God Protects Paul (Part 2)
Notes
Transcript
11 But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.”
As we came to a close last week, we were able to see that God spoke to Paul while in the barracks. His message: “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.”
This phrase, “Be of good cheer” is rendered in other translations, “Take courage”. In other words, God was telling Paul not to fear, don’t worry, for I have a plan for you.
What was that plan? God was going to use Paul as a witness in Rome, just like He had done in Jerusalem.
A couple of things:
If Paul was to be used as a witness in Rome, what did this mean for Paul? It meant that he was at least going to get to go to Rome. He could not be a witness for God if he was dead.… at least not yet.
Notice that it says God was going to use him in Rome as he had used him in… where? Jerusalem! All of Paul’s missionary trips took place outside of Jerusalem. He traveled North of Jerusalem and West of Jerusalem when he was planting churches, preaching the Gospel to lost individuals, discipling those God had entrusted to him, etc.
Paul’s witness in Jerusalem consisted mainly of defending the faith from those in worldly power over him: His fellow pharisees and other religious groups, the Sanhedrin Council, his Jewish brethren, and even some Romans.
So when God says that He is going to use Paul in Rome, it does not mean necessarily that He is going to set Paul free, that Paul is going to be planting churches, or that Paul is going to do any of those things which he was accustomed to doing while out on the road so to speak. This more likely means that God is going allow Paul to speak truth into the ears of those in power over him, just as he had done Jerusalem.
12 And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
13 Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy.
“some of the Jews”
It does not tell us who these Jews are. Maybe some of them were part of the council. Maybe some of them were from the different religious groups. Maybe… these men were just over-zealous Jews who had been stirred up from the recent events and were looking for a way to become part of the religious groups.
Regardless who they were, they were fellow Jews who were looking to get rid of Paul.
“Bound themselves under an oath”
They were so determined to get rid of Paul, that they “bound themselves under an oath”. The words used here means that they pledged to one another, to the council, and before God, that a certain curse would come upon them if they broke their agreement. This means, regardless of what happened, even circumstances outside of their control, they were bound by this oath to fulfill it or starve. If they broke it, they would have been considered weak men mentally, and incompetent to serve in any capacity before their fellow Jews.
This is why it is very important to be extra careful with oaths. We are told in Scripture that it is better not to make oaths at all, because we simply do not know what may happen. Many different things could happen that are outside of our control.
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’
34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.
37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
“To fight against God is to bring cursing into your life”
These men were truly passionate about their motives, even to the point of being over-zealous. They had bound themselves by an oath with an attached curse, but they were working against God Himself. This is a beautiful picture of how operating in sin willfully brings about negative results in our lives.
I truly believe that as the leader of my home, when my heart is not where it needs to be with God, or I have sinned against God in doing something, I can directly see the negative results of that in my family. It is almost as if the very next day, that everything is haywire: someone wakes up in a bad mood, someone is cranky, everything just seems to go wrong that day, etc.
14 They came to the chief priests and elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul.
15 Now you, therefore, together with the council, suggest to the commander that he be brought down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to make further inquiries concerning him; but we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”
Now they have matters worse, because they have persuaded others, the religious leaders at that, to join in on their conspiracy. It is one thing to have some wayward Jews after Paul, but now the men who are responsible for the spiritual oversight of the Jewish people are in on the scheme.
This is nothing less than premeditated murder. These Jewish leaders might have considered themselves innocent since they were not the ones actually killing Paul, but they were accomplices of the murder, which in God’s eyes would make them just as guilty.
16 So when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their ambush, he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.
17 Then Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him.”
18 So he took him and brought him to the commander and said, “Paul the prisoner called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to say to you.”
19 Then the commander took him by the hand, went aside, and asked privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?”
20 And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more fully about him.
21 But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them lie in wait for him, men who have bound themselves by an oath that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him; and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you.”
22 So the commander let the young man depart, and commanded him, “Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me.”
Here is the variable that they had not considered: Paul’s nephew hears of the plan and goes to Paul to warn him.
How?:
Maybe the young man was a disciple of one of the religious leaders and just so happen to be present when the news was shared. In this case, he would be following in Saul’s footsteps and might have even been considered a prodigy of sorts.
Maybe one of these over-zealous men was spouting off at the mouth and said too much when listening ears was present. It is possible that the boy was too young yet to be a part of the religious system since it tells us that “the commander took him by the hand” and led him aside to have the conversation (Acts 23:19).
Either way, the boy hears of what is being planned and carries the information to Paul and the Roman officials.
Though this Roman official has been annoyed by the fact that he still doesn’t know why these Jews are trying to kill Paul, there are at least two areas of caution with this discovered plan:
Paul is a free-born Roman citizen. Because of this, Paul has certain rights that must be protected by the Roman guards. If Paul were to be killed under this man’s watch, it could end badly for him as well.
If these men were going to attack his garrison, this would mean lives lost, on both sides, and a possible uproar from the people as a result. This would also end badly for him.
23 And he called for two centurions, saying, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night;
24 and provide mounts to set Paul on, and bring him safely to Felix the governor.”
25 He wrote a letter in the following manner:
26 Claudius Lysias, To the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings.
27 This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with the troops I rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman.
28 And when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, I brought him before their council.
29 I found out that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but had nothing charged against him deserving of death or chains.
30 And when it was told me that the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him immediately to you, and also commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against him. Farewell.
31 Then the soldiers, as they were commanded, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.
32 The next day they left the horsemen to go on with him, and returned to the barracks.
33 When they came to Caesarea and had delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him.
Hearing of the plan that had been set in motion, Lysias determines that the best plan of action is to get Paul out of there and get him somewhere else. Not only is he sending Paul to a higher ranked Roman official, he is also sending Paul into a territory that is more heavily guarded with Roman officers. This would not only protect Paul from the Jews, but it would also allow him to wipe his hands of the situation.
Bet even beyond that, another plan has been set in motion. It is not the plan of the Jewish men or of Lysias, but rather the plan of God. This move for Paul gets him one step closer to exactly where God told him he would be… Rome.
This boy did not overhear the conversation by random happens-chance. This was an act of God and a means to move Paul exactly to where He wanted Paul to be. Paul is going to be set before Roman officials a couple of more times, each one being higher ranked than the previous one. And each time, Paul is going to be able to present the Gospel to them. God is good and takes care of His people.
