Tag Archives: Egyptian

ACTS THE SEQUEL…USELESS DEFENCE – 55

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“As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” “Do you speak Greek?” he replied. “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness some time ago?” Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.” After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic:”…

‭‭Acts‬ ‭21‬:‭37‬-‭40‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Did Paul really think that this irrational mob would listen to him? They had already pronounced him guilty. They had already determined that he must die. If it were not for military intervention, he would have already been dead at the hands of this “kangaroo court”. For once, thank God for the Romans. 

“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today…”

Paul did the best thing under the circumstances…he told them his story….a detailed account of all that had happened in and after that fateful moment on the way to Damascus when he met Jesus, culminating in what Paul thought would bring reason to this mob in this situation…Jesus’ instruction to him to go to the Gentiles. 

 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭22‬:‭1‬-‭3‬, ‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

That did it! Mention of the word “Gentiles” was the trigger! The crowd erupted in rage! 

“The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!””

‭‭Acts‬ ‭22‬:‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Once again the commander intervened but…with ruthless Roman tactics…flogging! 

“As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭22‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Why did Paul need to be flogged? Why such cruelty to get him to talk? Once again, Paul appealed to his Roman citizenship into which he was born, to save himself from torture. 

“As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?” When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.” The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I am,” he answered. Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied. Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭22‬:‭25‬-‭29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The commander quickly backed down. He was in trouble. He had arrested and chained a Roman citizen…a man who had special privileges because of his citizenship. His next best move was to set Paul before the Jewish counsel that had accused him. Let them determine the reason for his arrest. 

“The commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭22‬:‭30‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Bad plan! Why?

 Paul and his opponents operated in two different worlds and functioned under two different authorities. The Jewish leaders were locked into the world of religion…its principle of operation, control. Control was the way they handled every situation except this one. Try as they did, they could not control Paul because Paul was not living under human domination but under divine ownership and voluntary submission to divine authority. He took orders from a higher power and refused to submit to illegitimate authority. 

Slowly, as the situation unfolded, both the Jews and the Romans lost out on their plan to rule Paul. The God in whom he trusted and to whom he gave allegiance, used the very powers they exercised to accomplish His own purposes and fulfil His own promise to His faithful servant.  

To be continued

THE BOOK OF ACTS – IF GOD BE FOR US

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IF GOD BE FOR US

“The captain came up and put Paul under arrest. He first ordered him handcuffed and then asked who he was and what he had done.  All he got from the crowd were shouts, one yelling this, another that. It was impossible to tell one word from another in the mob hysteria, so the captain ordered Paul taken to the military barracks. But when they got to the Temple steps, the mob became so violent that the soldiers had to carry Paul. As they carried him away, the crowd followed, shouting, ‘Kill him! Kill him!'” Acts 21:33-36 (The Message).

How many times had Paul been in a similar situation? In almost every city he had preached, he had faced being lynched, either by Jews or enraged Gentiles stirring up violence against him for some perceived grievance. This was religious bigotry at its worst.

His ploy to appease the opposition hadn’t worked. They were not taken in by his shaved head and pathetic attempt to convince them that he was a good Jew. His reputation had gone before him and it took only one tiny spark of hatred to set the whole city alight. Roman soldiers or no Roman soldiers, the mob was determined to get him this time, once and for all.

It was only divine intervention that could save him, and it came to him in the form of Roman authority which, at this moment, was on his side. This little Jewish colony was a constant thorn in Rome’s side. There had to be a strong military presence here to keep the volatile crowd from erupting over any little religious nit-picking especially when it came to the issue of Jesus of Nazareth.

Some thirty years before, representatives of the city had made their choice. ‘His blood be upon us and upon our children,’ they had yelled at Pilate. Not only had they chosen to speak for themselves but they had also implicated their descendants in their decision to reject their Messiah and consign themselves to the unbelief that has dogged their nation down the centuries.

For Paul there was one tiny light at the end of the tunnel — Rome. He was not going to die here at the hands of the Jews, no matter their intention, because God had assured him that he would testify to His grace in Rome. As scary as his situation was, he was assured of divine protection and he could rest in the presence and promise of God.

“When they got to the barracks, and were about to go in, Paul said to the captain, ‘Can I say something to you?’

“He answered, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you spoke Greek. I thought you were an Egyptian who not long ago started a riot here and then hid out in the desert with his four thousand thugs.’

“Paul said, ‘No, I am a Jew, born in Tarsus. And I’m a citizen still of that influential city. I have a simple request. Let me speak to the crowd.'” Acts 21:37-39 (The Message).

Surprise! The Roman captain thought he had to do with yet another marauding gang leader, not an educated, Greek-speaking, respectable citizen of an influential city in the Roman Empire. That put a different slant on things. God was slowly building His protective shield around Paul, growing respect for him in the heart of the Roman captain which would stand him in good stead in days to come.

Once again Paul was learning that the safest place to be was in the will of God because he was untouchable in the worst of circumstances as God’s plan for him unfolded. When David was a fugitive from the murderous hatred of Saul, he also experienced a safe place in God. To Abiathar, son of the murdered priest, Ahimelech, he said, “‘Stay with me, don’t be afraid. The man who is seeking your life is seeking mine also. You will be safe with me.” 1 Samuel 22:23 (NIV).