On to Jerusalem
Acts 21:1-16
Remember in Chapter 20, Paul said farewell to the Ephesian elders. The first verse of this chapter lets us know how sad the Ephesians were. They accompanied him to the ship and had to be torn away from him. Paul and his traveling companions sailed to several places and stayed at Tyre for seven days. Through the Spirit, the people at Tyre urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. Remember, Paul wanted to get there for the upcoming Passover. Through the Spirit, Paul had been compelled to go to Jerusalem (Acts 20:22). This seems to be contradictory.
Here is the explanation. The Holy Spirit had told Paul to go. The people at Tyre didn’t tell him not to go. They merely warned him to let him know there would be hardships. So when their time was up at that place, Paul and his companions left. The disciples accompanied them to the sea where they knelt and prayed.
Paul reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip who had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. While there, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. He took Paul’s belt, tied his own hand and feet with it and said the Holy Spirit said that Paul would be bound by the Jews and turned over to the Gentiles. When those traveling with Paul heard this, they pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.
Paul said their weeping broke his heart because he was ready to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. When he could not be dissuaded, his companions gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
Paul and his traveling companions went up to Jerusalem along with some disciples from Caesarea. This ends Paul’s third missionary journey (Acts 21:17) that started in Acts 18:23.
Questions
1. What was Paul warned not to do?
2. Explain why Paul went to Jerusalem even though the people at Tyre urged him not to go.
3. What was Agabus’ object lesson?
4. Where do you usually hear, “Thy will be done”?
Paul’s Arrival at Jerusalem After His Third Missionary Journey
Acts 21:17-26
Paul was received warmly when he arrived at Jerusalem. He reported in detail all that had happened during his third missionary journey. The elders praised God for what Paul had done among the Gentiles. Now that Paul was back in Jerusalem, there were those who accused him of teaching the Jews who lived among the Gentiles to turn away from the law of Moses; that is, telling them they don’t have to be circumcised. The elders had a plan for Paul. The plan is outlined in Acts 21:23-24. The next day Paul did as he was told.
Paul Was Arrested and Spoke to the Crowd
Acts 21:27-40
After Paul’s purification was nearly over, some men saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the crowd and seized him. They accused him of teaching against the Jews and their laws and the temple. They even accused Paul of defiling the temple by bringing Gentiles into it. Paul was dragged from the temple and the gates were shut. They tried to kill Paul, but news of the uproar reached the commander of the Roman troops who immediately took some soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw them, they stopped beating Paul.
The commander stopped the riot, but he arrested Paul and ordered that he be taken in the barracks. Before he was taken into the barracks, Paul asked the commander if he could speak. He told the commander who he was and what he had done. With the permission of the commander, Paul stood on the steps and began to speak in Aramaic because that was the dialect popular among the Jerusalem Jews. Paul spoke at least three languages: Hebrew which was his native language, Greek, and Aramaic.
Questions
1. What was Paul accused of?
2. Why did the people say Paul defiled the temple?
3. Why did Paul speak in Aramaic?
|
|
