June 14th Acts 23
1: And Paul, earnestly beholding the
council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God
until this day. 2: And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him
to smite him on the mouth. 3: Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee,
thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me
to be smitten contrary to the law? 4: And they that stood by said, Revilest
thou God's high priest? 5: Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was
the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of
thy people. 6: But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and
the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a
Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am
called in question. 7: And when he had so said, there arose a dissension
between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. 8: For
the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but
the Pharisees confess both. 9: And there arose a great cry: and the scribes
that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in
this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight
against God. 10: And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain,
fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the
soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him
into the castle. 11: And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said,
Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem,
so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
(Paul
to the Gentiles) The plot against Paul
12: And when it was day, certain of
the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they
would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13: And they were more
than forty which had made this conspiracy. 14: And they came to the chief
priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that
we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. 15: Now therefore ye with the
council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow,
as though ye would inquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or
ever he come near, are ready to kill him. 16: And when Paul's sister's son
heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told
Paul. 17: Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this
young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him. 18:
So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the
prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee,
who hath something to say unto thee. 19: Then the chief captain took him by the
hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him, What is that thou hast
to tell me? 20: And he said, The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest
bring down Paul to morrow into the council, as though they would inquire
somewhat of him more perfectly. 21: But do not thou yield unto them: for there
lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves
with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him:
and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee. 22: So the chief
captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, See thou tell no man
that thou hast shewed these things to me. 23: And he called unto him two
centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and
horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the
night; 24: And provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him
safe unto Felix the governor. 25: And he wrote a letter after this manner: 26:
Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting. 27:
This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came
I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman. 28: And
when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him
forth into their council: 29: Whom I perceived to be accused of questions of
their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds.
30: And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent
straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before
thee what they had against him. Farewell. 31: Then the soldiers, as it was
commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32: On the
morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle: 33:
Who, when they came to Caesarea, and delivered
the epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him. 34: And when the
governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was. And when he
understood that he was of Cilicia; 35: I will
hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to
be kept in Herod's judgment hall.
Paul addresses the Jewish Council in
his second defence. This is the same council that Christ and Stephen stood
before. His first and main point is, l have lived in all good conscience before
God until this day. Paul as an unbeliever or as a believer always endeavoured
to live before God with a clear conscience. No more can be expected of a Jew
than to live in the light of conscience before God. The high priest commanded
that he should be struck on the mouth. Paul turned on him in no uncertain
terms, Saying God will smite you, you whitewashed wall. Because you sit in
judgment against me according to the law yet you command me to be struck
contrary to the law. Those that were standing by said are you reviling Gods
high priest? Paul confessed that he did not know that he was the high priest
because the law stated that men should not speak evil of the ruler of the
people. When Paul realised that half of the assembly were Pharisees and the
other half Sadducees he said I am a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee And it
is for the hope of the resurrection of the dead that l stand before you today.
When he had said this the assembly was divided, because the Sadducees didn’t
believe in the resurrection. Clearly if the assembly was divided he could not get
a unanimous vote against him. The Pharisees said there is nothing wrong with
that and so there was a great commotion. The Captain of the guard thinking that
there might be danger to Paul’s life commanded the soldiers to go and take Paul
by force from them. On the following night Paul had a vision of the Lord in
which the Lord said, Cheer up Paul, You have witnessed for me in Jerusalem you must do the same in Rome. When day dawned the Jews gathered to
plot Paul’s assassination. They swore to kill him before they ate again. There
were more than forty in the plot. The plotters however did a foolish thing they
went and told the religious leaders about it and asked for the council to ask
for Paul to be brought out again. However a young man who was Paul’s nephew
found out about the assassination plot and he was brought to the chief captain.
The young man told him what the scheme was and so the chief captain said ok go
now but don’t tell anyone what you have told me. The Chief Captain called for
two centurions - ordered them to assemble two hundred soldiers, seventy mounted
soldiers and two hundred spearmen by 9pm. (Four hundred and seventy men in
total.) And he ordered them to protect Paul and to give him a beast to ride on
and they delivered him safely to Felix. And he sent a letter, (a typical Roman
letter) explaining the situation. Paul was taken in cover of darkness to
Antipatris and on the following morning the foot soldiers left Paul with the
mounted guard and returned to the fortress. Paul was delivered safely to Caesarea with the letter and both were presented to the
Governor. Felix promised to hear the case when his accusers came to testify in
person. Paul was kept safe in Herod’s Judgment hall. It is quite amazing what
Romans will do to protect one of their own.
No comments:
Post a Comment