Acts 23
Acts 23
[00:00:00] Hey everyone, welcome to God's Plan, your part, year two, where this year we're reading through and studying the entire New Testament one chapter at a time. Thanks again for joining us in discovering God's plan and your part in it. Today we are in Acts chapter 23, and there's no really simple way to describe what's going on in the chapter.
Essentially, Paul's imprisonment is moving forward. God is at significant work in what's happening within this chapter. And again, we're moving closer and closer and closer to the end of Paul's ministry and the end of the book of Acts. There's only four or five more chapters to go. Uh, and basically by the time we close out this chapter, Paul will no longer be in Jerusalem.
Yeah. I think something that really stuck out to me in overall theme is just that like God's plan and his sovereignty is. Holding true, once again, surprise, surprise. And when anyone tries to go up against it. And even to the point of like swearing themselves to what [00:01:00] they think God wants, um, it turns out that that plan is completely foolish and that God's will will come to pass.
And it's just, it's crazy to me how we can try so hard sometimes to really push against what God has in store. But his plan will always play out exactly how he intended. It is interesting how, you know, I guess one of the themes that's rising to the top for us as we go through these couple of chapters is just God's sovereignty.
There's no question that God is orchestrating these events because Paul couldn't even have planned them and executed them the way that he wanted to because he's a prisoner at this point. And so this chapter picks up with Paul as a prisoner. Uh, you'll remember at the end of the last chapter, he kind of revealed that he's a Roman citizen.
So now the Roman captors essentially are going to treat him with a lot of respect. They're going to give him a lot of dignity, uh, that his Jewish accusers are not going to give to him. So today's chapter, chapter 23. [00:02:00] Opens with Paul basically making a defense to the Jews saying, Hey, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up until this day.
And you can see that this makes the people furious because the high priest actually orders that he be slapped across the face. And it says Ananias. Is this the same Ananias that, okay. I was going to say it must be a really common name because it seems so common. Super out of character for this to be the same Ananias, apparently this Ananias.
And remember the high priests were actually put in place by the, the Roman leaders and they would rotate them. So apparently this Ananias, the high priest was pretty well known to be a pretty crooked high priest. And actually the fact that he is ordering Paul to be slapped across the face, like while Paul is making his defense.
Is pretty significantly heinous. Like this is not a good thing. Uh, and it's actually prohibited by Leviticus 19. So Leviticus 19, 15 says, [00:03:00] do no injustice while you're in court. And one of the things you're going to notice in this chapter is the people who claim to be so zealous and so passionate about the law are oftentimes.
doing really ridiculous things with the law. So for example, the high priest is ordering something that is prohibited by the law, slapping Paul across the face before he's made his defense apparently to make a case that he supports the law. Um, it's not a great idea. It's just not a great idea. So he's going through all of this and it just, again, the temperature is just rising and rising and rising with the anger and frustration that these Jews are feeling from Jerusalem towards Paul.
So essentially he's still under. Like Roman like authority and guard like he is like in their grasp At the same time the people the Jewish people of Jerusalem are really fired up and [00:04:00] they're like ready to just kill him I'm not sure if there was something specific that was said here or if they just are just ready to to kill him Did you notice something?
Well, it's twice that they plan to kill him for in the first part of the chapter. There's just like the, the contentiousness rises to a very high level. The temperature gets very high as you were saying, and they decided to try to attack him and the Romans swoop in and protect him. And then the second part of the chapter, which we'll get to in a second, is that they actually make an oath and are bound by an oath to God.
All right. Bye. To murder Paul, which is another not great way to use the law. Uh, one of the hilarious things that happens here and Luke actually records it, I think in a way that is comedic. Um, he says now when Paul, this is verse six. Now, when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, He cried out in the council, brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees.
It is with respect to the hope of the resurrection of the dead that I [00:05:00] am on trial. And when it's like turning them against each other, yeah, he's literally like standing in this court setting, realizing like, Oh, Pharisees and Sadducees hate each other primarily because of the resurrection. It seems like the issue is the resurrection, but also angels and spirits.
And this was an issue in, in when Jesus was alive as well, because like one of the big things that people would push him on is the resurrection of the dead, which is why Jesus was questioned at one point. Like if a woman is married to a husband and then a husband's brother, and then a husband's brother, like who will she be married to?
That essentially was about. The resurrection of the dead. And so here Paul's reading the room and what he's doing is essentially like stirring up an argument so that they lose focus on him and instead fight with each other. And apparently it's a pretty effective way to get people to fight with each other at this time, because it works like they, Hate each other and they get in a fight with each other.
And basically what happens is the, the, [00:06:00] uh, the temperature, I guess you used that earlier. The temperature of this fight gets so high that they're like, well, let's just kill Paul. But before they can even do that, the Tribune. The people that have him in custody, they're like, we got to get this guy out of here or he's not going to exist any longer.
So again, that whole situation plays out and like Paul's being protected by these Roman people. Like it makes no sense. Like, I mean, it does, but it doesn't like his scenario is so crazy. That, like, he's being protected by people who, in most cases, would just be like, you're causing such a problem. Like, we're just gonna let you, let them take care of you.
So, he's on his way now, like, out of this area into the barracks, where they will decide his fate from there. Like, what are we gonna do with this guy so that he doesn't get killed by these Jews? And also, so that, like, our heads And remember, it's really significant that he is, he has [00:07:00] revealed that he is a Roman citizen by birth.
So legally he is not allowed to be mistreated. And this, uh, Tribune is aware of that and is very keen on making sure that he is protected, particularly if he's being falsely accused and should not be punished. Um, there is a really significant verse in this chapter. It says, verse 11, The following night, the Lord stood by him.
So this is again, when he's in the barracks under the protection of the Romans, the Lord stood by him and said, take courage for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome. One of the things that sticks out to me from the book of Acts is that Paul is regular, be regularly being encouraged in supernatural ways.
To stay on point for the mission, so he's been told to go to Jerusalem, he's been told that he would be taken prisoner in Jerusalem, and now the Lord himself is revealing that, okay, you have [00:08:00] testified faithfully here in Jerusalem. Now, I'm going to take you to Rome and Paul's used to setting up his own plans and sailing different places and going with teams of people.
But now he's going to be taken to Rome by the Romans under guard of the Romans and at the expense of the Romans. It's like an incredible way that God's being sovereign. I even think back to even though he was supposed to leave to go on all these missionary journeys, he had no plans to stop at those other places along the way back.
And he did. And because of that, we not only, like, have these churches that are completely impacted by his journey to them accidentally, and we also have these books that encourage us as he was encouraging them. So in this instance, like, it literally tells him, like, the Lord tells him what is going to happen.
So he went to Jerusalem just like he asked, and I was saying, you're going to do the same thing in Rome. So like, I'm sure in his mind, he's probably just like, okay, next stop, Rome. Here we go. Exactly. It's been revealed to him. He's committed to [00:09:00] it. And honestly, not only is he committed to it, he has no choice but to go.
He's a prisoner. Um, and they, they treat him fairly well. But even, I think what's crazy and what was getting to me was like, the guards don't know that. Yeah. But like, it will play out in their actions. And I wonder if, if Paul is just like, kind of like, waiting it out, like, Alright, eventually they're going to send me over to Rome.
And then as the chapter progresses, that's exactly what happens. I suppose for extra credit, just to like, really drill this home and make it very real, if you enjoy passages like the Fruits of the Spirit, If you are encouraged by passages like Philippians 4. 13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Um, if you have ever quoted the verse, don't let people look down on you because of your age. Fan into flame the gift of God. Like, these are all things that have come out of God. Paul's ministry. These are all things that were written by Paul while God was sovereignly moving him around. So it's not, we're not studying this in a vacuum where it's like, [00:10:00] Oh, what an interesting story that Paul lived through.
Like many of us have actually been informed and made decisions and firmed up our faith because of things that Paul wrote. As part of this, like, crazy trip that he's on, where God's just moving him around from one place to the other. Incomplete obedience of what the Holy Spirit is directing him. A hundred percent.
A hundred percent. And it just can't be understated, like our lives have been impacted in significant ways. This is not something we're reading about, you know, from a long time ago in some dusty old book that doesn't matter. We continue to be encouraged, informed, strengthened, sharpened by the things that Paul wrote during this time in his life.
And we can be thankful for what God was doing through his life. So, I think what is interesting about what happens next, and this is something that you had really called out before the episode, um, but you were talking about what was so interesting to you is this, these oaths that the Jewish people are making, basically in order to, to ensure that Paul will be [00:11:00] killed.
They like, they decide to, To promise to God, I'm not even going to eat because I'm going to make sure Paul's dead before all this. Like it was, it's just so interesting how blinded they become by their own selfish, honestly, selfish ambitions. Like we're so zealous for God that we're willing to murder this man.
Like how does that even make sense? But it definitely crossed their mind and they were dedicated to it so much that they were making oaths to God that completely like contradict. It's interesting because they're, I mean, you, you laid that out very well. Like they are binding themselves to God. And they think that they're committed in a major way to God to commit murder, which is prohibited by the 10 commandments.
I mean, in any conversation about the law, you can be like, well, what is the law? Is it the 660 laws that have been added? Is it Leviticus? Is it just the 10 commandments? Is it like, what laws are we talking about? And what's funny here is that they [00:12:00] are making themselves bound to an oath to murder somebody.
So the, the, I don't know, just the religious ridiculousness of this entire situation. And also, part of the oath is that they will not eat, I think. They will not eat or drink or something. Um, you can actually find it in verse 21. By Even in 14, it says, They strictly bound themselves to an oath to taste no food until they've killed Paul.
Yeah. And then in, in, uh, verse 21, it says that they had bound themselves by an oath, neither to eat nor drink until they have killed them to killed him. So like the religiosity of this is insanity because they are committing an oath to do something that is offensive to God. And honestly, For what it's worth, like, if you think that this is a dusty old problem, it's not like many times people are committing to things that God would not permit, assuming that they are, in fact, glorifying God.
And you can see this all around you in our world today, where [00:13:00] people who don't understand who God is or what he has called us to are. Making statements like they are glorifying God with their sinful lives. And a lot of times, a lot of different groups of people are very excited to affirm them and support them in their insanity.
And that's exactly what's going on here in Acts chapter 23. These guys are making this religious oath to kill a man, which would definitely not be permitted, but they're completely blinded by their own religion. So knowing that, again, this temperature is not going down. The mood of the people is not changing.
They're actually becoming more like strict in what their, their plan is to get rid of Paul. Like there's an order made to essentially like send a letter, evacuate him. Yep. Send a letter along with how many soldiers was it? 200 soldiers. Yeah. Um, with horsemen and servantry, excuse me, servantry horsemen, um, and 200 spearmen to go as far as [00:14:00] Caesarea at the third hour of the night to take Paul essentially to safety.
Um, the letter ensuring that Felix, who would be receiving Paul, understood the entire situation, kind of again saving their butts, um, but letting him know, here's this man, here's what happened. We made sure he was safe. Like, it's just so funny, those little tag lines. Um, but we need to figure out what's going on.
Like, he needs a fair trial, essentially. The sovereignty of God here is kind of funny. Um, because the Romans executed Jesus. It was the Romans who hung Jesus on a cross. Obviously, there was a lot more going on as part of that story. But the Romans executed Jesus. Here, the Romans saved Paul's life. Do you think they're kind of just like, nope, not doing that again?
Is that a possible fear? I think certainly those events would have colored the way that they understood the world. Certainly, they would have. I wonder if Paul was not a Roman citizen, though. If they're, you know, Opinions and ideas would have changed. That's where God's [00:15:00] sovereignty is all over this. He's a Roman citizen.
He's under the protection of Rome. I mean, to the point that he's protected by a pretty large number of soldiers. And also a small detail that you could miss is that somebody also sovereignly Um, ordained by God, he overhears of this plot and makes sure that the Romans know to get Paul out of there. And so now Paul is on his way to Caesarea, which we'll get into tomorrow, but he's going to spend two years there.
And he's going to do a lot of writing and a lot of ministering and a lot of growing the church while imprisoned by the Romans. So. This is an incredible story. Um, we are kind of like winding down the chapter, but don't ignore these final chapters. It's amazing what God has done and what God continues to do.
So the, your part for today is to understand how much God has done to make sure that we receive this message. This is, this is no small thing and we can be very thankful for it. And I think I had read the other day, um, Just a verse that [00:16:00] was really sticking out to me. It was found in Mark, but I had also read it in Luke, um, about the sparrows that God takes care of.
And not one of them is without like outside of his reach. Um, and for me, that definitely reminds me of Paul. Like the, anything that occurs in our lives. No matter how big or how small was not done by accident and it's not outside of God's power or his will Same for Paul same for us Paul was obviously I think for most of us as listeners and Ryan and I who we are not in the situation that Paul is in however Whatever situation comes your way, it is not outside of God's will.
It does not surprise him at all. Um, and he still remembers us just like he does every single sparrow. Every single hair is numbered on your head. Um, just like it says in Mark and Luke as well. So just remember that as we consider God's sovereignty in every situation in our, of our lives today and moving forward.
Thanks so much for joining us today. We'll be back again for acts 24 tomorrow. Thanks for joining today's [00:17:00] episode of God's plan. Your part, as always, please consider partnering with us as we are a listener supported podcast that we hope to continue to grow with support from listeners. Just like you, we've made it super easy to partner with us and you can support us by following the link in our show notes or our description.
You can support us with as little as 3 a month. Every little bit of this helps so much. And we're so thankful for your support with that in mind. Here's today's reading Acts chapter 23, and looking intently at the council. Paul said, brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscious up to this day, and the high priest, Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
Then Paul said to him. God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck? Those who stood by said, Would you revile God's high priest? And Paul said, I did not [00:18:00] know, brothers, that he was the high priest.
For it is written, You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people. Now Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees. And he cried out in the council, Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of the Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope of the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.
And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit. But the Pharisees acknowledge them all. Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees party stood up and contended sharply.
We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him? And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks. The following night the Lord stood [00:19:00] by him and said, Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.
When it was day. The Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than 40 who made this conspiracy. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food until we have killed Paul.
Now, therefore, you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you as though you were going to determine his case more exactly, and we are ready to kill him before he comes near. Now the son of Paul's sister heard their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.
Paul called one of the centurions and said, Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him. So he took him and brought him to the tribune, and said, Paul, the prisoner, called me, and asked me to bring this [00:20:00] young man to you, as he has something to say to you. The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside, asked him privately, What is it that you have to tell me?
And he said, The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. But do not be persuaded by them. For more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath, neither to eat or drink until they have killed him.
And now they are ready, waiting for your consent. So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, Tell no one that you have informed me of these things. Then he called two of the centurions and said, Get ready two hundred soldiers with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.
Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor. And he wrote a letter to this effect. Claudius Lysias, to His Excellency the Governor Felix, greetings. This man was seized by the Jews [00:21:00] and was about to be killed by them, when I came upon them with soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen.
And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. I find that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.
So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris, and on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from.
And when he learned that he was from Cilicia, he said, I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive. And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's Praetorium. Thank you so much for [00:22:00] listening to today's episode of God's Plan, Your Part. Don't forget, you can find us on just about every social media platform and YouTube.
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