So today Paul finally makes it to Jerusalem, but not before he hears some disturbing messages. And the warnings get more intense, more voices, and more tears. Exactly, conflict ahead in Jerusalem, and yet he still persists and goes forward.
So, read with us today and let's find out why. Today. On More Than Inc.
Well, good morning. I'm Dorothy. And I'm Jim. And we are sitting at our dining room table. Actually, we're journeying.
We're on the boat with Paul as he's on his way back to Jerusalem. We're jumping in today in the middle of chapter 21, kind of partway through the journey. And if you remember, last week we just witnessed an amazing and tender greeting and goodbyeing with the Ephesian elders. Paul had sent for them, and they came from Ephesus to the coast to Miletus to meet him. And he told them, You're not going to see me again.
I have labored among you. I have preached you the whole gospel of God. And goodbye, essentially. And so we see them kneeling in prayer together and then escorting Paul down to the boat, and off he goes on his way to Jerusalem. That's his goal.
He's set his sights to Jerusalem, and that's where he's going. And as we pick up the story, chapter 21, suddenly we have we in the, and when we had parted from them.
So, Luke is with them. Luke is with them.
Now, Luke may have been with him before this. I don't remember. I should have looked back. Yeah, he was there for the whole meeting with the Ephesus elders. But it just struck me reading this that Luke is now very writing very clearly in the first person as we move on to the first time.
So don't get seasick as we climb on the boat together.
Okay, one of the things we did do at the end of last week was talk about Bible study techniques when you're dealing with a narrative. And probably the most helpful thing with Acts is a map. Especially here. You need a map so you can actually see where they're traveling. And Luke gives us enough information to actually kind of run our finger along the map and see exactly where the ship is.
This is the real world because you can find all these places. Right. And many of them are still named exactly the same things.
So that's really helpful.
So when you're reading a New Testament narrative, get a map. Get a map. Get a map. If you have a good study Bible, there'll be a map in it. Yeah.
Or many maps. Yeah, and most Bibles that have maps have maps of Paul's three missionary journeys. And this is the third one.
So you can actually, they'll draw a red line on you.
So you can see where you're going to do your homework. There we go. Let's look at the map.
Well, let's see where it goes. They climb in the boat. He leaves the Ephesian elders behind, and he's back on the high seas again. Are you going to read? I'll read, yeah.
So we're starting to chapter 21. Here we go, verse 1. Oh, it is verse 1. It is verse 1, yeah. And when he had parted from them, that is leaving the Ephesian elders behind, Miletus, and set sail, we came by a straight course to Kos and next day to Rhodes, which is where we get the Rhodes Scholars from, the island of Rhodes, and from there to Patara, another coastal port town.
And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, by the way, that's present-day Lebanon and the north side of the eastern Mediterranean coast, when we found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. And when we had come inside of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo.
So he would have preferred for it to. Dock a little further south, actually, into Israel. Tyre was the major port. Yeah, this is uh Syria, present-day Lebanon.
So we just crossed a huge part of the Mediterranean in those few seconds.
Well, yeah, so the first couple of stops are just like day trips, right? Right. And then they find that boat at Petara going to Phoenicia, and that's a longer trip. That's a longer trip. But it's interesting, he says we passed Cyprus, leaving it on the left.
So he wants, for some reason, he wants us to know that they were on that southern route around the bottom side of Cyprus. Right. Well, you know, it's because when weather's nice, you don't have to hug the coast all the way across.
So they decided to go to open water because Cyprus is literally the halfway point between Patera and Tyre.
So it's safe. If you have problems, you can be there, but you don't have to hop and skip across the southern trip. They also were trying to save time. If you remember, Paul was on a countdown to get to Jerusalem before Pentecost, and the clock is ticking. And we know he's going to spend some days going over land after they arrive.
Yeah, yeah.
So time's a precious thing. And so they land in Tyre. Tyre. He wishes they had landed further south. But since they're in Tyre, at the end of verse 3, verse 4, he seeks out disciples that are there in Tyre.
How about that? And we don't have any record that Paul ever went to Tyre to talk about the gospel. But Jesus went to Tyre. But Jesus went to Tyre. Yeah, I know.
That's one of my favorite stories. And you can find it in Matthew chapter 15. They go way out of their way. I mean, Jesus leads the apostles way out of their way up to the coast, right where Tyre and Sidon is in Syria, and has a remarkable discussion with this woman who, at the end of the discussion, he says, Great is your faith. And she's one of the two people he ever says it.
That was in Tyre.
So what do you think? Yeah, she's only identified as a Syro-Phoenician woman. Right. We don't have a name. We don't have a story.
But it could very well be that that day when Jesus planted that seed with her, this is the church that has resulted from that. It's possible. And this is now more than two decades later. Right, right. Yeah, yeah.
So they stayed there for a week, right? Yeah. Having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit, they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. There's the case.
Stop. Here's the warning. And it says through the Spirit, they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. But Paul was determined to go. And he had been constrained in his own spirit to go to Jerusalem.
So what's happening here? Are these people mishearing the Holy Spirit? We don't really know. Scholars kind of differ on this. It seems to me that it's possible that these people had the impression that Paul was headed into trouble, and so they interpreted that.
As important to tell him don't go. Yeah, as a warning not to go. To warn him not to go. It could be a little mixing of loving concern. It could be.
And it could be the Spirit only just says there's going to be problems there. Right, right. So, anyway, they're urging Paul not to go on. Yeah, because there will be more messages from the Spirit as we finish today, and you'll see that there's not a mixed message. You know, the message is go to Jerusalem, but hey, heads up.
It's going to be trouble. It's going to be trouble. Yeah. Yeah. So, verse 5: When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city.
And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship and they returned home. Again, we have this similar scene. Kneeling down on the beach together, full sight of God and everybody. Right?
We're going to kneel together and give thanks. Right, right. And pray in public and give thanks. Yeah. And then.
Luke writes, we went on board the ship and then returned home.
So, Tyre is up the coast, like I said. It's on the eastern end of the Mediterranean. They returned home.
So the people who return home.
So they're going down to where they're trying to get to further down the coast to get into Israel.
Okay.
So verse 7. When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for one day. On the next day, we departed and came to Caesarea.
Okay, we're getting closer to home now. And we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. Can we stop that? Let's stop there.
You knew I was going to want to stop. We've been waiting for this guy to show up again. Yeah. Right. Because remember, we read about all of Philip's adventures back in chapter 8.
He had a lot of adventures. Right, right. And the spirit whisked him off, and he winds up on the coast somewhere near Caesarea and he settles down. He's the one that's with the Ethiopian eunuch. Right.
Right. And the eunuch says, you know, can someone going to help me read what I'm reading here? And it's from Isaiah, and Philip helps him, and then he gets baptized there and sends him on his way. And the next thing you know, Philip disappears and he's up the coast of Dazatus. He's on the Mediterranean coast.
And so from there, he just, you can read it in chapter 8. Read chapter 8. He wanders up the coast northward, and Caesarea is at the top of the coast in Israel. And so it says back in chapter 8 that that's where he went to. And here he is, I mean, literally two decades later.
Yes. And he's still in Caesarea. He's stayed there and raised a family. He's got four unmarried daughters who prophesied. Who prophesied.
If you're in the habit of just skipping lightly over those kind of details, that's really helpful to remember this because back in the beginning of Acts, Peter had said, This what you're seeing is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It's a fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2, where God said, I will pour out my spirit on your sons and your daughters. Right? They will dream dreams and prophesy. And we sometimes forget that there were a number of women from the very beginning of the scripture who were identified as prophetesses, Miriam, Moses' sister, being the first one.
But there were others, like Anna in the temple when Jesus was brought as a baby. In the time of Josiah, back in 2 Chronicles, we have Hulda, the prophetess. She's one of the very few women in the Old Testament who actually speaks, thus saith the Lord to King Josiah.
So I would encourage you, if you've never run across her, listeners, look her up in 2 Chronicles 34. Little story starts in verse 22. Yeah. And it's very interesting.
So, you know, don't skip over this that Luke is telling us specifically. This man had four adult daughters who were recognized as prophesying. Yeah, yeah.
Which means they were speaking out. They were out speaking the counsel of God. That's right. That's a remarkable thing. It is a remarkable thing.
And by the way, stating the obvious, it doesn't say here in verse 9 that they prophesied and told Paul, don't drink. Oh, isn't that interesting? Isn't that interesting? Because four of them would have said that. It would have been written down right here.
By the way, there's some ancient records, extra-biblical ancient records that mention a couple of these daughters by name and mention that they actually lived to a great age, to an old age. And so in mentioning them right here, for the later church who's going to read this, they'll say, oh, yeah, we know some of those daughters. They have been, you know, they've been intermingled in the church for years now.
So evidently their exposure not only to their father fell. But to Paul coming through again here, they were some of the longest-lived witnesses to all of this history that we're reading right here. These gals right here. It's fascinating. That's great information.
So they stayed there, right? In verse 9. Caesarea. Settled in Caesarea for a few days. And verse 10 says, And while we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabas came down from Judea.
And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, Thus says the Holy Spirit, this is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
Now, okay, so there were a couple of Old Testament prophets who acted out their prophecies this way, right? But it's interesting that the four daughters didn't say this, but Agabas does. And he doesn't say, Don't go. Right. He just says, I want you to have a really clear picture of what's coming.
Yep. Yep. So, but look how people respond in verse 12. When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Huh.
Yeah. And then Paul answered. Do you want to read his answer? Because it's good. And again, this is kind of a mixing of a loving concern spoken from the fact, from the Spirit, saying there's going to be problems.
So there's nothing wrong with that.
So Paul answered when they said don't go to Jerusalem. Paul answered in verse 13 and says, So what are you doing weeping and breaking my heart? For I'm ready not only to be imprisoned, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, Well, let the will of the Lord be done. Isn't it?
He says, We see this.
So, Luke was among those who, by this time, was saying, You know, maybe you shouldn't go. Yeah, this is a very common refrain. There's going to be problems down there.
So, what do you say?
So, Luke was saying, Let's not. But then they all said, Let the will of the Lord be done.
So, they know what's coming. It's a warning, it's not a way of kind of waving him off, it's a way of just informing him, saying, This is what's coming, so don't be surprised. Yeah, and Paul, you know, this Paul says, What are you doing weeping and breaking my heart? Right? This was hard for him, too, right?
And we sometimes pay attention to that. This was a tremendously difficult and emotional thing to do to come along all these places and say goodbye to people because he really thought he was going to die at Jerusalem. Yeah, well, and you know, I've always looked at this passage and thought, What would I have said instead that would not have broken his heart? You know, and what you could have done is, in the face of what Agabas had said about the conflict that's coming, is say, But you, but you know, brother, you know, God. Knows what's going on, he sees it coming down the pike.
That's what he says. He's sovereign in all of these things. They could have just spoken the truth about the fact that even though conflict's coming, God is still in the process of bringing great good through what Paul is doing. I mean, they could have said all those things. And bless the Lord who's told you ahead of time.
Yeah, so you are emotionally, mentally prepared for it. Exactly. Exactly. So that's what they could have said, and they didn't. They just said, Don't go, don't go.
Don't go. We don't want you to be hurt. And you know, that's a that informs us too. When people, when you can see trouble coming down the line in people's lives, whether it's health problems or financial problems, you know, we can give some of our best advice to minimize the pain of it. But I think in the end, what you really need to do is you need to focus on the sovereignty of God.
He's in control now, and he'll be in control then. He's always in control. And to remind people about the fact that God loves them and that love has not come to an end, and God has resources beyond anything we can even imagine. I mean, really, in these situations where this Kind of pain and suffering is obvious coming down the road. You need to point to the loving sovereignty of God.
That's the best way to go about it. God's purposes are always good. Yes. And God always gets his way. Right, right, right.
And Paul writes later, he says, God works things together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.
So he knows this. And that would have been better for them to do. But anyway, their love comes out and says, don't go.
Well, and it was consistently Paul's attitude, and he talked about it in many places. I'm willing to go. I'm willing to die for the name of the Lord Jesus because he's made it very clear from the beginning, that's what I'm going to do. That's what I'm going to do. My call is to suffer for his name.
And Paul has already said in these sections we've looked at here, he says, you know, I want to finish the course. I want to get to the end. And so this is the sprint at the end, unfortunately.
So, verse 15, after these days, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.
So, you know, you wonder what that getting ready was. Was that getting ready spiritually, getting ready? They didn't have a lot of stuff to take.
So I don't know. We got ready and we went up to Jerusalem. You know what I would have liked to have seen here? Again, we don't know if this happened, but Philip. Wouldn't it have been nice in these last sections right here saying Philip came up to me, Paul says, and he really encouraged me.
And we don't see any Philip interaction, which is by this time Philip is pretty old. He is. Oh, yeah, pretty old. Probably. But it would have been nice to see some of that great encouragement.
I think that might have been part of the getting ready in 15, I'm hoping. We really don't know, but it implies that there was something to do, yeah. Right. However, however, in support, verse 16, some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, yeah, bringing us to the house of Nason, I don't know how to say it, of Cyprus, an early disciple with whom we should lodge.
So, yeah, it's nice. They said, Some of us, we're going to go with you. We're going to go with you.
Well, and it almost sounds like the people there from Caesarea knew Nason, right? And so they made sure that Paul went there because he maybe didn't know him. Yeah, that's that's likely. Yeah, that's likely the case. And by the way, it says, An early disciple, an early disciple.
Well, I did the math. This, this that we're reading right here, this narrative took place around AD 57, probably around 57. And Jesus died somewhere in the early 30s. Yeah, so 25 years later. This can be a guy who's been a disciple for like more than two decades, which makes him an early disciple.
So, you know, you think, oh, just kind of one of the first guys a couple years ago. No. Like two decades, at least two decades. I think that's fascinating. An early disciple with whom we should lodge.
This is great. Wow. That's great. I love that. We've traversed a lot of time in Acts so far.
Yeah. We're now at least 20 years out.
Okay.
So we're getting to Jerusalem. Yep. All right, in verse 17. When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day, Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.
After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified God.
Okay, wait a minute. Great report. One by one. That must have taken forever. He had a lot to say.
Yeah. Yeah. And he was last down in Jerusalem for the Jerusalem councils and stuff like that.
So it's been a while.
Well, in the way we hear about the letter in a minute, it almost sounds like Paul didn't know about the letter to the Gentiles.
Okay, we're getting ahead of ourselves. But anyway, yeah, so just a great report in detail. Yeah. Not just roughly. And when they heard it, their response was they glorified God.
Yeah. And specifically that God had done among the Gentiles. Among the Gentiles. Amazing. Because here we are in Judaism Central.
We're in Jerusalem. These people live in kind of a Jewish bubble in Jerusalem. And Paul comes back and says, you won't believe what's been going on with the Gentiles. Right. And the Jews that are living among the Gentiles.
Amazing. But here, the local guys know how contentious the local Jewish population is.
So in the second half of verse 20. And now they said to him, you see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews. Of those who have believed. They're all zealous for the law, and they've been told, oh, oh, they're all zealous for the law, right? Believers or not believers.
And they've been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs.
Well, that was a lie. Right, right, right. Verse 22, what then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you've come. Do therefore what we tell you.
We have four men who are under a vow. Yeah, well, let's stop there before this is the solution coming up.
So, what they're saying is that there's this rumor going around by Paul has this bad reputation that in bringing Jews to Jesus, he tells them now, jettison all your Jewish people. Throw it all away. And they're saying, you know, we know that's not what you promote. We know that's not true. But we need some way to at least make a public statement about the fact that you don't believe that, that you actually participate in, you know.
Jewish stuff. Right. So Christians who have Jewish backgrounds can still maintain Jewish traditions.
Well, and we know Paul was not opposed to circumcision because he had taken Timothy and had him circumcised. That's right. So because they were going in to deal with Jews. Yes. That's right.
And, you know, I looked at some parallel passages. You know, when you look at 1 Corinthians 9, he talks about, you know, to the Jews he became a Jew in order to win Jews, to those under the law as one under the law.
So he talks about the fact that the Jewish traditions are not inherently bad. But in his teaching, he's very clear about the fact that the Jewish traditions have no bearing whatsoever on our standing with God. Right. Right. It has nothing to do with atonement.
But you can still involve yourself in those things. And Paul tells us that's what he does. And again, we're talking about Jewish traditions, not necessarily lawkeeping. Right, right. Right.
Okay, so but here's what they're going to offer him to say, you know, you to show the local population that you are still a respecter of Jewish law. Do what we tell you.
So this will be a nice public affirmation that you're not against this.
Okay.
So here's the thing. Because again, we're coming up to Pentecost. There's a lot of people in Jerusalem and a lot of activity at the temple. Right, right. So verse 23.
We have four men who are under a vow. Take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads. Thus, all will know that there is nothing in what they've been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law.
Okay, you want to talk about that a little bit? Yeah, so they're asking them to not only join in with these four men under the vow, but also to sponsor them as well. Right. So, and it's a very public thing that they're getting ready to do, pay their expenses. That's the sponsoring stuff.
So, this is very likely a Nazarite vow, which Paul himself looked like he was doing back in chapter 14 of Acts when he cut his hair at Kencray and stuff like that. Right. So, this is just a traditional, it's a traditional completion of a vow, and it'd be very public, and it's at the temple.
So, they say, Do this, and people will say, Hey, well, look, maybe we got it all wrong about Paul. He's still doing these things, he's not only participating in the vow, but he's actually sponsoring the other four guys.
So, okay, I guess we were wrong about Paul.
So, you can read about the Nazarite vow, the Nazarite condition. Back in number six.
So I would encourage you to do that. It was a vow that was undertaken by an adult in general who would declare they were in pursuit of a particular vow to be fulfilled. It doesn't say what the vow is. Right, right. But during the period of the vow, they were to abstain from certain forms of uncleanness and abstain from alcohol and from just keep themselves clean.
So they're going to ceremonially do this observance. Yeah, and there's nothing wrong with that. But again, it has nothing to do with atonement, has nothing to do with status of salvation. But then thinking about not influencing the Gentiles to get involved in Jewish traditions, he goes on in 25 and says, But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we've sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality.
Well, we know all about that. Right. We saw that in previous times. Just filling Paul in about the fact there won't be any confusion with the Gentiles. They'll know that they don't have to do what you're doing with these four other guys.
And then 26, and then Paul took them in, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.
So he carried through with it.
So he does this very public observance of this ceremonial tradition. Right. Right. That we're making a vow before God and we're doing everything properly according to Jewish understanding. Right.
So they can participate in Jewish tradition and there's great meaning in a lot of those traditions. Even the sacrifice here is not for atonement. I mean, there's other reasons for sacrifices like thanksgiving or dedication and stuff like that.
So, I mean, there's nothing wrong with this. And this really illustrates a wonderful thing that Jews that come to Jesus don't necessarily have to walk away from Judaism. But what they do is they have to understand that the blood of bulls and goats Can never atone for sin. I mean, that's what the Rite of Hebrews says. But there is great meaning in the traditions of why God put together those traditions in terms of the payment for sin and thanksgiving.
I mean, so much more.
So there's nothing wrong with that.
So we tell Jews who come to Jesus, you don't have to abandon your Jewish roots. In fact, it becomes that much more rich. But you have to understand that the sacrifice that used to be done by a bull or a goat was really done in reality through the blood of Jesus, the sacrificed lamb. But it's also very clear to understand that Gentiles coming in, they don't have that Jewish history. There's no requirement for them to obey the Jewish sacrificial law, the ceremonial law, no requirement at all.
So the instruction to Gentiles is simply, you know, do these things to avoid offending your Jewish brothers. Right. And we, again, we saw that back in chapter 15, where they have this big get-together in Jerusalem and say, the Gentiles, do we need to make them adhere to Jewish? Laws and they said, No, no.
So, you know, you have the sense that James, who was the leader of the church in Jerusalem at this time, was a wise and battle-worn guy, right? He has been at the front lines of this battle since he first came to believe in his brother.
So, you know, it was a, it's just really lovely that we have these in the words of James. Here's what you do, here's how we'll solve this. Yeah, what a great stabilizer he was here. Here we are, like two decades after the death of Jesus, his half-brother, right? Right.
And as they come back and report on what the Holy Spirit's doing in all the areas in Asia and around the world, in Greece, and Macedonia, and here still, here still is James. Right. This rock, this rock-solid guy who's there who's providing wisdom and stability. And as the Gentiles are included in the gospel of grace, they say Gentiles don't have to become Jews, but Jews don't have to forsake their traditions. And so those can coexist, and there's no Problem with that at all.
Well, as it turns out, there is a problem with it.
Well, yeah, we'll read about that next week. Yeah, yeah.
And I might point you as well to the fact that in Romans 14, Paul talks about the same topic.
So go check out Romans 14. Anyway, next time, the peace is disrupted by a great rite at the temple.
So you're not going to miss that.
So we're going to come back to chapter 21 and join us next time here on More Than Inc. There are many more episodes of this broadcast to be found at our website, morethanink.org. And while you are there, take a moment to drop us a note.
So back in Jerusalem, Paul gives such a great account of his work among the Gentiles. But what does he do at the end? A traditional Jewish ceremony. How ironic. Very ironic.
Uh Are we good? Maybe we better listen to it. Let's do it again. This has been a production of Main Street Church of Brigham City.
