Paul's ministry to Tyre,
Ptolemais, Caesarea, Jerusalem, ending the third Journey (Acts 21)
By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce
Christian Art Ministries:
Biblical precepts & Gospel music
Scriptures reading Acts
21:1-6 to Tyre
1 After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed
straight to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara.2
We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. 3
After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We
landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. 4 Finding
the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they
urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 But when our time was up, we
left and continued on our way. All the disciples and their wives and children
accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt ot pray. 6
After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned
home.
To Ptolemais
7 We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we
greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day.
To Caesarea
8 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of
Philip the evangelist one of the Seven. 9 He had four unmarried
daughters who prophesied. 10 After we had been there a number of
days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to
us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The
Holy Spirit says, “In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of
this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.” 12 When we heard
this, we and the people there pleased with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13
Then Paul answered, “Why
are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but
also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and
said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
To Jerusalem, Paul with
the Jerusalem church, ending the Third Journey.
15 After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16
Some of the disciples form Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home
of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early
disciples. 17 When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us
warmly.18 The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James,
and all the elders were present.
The negative influence of Judaism
19 Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God
had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to
Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of
them are zealous for the law. 21They have been informed that
you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses,
telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs.
22 What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come,
23so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a
vow. 24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay
their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody
will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself
are living in obedience to the law. 25 As
for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they
should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of
strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”
26 The next day Paul took the men and
purified himself along with them. Then he
went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification
would end and the offering would be made for each of them.
Paul’s journey to Rome, arrested and seized by
the Jews
27
When the seven days were
nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They
stirred up the whole crowd and seized him. 28
shouting, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men
everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has
brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place.” 29
(They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and
assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.: 30 The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from
all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately
the gates were shut. 31 While they were trying to kill him, news reached the
commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an
uproar. 32He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to
the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped
beating Paul.
33 The commander came up and arrested him and ordered
him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.
34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since
the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that
Paul be taken into the barracks. 35When Paul reached the steps, the
violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36The
Crowed that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!” 37 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
desert some time ago?” 39 Paul answered, “I
am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me
speak to the people.” 40 Having received 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.
Verse 1 Luke obviously enjoyed
describing a sea voyage. His masterpiece comes later (chapter 27).
Verse 4 In 20:23 the Holy Spirit
made known to Paul that bonds and afflictions awaited him in Jerusalem. Now the
Spirit took a further step to tell him, through some members of the Body of
Christ, not to go to Jerusalem. Since Paul practiced the Body life, he should
have taken this word and obeyed it as a word from the head.
Verse 8 Wherever Paul went, he
visited the brothers and stayed with them. He was actually practicing the Body
life of the church, living according to what he taught concerning the Body of
Christ.
Verse 11 Again, the Holy Spirit
told Paul beforehand, indirectly through a member of the Body of Christ, what
would befall Paul in Jerusalem. This was again a warning in the nature of a
prophecy, not a charge. It was again the Head speaking through His Body. Since
Paul practiced the Body life, he should have listened to this speaking.
Verse 12 Including Luke, the
writer. Here the Body of Christ, through many members, expressed its feeling,
entreating Paul not to go to Jerusalem. But because of his strong will,
manifested in his readiness even to sacrifice his life for the Lord. He would
not be persuaded, forcing the members of the Body of Christ to leave this
matter to the will of the Lord. (v.14).
Verse 17 This was the end of
Paul’s third ministry journey, which began in 18:23.
Verse 20 Indicating that the
Jewish believers in Jerusalem still kept the law of Moses, remained in the Old
Testament dispensation, and were strongly under the Judaic influence, mixing
God’s New Testament economy with the outdated Old Testament economy.
Verse 21 To forsake the law of
Moses, not to circumcise, and not to
walk according to the customs of dead letters are actually according to God’s
New Testament economy. But these were considered by the unbelieving Jews, and
even by the Jewish believers in Christ, to be apostasy from God’s Old Testament
dispensation.
Verse 24 To be purified with the
Nazarites was to become a Nazarite with them, join them in the fulfilling of
their vow. The same word is used in the Septuagint in Num.6:3 in describing the
Nazarite’s duties. To take the Nazarite vow was a purification before God. The
cost of the offering, which a Nazarite had to pay for the completion of his
purification (Num.6:13-17). This was very expensive for the poor Nazarites. It
was a custom among the Jews, and was considered proof of great piety, that a
rich person would pay for the poor the expenses of the offerings. To be done at the completion of the Nazarite
vow (Num.6:18). This shaving differed from the shearing in 18:18, which was for
a private vow. Pay their expenses. Paul
was being asked to pay the expenses involved in the offerings required at the completion
of the Nazirite vow these four men had taken (Num.6:13-21). He was being urged to
take actions that would indicate that he was, after all, a “middle of the road”
Jewish –Christian.
Verse 26 Participating in their
Nazarite vow. To do this Paul had to enter into the temple and remain there
with the Nazarites until the completion of the seven days of the vow, then the
priest would offer the offerings for each one of them, including him. Surely, he
was clear that such a practice was of the outdated dispensation, which
according to the principle of his teaching in the New Testament ministry,
should be repudiated in God’s New Testament economy. Yet he went through with
it, probably because of his Jewish background, which had also been manifested
earlier in his private vow in 18:18, and probably because he was practicing his
word in 1 Cor.9:20. However, his toleration jeopardized God’s New Testament
economy, this God would not tolerate. At this point he must have felt that he
was in a predicament, and he must have been deeply troubled, longing to be
delivered from it. Just at the time when their vow was to be concluded, God
allowed an uproar to rise up against him, and what they intended to accomplish
was blown away (v.27). Moreover, by God’s sovereignty Paul was rescued out of
his predicament.
The Mixing of Judaic practices
with God’s New Testament economy was not only erroneous in relation in God’s
dispensation but also abominable in the eyes of God. This gross mixture was
terminated by Him a mere ten years or so later with the destruction of
Jerusalem and the temple, the center of Judaism, through Titus and his Roman
army. This rescued and absolutely separated the church from the devastation of
Judaic.
God might have tolerated Paul’s
carrying out of a private vow in 18:18, but He would not allow Paul, a vessel
chosen by Him not only for the completing of His New Testament revelation
(Col.1:25) but also for the carrying out of His New Testament economy (Eph.3:2,
7-8), to participate in the Nazarite vow, a strict Judaic practice. In going to
Jerusalem, Paul’s intention might have been to clear up the Judaic influence on
the church there, but God knew that the church there was incurable. Hence, in
His sovereignty God allowed Paul to be arrested by the Jews and imprisoned by
the Romans that he might write his last eight Eptistles (chapter 25), which
completed the divine revelation (Col.1:25) and gave the church a clearer and
deeper view concerning God’s New Testament economy (Eph.3:3-4). Thus. God left
the Judaism influenced church in Jerusalem to remain as it was until the
devastating mixture was terminated with the destruction of Jerusalem. For Paul
to write his last eight Epistles to complete God’s New Testament revelation was
far more important and necessary than for him to accomplish some outward works
for the church.
Verse 28 God’s New Testament
teaching according to His New Testament economy was indeed against the Jews,
who opposed God’s New Testament economy was indeed against the Jews, who
opposed God’s New Testament economy (Matt.21:41, 43-45; 22:7;23:32-36; Acts
7:51;13:40-41), against the law of dead letters (Rom.3:20,28;
6:14;7:4,6:Gal.2:19,21; 5:4), and against the holy place, the temple
(Matt.23:38 24:2; Acts 7:48). Since Paul’s ministry was to carry out God’s New
Testament economy, it could not please the Jews, who were possessed and usurped
by Satan, the enemy of God, and were instigated by him to oppose and ravage
God’s New Testament move. Hence, it offended the Jews and was opposed to the law
and the temple, for which they were zealous, and it stirred up their jealousy
and hatred to the uttermost, so that they made a plot (20:3) to do away with
Paul (vv.31,36). Brought Greeks into the temple. Verse 29 explains that the crowd
assumed (though it was untrue) that Paul had taken Trophimus, a Gentile, into
the inner courts of the Temple, which were reserved for Jews only. This was an
offense punishable by death.
Verse 31 A chiliarch, in command
of one thousand troops or a cohort.
Verse 38 The Egyptian. The historian Josephus records such as event in A.D.54.
The leader disappeared. The tribune jumps to the conclusion that Paul is he.
Verse 40 Aramaic, the language
then used in Palestine.
Bibliography,
King James, The
Holy Bible (KJV), Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company
Ryrie, Charles
C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute,
1986
Lee, Witness. The
New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.
No comments:
Post a Comment