"Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared." (Ben Gurion)
Paul was bound in the spirit to go to Jerusalem. Everywhere he went, the Holy Spirit testified that chains and tribulation awaited him there. Yet, none of these things moved him; none of the anxieties and feelings that went along with these warnings could move him from following the call on his life. His life had been bought by the precious blood of Christ and if the Lord chose for Paul's life to be used in tribulation and chains, who was Paul to contest that?
Paul testified to these things as he spoke to the Ephesian elders. He turned over the leadership and responsibility of the church to these men. He warned them that the wolves would come in and that some would rise up among them teaching perverse things. We know that the church of Ephesus would lose it's first love in just twenty to thirty years.
Acts 21:1-6
In verse one, we see the 'we' again as Luke, the author, is with Paul again. The ship ran a straight course to Cos, then on to Rhodes and the Petara. 'Running a straight course' is a single word. They went straight to Cos without further deviation. Cos is a narrow and long island where they turn the corner and begin to make their way along the southern edge of Asia. Cos was the home town of Hippocrates. Rhodes and Cos are both Greek islands off the coast of Turkey. Rhodes was home of the Colossus; this is 100-foot-tall statue of Titan, a mythical Greek god. This statue was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. They continued along the coast of the Aegean Sea to Patara on the southernmost tip of Turkey. This was the last stop before hitting the open water of the Mediterranean.
Luke gives us a firsthand account of sailing on the open seas. About halfway across the Mediterranean they saw Cyprus and passed it on the left. They continued on to Syria and landed at Tyre where they unloaded their cargo. This was a 400-mile journey on the open sea that took at least 5 days.
In Tyre the unloaded its cargo. Paul, Luke and the others went ashore and found some disciples there in the port. Luke doesn't tell us a lot about their time spent with the local Christians. You know there was discussion on their well being, the strength of their church, ongoing persecution in other areas, and so on. Somewhere in their discussion, prayer and time together, the Holy Spirit must have given these believers a prophecy or word that there was danger in Jerusalem. They perceived this danger as a warning not to go. Paul had heard this message before. Everywhere he went he heard this message of warning! Yet, he felt compelled by the Spirit to go. The message and warning of impending danger may be more for the disciples and for us today. God sometimes leads us in difficult and treacherous situations for His purpose. This message is mostly lost today. Remember Paul was bound in the spirit to go Jerusalem. This 'being bound' was a firm direction. Paul had to go; it's all he could do. The Spirit said there would be danger but never told Paul not to go. I think we have to believe Paul understood the prompting of the Spirit and made allowance that these people were sincere in their concern for Paul.
Paul was right where God wanted him. As much as we hate to hear it, God doesn't always direct us to the most favorable of circumstances. But He takes unfavorable circumstances and shows himself to be sovereign to work in them. When that happens, God gets all the glory.
Paul, Luke and the others stayed with this fellowship for seven days. They shared their lives with each other. I'm sure they heard of Paul's travels and all that was happening in Asia. I'm sure they prayed and shared and worshiped. When it came time to leave it was another bittersweet departure. These people and their families followed Paul, Luke and the others out of the city as they headed back to the ship. Then they all had a time of prayer on the shoreline and said their goodbyes. Paul and company boarded the ship as the disciples of Tyre went home.
Acts 21:7-11
The ship left Tyre and hopped along the coast of Syria. The final stop on the ship was Caesarea. Paul and company went to stay with Philip the evangelist. Philip is the only one is scripture given the title of evangelist. The bible makes a point of telling us that he was one of the seven. This refers back to Acts 6:3 where seven were chosen to serve; their character and qualifications were given. The fellowship of believers was growing and a complaint came up from the Greek Jews (Hellenistic). They said their widows weren't getting the same treatment as the Hebrews widows. The disciples appointed seven people to serve at the tables and address this problem. Philip was one of those seven.
Philip had four unmarried daughters. The word translated 'virgin' is not strictly a designation of sexual status but just as much as 'maiden' and could be seen as term of endearment. Josephus said two of these daughters were buried with Philip at Hierapolis. They were very old and unmarried. A third lived in the Holy Spirit and died in Ephesus. There are other records indicating that they lived to an old age, remained unmarried and were active in the church.
The bible doesn't tell us if the four daughters prophesied to this group in any way. Instead, it says this prophet Agabus came down from Judea and like an Old Testament prophet acted out the prophecy. The prophet took Paul's belt and tied his own hands and feet; giving prophecy of what was before him.
Acts 21:12-14
All these people that saw Agabus act out the arrest of Paul and begged him not to go to Jerusalem. For most, this was a warning, as if Paul should avoid this. For Paul, it was seen as indication of God's will and purpose. The prophecy was from God. The pleading and handwringing over it was not. The Holy Spirit revealed that Paul would be arrested. It was definitely an opportunity to trust God. Paul knew what he was walking into. He knew things were going to get bad.
The disciples and friends weren't doing as well in the trust department as Paul was. They saw trouble and wanted him to stay away. They saw this prophecy as a warning and opportunity to run, Paul saw it as an opportunity to trust. Paul was willing to be bound or even die in the name of Jesus.
Acts 21:15-19
Caesarea was SE of Jerusalem on the plain. This group surrounding Paul all packed their bags and headed up to Jerusalem together. Mnason is a Greek name, showing this wasn't just a group of Jewish Christians supporting Paul. We don't know much about Mnason other than he was a disciple of longstanding. This could mean he was saved at Pentecost. Because he knew the Greek culture, he might have been the one to help them in their stay; a kind of tour guide.
Paul was welcomed by the brethren. The elders, those now in charge of the church, were briefed on all that had happened on Paul's missionary trip. The language implies that he gave them specific stories one by one and didn't leave out any details. This marks the end of the 3rd missionary journey. The remainder of the book is all focused on Paul's journey to Rome.
Acts 21:20-25
The elders told him of all the Jewish believers in Jerusalem. Some of these believers still kept the law but not because they believed it had anything to do with salvation. They were saved by Grace and took part of the Jewish traditions as part of the practice of their faith. Others taught that Paul wanted them to forsake their heritage when they became believers. Because Paul was saying they were saved by grace alone many thought he was rallying the church against their traditions and heritage. Paul was a Jew and had a great passion and desire to see his brothers saved.
By going to the temple with other Jews and taking part in a vow, Paul would be visible to others, still acting as a Jew and put to rest the rumors spread about him. The vow may have been a Nazarite vow, or it could be James's encouragement to enter into a vow for this same purpose.
The church had previously established what was asked of gentiles as it related to the law. A gentile Christian didn't have to keep the laws of the Jews. But the council offered the advice to refrain from things offered to idols, from blood, things strangled and from sexual immorality. These were the things causing people to stumble at that time.
Acts 21:26-29
The consecration, purification and vows were no small thing; this took 7 days. The act of paying for these others was an act of piety surely to be noticed by his critics. This would help establish Paul's belief and put down the rumors.
The Goal was unity with the followers of Christ. Both Jew and Gentile believers should be of one mind. Those who believed in Salvation by keeping the law would be forced to stand in another camp or rethink their position. The crowds around the temple and city were larger than normal because it was the feast of Pentecost. The Jews from Asia were probably from Ephesus because they recognized Trophimus.
Paul had almost completed the 7-day process when these guys recognized him. They immediately launch accusations at him. They brought 3 charges against Paul.
- They claimed he taught Jews to forsake their heritage.
- They claimed Paul opposed the law.
- They accused him of blaspheming and defiling the temple.
These were men of the law who brought these serious charges. They taught circumcision, sacrifices, dietary laws, feasts and Sabbaths. They taught you had to keep the law to be in right relationship with Christ. There were 613 laws plus all the ones they made up. Paul taught salvation by grace.
These Jews assumed Paul had brought Trophimus into the temple area. It was illegal for a gentile to go past the court of the gentiles. The Roman authorities had granted the Jews the death penalty to any offender.
If Paul would have brought Trophimus into the inner courts, it would have been sure death for him. Paul knew this and wouldn't have risked his friend's life for something that didn't hold all that much meaning to him.
Acts 21:30-36
This reaction seems to come out nowhere. The crowds were immediately whipped up into a frenzy of anger. They grab Paul and are ready to put him to death. They drag him out of the temple so his dead body wouldn't defile it. The temple guards shut the doors behind them.
This is one of those situations where you know there had to be a great spiritual battle going on. Suddenly, all the city was disturbed. The battle was raging on somewhere behind the scenes. These people are driven to seize Paul. Once again, we see a crowd controlled by a few people they see as trouble makers.
A mob has many heads and no brains. (Ben Franklin)
This evil was coming against Paul. Satan must've thought he had him and would silence him finally. He was going to shut him up and shut down the spread of the gospel. Satan wanted Paul dead. The unthinking crowd became the willing tool of Satan. They would have been horrified had they known the truth. However, what was intended for evil was exactly what God allowed and ordained. Paul was getting his ticket to Rome.
Paul was willing to accept whatever outcome the Lord established for him. Here he was, a man who had given everything for the furtherance of the gospel. In addition, he had a burden for his own countrymen, but they wanted no part of it. They rejected him and his message angrily.
In the Roman empire, nearly anything was acceptable but a riot. They did not like nor did they accept a public uprising. People were expected to be calm and orderly and happy. The response was always quick when a mob broke out. The soldiers showed up and they stopped the beating of Paul. They took him and put him in chains – two of them for good measure. The two chains mean Paul was handcuffed between 2 soldiers. You know Paul had to remember the prophecy of Agabus about then.
They took Paul back to the barracks to find out what was going on and get away from the confusion of the mob. They carried him because of the violence of the crowd intent on killing him.
Acts 21:37-40
I'm surprised Paul could speak after getting beat by this mob. The Roman commander first thought Paul was an Egyptian terrorist. This Egyptian was a false prophet who had promised to drive out the Romans a few years prior. Before he could get the job done, his troops were killed by the Romans. He managed to escape. The commander assumed Paul was this man probably because of an accusation made in the crowd. He was surprised that Paul was an educated man and could speak Greek. This alerted him that his assumption was wrong.
Paul begged to speak to the crowd. He stood on the steps and quieted the crowd. He had to be nervous. This was the opportunity of a lifetime. If he just said the right words……maybe some would be saved.
©2008, 2014, 2021 Doug Ford, Calvary Chapel Sweetwater
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