[Linux4christians] Saturday - Acts 23

Fri Nov 4 20:19:57 EDT 2011

    Saturday

      Acts 23

23:1 Paul looked directly at the council and said, "Brothers, I have 
lived my life with a clear conscience before God to this day." 23:2 At 
that the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike 
him on the mouth. 23:3 Then Paul said to him, "God is going to strike 
you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit there judging me according to the 
law, and in violation of the law you order me to be struck?" 23:4 Those 
standing near him said, "Do you dare insult God's high priest?" 23:5 
Paul replied, "I did not realize, brothers, that he was the high priest, 
for it is written, '/*You must not speak evil about a ruler of your 
people*/.'"

23:6 Then when Paul noticed that part of them were Sadducees and the 
others Pharisees, he shouted out in the council, "Brothers, I am a 
Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the 
resurrection of the dead!" 23:7 When he said this, an argument began 
between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 
23:8 (For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, or angel, or 
spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.) 23:9 There was a great 
commotion, and some experts in the law from the party of the Pharisees 
stood up and protested strongly, "We find nothing wrong with this man. 
What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" 23:10 When the argument 
became so great the commanding officer feared that they would tear Paul 
to pieces, he ordered the detachment to go down, take him away from them 
by force, and bring him into the barracks.

23:11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Have 
courage, for just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you 
must also testify in Rome."

The Plot to Kill Paul

23:12 When morning came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound 
themselves with an oath not to eat or drink anything until they had 
killed Paul. 23:13 There were more than forty of them who formed this 
conspiracy. 23:14 They went to the chief priests and the elders and 
said, "We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath not to partake of 
anything until we have killed Paul. 23:15 So now you and the council 
request the commanding officer to bring him down to you, as if you were 
going to determine his case by conducting a more thorough inquiry. We 
are ready to kill him before he comes near this place."

23:16 But when the son of Paul's sister heard about the ambush, he came 
and entered the barracks and told Paul. 23:17 Paul called one of the 
centurions and said, "Take this young man to the commanding officer, for 
he has something to report to him." 23:18 So the centurion took him and 
brought him to the commanding officer and said, "The prisoner Paul 
called me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has 
something to tell you." 23:19 The commanding officer took him by the 
hand, withdrew privately, and asked, "What is it that you want to report 
to me?" 23:20 He replied, "The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul 
down to the council tomorrow, as if they were going to inquire more 
thoroughly about him. 23:21 So do not let them persuade you to do this, 
because more than forty of them are lying in ambush for him. They have 
bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink anything until they 
have killed him, and now they are ready, waiting for you to agree to 
their request." 23:22 Then the commanding officer sent the young man 
away, directing him, "Tell no one that you have reported these things to 
me." 23:23 Then he summoned two of the centurions and said, "Make ready 
two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea along with seventy horsemen and 
two hundred spearmen by nine o'clock tonight, 23:24 and provide mounts 
for Paul to ride so that he may be brought safely to Felix the 
governor." 23:25 He wrote a letter that went like this:

23:26 Claudius Lysias to His Excellency Governor Felix, greetings. 23:27 
This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, when I 
came up with the detachment and rescued him, because I had learned that 
he was a Roman citizen. 23:28 Since I wanted to know what charge they 
were accusing him of, I brought him down to their council. 23:29 I found 
he was accused with reference to controversial questions about their 
law, but no charge against him deserved death or imprisonment. 23:30 
When I was informed there would be a plot against this man, I sent him 
to you at once, also ordering his accusers to state their charges 
against him before you.

23:31 So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and 
brought him to Antipatris during the night. 23:32 The next day they let 
the horsemen go on with him, and they returned to the barracks. 23:33 
When the horsemen came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the 
governor, they also presented Paul to him. 23:34 When the governor had 
read the letter, he asked what province he was from. When he learned 
that he was from Cilicia, 23:35 he said, "I will give you a hearing when 
your accusers arrive too." Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard 
in Herod's palace.

      Prayer

Lord, You exposed the false teachers for the apostates that they were, 
and You protected Paul via the secular Roman authorities so that he 
could be Your instrument in Rome. May I rest in the truth that You 
preserve that which is necessary to Your great and perfect plan.

      Summary & Commentary

When Paul declared a clear conscience before God the high priest Ananias 
[a common name] ordered those near Paul to strike him [because he had 
preached Christ and had done so to the Gentiles, therefore they thought 
him a liar and now a heretic]. Paul chastised them for violating the 
law, they replied that to say so insulted the high priest, and Paul 
apologized as he had not known that Ananias was "ruler of the people". 
[Note: The leadership rotated because of the distrust and competition 
among the religious leaders; Paul had been away for several years and 
had lost touch with the powers-that-be.

Also, Paul referred to Exodus 22:28, which forbade disrespect for God or 
the leader of His chosen people. Paul was not respecting the apostate 
who held the office but the office itself - he would continue to call 
upon them all to turn away from their false teaching as had Jesus before 
him.]

Paul then played the Pharisees against the Sadducees on the matter of 
resurrection, on which he knew that they strongly disagreed, and the 
argument became so heated that the commander removed Paul again to the 
barracks. The night the Lord encouraged him that he would share the same 
testimony in Rome.

Some among the religious leaders plotted to kill Paul but his nephew 
heard of it and informed him, and he sent him to the commander who 
transferred him under heavy guard to the Roman Governor of the region, 
Felix, in Caesarea. Based on the letter from the commander in Jerusalem 
Felix had Paul confined and guarded in Herod's palace until the 
religious leaders could arrive to present their charges against him.

      Interaction

        Consider

One must carefully separate respect for an office from an endorsement of 
a person or a policy. While the Bible teaches us to pay our taxes, to 
obey and respect secular and religious authority (so long as they do not 
demand that we disobey God), and to pray for our leaders it nowhere asks 
Christians to be silent about sin.

        Discuss

Why would the Romans care if the Jews killed Paul?

        Reflect

Paul's history was of a zealous commitment to the truth, as he knew it 
at the time, first as a zealous "Pharisee of Pharisees" (as he put it) 
then sold-out to Christ when the blinders of tradition were removed.

        Share

When have you observed people with power attempting to silence someone 
who was attempting to expose the truth?

      Faith in Action

        Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a secular or Christian leader for 
whom He wants you to pray that they listen to God.

        Action:

Today I will search my own Christian walk for the kind of zealous 
commitment to Christ that empowered Paul to be so bold.

        Be Specific ______________________________________________________

             Sunday's text will be:  Acts 24:1-23

-- 

Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you,
Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!
David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Savannah-Statesboro needs a Bible College/Seminary!
Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com
Bible Resources: http://bible.org
Teacher's Verse: John 7:16
I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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