Acts 9 Part 1
Notes
Transcript
Handout
C.S. Lewis, who initially approached Christianity with skepticism and scorn as a former atheist, became a renowned apologist for the faith after a profound conversion experience. His literary works, such as 'Mere Christianity' and 'The Chronicles of Narnia,' reflect his journey from opposition to embracing the truth of Christ. Lewis exemplifies how a vigorous intellect can be a vehicle for faith, inspiring many to reconcile doubt with belief.
And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
What has Paul been doing since we last heard of him at Stephen’s murder?
Persecuting the church.
What does it mean when it uses the word ‘slaughter’?
The Greek word φόνος -ου, ὁ; (phonos) literally means to murder.
Murder is the unlawful act of killing a human being by another human being.
Today there are many different classifications of murder, for instance: First degree murder, second degree murder, and manslaughter. Each of these carry out different definitions and purposes but truth be told it is all murder.
What were these letters Paul received from the high priest?
Documents allowing him to legally persecute the church.
With these letters what could Paul do if he found a follower of Christ?
Arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem to try them before the Sanhedrin.
The precise meaning and origin of the word “Damascus” remains uncertain[1], though scholars have proposed various interpretations. One etymological suggestion renders it as “Activity” or “moist with blood,”[2] while another connects it to the famous silk cloth produced there, known as damask.[3]
What is clear is the city’s historical significance and geographic importance. Damascus served as the capital of Aram/Syria[1] and sits east of Mount Hermon at the edge of the Syrian desert, owing its survival to the perennial Barada River, the surrounding fertile Ghuta plain, and caravan routes connecting Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Arabia, and Egypt.[1] The Barada River is essential to the city’s existence—without it, Damascus could not sustain itself in such an arid region.[4]
Archaeological evidence suggests the city was occupied at least as early as the 3rd millennium,[5] making it one of the oldest existing cities in the world.[1] The earliest written reference appears in an inscription of Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III from 1482 BC.[5] In biblical times, Damascus was known for producing wool and silk,[4] contributing to its prominence as a commercial hub along major trade routes.
[1] Willem VanGemeren, ed., in New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 4:495.
[2] Stelman Smith and Judson Cornwall, in The Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names (North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos, 1998), 57.
[3] William Wilson, “Damascus,” in Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies (McLean, VA: MacDonald Publishing Co., n.d.), 108.
[4] Thomas Cornman, “Damascus,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). [See here, here.]
[5] Wayne T. Pitard, “Damascus,” in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, ed. David Noel Freedman, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B. Beck (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000), 308.
What happened as Paul came close to Damascus?
A light shined around him.
περιαστράπτω (periastraptō), vb. flash around; shine around. aor.act. περιήστραψεν. Verb Usage 1. to flash round — to shine round something with intensely bright light; perhaps as brightly as lightning.
Rick Brannan, ed., Lexham Research Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, Lexham Research Lexicons (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020).
What was Paul’s response to the light?
He fell down to the ground.
What does the bible mean when Jesus says ‘it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks’?
First — the term used here is referring to a spur or sharp object used to prod oxen, if an oxen kicked back against them, it would only hurt itself.
κέντρον, τό, (κεντέω) any sharp point: 1. a horsegoad, Lat. stimulus, Il., etc.: also an ox-goad, Plat.;—proverb., πρὸς κέντρα λακτίζειν, v. λακτίζω 2. b. metaph. a goad, spur, incentive, Aesch., Eur. 2. an instrument of torture, Hdt.:—metaph. in pl. tortures, pangs, Soph. 3. the sting of bees and wasps, Ar.; of a scorpion, Dem.; metaph. of the impression produced by Socrates, ὥσπερ μέλιττα τὸ κ. ἐγκαταλιπών Plat. 4. the stationary point of a pair of compasses, the centre of a circle, Id.
H.G. Liddell, A Lexicon: Abridged from Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996), 428.
Jesus employs a proverbial image from ancient Greek tradition: goads were sharp sticks used to prod oxen, and if an ox kicked back against them, it would only injure itself. The proverb was commonly used to speak of futile resistance.[1]
When Jesus tells Paul, “it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks,” (Acts 9:5) he’s conveying that Paul’s persecution of Christians is ultimately self-defeating and futile. The meaning is that it was useless and injurious to resist Christ by persecuting his disciples.[2] Jesus meant that Paul should yield to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and believe in Jesus.[1]
The saying carries a deeper dimension beyond the immediate moment. Paul had been “kicking against the pricks” for some time through misgivings and warnings he had resisted—including Gamaliel’s counsel, Stephen’s angel-like face and dying prayer, and the daily witness of believers willing to suffer rather than renounce Jesus.[2] Paul had already been pricked in his conscience, like an ox that kicks against the goad when prodded.[3]
Rather than condemning Paul harshly, the rebuke demonstrates tenderness—not accusing him of wickedness, but rather showing the futility of his resistance.[4] To resist the call of Christ is a hard and profitless task, one beyond man’s power to sustain.[2] The proverb thus functions as both a gentle correction and a call to surrender to what Paul’s own conscience had already begun to recognize as true.
[1] Thoralf Gilbrant, “Λακτίζω,” in The New Testament Greek-English Dictionary (WORDsearch, 1991). [See here, here.]
[2] Philip Schaff, ed., The Gospel of John and the Acts, 4 vols., A Popular Commentary on the New Testament (New York;Edinburgh: Charles Scribner’s Sons;T. & T. Clark, 1880), 352.
[3] C. H. Spurgeon, “Paul’s Parenthesis,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1908), 142.
[4] C. H. Spurgeon, “Kicking against the Pricks,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1866), 493.
How does Paul respond to the proverb of kicking against the prod?
Fear and astonishment.
Do you think Paul understood the deep meaning Jesus was speaking? How do we know based off his response?
I think Paul’s response “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” reveals that he understood the proverb and realized that his efforts were futile.
What was the Lord’s instruction to Paul?
Arise and go into the city and you will be told what to do.
Also want to stop here for a moment because this is a good lesson on God’s will.
Did God give Paul a 10 year plan?
No.
Did Paul know based off what the Lord told him what would happen with his life?
No.
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
What was Paul to do when he got to Damascus? Based off verse 6?
Wait and it will be told to you.
The great lesson for God’s will here is that God’s will is always in the present and we must live in God’s will and not in the future wondering, worrying, scheming. But rather letting God reveal to us and direct us as we live for Him day by day.
Who else were witnesses of the light and voice?
The men who traveled with Paul.
Why did the men have to lead Paul to Damascus?]
He was blinded for three days.
Who does God have waiting for Paul in Damascus?
Ananias.
What does Ananias name mean?
God is merciful.
ANANIAS (PERSON) [Gk Hananias (Ἁνανιας)]. Probably a transcription of the not uncommon Hebrew name ḥănanĕyāh, “God is merciful,” with a Greek ending. Here we are concerned with five individuals who bore this name.
Robert F. O’Toole, “Ananias (Person),” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 224.
What instruction did the Lord give to Ananias?
Find Saul and place your hand on him so he may receive his sight.
STRAIGHT, STREET CALLED (Gk. rhýmē kalouménē Eutheia). A street in Damascus where a Jew named Judas lived, to whose home Paul was directed and where he stayed after his vision of Jesus outside the city (Acts 9:11). The street was the main thoroughfare of the city, running east to west, flanked by colonnades and marked by large gates at either end. The name “Straight” survives (Arab. Darb al-Mustaqim), but the location of the street has changed somewhat.
Allen C. Myers, “STRAIGHT,” in The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987), 971.
go into the street … called Straight—There is still a street of this name in Damascus, about half a mile in length, running from east to west through the city [Maundrell].
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 184.
Did Ananias refuse to go?
No.
What did Ananias say to the Lord?
That he has heard of Saul’s reputation for killing Christians.
Ananias was never unwilling, neither did he refuse to the Lord’s will but rather he rose up and went to with assurance that the Lord is with him.
What did Ananias call Saul?
Brother.
ἀδελφός -οῦ, ὁ; (adelphos), n. brother; near kinsman.
Rick Brannan, ed., Lexham Research Lexicon of the Septuagint, Lexham Research Lexicons (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020).
After Ananias laid hands on Saul, what happened?
He received his sight and was baptized.
This again brings up the question:
What is the prerequisite for baptism?
Salvation.
Not when we have achieved a greater understanding of the bible, or when we think we can now identify. I have met many people who stumble in their faith over baptism. When you place your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior then baptism is the first step of obedience.
After Saul’s baptism what did they do?
They had a feast together.
This is how we know they are baptists. They ate. Well Paul ate but they spent time together afterwards.
This is where we have a time gap.
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
Paul explained in Galatians that he spent three years there[1]. The gap exists because Luke did not mention a three-year time period similar to Paul’s account[2].
The resolution involves understanding what each narrative emphasizes. Both accounts describe events as “immediate”—Luke portrays Paul’s prompt public ministry following his conversion, while Paul emphasizes the time elapsed between beginning his ministry and his first encounter with the apostles in Jerusalem[2]. Paul was stressing that instead of immediately seeking confirmation from Jerusalem leaders, he first spent time alone in Arabia, leaving clear evidence of his conversion before departing, then retreating into solitude to consolidate the central change in his life[2].
The chronological sequence appears to be: Paul’s conversion near Damascus → brief initial preaching in Damascus → departure to Arabia → three-year period → return to Damascus → escape from the ethnarch → first Jerusalem visit. Paul’s escape from Damascus fits better at the end of the three-year time period than shortly after his conversion[1], which explains why Acts 9:25–26 can follow immediately in narrative without mentioning the intervening years.
One scholarly chronology places Paul’s conversion in 34 CE, his activities in Arabia and return to Damascus between 35–37 CE, and his escape from Aretas IV with his first Jerusalem visit in 37 CE[3], establishing the three-year interval between his conversion and Jerusalem visit that Galatians describes.
[1] Bruce Barton et al., Life Application New Testament Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2001), 765–766.
[2] Bruce B. Barton, Galatians, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1994), 33.
[3] Mark J. Keown, Discovering the New Testament: An Introduction to Its Background, Theology, and Themes: The Pauline Letters (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021), 2:5–6.
And after many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him—Had we no other record than this, we should have supposed that what is here related took place while Saul continued at Damascus after his baptism. But in Ga 1:17, 18 we learn from Paul himself that he “went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus,” and that from the time of his first visit to the close of his second, both of which appear to have been short, a period of three years elapsed; either three full years, or one full year and part of two others. (See on Ga 1:16–18). That such a blank should occur in the Acts, and be filled up in Galatians, is not more remarkable than that the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt, their stay there, and their return thence, recorded only by Matthew, should be so entirely passed over by Luke, that if we had only his Gospel, we should have supposed that they returned to Nazareth immediately after the presentation in the temple. (Indeed in one of his narratives, Ac 22:16, 17, Paul himself takes no notice of this period). But wherefore this journey? Perhaps (1) because he felt a period of repose and partial seclusion to be needful to his spirit, after the violence of the change and the excitement of his new occupation. (2) To prevent the rising storm which was gathering against him from coming too soon to a head. (3) To exercise his ministry in the Jewish synagogues, as opportunity afforded. On his return, refreshed and strengthened in spirit. he immediately resumed his ministry, but soon to the imminent hazard of his life.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 184.
This is important as it tells us that Paul was received as brother in Christ by the disciples in Damascus as a whole, not simply by Ananias.
I feel like we have lost this kind of compassion in our world. Even myself I fear, having a cold heart and not one full of compassion for lost sinners who might be murderers and evildoers yet God shows us in His Word what He can do to someone who surrenders to Him.
What did the people say about Paul when they heard him preaching Jesus Christ?
Is this the same guy that was killing people? What is going on here?
What does it mean that Saul ‘confounded’ the Jews in Damascus?
They were not able to debate him.
What is the response of Paul preaching in Damascus?
They want to kill him.
How did Saul escape from the Jews at Damascus?
The disciples lowered him from the wall at night.
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.
25. they watched the gates night and day to kill him—The full extent of his danger appears only from his own account (2 Co 11:32): “In Damascus, the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me”; the exasperated Jews having obtained from the governor a military force, the more surely to compass his destruction
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 184.
