Month: February 2024

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Notes for my weekly Bible Study group.
Resources

Overview

  • Acts 24 recounts Paul’s trial before Governor Felix in Caesarea Maritima.
  • Accusations against Paul: Jewish leaders accuse Paul of stirring up trouble, promoting a dangerous sect, and desecrating the temple.
    • The charges against Paul were:
      (1) He was, in the eyes of the Jews, a ‘real pest’ (verse 5).
      (2) He stirred up unrest among the Jews world-wide (verse 5).
      (3) He was the ringleader of a non-Jewish sect (verse 5).
      (4) He tried to desecrate the temple (verse 6).
  • Paul’s defense: Paul refutes the accusations, clarifies his activities, and emphasizes his faithfulness to Jewish law.
  • Felix’s response: Unwilling to make a decision, Felix imprisons Paul but allows him visitors.
  • Themes: Religious conflict, Roman justice, Paul’s unwavering faith.

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Notes for my weekly Bible Study group.
Resources

Overview

  • Paul is before the council giving testimony.  The high priest tells his people to smack Paul in the mouth for what he was saying. Paul calls him a hypocrite but later apologizes since Christians aren’t supposed to speak badly about their leaders.
  • The Pharisees and the Sadducees in the council argue with each other since some of them agreed with Paul and others didn’t. Paul admits he was a Pharisee and the Pharisees believed in resurrection of the dead but the Sadducees did not.
  • The Pharisees and the Sadducees in the council argue with each other since some of them agreed with Paul and others didn’t.
  • The Roman commander removed Paul to the barracks to keep him from being torn apart by the crowd.
  • Later that evening God tells Paul that his next assignment would be to testify about God in Rome. Paul wasn’t sure how he would get there since he was in jail. Despite this, Paul was fully invested in the Holy Spirit and trusted in God’s plans. Paul had no doubt that he would somehow get to Rome to finish his teachings.  If God promises something He will always be faithful to His promise. Always trust in God.
  • The next day the Roman commander sets up a small army to escort Paul all the way to his next destination safely. This fulfilled God’s promise to travel to his next city.
  • There are four principles to learn from Acts:
    • PRINCIPLE #1: We must be fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit. (Acts 19:21; 20:22–24; 21:10–14; 22:30—23:1)
    • PRINCIPLE #2: Once we’ve fully surrendered, we must learn how to handle friendly fire. (Acts 23:2–5; John 15:26—16:4)
      • Paul responded to Ananias’s attack on him with logic and information because he didn’t realize Ananias was the high priest. When he did, Paul responded humbly, acknowledging his response was not in accordance with God’s Law.
    • PRINCIPLE #3: You must know your divine purpose amongst great opposition. (Acts 23:6–10; John 18:37)
    • PRINCIPLE #4: We must fully trust in God’s promise and provision. (Acts 23:16, 23; Joshua 21:45; 1 Samuel 3:19)

Posted on
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Notes for my weekly Bible Study group.
Resources

Overview

  • At the end of Acts 21, Paul was back in Jerusalem. The Jews seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple complex, planning to beat him to death.
  • A Roman commander arrested Paul. Paul asked that he be allowed to address the crowd that had attacked him. Acts 22 records the text of Paul’s speech and the crowd’s’ reaction.
  • Instead of preaching the gospel, Paul expains why he traveled with a Gentile from Ephesus. Paul reminds them of his strict education by the Pharisee rabbi Gamaliel and how violently he had, at first, persecuted Christians. Paul then explains his conversion and talks about his return to Jerusalem and how the Jews sought to kill him, so God told him to leave Jerusalem and concentrate on reaching the Gentiles. The mention of Gentiles angered the crowd listening to him.
  • In the last part of the chapter, the Roman tribune realizes neither Paul’s speech nor the crowd’s anger will resolve anything. So the Roman commander decides to torture Paul until he speaks the full truth.
  • The soldiers tie Paul up but before the centurion can start whipping him Paul points out that he is a Roman citizen and cannot be flogged until he has faced a trial. The centurion rushes to the tribune who, in turn, rushes to Paul to validate the information. The Romans are horrified since it would have been a crime to flog Paul (it was also a crime that they shackled him in the temple courtyard).
  • Chapter 22 concludes with the tribune’s search for the truth as he schedules a meeting with the Sanhedrin (Jewish court), hoping they can shed light on the situation.