
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I pray that you have all been blessed with enough to eat and lots of lovingkindness from those you love.
Paul sailed to Cos, Rhodes and Patara. At Phoenicia they changed ships and sailed toward Syria. They went ashore at Tyre, found some believers and stayed with them for a week. They pleaded with Paul by the power of the Spirit not to go to Jeruasalem. When it was time to say goodbye they all came out to the shore and knelt and prayed and sent them on their way. They visited believers in Ptolemais for a day. They continued their journey visiting believers all along the way to Jerusalem. Some were very afraid for Paul's safety and didn't want him to go. But Paul insisted that whatever fate awaited him was God's will and he would endure it. Upon arriving at Jerusalem they were greeted warmly by believers. The next day Paul gave a complete report to James and the church elders about his work. They told Paul about a rumor circulating among the people that Paul was teaching that the people not follow the Law of Moses. They told him to participate in a Jewish purification ritual so that everyone would see that this wasn't true. So he did. This didn't stop the rumors and the people rioted and Paul was arrested by the Roman guard. The commander demanded to know what Paul had done, but he couldn't get a straight answer from the mob and the soldiers had to protect Paul from the mob. Paul spoke to the commander in Greek, the commander quieted the mob and Paul spoke to them in Hebrew.
Paul told the people about his history; how he persecuted the Christians. Then he told them about his conversion and the voice from heaven and how he was blinded. He told them about Ananias and his baptism. He even admitted he witnessed Stephen's murder. The people started shouting to have Paul killed. The commander ordered the soldiers to take Paul into the fort and whip him until they could make sense of the turmoil. Paul asked if it was lawful to whip a Roman citizen without a fair trial. When they realized they had chained a Roman citizen, they became scared. To find out what was going on, the commander took Paul to the Council and chief priests and made Paul stand before them the next day.
Paul spoke to defend himself before a hostile group of Pharisees and Sadducees. The discussion became so heated the commander feared for Paul and he ordered his soldiers to guard Paul from the Jewish leaders. (The Sadducees were aristocrats who didn't believe in life after death or that they needed God in their everyday life, but they were afraid of the people. The Pharisees were local businessmen who believed in life after death, and that God could help in everyday life and they were more closely tied to the people. Though the Sadducees were in the majority, the Pharisees had more sway because they had the people.) "That night the Lord stood by Paul and said, 'Don't be afraid! You have given your witness for me here in Jerusalem, and you must also do the same in Rome.'" (23:11) Some Jews vowed to kill Paul, but Paul's sister heard about it and sent her son, Paul's nephew to the commander to tell him about it. The commander sent Paul to the Governor with an armed escort and a letter...which we'll read about tomorrow.
Tomorrow read Acts 23:26-27:28
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