of her rich philosophical tradition inherited from Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, of her literature and art, and of her notable achievements in the cause of human liberty. Even in Paul’s day she lived on her great past, and was a comparatively small town by modern criteria, but she still had an unrivalled reputation as the empire’s intellectual metropolis.

Now for the first time Paul visited the Athens of which he had heard so much, arriving by sea from the north. His friends, who had given him safe escort from Berea, had gone. He had asked them to send Timothy and Silas to join him in Athens as soon as possible (17:15). He was hoping to be able to return to Macedonia, for it was to Macedonia that he had been called (16:10). Meanwhile, as he waited for their arrival, he found himself alone in the cultural capital of the world. What was his reaction? What should be the reaction of a believer who visits or lives in a city that is dominated by worldly ideology or religion, a city that may be aesthetically magnificent and culturally sophisticated, but morally decadent and spiritually deceived?⁴¹⁰ This was Paul’s challenge. This is our challenge.

Paul’s witness: Now while Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens, his spirit was greatly aroused within him when he saw that the city was full of idols. It was the Gentiles who were worshiping these idols because idolatry ceased being a problem for the Jews after the Babylonian Captivity (see the commentary on Jeremiah, to see link click Gu – Seventy Years of Imperial Babylonian Rule). However, the principle of Romans 1:16, to the Jew first, must stand. So, he first began debating in the synagogue with the Jewish people and the God-fearing Gentiles. The rest of the week, he took on all comers in the marketplace, Athens’ famed agora, every day with all who happened to be there. The marketplace was not only a place for buying and selling but it was also a public resort for all who wished to hear the news of the day or debate different ideas. Among those he engaged in debate were some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers (17:16-18a). They along with the Cynics, represented the three most popular contemporary schools of philosophy.

The followers of Epicurus (341-270 BC) denied the existence of God and believed that the universe originated by chance from a falling reign of atoms (sounds pretty close to the evolutionists of today). They taught that the pursuit of pure truth was hopeless, and therefore, pleasure, and not knowledge, is the chief goal of life. Their view of the soul was materialistic, and taught that, at death, the body and soul (both composed of atoms) disintegrated into nothing. They believed that there was no afterlife to either fear of hope for; and as a result, must make the best of it in this life. They mocked the popular pagan gods believing that they were living in eternal calm away from the lives of mankind with whom they never intervened. The Epicureans of today speak of “doing your own thing.”⁴¹¹

The Stoic philosophers, on the other hand, saw self-mastery as the greatest virtue. They believed that wisdom came from being free from intense emotionalism. Stoic philosophy taught people should submit themselves to natural law. The highest expression of this, according to Stoicism, was reason, which would lead one to be righteous, and to be righteous was to live in harmony with reason (circular thinking). This was the only true good. In their way of thinking, the only evil in life was not being righteous. Everything else, such as death, pleasure, and pain were themselves indifferent. In contrast to the practical atheism of the Epicureans, the Stoics were pantheists (believing that everything is god). They taught that the purpose of the gods was to direct history, and mankind need align themselves with that purpose. They understood the soul to be physical and at death was somehow absorbed into this blurry “god.” All the major Eastern religions and certain seemingly Western offshoots have at bottom a similar theology, that there is no transcendent God who created and rules the universe independently of mankind.⁴¹² The extremes of Stoicism and Epicureanism sum up the futility of mankind’s existence apart from God.

The mocking of Paul: Although they differed radically in their philosophical beliefs, both Stoics and Epicureans were united in their contempt for Paul’s teaching. Some were saying, “What’s this babbler trying to say?” while others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities” – because he was proclaiming the Good News of Yeshua and the resurrection. Totally misunderstanding Paul’s message, they may have thought he used the Greek word anastasis (resurrection) as the proper name of a goddess (Anastasis). So they took Paul to the Areopagus (a hill in Athens 377 feet high). In Paul’s day this court met in the Stoa Basilica, below the hill. The council of the Areopagus (Mars Hill) was responsible for supervising the religion, culture and education in Athens.⁴¹³ It had full control of all itinerant lecturers, and under Roman law it was illegal for anyone to introduce a new god. Paul was not formally tried before this council (which several centuries earlier had condemned Socrates), but was informally required to give an account of his teaching. The proceedings opened with a sarcastic question. May we come to know what this new teaching is that you are talking about? For you are bringing some strange (surprising or shocking) things to our ears, so we want to know what these things mean. Explain yourself. They really had no genuine interest in the gospel, however, as Luke’s parenthetical comment shows: Now all the Athenians and foreigners visiting there used to pass their time doing nothing but telling or hearing something new under the sun (17:16-21).

The theme of Paul’s speech was a masterpiece of communication on how to know the unknown God. That involves three steps: recognizing that God is, recognizing who He is, and recognizing what He said.

Recognizing That God Is

So Paul stood in the middle of the council of Areopagus and said: Men of Athens, I see that in all ways you are very religious (17:22). The Greek word for religious is deisidaimonia, which in the B’rit Chadashah normally means the fear of demonic things. This is the way the Jews used it. But the Greeks used the same word in two different ways: in a good sense, meaning pious or religious, and in a bad sense, meaning superstitious. Paul intentionally used this word in an ambiguous way so that the Greeks could interpret it any way they wanted. Paul could say that they were very superstitious, while the Greeks could think they were very religious. Therefore, from Paul’s Jewish frame of reference he was implying that the Greek reverence for their gods was really a reverence of demons.⁴¹⁴

For while I was passing through Athens and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription, “To an Unknown God” (17:23a). The background of this altar is recorded for us by an ancient Greek writer, Diogenes Laertius, in his Lives of Philosophers (1,100 AD). According to his account, around 600 BC a terrible plague broke out in Athens. It was believed by the city leaders that one of the many gods had been offended and had brought on the plague. Sacrifices were offered to the gods, but to no avail. Then Epimenides, also a famous priest of the cult of Zeus on Crete, suggested that the Athenians had possibly offended an unknown god. He ordered that a number of sheep be released in Athens and that wherever they lay down, a sacrifice should be offered to an unknown god. Altars were built and sacrifices were offered. Soon the plague ended. When Paul visited Athens, one of these altars was still standing. He used it as a point of reference in preaching before the council of leading Epicureans and Stoics.⁴¹⁵

Therefore what you worship without knowing, this I proclaim to you (17:23b). Paul was using a Jewish method of teaching, going from the known to the unknown. What was known was that they had an altar to an unknown god, so as far as the Greeks were concerned there was some god out there that they did not know. Paul was in essence saying, “I’m going to tell you who this unknown god is.” Thus Paul could not be convicted of introducing a new god that would violate Roman law since he claimed that their unknown god was the very God he represented, and that they worshiped Him without realizing it. However, he did not use the TaNaKh in his speech because it would have been irrelevant to those highly educated pagans. This was his first speech to a totally pagan Gentile audience. Instead, he used their own beliefs as a hook to gain their interest in the One True God. The Epicureans attacked the superstitious, irrational belief in the gods, expressed in idolatry, while the Stoics stressed the unity of mankind and its relationship with God. What Paul did was to side with the philosophers, and then demonstrate that they didn’t go far enough. He was not introducing a new religion, but something that was very, very old.⁴¹⁶

The Athenians had taken the first step in that they were supernaturalists. It is obviously impossible for those who deny God’s existence to know Him, since anyone who comes to God must believe that He is and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him (11:6b). No one will search for a path to a destination they believe does not exist. And they must have believed there was a god (among all their deities) whom they did not know.

The Bible does not offer formal arguments for God’s existence. His existence is ultimately a matter of revelation and faith (John 1:18 and 20:29). Such faith, however, is not a blind leap in the dark but is founded on fact. It is true that while God’s existence is not provable in the sense of a scientific experiment or a mathematical equation, it is rational and logical in a cause-and-effect world.

The Bible reveals powerful and convincing evidence for God’s existence. (Psalm 19:1); (Romans 1:19). A plan requires a Planner, a program requires a Programmer, and design requires a Designer. This is the essence of the theological argument for God’s existence: the order and complexity of the universe could not have arisen by random chance as the evolutionists propose. The Bible also presents truth in Psalm 94:9 the psalmist wrote: He who planted the ear, does He not hear? He who formed the eye, does He not see? Intelligence comes from Intelligence, and moral judgment from a moral Being. To argue that they came from dead matter is the height of foolishness. Only God can create life out of nothing and in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

Since the evidence for God’s existence is so overwhelming, the question arises as to why there are atheists. The Bible teaches that the reason is not intellectual and rational, but moral and spiritual. King David wrote: The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” That the foolishness in view is moral, not intellectual, is clear from the rest of the verse: They are corrupt; their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good (Psalm 14:1). Atheism’s rejection of God appeals to people who wish to avoid judgment for the sinful lifestyle. Paul makes it clear that the matter of rejecting God is willful and due to the love of sin (see the commentary on Romans Ak – God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity).⁴¹⁷

Recognizing Who God Is

Having established that God exists and be known by mankind, Paul introduces the council of the Aereopagus to Him. Having established that God exists and can be known, Paul introduces his hearers to him. The emissary to the Gentiles presents God as Creator, Ruler, Giver, Controller and Revealer. In each of these ideas, Paul challenged key Greek ideas.

Creator: The God who made the world and all things in it (17:24a). This aimed at the Stoics and spoke against the eternity of all matter, and was not the demiurge, or a cosmic being, which was the viewpoint of Greek philosophy. The Athenians had 30,000 gods, so Paul’s statement challenged that statement.

Ruler: Since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands, like the Parthenon in Athens (17:24b). 

Giver: Nor is He served by human hands (like the Parthenon overlooking the city), as if He needed anything. This was an appeal to the Epicureans. Because God was totally self-sufficient and didn’t need any offerings to make Him happy, since He Himself gives to everyone life and breath and all things (17:25). This statement was for the Stoics and against the Epicureans who placed God totally outside the universe.

Controller: From one He made every nation of men to live on the face of the earth. This God is the direct Creator of humanity. This also challenged certain Greek ideas. The Athenians claimed to have sprung up from their native soil. But Paul said, no, God was the Creator, and the whole human race sprang up from one man. Having set appointed times and the boundaries of their territory; therefore, Greece has no special place in the world (17:26). God controls human history.

Nothing in your life happens by chance. It’s all for a purpose. Most amazingly, God decided how you would be born. Regardless of the circumstances of your birth or who your parents are, God had a plan in creating you. It doesn’t matter whether your parents were good, bad, or indifferent. God knew that those two people possessed exactly the right genetic makeup to create the custom “you” He had in mind. They had the DNA God wanted to make you.

While there are illegitimate parents, there are no illegitimate children. Many children are unplanned by their parents, but they are not unplanned by God. His purpose took into account human error, and even sin. God doesn’t ever do anything by accident, and He never makes mistakes. He has a reason for everything He creates. Every plant and every animal was planned by God, and every person was designed with a purpose in mind.

God’s motive for creating you was His love. The Bible says: Long before He laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, and had settled on us as the focus of His love (Ephesians 1:4a The Message). God was thinking of you even before He made the world. In fact, that’s why He created it! God designed this planet’s environment just so we could live in it. We are the focus of His love and the most valuable of all creation: God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things He made (James 1:18 NCV). That is how much God loves and values you!⁴¹⁸

Revealer: They were to search for Him, not turn away from Him as the Gentile nations had done. But, perhaps grope around in spiritual darkness for Him and find Him. So God can be found if we reach out and search for Him by faith (Hebrews 11:6). Yet indeed, He is [indeed] not far from each one of us, for “In Him we live and move and have our being.” That is the evidence of God’s nearness. This is not Stoic pantheism, but real immanence, or existing in all parts of the universe. As some of your own poets, such as Epimenids, then Aratus, and Cleanthes, have said, “For we also are His offspring.” Since we are His offspring, we ought not to suppose the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an engraved image of human art and imagination (17:27-29). Since the connection between God and mankind is the life derived from God, then it is foolish to represent the image of God with idols that originate in the mind of mankind, and crafted by human hands.

Recognizing What God Has Said

Although God overlooked the periods of ignorance by the Gentiles before the coming of the Messiah, but now (Greek: nun meaning now as to the new things) He commands everyone everywhere to repent. Before Christ, the Gentiles were only held responsible for natural revelation (Romans 1:18-32), but now they are responsible for special revelation, meaning that God has come with full knowledge. For He has set a day on which He will judge the inhabited world in absolute righteousness (see the commentary on Revelation Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment), through Jesus Christ, a Man whom He has appointed. He has brought forth evidence of this to all men by raising Him from the dead (17:30-31). 

At that point Paul was interrupted and could not finish his presentation of the gospel. Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock him because the Greeks believed that the soul was eternal. But they had no concept of the resurrection of the body. This scoffing came from the Epicureans who denied both the resurrection and immortality of the soul. The Stoics, however, were unconvinced, but were more open minded, and said: We will hear from you again about this, but with no real intent to do so. This was an official dismissal of the matter. The same division noted earlier between open and closed-minded Jews, is not seen among Gentiles. So Paul left from their midst, never to return to Athens again. But some men joined (Greek: kollethentes meaning to stick like glue) with him and believed – among them Dionysius (a member of the council of the Areopagus), a prominent woman named Damaris, and others with them (17:32-34). Although it is said occasionally that Paul was unsuccessful in Athens, this verse proves the contrary. For seeing that – in God’s wisdom – the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased – through the foolishness of the message proclaimed – to save those who believe (First Corinthians 1:21).

When you contrast the seeming meager results in Athens with the great harvests in Thessalonica and Berea, you might be tempted to conclude that Paul’s ministry there was a failure. If you do, you might find yourself drawing a hasty and false conclusion. Paul was not told to leave, so we assume he lingered in Athens and continued to minister to many unbelievers and a few believers. Proud, sophisticated, wise Athenians would not take easily to Paul’s humbling message of the gospel, especially when he summarized all of Greek history with the phrase the periods of ignorance. The soil there was not deep and it contained many weeds (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Et – The Parable of the Soils). But there was a small harvest.

And after all, one soul is worth the whole world.

We still need witnesses who will invade the sophisticated academics and present Christ to people who are wise in their own eyes, but ignorant of the true wisdom of gospel. Not many are wise according to human standards, not many are powerful, and not many are born well. Yet God chose the foolish things of the world so He might put to shame the strong (First Corinthians 1:26b-27). But some are called, and God may use you to call them.

Take the gospel to your “Athens.” Be daring!⁴¹⁹

Lord, You have commanded that Your teachings be kept diligently (Psalm 119:4). Thus, I must be watchful and watch over my soul closely, so I don’t forget the things I have seen or let them slip away from my heart and mind as long as I live. May I be faithful to teach Your Word to my children and grandchildren (Deuteronomy 4:9), encouraging them to never grow tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up (Galatians 6:9).⁴²⁰

Synagogue Responses Vary to Paul’s Visit
17: 1-15

50-51 AD

Synagogue responses vary to Paul’s visit DIG: Thessalonica was a wealthy trading city on a major road from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. How is Paul received there (First Thessalonians 1:4-10, 3:1-4)? What types of accusations has Paul encountered so far (17:5-7 and 16:20-21)? What lays behind these accusations? Since his conversation, this is the sixth time Paul has been forced by persecution to leave an area. How does your view compare with Paul’s (see First Thessalonians 2:1-6)? Compared with the Thessalonians in verses 2-4, how do the Bereans receive the gospel in verses 11-12? How is Paul’s teaching on the diversity of gifts (First Corinthians 12) illustrated here in the functions of Paul, Silas and Timothy?

REFLECT: Whether Jesus or Caesar was Lord became a real issue for the believers a few years later. When has your faith in Messiah led to conflict with other authorities claiming your loyalty? In terms of time, consistency, and intensity, how would you rate your Bible study? Is it like the Bereans? If not, what can you do to change that? How has the Word balanced you during times of spiritual shaking and quaking? How has it kept you from falling apart when everything seemed to be falling apart around you?

The narrative a considerable journey along the main Roman road, the Via Egnatia, which eventually turned west and went across Macedonia. The journey from Philippi to Thessalonica was some one-hundred miles, and we are told that Paul and his coworkers passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia on the way. No other locations are mentioned, which may suggest they were traveling by mule or horse, if that is, they made Amphipolis after a day’s journey, Apollonia after another day, and Thessalonica after three days of travel. At that time Thessalonica had a population of about 200,000 people, but they only had a small number of Jewish people, and one Jewish synagogue.³⁹⁷

Courage: After passing through Amphipolis, about thirty-two miles from Philippi and another thirty-two miles to Apollonia, they (Paul, Silas and Timothy) came to Thessalonica about a hundred miles southwest of Philippi. Thessalonica was an important city in many respects. It was a harbor town, situated at the head of the Thermaic Gulf. Commanding trade by sea across the Aegean and by land along the east-west Via Egnatia, it was a flourishing commercial center. Predominantly Greek, although it was controlled by Rome. It was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia. For its support of Octavian it had become a free city in 42 BC and was not turned into a Roman colony. It minted its own coins (both imperial and autonomous), had its own form of government (with politarchs, see verse 6), but nevertheless had close ties with Rome, and there is evidence of the imperial cult existing in this city. One may point especially to the coins with the head of Julius Caesar, minted even before the time of Christ, which involved the recognition of Julius as a god. These coins reflect the ongoing support that Rome bestowed on Thessalonica, which the city had apparently come to depend on. They believed that the emperor was the universal savior whose support and aid should be proclaimed as good news throughout the region.

Though officially free, Thessalonica was yet another city caught in the emperor’s social network involving support and the necessary response from the people of Thessalonica of homage and loyalty. Local officials would be expected to enforce loyalty to Caesar in order to maintain the peace and help the city stay in the good graces of the emperor. Here we have another story showing Luke’s understanding in detail of the municipal institutions and officials governing the area.³⁹⁸ As was his custom, Paul, being an observant Jew (13:9), went to the Jewish people first (Romans 1:16). Upon arrival, as was his custom they made their way to the Jewish synagogue, which means that Paul had not changed his basic mode of operating (17:1-2a). We are not told that he went immediately to the synagogue. In fact, it appears likely that Paul and his coworkers would first have to establish themselves by finding a place to stay and providing a means of support. Setting up shop in the marketplace, or perhaps working out of the home of a fellow Jew who practiced the same trade. Possibly someone like Jason (see 17:6 below).³⁹⁹

Content: And for three Shabbatot, he gave them drashes from the TaNaKh. A drash or drashah, literally means searching. The word denotes a sermon and an interpretation of a text, ending with the Kaddish prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). The word midrash is related to it. Paul frequently used Talmudic and Midrashic thought patterns (Romans 10:5-13; First Corinthians 9:9-14; Second Corinthians 3:3-18; Galatians 3:16, 4:22-31).

Literally, Paul lectured to them, explaining and quoting passages from the TaNaKh to prove his point. The fact that the TaNaKh is cited some 695 times in the B’rit Chadashah show that its writers were convinced that although ADONAI had done something unique and radically new in Yeshua, the meaning of what He had done could be adequately expressed only in relation to the TaNaKh. This conviction set the first believers to reading the TaNaKh with new eyes, which led to understanding how it relates to New Covenant truth. Paul gave them drashes from Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Psalm 16:8-11, and others from the TaNaKh, to prove that Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead, saying: This Yeshua, whom I declare to you, is the Messiah (17:2b-3 CJB).⁴⁰⁰

Paul showed from the TaNaKh the necessity for the death and resurrection of Yeshua, and declared that he was the promised Messiah. Searching is from the Greek word anakrino, meaning examine or investigate, sometimes used of a judicial investigation. The noble Bereans carefully investigated the evidence and concluded that the gospel Paul proclaimed was the truth fulfilled in the TaNaKh. And today, those who honestly examine the Scriptures will always come to the same conclusion. Yeshua said to the Jewish leaders: You keep searching the TaNaKh because you think that in it you have eternal life. And yet those very Scriptures bear witness of Me (John 5:39 CJB). Christ Himself used the TaNaKh to convince two travelers on the road to Emmaus, saying to them: Foolish people! So unwilling to put your trust in everything the prophets spoke! Didn’t the Messiah have to die like this before entering glory? Then, starting with Moshe and all the prophets, the Living Word explained to them the things that can be found throughout the TaNaKh concerning Himself (Luke 24:25-27 CJB). Of course we now have two covenants to prove that Jesus is the Christ.⁴⁰¹

The line between clarifying Scripture and adding to it is indeed a thin one. But Scripture is not clarified by listening to someone who thinks they have the gift of prophecy. Scripture is clarified as it is carefully and diligently studied. There are no shortcuts to interpreting God’s Word accurately (Second Timothy 2:15). We must commit ourselves to searching the Scriptures, and let our experience of the living Word come from that, not from inner feelings, supernatural phenomena, or other potentially counterfeit or untrustworthy evidences. Then our experience will bring the greatest joy and blessing imaginable – because it is rooted and grounded in divine truth.⁴⁰²

Converts: A small number of Jews were persuaded and became attached to Paul and Silas, who, unlike many of today’s evangelists, never left new believers to flounder for themselves. Although Paul and his friends must have stayed in Thessalonica for several months, as is clear from his two Thessalonian letters, and although most of the converts must have been Gentiles, even pagan idolaters (First Thessalonians 1:9-10), Luke concentrates on his Jewish mission, which lasted only three weeks, and tells his argument was developed.⁴⁰³ But in three weeks of ministry they also won a large number of the God-fearing Greeks to the Lord and no small number of the leading women (17:4).

We know from the letter to the Thessalonians that there was a gap of time between verses 4 and 5 where many other things also took place.

Conflict in Thessalonica: As happened in Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:45, 50), Iconium (Acts 14:2,5), and Lystra (Acts 14:19) on the First Missionary Journey, here also Paul is opposed by a mob incited by jealous people among the Jews. But some of the unbelieving Jewish people became jealous over the success that Paul was having in converting the Gentiles (First Thessalonians 2:13-16). Paul hoped that the salvation of the Gentiles would provoke the Jews into studying the Scriptures and discovering their promised Messiah (Romans 11:13-14). But, in fact, it had the opposite reaction. Taking some wicked fellows of the marketplace (the mall of today) and gathering a Gentile crowd, they stirred the city into a constant uproar (17:5a).

Those unbelieving Jews attacked Jason’s house (which seemed to be a center for the church) searching up and down, trying to find Paul and Silas to bring them out to the mob. Jason was most likely Jewish, for Paul and Silas wouldn’t have needlessly offended the Jewish community by lodging with a Gentile. If he was Jewish, his Jewish name may have been Joshua, with Jason as a somewhat similar sounding Greek name for use in a Greek environment.⁴⁰⁴ The same is true today. Hebrew and local-language names are often chosen to resemble each other. For example, Arnold Frutchtenbaum’s (Ariel Ministries) Hebrew name is Aaron, and his English name is Arnold. When they did not find them, they instead began dragging Jason and some of the brethren before the city officials. The Jewish leaders brought two charges against them. First, being aware that the Roman officials would be unwilling to convict on purely religious grounds, since Jewish rights were protected by imperial decree, they shouted “These men who have upset the Roman world have come here too. And Jason has welcomed them.” (17:5b-7a)! Was this charge true? Of course it was. Yeshua changes people (Luke 19:1-10; Acts 9:1-20, 19:18-20; First Corinthians 6:9-11).

Jesus Christ is the greatest of all revolutionaries, and He seeks true revolutionaries today who have been transformed by the power of His gospel and who are prepared to fight against the world (First John 2:15-17), to follow the narrow way (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Dw – The Narrow and Wide Gates). This way may be filled with suffering, hardships, ridicule, and ostracism from the world. It is difficult to follow Yeshua Messiah. The problem of applying His teachings to our lives is often confusing; that is why it is so important to rely upon the Scriptures and upon the Spirit of God.⁴⁰⁵

Secondly, they accused them of acting against the decrees of Caesar forbidding the proselytizing of Roman citizens, saying there is another (Greek: heteros means, another of a different kind) king, whose name is Yeshua (17:7b). These were the same accusations made against Yeshua at His own trial (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Lo – Jesus Before Pilate). When you read Paul’s two Thessalonian letters, you see the strong emphasis he gave in Thessalonica on the kingship of Messiah and the promise of His return. Of course, our Lord’s Kingdom is neither political nor of this world (John 18:36-37), but we cannot expect unsaved pagans to understand this. The kingship of Jesus Christ is unlike that of the rulers of this world. He conquers with ambassadors (Second Corinthians 5:20), not armies, and His weapons are truth and love. He brings people peace by upsetting the peace and turning the tables upside down (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bs – Jesus’ First Cleansing of the Temple at the Passover). He conquers through His cross, where He died for a world of lost sinners. He even died for His enemies (Romans 5:6-10).⁴⁰⁶

The missionaries stirred up the crowd and the city officials who heard those things. The city officials took this as a serious matter, as did the people listening to the proceedings. The support of the emperor might stop, indeed the city might be censured, if it was known that it harbored “enemies of the Roman order.” Thus, the city officials took immediate action. After receiving bail from Jason and the rest of the believers, Paul and Silas agreed that they would leave the city, then they were released (17:8-9). This may be the reason Paul and Silas never returned to Thessalonica (First Thessalonians 2:17-18).

As soon as it was night, the brothers smuggled Paul and Silas out of town to Berea, fifty miles southwest of Thessalonica (17:10a). After Paul and Silas left, we know that the believers in Thessalonica suffered severe persecution (First Thessalonians 2:14, 3:1-5; Second Thessalonians 1:6-7). Before leaving, however, we know that twice he received funds from the church at Philippi (Philippians 4:15-16). Until the funds arrived he supported himself as a tentmaker (First Thessalonians 2:9; Second Thessalonians 3:7-10).

Conflict in Berea:

After the fierceness of the opposition in Thessalonica, Berea was a breath of fresh air. Upon arrival, they made their way to the Jewish synagogue. Now these in Berea were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, Evidently, they did not have the prejudices to overcome that the Thessalonian Jews did. Significantly, when persecution arose in Berea it was led by Jews from Thessalonica (17:13 below). Unlike the Thessalonians, whom Paul had to reason with, and persuade the Bereans listened and received the message with goodwill. But, the Bereans did their homework, this search was not casual. They searched the Scriptures each day for themselves to see whether these things preached by Paul were true (17:10b-11). Paul probably told them that there was evidence in the TaNaKh that Messiah would suffer and die for their sins. The final word, for them, was the written Word of God.⁴⁰⁷ When they realized the missionaries were telling the truth, they embraced it and searched their scrolls to verify the truth for themselves. No wonder Luke describes them as more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica. Therefore, because the Bereans were students of the Scriptures, many of them believed such as Sopater of Berea, son of Pyrrhus, who later assisted Paul (20:4), as well as quite a few prominent Greek women and men (17:12).

When we hear spiritual ideas that disturb us, we need to be cautious. We can search the Scriptures for ourselves, listening to trustworthy sources, and seek wisdom from the Spirit of God and Jesus, our Lord.

The Jews from Thessalonica were not satisfied to force Paul out of their own city. When they learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea, they took the fifty-mile trip to Berea to start another riot, agitating and inciting the people (17:13). The opposition to the growth of the Church was getting stronger and more organized. How did these unbelieving Jews hear that Paul and Silas were ministering in Berea? Perhaps the growing witness of the Berean believers reached as far as Thessalonica, or it may be that some troublemaker took the message to his friends in Thessalonica. Satan also has his “missionaries” and they are busy (Second Corinthians 11:13-15).⁴⁰⁸

However, it was too late. A group of eager Bible students was already being drawn together around Messiah. Silas and Timothy remained in Berea because the opposition was after Paul and not them. Then, the brothers, outwitted the enemy and immediately sent Paul away to the sea. Those escorting Paul stayed with him all the way to Athens. After receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to join him in Athens as soon as possible, they left (17:14-15). Which they did for a short time, but after hearing their reports, Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica (First Thessalonians 3:1-6), while Silas was sent on a special mission to some other part of Macedonia (Acts 18:5). Later, Paul went on his own to the city of Corinth (18:1). Silas and Timothy later return form Macedonia and meet Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:5 and First Thessalonians 3:6). And from the city of Corinth, Paul writes First and Second Thessalonians.⁴⁰⁹ In any case, Paul at this stage of his missionary work is spending time with both Jews and Gentiles, and not with just Gentiles connected to the synagogue, as we shall see in what follows in Athens.

Lord God, Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore, I obey them. The unfolding of Your Word brings light and gives understanding to the simple. I pant with open mouth for I long for Your mitzvot. Turn and be gracious to me, as is Your practice toward those who love Your Name (Psalm 119:129-132).

Paul and Silas in Prison
16: 16-40

50-51 AD

Paul and Silas in Prison DIG: Why was Paul irritated with this servant-girl? You would think he would be pleased with her announcement. When Paul and Silas were seized, what was the charge against them? What happened to them? What does the response of Paul and Silas say about them? If you were the jailer, what would you think of Paul and Silas singing? Escaping? Remaining? In what ways does the jailer express his new faith in Yeshua? Given the charge against them in verses 20-21, why might Paul insist on his rights as a Roman citizen because most residents in the Roman Empire did not have the privilege of citizenship. How would this diffuse tensions for this young Philippian church?

REFLECT: The girl’s owners rejected the gospel because it cost them financially. What financial concerns keep some people from the faith today? Is this a factor for you? About twelve years later Paul wrote a letter to the Philippians from another prison. How might the events here be the basis for what Paul said in Philippians 4:4-7, 12-13? What can you learn from his example about knowing peace and joy even in hard times? If asked, “What must I do to be saved?” how would you answer? Called to leave, or called to stay. Which one of these describes your calling in regard to your life history?

Now we have a new scene, but it connects with the previous one (to see link click By – Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi) to make a seamless story. After meeting Lydia, the liberated woman, we meet an enslaved woman. No sooner are lost people saved than the Adversary begins to hinder the work. Here, as in Samaria (see Ba – Simon the Sorcerer) and Cyprus (see Bn – Barnabas and Sha’ul Sent Out from Syrian Antioch), was a clash of light and darkness. There are only two types of people in the world. Those whom the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yeshua has set free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2) and those dead in [their] trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). There are only the slaves of unrighteousness and the slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:16-18).³⁷⁸ The enemy of souls (Matthew 13:39), sought to infiltrate the church or to crush it with persecution. Both avenues of attack would be unsuccessful.

Spiritual opposition: It so happened that as we were going to the place of prayer (16:13), we met a slave girl who had a spirit of divination (Greek: puthona, meaning a python spirit). The Greek text literally reads the spirit of a python. That designation comes from Greek mythology, in which the Python was a snake that guarded the famous oracle of Delphi (the most important shrine in all Greece). Eventually, Apollo, the god of prophecy, killed the Python. Since it was believed that Apollo spoke through the oracle of Delphi, the term ‘python” came to refer to anyone in contact with Apollo. In modern terms, this slave girl was a medium in contact with demons, and she was continually bringing her masters much profit from her fortune-telling. Such people were believed to be able to predict the future, a valuable commodity in the Greco-Roman world as they valued divination highly. Thus, she was a veritable gold mine for her owners (16:16).³⁷⁹

Following after Paul and us, she kept shouting, saying: These men are servants of God Most High, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation (16:17). Here we see demonic recognition of who they were, just as in the gospels demons always recognized who Yeshua was. Demons also recognize the true way of salvation. None of this would have been very clear to Gentiles. The term God most high was a common term for God in the TaNaKh, but the same term was equally common in the Gentile world and was particularly applied to Zeus. Neither would the way of salvation be immediately clear to a Gentile audience. The Greco-Roman world was full of “saviors.” Savior/deliverer, salvation/deliverance were favorite terms. The emperor named himself “savior” of the people. All of which is to show why Paul finally became irritated with the girl’s constant announcements.

The “us” or “we” passages stop at verse 17 and does not reappear in Acts until Paul’s return to Philippi in 20:6 (see Bx – Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia). Some have seen this as an indication that Luke remained behind to minister in Philippi and did not rejoin Paul in his travels until his return visit at the end of his Third Missionary Journey (see Ci – Paul Raised Eutychus from the Dead at Troas). But here, it seems to indicate in the present context that Luke and Timothy had dropped out of the picture at this point and were ministering somewhere else. That is the reason only Paul and Silas were arrested (see below).

She kept doing this for many days and Paul tolerated it for a while. But after many days Paul was irritated. These declarations may have been true enough, but they were open to too much misunderstanding for pagan hearers. The truth could not be so easily condensed for those from a polytheistic background. Yeshua might be seen as just another “savior” in the expanding pantheon of Greek gods.³⁸⁰

Finally, when he had enough of this, Paul turned to the evil spirit, in a form reminiscent of Messiah’s exorcisms, declared: I command you in the name of Messiah Yeshua to come out of her!” And it came out (Greek: exelthen) of her that very moment (16:18). Powerful as they are, even the demons must submit to the authority of Yeshua Messiah (Mark 1:23-27). Note that in expelling the demon Paul did not address the girl but the demon, and he did not rely on his own authority, but that of Yeshua in contrast to those in 19:13-16. But that was not the only thing to vanish. Along with the demon, her masters saw their prospects for further profit also exited.

The arrest: But when her masters saw that the hope of profit was gone (Greek: exelthen), they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace, the court of law, before the authorities. Luke probably intended the wordplay. He used the same verb (Greek: exelthen) for the demon’s coming out in verse 18 as for the money going away. The latter created a problem. Healing the demon possessed girl was one thing; but when that involved considerable economic loss, well, that was quite another! The profit motive was a frequent obstacle to the gospel in Acts. It was surely the downfall of Simon Magus (see Ba – Simon the Sorcerer). It would lead Demetrius and his fellow Ephesian silversmiths to violently oppose Paul (see Ch – Idol-Makers Start a Riot in Ephesus). Here the greed of the slave girl’s owners is contrasted with the generosity of Lydia, who shared her house with the missionaries and the Philippian believers (16:15).

The owners of the slave girl were careful in their charges to avoid the real issue of her healing and their resulting loss of profit. And when “the business men” brought them to the chief authorities, they said, “These men are throwing our city into an uproar! Being Jewish, they are trying to convert Roman citizens to Judaism (which was illegal in Philippi being a Roman colony) and advocate customs which are not permitted for us to accept or practice, being Romans” (16:19-21). Their purpose was only to stir up the mob, thus anti-Semitism throughout history.

In the Roman Empire, there were two very different laws; one for citizens of the Roman Empire, and one for those who were not citizens. Roman citizens had specific civil rights there were zealously guarded. Non-citizens had no civil rights, and were subject to the whims of the chief authorities. They were greatly upset that Roman citizens should be harassed by strolling peddlers of an outlandish religion . Such people had to be taught to know their proper place and not trouble them.³⁸¹

None of the charges were true, but they had their effect. Then the crowd joined in the attack on them. So the chief authorities ripped their clothes off them and repeatedly commanded them to be beaten illegally with rods (16:22). Flogging was considered to be an appropriate punishment for those indicted on counts of causing civic disturbance. Although such corrective beating was applied in such cases to both slaves and free men, it could be administered with different instruments, the respective use of which would cause greater or lesser injury (22:24-25). Luke’s description of the flogging which the missionaries received indicates that it was severe. The rods would open wounds that would have left bloody welts that would need cleansing (16:33).³⁸²

There was no mention of a trial or a defense. The chief authorities had simply taken the word of their fellow Romans and acted accordingly. The authorities did not know Paul and Silas were Roman citizens so they were treated like mere foreigners without local rights and privileges, and Jewish ones at that. When anti-Semitic feelings run high, justice also flees. Paul could have declared, “I am a Roman citizen!” But, evidently, Paul only chose to use his Roman citizenship when if furthered the advancement of the gospel, not when it merely personally advantageous for him to do so. Paul’s sense of identity came first from his faith in Yeshua, secondly from his Jewish heritage, and only thirdly from his Greco-Roman heritage.³⁸³

After inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into a maximum security prison, ordering the jailer to guard them securely (see the commentary on the Life of Solomon Af – Prisoners for ADONAI). Having received this charge, he threw them into the inner prison, a dungeon with no light or air except what came through when the door was opened, and fastened their feet in the stocks (16:23-24).³⁸⁴ But all those safeguards were to prove futile. Like Herod (12:6-11) and the Great Sanhedrin (5:1925) before them, the chief authorities at Philippi were to learn that no prison can hold those whom God wants released.³⁸⁵

Salvation for a Jailer’s Household

We are not surprised to find Paul and Silas miraculously delivered from jail. It had happened before, to the apostles (see Au – The Apostles are Persecuted) and to Peter (see Bk – Peter’s Persecution and Deliverance). After having been severely beaten, they found themselves in a filthy dungeon. Their feet were fastened in stocks designed to induce painful cramping by spreading their legs as wide as possible. In spite of it all, they maintained a joyful attitude.³⁸⁶ But about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were intently listening to them (16:25). The night lacks the kindness of the day when demands and activities can distract us. But despite their anguish, their prayers ascended before the throne, and God gave them sings in the night (Job 35:10). Prayers come naturally when we are in agony – but songs? Their voices were unchained, penetrating walls and bars. We can preach the gospel in many ways, but the message is never clearer than when God’s people refuse to cease their praises during intense suffering. In their bondage, Paul and Silas were free to sing; they were also free to stay.

Suddenly their songs were eclipsed by the rumblings of an earthquake, and there was such a great earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken before an awesome God. Immediately all the doors were unlocked, and everyone’s chains came loose from the walls. When the jailer woke up from the earthquake and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing the prisoners had already escaped. According to Roman law, if a prisoner escaped, the jailer who was in charge had to suffer his sentence. This accounts for the despair of the jailer in this case. He preferred death by his own hand to being tortured to death, which obviously awaited some of the condemned prisoners who had supposedly escaped.³⁸⁷ But Paul could see what was about to happen and cried out with a loud voice, saying: Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here (16:26-28)!

Sometimes ADONAI frees us from chains so we can turn our backs on our slavery and walk away like Peter did (see Bk – Peter’s Persecution and Deliverance). He was free to leave. As a result, the Messianic community that was praying for his release was encouraged. Other times, however, God frees us from chains so we can remain where we are to share the message of freedom with other captives.³⁸⁸ When the jailer called for torches and rushed in; and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. It was obvious that the jailer saw something divine what had just happened. After he brought them out of the jail, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved” (16:29-30). He had overheard the prayers and singing of Paul and Silas and he knew they had the message of salvation. Now he was ready for understanding. The miracle of the earthquake and the prisoners who wouldn’t escape got his attention and prepared his heart to receive Pau’s message.

It could not be put any simpler. They said: Put your trust in the Lord Yeshua and you will be saved – you and your household. At some point the jailer’s household entered the picture. Luke did not specify when.³⁸⁹ But unlike the rich young ruler (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Il – The Rich Young Ruler), his family, servants, and perhaps relatives or guests who were staying with him all heard the gospel. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him, along with everyone in his household (16:31-32). When the gospel is preached to hearts prepared by God, results are inevitable. The jailer and each members of his household were saved.

The truth that salvation is wholly by faith in the Lord Yeshua Messiah permeates the Scriptures. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved (4:12)! That marvelous truth was at the heart of the teaching of the emissaries (Acts 2:38, 5:14, 8:12, 10:43, 11:17 and 21, 13:12 and 38-39, 14:1, 15:11, 17:12, 18:8). Yeshua Himself declared: I AM the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me (John 14:6). It is also the constant there of the epistles (Romans 3:20-25, 5:1; First Corinthians 6:11; Galatians 2:16, 3:24; Ephesians 2:8-9; Second Timothy 3:15; Titus 3:7).

To believe in the Lord Yeshua Messiah means, first, to trust that He is who He claimed to be. The emissary Yochanan declared: But these things have been written so that you may believe that Yeshua is Mashiach Ben-Elohim, and that by believing you may have life in His name (Yochanan 20:31). Secondly, it means to believe what He did. Paul concisely summarized the work and ministry of Yeshua this way: For I also passed on to you first of all what I also received, that Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (First Corinthians 15:3-4). To the Romans he wrote: For if you confess with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart it is believed for righteousness, and with the mouth it is confessed for salvation (Romans 10:9-10).³⁹⁰

Four of his actions show that the jailer’s salvation was sincere. First, he took Paul and Silas that very hour and washed their wounds (John 13:35). Second, he and all his household were immersed and at once. By that act they publicly identified themselves with Yeshua Messiah. Though the hour was late, other people were no doubt were still outdoors because of the earthquake. Third, the jailer brought them to his house and set food before them. Paul and Silas apparently accept what was set on the table without any question. Although it is doubtful whether the jailer gave thought to providing a “kosher meal,” particularly in the middle of the night and in the aftermath of a rather severe earthquake, he may well have served something permitting to Paul and Silas to eat – or they at least ate what they could of what he offered.³⁹¹ Finally, he was overjoyed that he with his entire household had put their trust in God (16:33-34). A short time earlier he was ready to commit suicide. Now he was overflowing with the joy that comes from knowing one’s sins are forgiven (Psalm 32:1; Romans 4:7). Only God can turn around a life so quickly.

What about the other prisoners? Luke doesn’t give us any of the details, but we must assume that they stayed also; otherwise, the jailer would have suffered the consequences of their sentences and no evidence of that exists. It is quite possible that some of them were also born again through the witness of Paul, Silas and the jailer.³⁹²

The departure from Philippi: When the next day came, the chief authorities sent their police officers, saying, “Release those men.” But the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief authorities have sent orders to release you. So come out now, and go in shalom.” But now Paul was the accuser and not the victim, and he said to the officers, “They have beaten us publicly without a trial – men who are Roman citizens – and have thrown us into prison. And now they are sending us away secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and lead us out” (16:35-37)! Paul had the upper hand. This would be a public acknowledgement that they were wrong. The treatment of Paul and Silas, being Roman citizens, was illegal in three different ways: (1) binding them in stocks; (2) beating them; and (3) failing to give them a trial. Since claiming falsely to be a Roman citizen was punishable by death, usually no one questioned someone’s claim since the penalty was so severe.³⁹³

The police officers reported these words to the chief authorities. They became afraid for their own lives when they heard that they were Roman citizens, so they came and apologized to them. They did exactly as Paul wanted them to do. After they escorted them out of the prison, they continually kept on begging them to leave the city because the chief authorities knew that they were in danger of being punished themselves under Roman law. What a reversal of fortune. Paul and Silas had been treated as criminals and were innocent. But, the chief authorities who condemned them now found themselves as the genuine lawbreakers! When Paul and Silas went out of the prison, they did not leave Philippi immediately, but instead, visited Lydia’s house to further the gospel. And when they saw the brothers and sisters, they encouraged them and then departed (16:38-40). So a church had been planted in Philippi, to which the letter to the Philippians would later be written.³⁹⁴

The wealthy business woman, the exploited slave girl (who was probably saved as a result of the exorcism), and the rough Roman jailer had been brought into brotherly and sisterly relationship with each other and with the rest of the Philippian church. True, they experienced some tensions, and in his letter to the Philippians, Paul had to exhort them to stand firm in one spirit – striving side by side with one mind, united in spirit, with one purpose (Philippians 1:27, 2:2).³⁹⁵

Once again Satan’s plans were frustrated and overruled by ADONAI’s sovereign control of events. The persecution of the Adversary unleashed to destroy the Philippian church merely added another household to it and gained its protection from the city’s chief authorities. For those who boldly preach the gospel and praise Him no matter what the circumstances, YHVH stands ready to turn persecution into production. As the Church father Tertullian wrote in his book, the Apology, said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” But as we will see later in the book of Acts, it is just as true that the growth of the Church almost always leads to persecution.

Deep calls to deep, Lord, in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and Your breakers have swept over me. You will send Your faithful love by day; Your song will be with me in the night – a prayer to the God of my life (Psalm 42:8-9). I cling to this hope, and pray for a song.³⁹⁶

Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi
16: 11-15

50-51 AD

Lydia’s conversion in Philippi DIG: Compare verse 13 with 14:1 and 17:2. What does the fact that there was no synagogue in Philippi mean with respect to the Jewish community there? How did that affect Paul’s strategy for his ministry? Why did these women meet near a river? What did Lydia have to do with Thyatira? What was unusual about her name? Was it a surprise that she also sold purple fabrics? What are the we or us passages about?

REFLECT: How did the Lord open your heart to respond to the gospel? What people did he use as part of the process? Where do you have an “open door” for ministry right now? In your home? School? Work place? Community? How will you step in and fill it?

As a result of Paul’s vision of a man from Macedonia pleading with him, saying: Come over and help us (16:9), Luke tells us that we (Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke) put out to sea from Troas. By this time, Luke had joined the missionary team and traveled with them (to see link click Bx – Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia: A closer look at the “us” or “we” passages and sea passages) and gives some details or their voyage across the Aegean Sea. They made a straight course for Samothrace and stayed that night. It was a rocky island, about half way between Troas and Philippi, whose jagged peak rises to 5,000 feet above sea level. They must have enjoyed a favorable wind to complete their 150-mile journey in only two days, since it took them five days on their return (20:6). The next day we sailed on to Neapolis. They did not stop to preach in Neapolis, but from there continued on to Philippi, about ten miles inland – that Luke notes was a leading city of the district of Macedonia as well as a Roman colony. We stayed in this city for several days (16:11-12).

They didn’t think of themselves as passing from the continent of Asia to Europe. These terms were in use, but the Aegean was Greek on either side. They had, instead, the excitement of approaching a new province, bringing them nearer to Rome. They knew that beyond Macedonia they could reach Achaia and Italy, and the vast lands of Gaul, Spain, Germania, even the mist-bound island of Britain lately added to the empire; all except Rome untouched by the Good News. They were not bringing military might or a political program; just four men – and Another, invisible.³⁶⁹

Philippi was an important Roman colony city, in fact, the only such colony that Luke actually describes as such. It lay on the Via Egnatia, the main east-west route across Macedonia, connecting Rome with its eastern provinces. While the city was originally built and fortified by Philip of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great, about 358 BC and named after him, the Philippi that Luke and Paul knew was a metropolis run on Roman principles and Roman law. This is a very important fact as the story develops. Roman citizenship was highly valued in such a place. The city prospered not only because it was in a very fertile region, but because there were still active mines in the area, especially gold mines.

Philippi was a military city. When Antony had been defeated by Octavian in 31 BC, he not only made the city a Roman colony, but he even gave Philippi the ius italicum, the legal character of a part of Italy, even though it was outside Italy. This was the highest honor that could be bestowed on a provincial city, for it meant that the Philippians were self-governing, exempt from poll and land taxes, and they could purchase or sell land and engage in civil lawsuits. It was, in short, a microcosm of Roman life at that time.

Finding no synagogue on Yom Shabbat, we went outside the gate to the Gangites River, where we expected a place of prayer to be. But how did Paul know that there would be a prayer meeting by the river? Jewish custom and the Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law) said that if there were not enough sufficient Jews in the area to maintain a synagogue, then the public worship should take place in a clear area, preferably by a river so there would be easy access for a mikveh, or ritual immersion. Paul knew that Philippi’s Jewish community was too small to form a synagogue. A minyan (a quorum of ten men) would have been enough for a regular synagogue service, and a modified version of the service could proceed with fewer men, or even with no men and only women, as is the case here. And Luke said that we went to the river, found a small group of women, sat down (the normal posture for teaching) and began speaking with them (16:13).³⁷⁰ Lacking a man to lead them, these women met to pray, read from the TaNaKh, and discussed what they had read. To be taught by a traveling rabbi such as Paul was no doubt a rare privilege.

It is significant that the first people Paul preached to in Europe were women. Those who reject his teaching on the role of women often caricature him as a male chauvinist. But he was not prejudiced, as his eagerness to speak to this group of women shows. Paul’s attitude was in sharp contrast to that of his fellow Pharisees. They would not lower themselves to teach a woman, and regularly in their rote prayers they thanked ADONAI that they were neither a Gentile, a slave, or a woman. Paul’s teaching also ran counter to the treatment of women in Greco-Roman society. He valued the ministry of women such as Phoebe (Romans 16:1), the various women among those he greeted in Romans 16:3ff, and even Euodia and Syntyche (Philippians 4:2-3).³⁷¹

There by the river, Paul encountered a certain woman named Lydia (16:14a). We’ve seen Paul have more thrilling encounters. Nothing outwardly dramatic happened. Almost seemed ho-hum, didn’t it? Was this all that God had in mind – one woman’s reception of the gospel – when He resisted Paul’s plan to preach His Word in the direction he was headed (see Bx – Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia)? But after temporarily closing a door in the province of Asia, ADONAI strained Paul’s eyes to see a much wider vision. The gospel of Yeshua Messiah went to Europe! Within a couple hundred years, Christians numbered in the tens of thousands in Europe. When we hear people say, “When God closes a door, He opens a window,” sometimes we just might be underestimating Him. In this case, He closed a door and opened a continent. And it all started with a businesswoman named Lydia.³⁷²  (Art by Sarah Beth Baca: see more information on Links and Resources).

Luke presents five cameos of important believing women in a variety of roles they assumed (see
Bd – Signs and Miracles Follow Peter: A closer look at Luke, Women and Ministry), and she was one of them. Because her home was located in the Roman province of Lydia, it is likely that Lydia was not so much her personal name as the name of her business. She was a seller of purple cloth from the city of Thyatira (16:14b), the site on one of the seven churches of Revelation (see the commentary on Revelation Bc – The Church at Thyatira), which was the part of Asia Minor called Lydia. Royalty and the wealthy knew Thyatira for producing purple dyed goods and it was obviously a very profitable business. The fact that Lydia had a house (61:15) large enough to accommodate the four missionaries and some from the emerging church at Philippi (16:40) points to her wealth. She may have been known as the Lydian lady. Three sequential aspects of Lydia’s conversion stand out in the narrative.

First, she was a worshiper of God (16:14c NASB). There were three levels of Gentile relationship to Judaism. The first level was God-fearers, these were Gentiles who became convinced that ADONAI was the only true God, they abandoned their paganism and idolatry, but they did not choose to become a proselyte in any form. There was no adoption of Jewish customs or practices (see Be – The Centurion’s Vision). The second form is the proselyte of the gate. This was a Gentile who adopted many Jewish practices like celebrating Shabbat and the feasts of Isra’el, but did not become a full proselyte. Most of these were men because this category didn’t require circumcision. Then you had full proselytes who were total converts. Most of these were women.³⁷³ So it seems that Lydia was a proselyte. Hers was a seeking heart, and she had already turned from pagan idolatry to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Lydia’s seeking was the first step of her spiritual liberation. Yet she, like all sinners, did not seek God on her own until He sought her. In Romans 3:11, Paul wrote: There is no one who understands, no one who seeks after God. And Yeshua added: No one can come to Me unless My Father who sent Me draws them (John 6:44).

Second, not only was Lydia seeking, but she was also listening (Greek: ekouen, the imperfect verb here suggests more than one meeting) to the gospel proclaimed by Paul (Romans 10:17). Many hear the sound of the life-giving message preached without really listening to it (16:14d). They are like Paul’s companions on the Damascus Road, who, although they heard its sound, did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking (Acts 22:9). Our Lord condemned those who heard without listening (Matthew 13:11-17).³⁷⁴

And third, the Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying (16:14e). Here we have the divine side of conversion. We are all spiritually dead. Just as dead as if we were physically at the bottom of the ocean with our lungs full of water. If that were the case, we could not save ourselves physically. We are dead. The same is true spiritually (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13). God always has to make the first step toward us in the salvation process. Like Lydia, we are saved when we respond to the light God has given us. This is the human side of conversion. When the gospel does come to us, it is not only in word, but also in the power of the Ruach ha-Kodesh and with full conviction (First Thessalonians 1:6). But to be sure, this does not remove our responsibility to repent and believe once the gospel is understood.³⁷⁵

As was customary in the early Messianic Community/Church, Lydia, along with her household (she was a wealthy woman with household servants) were immersed immediately after their conversion, no doubt in the Gangites River near a place of prayer. Immersion is the outward sign of an inward conviction. It is the believers’ identification with Yeshua Messiah and is an act of obedience, but plays no role in salvation. After her immersion she urged us (all four of the missionaries) to accept her hospitality, saying: If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house. And she insisted (16:15). Hospitality is required of all believers (Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:2; First Peter 4:9), especially women (First Timothy 5:10) and leaders in the congregations of God (Titus 1:8). It was critical in the ancient world, where inns were often unsuitable for believers to stay in. They were filthy, dangerous, expensive, and often little more than brothels. To make a home where travelers could be exposed to the love of Messiah, family life and fellowship was a high priority for believing women (First Timothy 5:9-10). Lydia’s hospitality gave proof that she was a truly liberated woman (John 13:35).³⁷⁶

We must not conclude that because ADONAI opened Lydia’s heart, Lydia’s part in her conversion was entirely passive. She listened attentively to the spoken word (Greek: rhema) of Paul, and it is the word that brings a sinner to the Savior. I tell you, whoever hears My word and trusts the One who sent Me has eternal life. [That person] does not come into judgment, but has passed over from death into life (John 5:24). The same God who ordained the end, Lydia’s salvation, also ordained the means to the end, Paul’s witness of Yeshua Messiah. We should always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits for salvation through the sanctification by the Ruach and belief in the truth. He called you to this salvation through the proclaiming of the Good News, for you to gain the glory of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah (Second Thessalonians 2:13-14).³⁷⁷

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia
16: 6-10

50 AD

Paul’s vision of the man of Macedonia DIG: Who spread the gospel to the province of Bithynia? Why was Macedonia so important? Note the change from “they” to us in verse 10. How does this relate to Luke 1:3-4? How and why is this closed door pivotal?

REFLECT: How sensitive are you to the direction of the Ruach ha-Kodesh? When was the last time He told you “no!” How did you respond? Did you plow ahead anyway? How did that work out for you? Or did you obey? In hindsight, what did you avoid? With so many possible reasons for feeling led a certain way, how do you sort out the voice of the Holy Spirit from all others? How would you advise someone to navigate this? God still calls people to the mission field. Perhaps many today will encounter a “Macedonian man” who will call them out to the mission field. Might you be one of those people?

These verses provide a brief summary of Paul’s travel’s that eventually lead him to Troas, an important part on the coast of Asia. What this passage suggests is that while Paul seems to have planned to head directly across Galatia and into the province of Asia, and perhaps on to Ephesus, not once but twice ADONAI had to correct his course.³⁶⁶

Having passed through the Phrygian region of the province of Galatia, Paul decided to move further west to the Roman province of Asia, in the western part of Asia Minor (now part of Turkey), but he was forbidden by the Ruach ha-Kodesh to speak the word there. This explains why they had to go to Phrygia and Galatia . . . because they had been forbidden to speak the gospel in Asia Minor. But that area was an important one, and in the future there would be churches in such cities as Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Ay – Write, Therefore, What Is Now). We don’t’ know how they were forbidden, but Paul was eventually allowed to go there on his Third Missionary Journey (16:6). Paul was being guided by hindrance. The Ruach ha-Kodesh often guides as much by the closing of doors as He does by the opening of doors. God knows what He is doing when He says, “No.”

When they came to Mysia (northwest of Phrygia), they were trying to proceed into the province of Bithynia on the coast of the Black Sea (north of Galatia). First and Second Peter were written from this area (First Peter 1:1) so it seems that Peter was the one chosen by ADONAI to evangelize this region. But the Ruach of Yeshua (this is the only reference to the Spirit of Jesus in the New Covenant) would not allow them. This was the only time that the Ruach is referred to by that title. He is referred to as the Ruach of Messiah in Romans 8:9, and the Ruach of Messiah Yeshua in Philippians 1:19. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas (or to give it its full name, Alexandria Troas), on the coast of the Aegean Sea. It was the seaport of Mysia and a free Greek city in Paul’s day (16:7-8). More importantly, however, it was the main port-of-call between Asia Minor and Macedonia. From Troas, Paul might have traveled in several different directions, but the matter was settled by God Himself.

That night, God made Paul’s direction clear. Now a vision appeared to Paul in a dream. Luke implies that, having arrived in Troas during the day, Paul received a vision at night. A man from Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, saying: Come over to Macedonia and help us (16:9). A call to help is often a cry to save in the Bible (Genesis 49:25; Exodus 18:4; Deuteronomy 33:26; Psalm 10:14; Isaiah 41:10). The greatest help we can bring to anyone is the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. This would be the first entry of the gospel into the continent of Europe, completely uncharted territory. Strategically, Macedonia also served as the link between Rome and the whole eastern part of the Roman Empire. Having received the divine vision, however, Paul did not hesitate.

As soon as he had seen the vision (see Bf – Peter’s Vision: A closer look at visions or dreams), immediately we tried to go to Macedonia (across the Aegean Sea to the mainland of Greece), concluding together that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them (16:10). At this point – in mid-sentence – Luke slips into the first of the we passage in Acts. The shift from they in verse 8 to we here probably means that Luke joined the other missionaries in Troas. The Gentile author Luke traveled with Paul, and reports his own experiences. Like Timothy, Luke was to be Paul’s faithful friend and loyal companion for the rest of his life. Verse 10 is the first of the us passages in Acts. They will continue until 16:17 and resume at 20:5. The question is often asked, “Who is included in this we passage?” So, let’s take a more detailed look at them.

A closer look at the “us” or “we” passages and sea passages: We must first admit that the author seldom intrudes himself directly into the text. There are only a few parenthetical remarks (17:18 and 21). So we must ask why here? Why now? Why this? Well, Luke was present for a very limited amount of time with Paul during the Second Missionary Journey and more extensively during the Third Missionary Journey. The author does not wish to make a great deal of his own personal participation in these events, especially since he seems only to have been an observer and recorder of the actions and words of others, and so he quietly and subtly includes the us or we passages, without fanfare, and thus without introduction.

Luke’s played a role other than that of “minister of the word,” that is, a coworker in the gospel in the usual sense of fellow evangelizer or helper in church planting. Perhaps, he was the team’s doctor. More attention should be paid to the fact that Paul sometimes practiced his trade as he traveled from city to city, and perhaps some of his traveling companions did as well. It is quite possible that Luke lived in Troas of perhaps Philippi and traveled back and forth between those cities. This would account for the brief us or we passages during Paul’s Second Missionary Journey, and why they occur just where they do. We would then have to assume that by the time of the Third Missionary Journey, Luke had agreed to travel with the group for a more extended period of time.³⁶⁷

Yeshua, You have taught me in Your Word that no wisdom, no understanding, and no counsel will prevail against You (Proverbs 21:30). May I never be guilty of choosing my personal preferences and inclinations over Your clear guidance. And when I am unsure about Your specific directions, may I be willing to wait for You, knowing that You give me my food at the right time. And when You give it to me, I gather it, when You open Your hand, I will be satisfied with good (Psalm 104:27-28).³⁶⁸

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
16: 1-5

50 AD

Timothy joins Paul and Silas DIG: Who did Timothy replace on Paul’s Second Missionary Journey? Why was Timothy viewed as a Jew and not a Gentile? Since Paul was the emissary to the Gentiles, why did Paul circumcise Timothy (Romans 16:1)? How might his decision be justified?

REFLECT: When have you given up some personal rights in order to better represent Yeshua to others? How might you need to do so now? Are you more person-oriented (like Barnabas) or task-oriented (like Paul)? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your type? What does this tell you about God’s use of various types of people? Think of one of your dearest friends. What are the unique qualities you most appreciate about this person? What have you learned about yourself through this rare relationship? What elements of your life and your past – things you have often deemed to be a negative or a drawback – could God use to make you more effective in ministry, even to make you a better friend?

The decision by the Jerusalem council (to see link click Bs – The Council at Jerusalem) to release Gentiles from observance of all the 613 commandments of the Torah, and the Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law), set in motion a time of transition for the congregation of God. Gentile believers were no longer merely a sect of Judaism. Faith in Jesus Christ was rapidly becoming a predominantly Gentile movement. The story, as told in Acts, shifts attention to the gospel’s penetration deep into the Roman world and to the widening ministry of Paul.³⁶²

According to the plan, Paul proceeded northward, this time on foot, through the Cilician gates to the cities where he and Barnabas had established churches on their First Missionary Journey. This time Paul and Silas (15:40-41) went from east to west and therefore reached the towns in the reverse order from their first visit: Derbe first, then Lystra, and finally Iconium.

Now Paul and Silas, having crossed the rugged Taurus Mountains, came to Derbe and Lystra in south Galatia. There was a disciple there named Timothy (16:1), who was already a believer when Paul arrived, probably accepting Yeshua in Paul’s First Missionary Journey to Lystra three years earlier. We know it was Paul who led him to the Lord (First Timothy 1:2) and then he became a traveling companion during Paul’s Second Missionary Journey. Timothy’s name appears seventeen times in ten different letters of Paul, more than any of his other companions. Two of Paul’s letters, First and Second Timothy, were addressed to him. Paul wanted Timothy to take the place of John Mark, just as Silas took the place of Barnabas. Timothy was continually well-spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium (16:2). Even though he was probably only in his late teens or early twenties, this shows that he had the approval of the churches in his own area. In fact, the elders at the church at Lystra may very well have commissioned him (First Timothy 4:14 and Second Timothy 1:16).³⁶³

We know that Timothy, his name meaning God honoring, was trained in the Hebrew Scriptures from childhood (Second Timothy 3:14-15). He was the son of a woman, Eunice (Second Timothy 1:5), who was a Jewish believer, probably as a result of Paul’s First Missionary Journey, for Paul called him my dearly loved son and faithful child in the Lord (First Corinthians 4:17a). His grandmother was also Jewish and her name was Lois. They were excellent spiritual models (Second Timothy 1:5). Young Timothy undoubtedly witnessed Paul’s stoning in Lystra (Acts 14:19-20; Second Timothy 3:10-11), but he was drawn to the apostle by the Lord. Timothy possessed spiritually valuable abilities, but he needed encouragement to use them (First Timothy 4:14; Second Timothy 1:6). He was Paul’s favorite companion and coworker (Philippians 2:19-23), perhaps the son Paul never had but always wanted. Timothy’s biological father, however, was Greek. The word father is in the imperfect state, which shows that he had already passed away.

Because his father was Greek, it put the Jewishness of Timothy into question. Many Christians believe that Timothy was a Gentile. Nevertheless, while legal responsibilities and entitlements are passed from father to son, Jewish and non-Jewish descent are always traced through the mother, not the father. The child of a Jewish mother and a Gentile father is Jewish, the child of a Gentile mother and a Jewish father is Gentile. If a Gentile woman converts to Judaism, she is a Jew, and her subsequent children are likewise Jewish.

In Ezra we read: Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Isra’el. So now let us make a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Torah.” The phrase and such are born to them, implies that the children of Jewish fathers and Gentile mothers are Gentiles and not Jews. That is why on Ezra’s return, the Jews confessed their sin of marrying Gentile women (Ezra 10:1-4).

Obed, the son of Bo’az and Ruth the Moabitess is Jewish not because of his father Bo’az, but because Ruth became a Jew before he was born, not by some formal conversion process (there was none at that time) but with her confession (see the commentary on Ruth An – Your People Will Be My People and Your God My God). Because marrying outside the Jewish community violates the Oral Law, I think the most likely explanation for Timothy’s mixed heritage is that Timothy’s mother, Eunice, like many Jews today, was assimilated into the dominant Gentile culture around her and simply did not observe halakhah, or the rules governing Jewish life. The conclusion that Timothy was a Jew is important for understanding 16:3.

Paul wanted this man to accompany him, replacing John Mark, and he took him and circumcised him, which implies that he had an expert mohel (circumciser) perform the operation. While Paul had both Jewish ritual knowledge (22:3) and at least some manual dexterity (18:3), circumcising an adult is not a simple operation and normally requires a specialist. So Paul had Timothy circumcised for the sake of the unbelieving Jewish people in those places (Romans 16:1). Paul didn’t want Timothy’s uncircumcision to provide a stumbling block for the gospel. The Good News itself contains the stumbling block of Messiah’s death (1 Cor 1:23), and effective proclaimers of the gospel will remove all other stumbling blocks that they can. That is the point: Paul anticipated a problem and solved it.³⁶⁴

Paul’s pattern in the book of Acts was to first visit Jewish synagogues wherever he went (see Bo – Paul’s Message in Pisidian Antioch). So without circumcision, it would have limited Timothy’s ministry to the Jews. Therefore, Paul was not violating the position he took back in Acts 15, because the issue there was whether circumcision was required for Gentiles such as Titus . . . and the answer was no (Acts 15:19). But Timothy had Jewish origins (see above) and according to God’s covenant with Abraham, circumcision was required for Jews and Jewish believers (see the commentary on Genesis El – God’s Covenant of Circumcision with Abraham). This is also a good example of Paul using his own principle of First Corinthians 9:20, “To the Jewish people I identified as a Jew, so that I might win over the Jewish people. To those under Torah I became like one under Torah (though not myself being under Torah), so that I might win over those under Torah.” This was especially necessary for they all knew that he had Jewish origins on his mother’s side, but that his father was Greek (16:3). This was the reason Timothy was not circumcised. His Greek father was against it because Greeks were against those kinds of practices. In fact, when the Greeks controlled the Land they outlawed circumcision even for Jews. Consequently, Timothy’s not being circumcised was well known among the Jewish population and for the sake of obedience to the Abrahamic Covenant, and evangelism to unbelieving Jewish people in those areas, Timothy submitted to circumcision.

As they were traveling through the cities, they visited the churches that they established (see Bm – Paul’s First Missionary Journey) and were continually handing down the ruling (see Bt – The Council’s Letter to the Gentile Believers) that had been decided upon by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, for them to keep (16:4). The circumcised Timothy was also with them at that point. Therefore, the ruling said that there was no need to circumcise Gentiles; however, Timothy was traveling with Paul and had just recently been circumcised. This showed that Paul saw no inconsistency with what the rulings of Jerusalem said about the circumcision of Gentiles and the circumcision of Timothy because his Jewish origins required it. In addition, instead of making Timothy a sideshow to the gospel in terms of whether he was a Jew or not, Paul permitted circumcision so that the gospel would remain the focus of their ministry.

In the years that followed, Timothy played an important part in the expansion and strengthening of the churches. He traveled with Paul and was often his special ambassador to the “trouble spots” in the ministry, such as Corinth. He became a shepherd of the church at Ephesus (First Timothy 1:3), and probably joined Paul in Rome shortly before the apostle was martyred (Second Timothy 4:21).³⁶⁵

This is a transition statement that provides reasonable clues to the development of Luke’s material that follows, Paul’s ministry in Asia and a shift to Gentile missions. The decision by the Jerusalem council, far from dividing the congregations of God, helped to unite it, for it made clear that idolatry and immorality were all that Gentile believers must avoid to have fellowship with Jewish believers. Thus, Messiah’s communities were strengthened in the faith and now with the basis of salvation settled, the congregations of God kept increasing daily in number (16:5). They flourished. Now, more than ever, they were prepared to carry on when Paul left.