Acts

Chapter 22
1~~"Men, brethren {Jews . . .members of the same race}, and fathers {term of respect . . . means Jewish religious leaders were present}, HEAR MY DEFENSE . . . NOW {command} which I make face to face unto you!"

2-3~~And when they heard that he kept on speaking in the Hebrew dialect to them to their advantage, they kept on having, from the immediate source of themselves, silence {only a few were still talking and they shut up}. And he said, 3~~ "I am in the absolute status quo of truly a man . . . a Jew {his race}, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city {Jerusalem} to be trained again and again and again, at the feet of Gamaliel {one of the greatest and most objective Pharisees of the day} and received inculcation/training according to the accurate manner of the law {clear presentation of its content} of the fathers, and was zealous {positive volition at the point of God consciousness} toward God, as you all keep on being this day.

{Note: When Paul talked to them in the Hebrew dialect, it identified him as a man of some standing and they stopped to listen to his words . . . for a little while anyway! In the ancient world, speakers introduced themselves and this is Paul's introduction.}

4~~"And I persecuted this 'Way' unto the death {as Paul is currently being persecuted and Christianity in general is being persecuted}, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women."

{Note: Note under Jewish law WOMEN are greatly protected. Paul was admitting that he violated Jewish law in persecuting Christianity - as this mob was also violating Jewish law!}

5~~"As also the high priest does bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders {the 'Supreme Court' of the day} from the immediate source of whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem to be punished."

6~~"And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me."

{Note: The light was the Lord Jesus Christ. Concept is similar to the burning bush.}

7~~"And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, "Saul, Saul, why do you keep on persecuting Me?"

8~~"And I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said unto me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, Whom you keep on persecuting.' "

{Note: First time Paul heard the doctrine of POSITIONAL TRUTH - EVERY BELEIVER IN UNION WITH JESUS CHRIST. When you persecute a Christian, you persecute the Lord Jesus.}

9~~"And they that were with me saw indeed the light but they heard not the voice of Him that spoke to me."

10~~"And I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' {This is the point of Paul's salvation -he has accepted Christ as his savior. And now he wants to produce for the Lord!}. And the Lord said unto me, 'Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be communicated to YOU, to your advantage, all things which are appointed for you to do'. "

{Note: At the point of salvation, you enter God's plan for you. God had a plan for Paul and he has a plan for all believers. We need to be open to HEARING God's plan by studying His Word and following the mechanics laid out in doctrine. Knowledge before production.}

11~~"And when I could not see {partially blind, not total blindness} from the ultimate source of the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus."

12-13~~"And one Ananias, a devout man according to the norm or standard of the law {Old testament scripture}, receiving a good witness of all the Jews which dwelt there 13~~came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, 'Brother Saul {recognizes Ananias knows Paul is now saved}, LOOK UP {command}.' And the same hour I looked up upon him."

14~~"And he said, 'The God of our fathers {Jesus} has pre-appointed you {to take by the hand before hand}, that you should study and learn His will {know His Will}, and have a panoramic view {a long loving look} of That Just One, and should hear the voice of His mouth."

{Note: Paul is in the pre-canon period and does receive revelations directly from God, but in this context more likely relates to the hearing of doctrine from a pastor-teacher. The hearing and knowing definitely refers to Paul's study and learning of doctrine so he can teach it himself.}

15~~"For you shall be His witness unto all men of what you have seen and heard."

16~~"Having called on the name of the Lord {salvation} and your sins washed away, now . . . why do you hang around here? GET UP, and be baptized {water baptism}."

{Note: Paul's water baptism came AFTER he had already been saved and his sins 'washed away'.

17~~"And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance."

{Note: Praying of course is a good thing, but apparently Paul's praying was interfering with his studying doctrine and the Lord will prod him along.}

18~~"And I saw Him {resurrected Christ} saying unto me, 'HURRY UP, and get yourself quickly out of Jerusalem for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.' "

{Note: Probably refers to both the legalistic Jewish believers in Jerusalem and the unbelievers.}

19~~"And I said, 'Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on You."

20~~"And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the clothes of them that slew him.' "

{Note: Basically Paul was rationalizing with the Lord saying they know I have been on both sides of the fence. They should listen to me! Paul emotionally wanted to stay in Jerusalem.}

21~~"And He said unto me, 'GET UP AND GO NOW! For I will send you far hence unto the Gentiles."

{Note: Now the 'audience' will revert to a mob at the mention of the Gentiles! Speech over.}

22~~And they kept on listening . . . to this word {'Gentile'}, and then {a shift in a point of time} they lost their reason and started to scream, "Away with such a one from the earth. For it is not fitting that he should live."

23~~And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air.

24~~ The Chiliarch commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.

{Note: Paul is under the protection of the Romans here, but he has yet to tell the Chiliarch that he is actually a Roman himself. Under Roman law, Romans are presumed truthful. Non-Romans are presumed liars. Therefore they introduce the concept of 'pain' to non-Romans by beating them FIRST, then ask questions with the threat of more pain on tender, freshly beaten backs! This sounds very harsh to us today, but for the Romans, it worked well for the 800 years to this point!}

25~~And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?"

26~~Having heard that and having gone to the Chiliarch, the centurion said to the Chiliarch, "Take heed what you do. For this man is a Roman."

27~~Then the Chiliarch came, and said unto him, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" He said, "Yes."

28~~ And the Chiliarch answered, "With a great sum I purchased by an organized system this freedom {Chiliarch purchased his citizenship}. And Paul said, "I have been free born."

{Note: We learn here that the Chiliarch was a foreigner serving in the Roman Army. Under Roman law a foreigner can buy the rights and freedoms of Roman citizenship. He was indirectly inquiring of Paul how much he paid to become a citizen! But, Paul was from an old and distinguished Roman family. The word Paul used indicted at least his Grandfather was a Roman citizen.}

29~~Then straightway they withdrew {respect is implied} from him which should have examined him {No examination by scourging}. And the Chiliarch also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

{Note: Rough treatment of a Roman citizen was a break in the stringent Roman law and the Chiliarch could be in trouble from just ordering Paul bound!}

30~~The next day, because he {the Chiliarch} desired to know {decision based on mentality free of emotion -hearing the evidence} why he {Paul} was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them. {Now Paul will be under Roman protection.}

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