Acts_21

Acts

Chapter 21
{Rest of Acts pertains to Paul going to prison starting in Jerusalem} 1~~And it came to pass {Greek narrative to follow - 'change in subject'}, that after we were tenderly departed from them, and had set sail, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from there unto Patara.

{Note: Coos was a beautifully scenic island with a great castle. Almost like a relaxing time for Paul and his traveling seminary. Rhodes and Patara were also known for beauty and relaxation.}

2~~And changing the ship, sailing over unto Phoenicia, we went aboard, and set forth.

3~~Now when we had sighted Cyprus, we left it on the left hand {port side}, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre . . . for there the ship was to unload her burden.

4~~And searching again and again and finding disciples {implies big city and no local contacts when they arrived}, we stayed there seven days. They {each different disciple each at different times} said to Paul through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

{Note: The Greek syntax indicates that each believer Paul met warned him and they were told to warn him by the Holy Spirit. Yet Paul is going to ignore the warning because of his personal desire to go back to the place where he had emotional ties.}

5~~And when we had completely and entirely equipped this people in those days {means to give them all the doctrine they need to be self sustaining spiritually - all in 7 days}, we departed and went our way. And they all accompanied us, with great honor and respect, on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city. And we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed.

{Note: Remember Paul and his group were strangers 7 days ago. Now after Paul and his group's teachings, they gave them an honor guard at their departure.}

6~~And when we had taken our leave one of another, we boarded ship. And they returned to their own homes again.

{Note: Subtle point here. When they returned it was to their OWN homes as fully functional self-sustaining believers.}

7~~And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and greeted the brethren, and abode with them one day.

8~~And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea. And we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven {seven deacons} and abode with him for some time.

9~~ And the same man had four daughters, virgins, who did prophesy.

{Note: Can assume that these daughters also warned Paul from going to Jerusalem.}

10~~ And as we stayed there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.

11~~And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle {series of belts}, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, "Thus said the Holy Spirit, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles {Romans}."

{Note: Here is a REAL strong warning to Paul. Agabus ties up his hands and feet demonstrating to Paul what God has told him would happen to Paul if he goes to Jerusalem. From the syntax of the Greek we see over and over that God did not want Paul in Jerusalem but Paul 'from the ultimate source of HIMSELF had decided to go and would not change his mind.}

12~~And when we heard these things . . . both we {Luke and the other members of Paul's traveling seminary} and they of that place {the locals}, kept on imploring him {Paul} not to go up to Jerusalem.

13~~Then Paul answered from the ultimate source of himself, "What are you doing? To weep and to break my heart? For I keep on having readiness {combat readiness} . . . not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."

14~~And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased {verb of privacy - to live in a relaxed manner - gave up the protest}, saying, "The will of the Lord come to pass."

15~~And after those days we took up our baggage {including the bags of money}, and went up to Jerusalem.

16~~There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge {means Paul spent the last night in Caesarea with Mnason}.

17~~And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.

{Note: The Church in Jerusalem was antagonistic toward Paul and Grace. They were legalistic to the core. So, the gladness probably had more to do with the money then with seeing Paul.}

18~~And the day following Paul went in with us face to face with James {Jesus' half-brother and the apostle in charge of the Churches in Jerusalem}. And all the elders were present.

{Note: This again is a church leadership meeting. Elders refers to the pastors and teachers of the local churches in Jerusalem.}

19~~And when he {Paul} had greeted them, he narrated in detail what certain functions The God had performed among the Gentiles through his ministry.

20~~And having heard it, they began to glorify the Lord, but they said unto him, "You observed a series of facts and concluded {'theoreo' -where we get Theory}, brother, how many thousands {in the numbers game} of Jews there are which have believed with results that continue forever and they keep on subsisting zealous for the law."

{Note: 'Began to glorify' is an idiom that is like Madison Ave advertising today. They are saying that is so wonderful to hear about the Gentiles, BUT . . . like today saying "We are happy to hear about grace, but look at the thousands of believing Jews adhering to the Mosaic Law! - That out-numbers your accomplishments!" These Jews ARE saved . . . but are now trying to be spiritual by works, not the Grace of God.}

21~~ And they {the thousands of Jews} are orally taught concerning you {Paul}, that you teach all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake {'apostasia' where we get apostasy - means Paul teaches to defect from the Mosaic Law} Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children . . . neither to walk after the customs {Jewish traditions}.

{Note: Just as today, if the pastor-teachers are legalistic, they teach the masses legalism. They are saying they have been maligning Paul and his teaching to all the believers in Jerusalem - and Paul is so far out of fellowship that he accepted the 'rebuke'.}

22~~What is to done about it {Paul's teaching to forsake Jewish traditions} therefore? . . . when the multitude have heard that you have come.

{Note: Paul's grace teaching embarrasses James and the other legalistic leaders in Jerusalem and they want Paul to appease the locals. Paul does and this is LEGALISM!}

23~~DO THEREFORE THIS! {An order} what we keep on instructing you {dative of disadvantage}. We have four men, which have a vow on them.

{Note: Luke, the writer of Acts, indicates it was to Paul's disadvantage to follow these orders. And, please note that Paul is an Apostle and is only subject the commands of the Holy Spirit!}

{Note: A vow was sometimes a long process in these days. If a Jew wanted to earn favor with God or to be cleansed of his sins in the Jewish Age, he would make a public vow in the temple that in say 30 days he would contribute $1,000 to the temple. At that point he would not shave his head or face. A rich man could then get in the act (and share in the favor of God) by funding the vow. In 30 days, the man would go into the temple and give the priest the $1,000, which would be whisked away to safety. Then the priest would shave the man's face and head and throw the hair into flames to complete the 'gift to God'. The church knows Paul brought all this money so he must be 'flush' and can pay for himself and the four others who have made the public vows but need the cash!}

24~~TAKE THEM {an order}, and receive purification with them, and pick up the tab for them, for the purpose that they may shave their heads {their thirty days is near up}. With the additional purpose that all may know that they were not properly informed concerning
you . . . that you yourself also walk orderly, and keep the law.

25~~As concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication {all these are things connected with the Gentile temples}.

{Note: They are telling Paul he is a 'Jewish type believer' and must follow Jewish rituals and traditions even after salvation . . . BUT the 'Gentile type believers' do not have to take up Jewish rituals . . . but they MUST GIVE UP THEIR OLD WAYS! On the surface sounded logical, but notice the twist connected with the legalistic thinking. Jews continue with your old ways (in Hebrews called 'Crucifying a fresh the Son of God') BUT you gentiles give up your old ways!}

{Note: But Paul falls for it and commits one of his greatest sins. But Paul's epistles tell us he also was growing in spiritual maturity. He finally came to realize that in the Church Age, once saved, there are no more Jews or Gentiles - only members of the body of Christ.}

26~~The next day, having agreed to take the responsibility for the men, in the temple, having received purification {rites} himself with them, he {Paul} made public testimony that he would accomplish the days of purification until the time of the offering for each one of them {the four men}.

{Note: This was a GREAT sin for the Apostle of Grace. Basically, once a day for 30 days Paul agrees to come to the Temple and recite all the things he has vowed to give up - I have not eaten meat, been with a woman, had any pleasure at all, have not cut my hair etc. Then at the end of the 30 days, he would come in with the cash offering and be shaved. The hair would be burned, and the ritual said now God would forgive all - pure legalism. This is the year circa 58 AD and Jerusalem will go down in 70 AD. They needed to learn Grace but Paul failed and never again will have a ministry recorded in Jerusalem. Hebrews was written to teach Grace to the believers in Jerusalem.

{Paul's discipline begins. After 6 days of the opportunity to rebound.}
27~~And when the seven days were ended {7 days of Paul's announcing in the Temple he was keeping his vows}, the Jews who were from the ultimate source of Asia {probably from around Ephesus}, when they saw him {Paul} in the temple, stirred up {literally means the beginning of a riot} all the people, and they violently attacked him {means a lot of them struck Paul}.

28~~Shouting, "Men of Israel . . . HERE . . . HERE TO ME! This is the man, that teaches all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place {the Temple} . . . and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and has polluted this holy place."

{Note: This was a mob action. Some shouted Paul teaches against the Jewish People. Others said Paul taught against the Mosaic Law. Others said he taught against the temple. Then they ended up with the statement that he brought Trophimus into the temple - point here is the TRUTH does not matter to a mob! They assumed Trophimus entered the temple. No proof!}

29~~(For they had seen before with him in the city, Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they assumed {no facts} that Paul had brought into the temple.)

30~~And all the city was stirred into violent emotion, and it came to pass the running together of the people {the people formed a mob into a riot}. And they took Paul, and dragged him by his heels out of the temple. And immediately the doors were shut.

{Note: The legalists were hypocritical. It is Ok to beat Paul to death, just don't do IT in their 'house of worship'!}

31~~And as they kept on having a strong singular desire to kill him, tidings came unto the Chiliarch of the cohort {1000 men}, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

(Note: The Chiliarch (kill -ee - ark) was literally the leader of 1000 men and therefore 10 Centurions. This would be approximately equivalent to a Brigadier General in the US army. This man was the Roman commander of Fort Mark Anthony in Jerusalem. The Romans did NOT tolerate lawlessness of any kind in its provinces. FYI . . . a Chiliarch reported to a Tribune.}

32~~Who {Chiliarch} immediately grabbed soldiers and centurions who were handy, and ran down unto them. And when they {the people} saw the Chiliarch and the soldiers, they ceased and desisted from constantly beating of Paul.

{Note: This career soldier, as far as we know, was an unbeliever. Yet because of the strong Nationalism of SPQR (Roman Empire) Paul's life will be spared. This means though Paul will be under divine disciple from God, he is not under the Sin unto Death. And, being this close to death, this may be where Paul re-thought his actions and rebounded. We do know during the prison years God turned cursing into blessing and Paul wrote Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, and Philippians - all wonderful epistles (blessings for us!) for all believers!}

33~~Then the Chiliarch approached and seized him {Paul} himself and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and kept on himself inquiring to ascertain the facts about who he was and what he had done.

{Note: We later find out that the Chiliarch was hoping he had found the Egyptian who was the head of the local crime syndicate.}

34~~And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude. And when he {the Chiliarch} could not know with accuracy from the mob, he commanded him {Paul} to be carried into the castle.

35~~And when he {Paul} came upon the stairs and so it was, for the soldiers were carrying him because of the violence of the people.

36~~For the multitude of the people charged after, constantly screaming, "Away with him".

{Note: The crowd was repeating what they were saying when Christ was crucified! They really wanted Paul dead and if it were not for Roman Law and Order, Paul would have been killed.}

37~~And as Paul was about to be led into the fort, he said to the Chiliarch, "May I speak unto you?" Who {the Chiliarch} said, "Can you speak Greek?"

{Note: And the Chiliarch would have noticed Paul's Greek of the aristocracy. His first clue to the status Paul really held as a Roman citizen.}

38~~Are you not that Egyptian, who before these days {3 years
ago - 54 AD} caused a revolt and, and led out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers {the sikarios}?

{Note: 3 years earlier a false profit led a revolt against Rome in Jerusalem. The revolt was put down and all but 4000 of his followers were killed. They were the Mafia of the day. They carried a curved knife called a 'sikari' and were therefore called the sikarios. This Chiliarch incorrectly thought he finally had captured this infamous Egyptian.}

39~~But Paul said, "I am a man with the absolute status quo of a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. And, I politely request of you to permit me to speak to the people."

40~~And when he had granted him permission, Paul stood on the stairs, and held up his hand for silence. And when there was made a great silence, he spoke unto them in the Hebrew dialect {Aramaic}, saying, {continues in Chapter 22 verse 1} . . .

{Note: Paul must have rebounded. He is back in fellowship. He is going to witness to these people who want to kill him!}

**************************************************

This page is sponsored by Kenneth Sidley, CPA, an Orange County California CPA (949) 706-3133.

This page is sponsored by Moxxor For Pain Free Living. Moxxor is a highly concentrated Omega 3 product that has reduced inflammation in this writer. Please go to this website to read more about Moxxor.