Oct 21 2014

Paul Goes to Corinth – Acts 18

Bust of Roman emperor Claudius (reworked from a bust of emperor Caligula), circa 50 AD. It was found in the so-called Otricoli basilica in Lanuvium, Italy, in 1779, and now stands in the “Sala Rotonda” (Round Hall) in the Museo Pio-Clementino (Vatican Museums). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Paul left Athens, and went to Corinth, which was 46 miles away. He met with Aquila and Priscilla there, who had come from Italy after the Roman emperor Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Roman (we know this to have been issued in 49 AD). At that time, they made no distinction between Jews and Christians. Aquila and Priscilla were tent makers by trade, like Paul, and he stayed with them. They became faithful friends, and he mentions them again a few times in Scripture (Romans 16:3-5, for example). As always, he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, preaching Jesus as the Christ. But when they opposed him, he went to the home of Titius Justis, about whom we know nothing. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, was one of the Corinthians that we know Paul baptized himself (1 Corinthians 1:14).

The Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, telling him to keep teaching, and that no harm would come to him there. So he remained for a year and a half (verse 11). The proconsul was the chief judicial officer. In this case, it was Gallio (verses 12-14) that held that position when the Jewish leaders there, in a united assault, had Paul brought before the tribunal. We know from fragments of a letter from Claudius (the Delphi Inscription, found in 1905 by a French expedition) that he began this office in 51 AD. He was a brother of the philosopher, Seneca, who was an advisor to Nero. Born as “Marcus Annaeus Novatus”, he took the full name “Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeus,” after the rich man who adopted him.But before Paul could defend himself, Gallio ruled that this was a religious matter between the Jews and ran them out of the tribunal.

Schedule for this week
Read or listen to audio of this week’s selection from Acts here
Read or listen to audio of this weeks selection from 2 Chronicles here

/Bob’s boy

___________________

some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please visit this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books” for info on the author’s books, website, and Facebook page.

All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility. When reading any commentary, you should always refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.

Oct 17 2014

Paul in Athens – Acts 17

English: The Acropolis of Athens as seen from the Aeropagus. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Finding himself in this great pagan capital, Paul saw idol after idol. He “reasoned” in the synagogue of course, but verse 17 says that he did so also in the marketplace every day. Speaking with men of the two prominent philosophies of the day, Stoicism and Epicurean-ism, attracted great attention, and they brought him to the authorities at the Areopagus – this time with interest and curiosity in this speaker of “foreign divinity,” rather than hostility. The Areopagus held a body of men with civil. moral, and religious authority over the city. Paul would have addressed them either on the “hill of Ares” (Mars Hill, where a temple to their “god” of war had been built in ancient times), or southwest of the Acropolis in the northwest corner of the Agora. There, this body held meetings in the Royal Colonnade.

Paul preached to this body in verses 22-30 with one of his most eloquent speeches that we have recorded. He opens in verses 22-24 with:

“Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you…”

The translation of the word “religious” is too generous, but the word used falls a bit short of “superstitious,” as Paul was trying to evangelize, not demean. He goes on to say that the God, who made the world and everything in it, is not contained in temples made by men – that He made, from one man, every nation of mankind “that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us…” He told these idol worshipers that God should not be thought of as an image of stone or precious metals formed by the imagination of man. He concludes with what we would expect – an excellent message of the gospel:

“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but know he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Some mocked him at the reference to the resurrection, but others wanted to hear more, some being converted (verse 34) including Dionysius, one of the judges of the Areopagus. That being the case, even Paul’s visit to this pagan city was a success!

Schedule for this week
Read or listen to audio of this week’s selection from Acts here
Read or listen to audio of this weeks selection from 2 Chronicles here

/Bob’s boy

___________________

some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please visit this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books” for info on the author’s books, website, and Facebook page.

All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility. When reading any commentary, you should always refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.

Oct 14 2014

Paul and Silas in Thessalonica and Berea – Acts 17

Church of Saint Demetrius Patron Saint of Thessaloniki. Grave of the Metropolitan of Thessalonica Panteleimon II. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Luke has now dropped the use of the first person plural in the text, suggesting that he may have remained in Philippi as Paul and Silas pass through Amphipolis and Apollonia to Thessalonica. Neither the reference to “three sabbath days” in verse 2, nor the fact that they left the city after only 9 verses of this chapter should be construed as the an indication of the length of their stay in Thessalonica. Indications from 1 Thessalonians 2:9 and Philippians 4:16, for example, are that their ministry there was much longer. The Jewish religious leaders, once again, became jealous and stirred up a mob until they attacked the house of a believer – hoping to lay hands on Paul, no doubt. Not finding them, they dragged the man (Jason) and some other believers before authorities, falsely claiming they were touting Jesus as an earthly king and a threat to Caesar.

In verse 10, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away, but it should be noted that their mission there was successful, as some of the Jews had been converted, and “a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.” This explains the jealousy of the Jewish religious leaders there. They arrived in Berea, and had even more success (verses 10-12), but the Jews in Thessalonica learned of Paul teaching there, and came to stir crowds again. Paul was sent off by sea to Athens, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. After arriving in Athens, Paul sent word back with those who had accompanied him for Silas and Timothy to join him .

Schedule for this week
Read or listen to audio of this week’s selection from Acts here
Read or listen to audio of this weeks selection from 2 Chronicles here

/Bob’s boy

___________________

some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please visit this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books” for info on the author’s books, website, and Facebook page.

All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility. When reading any commentary, you should always refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.

Oct 10 2014

The Philippian Jailor- Acts 16

Traditional site of Paul’s prison at Philippi

In verse 10, Luke speaks for the first time in the first person plural – “we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them” – from which we can conclude that Luke had been preaching the gospel for a while already, as he includes himself with Paul, Silas and Timothy. So they set sail to Philippi, a leading city in Macedonia. There was no synagogue there, so on the Sabbath they found women gathered for prayer by the river. One was “Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods.” These goods would have been made from an expensive dye made from the murex shell. Note that Luke says that God opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul said, and she was baptized.

After Paul drove the demon from the slave girl in verses 16-18, her owners drug Paul and Silas before the magistrates with false accusations. In verses 20-22, they were beaten with rods and put in jail. Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns while the other prisoners listened until an earthquake shook the prison, opening the doors and freeing the bonds. The jailer, readied to kill himself as he supposed they had escaped. But Paul stopped him, and he and his family were all baptized. The magistrates sent the police the next day, telling the jailer to let them go, but Paul declared his Roman citizenship, and practically demanded an apology – which he ended up getting, as the magistrates were then afraid. They were asked to leave the city, though, so they visited and encouraged Lydia and the brothers before leaving.

(This year’s reading plan for Luke, Acts, and 1 and 2 Chronicles averages just 15 verses per day – 5 days per week!)
Schedule for this week
Read or listen to audio of this week’s selection from Acts here
Read or listen to audio of this weeks selection from 2 Chronicles here

/Bob’s boy

___________________

some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please visit this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books” for info on the author’s books, website, and Facebook page.

All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility. When reading any commentary, you should always refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.

Oct 7 2014

Timothy Joins Paul- Acts 16

The Sacrifice at Lystra (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After arriving again at Lystra, Paul wanted a disciple there named Timothy to come with him. Some wonder why Paul chose to circumcise Timothy, but clearly states in Galatians 2:3 that Titus was not circumcised. The answer is that Timothy, before becoming a Christian, was raised by a Jewish mother (though his father was Greek). So, as verse 3 says, it was because of the Jews in those places. Having an uncircumcised Jew with him could pose a distraction by having some focus on that fact rather than the important teaching of Jesus Christ.
As they went along, the brethren at various places were encouraged by the relating of the events of the Jerusalem Conference. In verse 6, as they passed through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, it says that they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. This is not a reference to the continent of Asia, but to a Roman province in what was called Asia Minor – Ephesus being the capital. For whatever reason, the people there were not ready to receive the word yet. The same was true of Bithynia in verse 7, as they went through Mysia to Troas. Then Paul had a vision of a man telling him to come to Macedonia to help them.

/Bob’s boy

___________________

some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please visit this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books” for info on the author’s books, website, and Facebook page.

All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility. When reading any commentary, you should always refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.

Oct 3 2014

Paul and Barnabas Carry the News to Gentiles – Acts 15

English: Ancient Roman road near Tall Aqibrin in Syria. This road connected Antioch and Chalcis. Français : Ancienne voie romaine près de Tell Aqibrin en Syrie. Elle reliait Antioche à Chalcis (Qinnasrin). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In verse 22, Luke writes that the apostles and the elders then chose men to go with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch, and sent a letter with them, affirming with one accord that the Gentiles were not to be burdened with the requirements that the circumcision party was trying to impose. The stipulations referred to in verses 20 and 29 were to make clear that they were to abstain from behavior that would make them appear to the world as the idol-worshipers that were so common (sexual immorality was a predominant theme in idol worship).

Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch (of Syria) preaching for a while, then prepared to re-visit the cities where they had been. Verse 39 describes “a sharp disagreement” between the two. Barnabas wanted to take Mark with them. But verse 38 says that “Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.” Separating, Barnabas and Mark went to Cyprus, and Paul took Silas and went through Syria and Cilicia. The Scripture does not elaborate on this, but it has been pointed out that the disagreement had the end result of making their efforts doubly fruitful.

/Bob’s boy

___________________

some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please visit this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books” for info on the author’s books, website, and Facebook page.

All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility. When reading any commentary, you should always refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.

Sep 30 2014

The “Jerusalem Council” Begins – Acts 15

Nicolaes Pietersz. Berchem’s depiction of Paul and Barnabas at Lystra, an incident which has often been compared to the Qur’anic narrative of the “Companions of the City” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After Peter had his revelation by vision, and then witnessed the Holy Spirit coming upon the Gentiles in Cornelius’ house (Acts 10), The “Gentile question” would have already been settled. But it wasn’t so easy. Members of the “Circumcision Party,” and other conservative Jews came to Antioch in Syria (where Paul and Barnabas were) teaching the necessity of adhering to the whole Mosaic Law. In Acts 6:7, Luke writes about a number of priests that had been converted. Many of these would be Pharisees as in verse 5. There were people being taught that all had to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses, causing Christianity to be looked upon as a sect of Judaism (and to some, a sect that had gone very wrong). The time had come to deal with this issue once and for all.

Paul had been given his revelation on the matter, and the Lord had told Ananias in Acts 9:15 that “he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles…” He and Barnabas and others were appointed to go to Jerusalem to speak to the apostles and elders about the matter. In verse 3, we have them passing through Phoenicia and Samaria, bringing great joy as they describe the conversion of the Gentiles.

Peter spoke to the council in verses 7-11, reminding them of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then Paul and Barnabas related the signs and wonders God had done through them on their journey. James, the Lord’s brother, then affirms by quoting Amos 9:11-12 in verses 16-18.

After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.

/Bob’s boy

___________________

some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please visit this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books” for info on the author’s books, website, and Facebook page.

All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility. When reading any commentary, you should always refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.

Sep 26 2014

Paul is Stoned at Lystra – Acts 14

Having been driven out from Antioch and Iconium, Paul and Barnabas must have begun to feel pretty comfortable at Lystra. They were received so well in fact, that they had needed to spend time teaching the people that they were not Greek gods! But the trouble makers at Antioch and Iconium came to Lystra, and they stirred the people there up against Paul and Barnabas.

The people stoned Paul and dragged him from the city, leaving him for dead. In verse 20, the disciples gathered around him and he rose up and went into the city. The Scripture does not tell us that this was a miracle, or even what Paul’s actual condition had been. Enough to say that the Spirit was with him, and he was not deterred. The next day, he and Barnabas went to Derbe. After preaching and making many new disciples there, they returned to Lystra and Iconium, and to Antioch. They encouraged and strengthened the disciples in those places and appointed elders for them in every church.

Then they went back to speak the word in Perga, and then to Attalia. From there, they sailed back to Antioch of Syria, where they had started their journey, telling all the brethren about the new “door of faith” that had been opened to the Gentiles.

/Bob’s boy

___________________

Please visit this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books” for info on the author’s books, website, and Facebook page.

All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility. When reading any commentary, you should always refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.

Sep 23 2014

Turmoil at Iconium – Acts 14

St. Paul and St. Barnabas at Lystra. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now in Iconium, Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel in the synagogue, and many Jews and Greeks believed. But the Jewish rulers, and other unbelievers, stirred up the Gentiles and to go against the believing brothers and sisters. Paul and Barnabas remained there preaching and performing miracles. But the Jews had created such turmoil in the city that a conspiracy came to develop, with both Jews and Gentiles involved. The intention was to persecute and to stone Paul and Barnabas. When they found out, they fled the city.

One of the places they went to from there was Lystra, where Paul healed a man who was crippled from birth. When he began walking, many people started calling Paul and Barnabas gods, referring to Paul as Hermes, and Barnabas as Zeus; and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices. When Paul and Barnabas heard this, they were tremendously distressed and, assuring the people that they were just men, preached to these polytheists about the one true God and how he is evidenced in all the things of this world.

/Bob’s boy

___________________

Please visit this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books” for info on the author’s books, website, and Facebook page.

All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility. When reading any commentary, you should always refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.

Sep 19 2014

Paul Preaches in Antioch in Pisidia – Acts 13

English: Ruins of the main street in Perga, capital of Pamphylia, Asia Minor. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Verse 13 says that Paul and his companions left Pathos and sailed to Perga in Pamphylia. His companions included Barnabas and John Mark. The scripture here simply refers to him as John. He returned to Jerusalem, Luke writes; and this will be a matter for which Paul will later voice his disapproval when he and Barnabas separate in Acts 15:36-41.

After John Mark left, Paul and Barnabas went on to Antioch in Pisidia. The rulers of the synagogue there, sent a message to them, asking if they had any words of encouragement for the brethren there. Paul did have some. He came to preach in the synagogue, first giving a small historical summary of God’s plans for His people through the ages. He finished, of course, with Jesus as the promised Messiah, and detailed his rejection, crucifixion, and resurrection, citing scripture all the time.

The people were over-joyed with the gospel, and asked them to return on the next Sabbath. When they did, the entire city was practically present. BNut the rulers were not happy with the gospel Paul was preaching, and Paul let them have it, saying that they had “judged themselves unworthy of eternal life. He then further angered them by saying that he had been sent to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles:

I have made you a light for the Gentiles,

that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

The Gentiles were filled with joy at the news, but verse 50 indicates the anger that the Jews felt at them:

But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.

Paul and Barnabas went on to Iconium filled with joy and with the “Holy Spirit.”

/Bob’s boy

___________________

Please visit this site’s menu item “The Author’s Books” for info on the author’s books, website, and Facebook page.

All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility. When reading any commentary, you should always refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.