Luke continues the narrative of his journey with Paul and his companions on their way to Jerusalem. We read how Paul's companions are also hearing from the Holy Spirit of what is to come in Jerusalem. They are begging Paul to not go, but Paul know the Spirit is telling him TO GO. You see that while the Spirit is preparing the people for the loss of Paul, in their love for him and maybe in their fear of the loss of him, they are reacting in a way to change the plan and will of God. Paul sees this but is not to be swayed...he has an appointment in Jerusalem...and beyond!
Paul continues on the journey, finally reaching Caesarea, about as close as you can get to Jerusalem by sea. See map below for details (look right above Jerusalem):
In Caesarea, Paul visits Phillip the Evangelist. If we look back to Acts 8, we see the story of Phillip. Remember, he is the one who met with the Ethiopian eunuch to explain the Gospel...and much more evangelizing. He is also one of the seven listed in Acts 6, when the Apostles named seven people to run the administration of the Church. If you want to see more of the Biblical example of this, see Exodus 18 for Moses example. One interesting thing to note: While their "job" was administrative, their job description was that they need to be "full of the Spirit and wisdom"...when we look for administrative roles or jobs in our churches and ministries, do we look mostly at skills or at spiritual skills?
Well, Phillip has 4 daughters, who prophesied. The verse says they are all unmarried, so we may assume that they are specially dedicated to the Lord and He is blessing them for it. That is not a call for us to necessarily follow that lead but it may be an example of Paul's message in 1 Corinthians 7...
Agabus, the prophet, is the next prophet to appear. Do they grow on trees here in Caesarea? Let's take a moment to look at a prophets. What is the modern definition? Most of us would say "someone who tells the future", really meaning a fortune teller, soothsayer, or other person who can predict the future. That is a warping of the word. If you review what a prophet is in the Old Testament, you see that a prophet really is someone who is given a message by God for someone or for His people. That is the role, exclusively. It can be of the future or of the present. We are not to seek the modern "prophets", look at Isaiah 8:19. It is usually very hard to be a prophet, as the message is often hard to deliver and can mean pain or death to prophet. In the New Testament, John the Baptist was the first prophet we run across. His message: repent for the kingdom of Heaven is here. So, has God stopped sending messages in this way? I'd say no but that does not mean we listen to all who claim prophet status. But when the Spirit pushes us to speak out for Him, or to confront a friend who is going into the weeds, or to tell of our testimony (even the tough stuff in it), He is calling His new prophets...are you listening for the call?
Agabus comes and does a strange thing...he takes Paul's belt and ties up his hands and feet with it...saying, "In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles." Wow, not a message that your would want to hear, huh? Immediately, everyone jumps in to tell Paul to not go to Jerusalem (even Luke - "we gave up" verse 14). Paul insists he is ready for this mission from God, the one he has been travelling on for a long time, since that road in Damascus.
There is an interesting parallel here to an earlier event. In John 21:18 Jesus says to Peter, "I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Is this not the same message as Agabus has for Paul? I see a strong parallel between the message for Peter and Paul. By the time they both faced this arrest, prosecution and death, they were ready to die for Him. Surely both had spent a lot of time in their lives trying to avoid pain and death, like most of us would do or have done. We must understand that both were Apostles of the Master and had been prepared for this journey.
After arriving in Jerusalem, Paul goes to James and the other elders of the Jerusalem church. He makes his report and they marvel at how the thousands have believed...but also know the animosity that Paul has stirred up in the Jewish leaders. They are telling all that Paul is pitching out their customs and heritage and, worse yet, to reject Moses. Why the Moses note? Because he is the written source for the heritage, at least the early part that came directly from God. This is a huge accusation...one that would always lead to punishment.
The Elders suggest a plan: an Nazarite vow, with four other men. We have discussed this vow in Chapter 18. The message here seems to be that Paul would surely not be a defamer of their traditions if he then proceeds to do one of their toughest and most difficult traditions, a vow that goes all the way back to Sampson and beyond. But we see that it is no good...the reaction is exactly what they fear and the attack on Paul is immediate.
The turns into a riot until the Roman Chiliarch (think commander of 10 Centurions - 1000 soldiers) sends in the troops to bust some heads and put down the riot. There were likely many. many people hurt until the riot stopped. The soldiers are even forced to carry Paul to get him back to their "barracks" (really it was more of a prison). They were unable to even get a clear story from the mobs. Paul asks to speak and the commander gets his first surprise of the day: Paul speaks Greek. Why is this surprising? Because they assumed Paul was an Egyptian false prophet who had led a revolt in the past. Josephus, the ancient historian tells of this tale. The leader escaped but many were killed in the put down of the revolt. You see two things are true here: one is that the Romans immediately thought all riots were an attack on them and, secondly, the Jews in Jerusalem were getting a reputation for revolt and unrest. This is not healthy in ancient Rome...
As we leave this Chapter, Paul is allowed to address the crowd...very unusual. God is at work here...
May God bless you as you seek Him in the Word...
D
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