Acts 21

We see them going from port to port...Luke is with them so we get a detailed travel log

Stayed in Tyre with the brethren because they were there a week

Kneel on the beach, pray and say goodbye and get on the ship again

Then goes to Caesarea and he meets up with Philip

We remember him from the Ethiopian Eunuch; he was one of the seven and the conversion of Simon the Sorcerer

Interestingly at the end of  it says Phillip ends up in Caesarea and in  Phillip is in Caesarea

Paul had a hand in establishing the church in Caesarea even though I don't know of him teaching anyone there...the persecution that arose by Saul with the stoning of Stephen led to the gospel being spread

Can you imagine Paul staying with the Phillip

The Phillip who came to Caesarea because of the persecution by Saul

The Phillip who lost one of his companions...one of the seven, Stephen, because of Saul

Can you imagine what they talked about that night? or what Paul didn't bring up?

vs 10 Agabus prophesied about the famine in  

Now Agabus prophesies about Paul and says he will be bound and afflicted When the brethren in Caesarea hear this, what are they begging Paul not to do?

Don't go...pleading with Paul not to go

Paul had a hand in establishing the church in Caesarea even though I don't know of him teaching anyone there...the persecution that arose by Saul with the stoning of Stephen led to the gosepl being spread

Don't weep and break my heart...I'm willing to go to Jerusalem

You have here the message from Agabus and they interpret the message wrong

They jump to the conclusion that Paul shouldn't go...they misunderstood the purpose of God's revelation

Their crying and pleading with Paul was a temptation/stumbling block to Paul and he tells them so

Good hearted people can be wrong about what God wants

Thankfully, Paul persuaded them and they said the will of the Lord be done

Sometimes we need to go through pain

We sometimes need to encourage people...yeah, do it....whatever it is, it is going to be hard, but do it

Don't weep and break Paul's heart...he needs to go to Jerusalem...encourage him because the Lord will be with him

He comes to Jerusalem, stays with Mnason of Cyprus

The brethren receive him gladly

Comes to James and what does he tell them?

The things that God had done...not the things that he did

What do they do when they hear it?

Glorify the Lord

If Paul had told what he did, wonder who would have gotten honored?

Probably Paul

What do they glorify when we tell?

Us or God

They start telling him about a problem...that there are many Jewish believers zealous for the law and that Paul is teaching the Jewish Christians not to circumcize their children or keep the customs....is that true?

No... Paul refuses to let anyone bind circumcision as a condition of salvation, but he is not against Jews being Jews

Circumcision is what you do if you are a Jew...law of Moses was both a national law and a law of God...he's not trying to stop the Jews from doing the Jewish things they do....he has been teaching the Gentiles you don't have to be a Jew to be saved...but doesn't try to stop a Jew from following out his Jewish culture

So, the issue is some are claiming Paul is trying to un-Jew the Jews

There is a misunderstanding that has developed among some of the Jewish Christians

What do they think Paul has been teaching?

Give up circumcision and to give up their Jewish customs and culture

That almost sounds right...hasn't Paul been teaching against circumcision and the Law of Moses?

What made the difference?

For the Jews, circumcision was a part of the national identity...some of the law of Moses was the constitution of their nation...Paul was not trying to tell Jews not to follow Jewish customs or to honor their culture

He is teaching not to tell Gentiles they have to become Jews to be saved

Gary didn't go to Brazil and insist that they say the pledge of allegience, sing the National Anthem and keep the 4th of July

It is a little more complicated here because these things were both religious and national....the customs of Moses were a part of the Jewish nation's law. 

He is not against Jews being Jews

So, they have been misinformed about Paul

They have an idea as to how Paul can most effectively counteract that false rumor

What is their idea?

Take the Nazarite vow....

They have now completed the term of the vow; purifying themselves; making the sacrifices and cutting their hair...if Paul goes in with them on their purification rituals and paying their expenses it is better than saying Paul is not against the Jewish practices...it is showing them that Paul is not against the practices

Paul was very willing to do this...Paul was a Jew and he had no problem with Jews being Jews

Paul is almost through the process...they see Paul in the temple and some of the Jews from Asia form a big riot

vs 28 at the very time he is showing he honors the customs, he is being accused of defiling it...some times you can't win for losing...he is accused of the very opposite of what he was doing

They have seen he has had an Ephesian Gentile in the city...later they saw him alone in the temple and they conclude he brought the Ephesian in the temple...not a logical assumption

vs. 30  they shut the doors of the temple...they also had shut the door on the gospel

The last works in Acts about the temple have the gates slamming shut on the message of salvation

They would have probably ripped Paul apart limb by limb except this Roman commander heard about it and he is determined to nip this disturbance in the bud....he probably assumes Paul has done some sort of criminal action and the crowd is trying to lynch him, but he can't figure it out because everybody is talking at once

Commander brings him into the barracks and the crowd keeps yelling after him...Commander probably wonders what in the world this guy did

He's about to bring Paul into the barracks and Paul says may I say something to you and that surprises the commander because he is speaking Greek and he assumed hewas an Egyptian who had stirred up a revolt and escaped...

Paul was a citizen of a very important place...he's not some Egyptian

Paul says I would like to talk to the people

He doesn't have a reason for Paul not to do that, so he says okay

So, Paul turns and talks to the people and he speaks to them in THEIR language and custom...speaking to them in Hebrew shows them more respect; even though they probably would have known Greek

Paul spoke Greek to gain the attention of the commander

Paul speaks Hebrew to gain the sympathy of the Jewish audience

This probably means the commander doesn't know what Paul is saying...commander probably doesn't know Hebrew