As I am off to class Miles I will have to do this tomorrow and I will....But which part of Acts 21 would you like me to do.


To Jerusalem--By Sea to Palestine (21:1-16)
THE CHURCH IN ALL NATIONS: PAUL'S PALESTINIAN MINISTRY (21:17--26:32)
Paul at Jerusalem (21:17--23:35)
Promoting Harmony (21:17-26)
Arrested in the Temple (21:27-36)

If you want what all of chapter 21 means to me...that might get lengthy.


Have a good might people


God Bless

[

no, i have not passed thru that motive in any times past???

why hast thou picked this motive out of infinity others possible???

do i maliciously post long winded writings with intent to confuse and restrict others ability of understanding and seek to deny others the ability to post???

nay.

are long words forbade here in this place???

i say nothing ask a wise thing of another, if it ask of others to meet it's own consideration of personal preference of wished speech???

i say this only come from something that seek to control others as children lessor than itself, and act as dictators and oppressors???

what say ye???

do you as a wise leader of good speech, say you wish words of mine to be more as a lasor point, and wish them to be guided as hotter and with stronger velocity at impact, as to specify with pinpoint precision, what their intention and purpose be???

i agree to do as you ask, IF, you agree to help and coach me as a wise and knowing one of good and proper speech, and allow me to as sharpen these lacking skills by sending them first to you to be sharpened with your scrutiny???

will you provide your total honest feedback, and provide good assistance in this venture of teaching the less learned???

you are also the same one that say you have god residing and flowing forth from within???

did this good wisdom come from your god???

please wait while i summon my god from on high as well...........

my god say that you are not with intentional evil motive as you have said i am, and declare you are indeed most accurate, and only accessed your own telling of the future by your mind thru your negative energy created by bias, and that this be the only reason you have accessed it as a potential evil motive of me???

wait, there are more words from my god???

this may be a sign one equate all possible ignorance in others to evil motive???

my god say your god handbook totally describe this condition as "thoughts of constant possible evil" of others, and that this is most instense just before a new beginning, and that this be one that does yet understand what "god within" be???

but my god said that since you declare to be a leader of god and good for others, to beseech of you if you have heard of these other things within your god handbook, to help guide you as you guide others to good fate, with the lamp at your feet that step not over any other stone???

could possibly be one that say it is a sheep, that only clothe itself with the god handbook, that i have heard of???

god handbook note this could prove to be detre mental to the well of being of each???

this also be a known listed sign of "evil energy" in your book as well???

this also be telling of the once spoken twin evil heart of heart, as cain and able???

also of the twin human heart of the wise and foolish virgin???

also of the two tree heart???

i am as you, a slave unto my master belief, and as you belief of yours, so do you become, so perhaps you may inspect these, before you come to the eternal debates that start soon???

have you heard of these???

they start after 666 days of days of all human time, at the end of a cycle of human and time and fear???

have you heard of this???

is it called judgment day in your book???

these debates of TRUE MOTIVE of HEART decide the eternal resting place???

have you heard of this???

this may be a distressing time for those that say with lips service to believe in god, but destroy the sight of god within all others???

are you a destroyer or builder of equality???

your god handbook say a treacherous time has come upon the earth, and that this time started in the 6000 year of the sixth day of each cycle of creation, unto the last cycle of cycles, which hath come upon you now in your year of 2000AD???

have you heard of it???

your book call it a new millenium???

it is the passing away of the knowing of heaven and hell, as all and each come unto their destination of either???

your book say this begin with the strike of the infinite clock at 060606???

it also say with the strike of the infinite clock at 070707, come the ending of the seven and a half years of jacob tribulation as mankinds carnel tribulations, and begin the great three and one half years of godly tribulations, of armageddon of the mind, that bring forth fruit or no fruit, the only fruit being wisdom???

then also in your handbook of god you carry with you for smoting, come the eternal clock strike of the sign of infinity of 080808, and that all mortal time is as come to end, and the angel that stand with one foot on the land the minds of man, and the other foot on the seas of the subconscious
mind the hearts of man, begin to roll back the skies of the only minds reality thought to be possible???

have you heard of it???

it is the time of eternal harvest???

also written the scrolls are unrolled in the skies of the mind, and the time of no choice has been exceeded, and all are to be forced to lay open their hearts and life's experience, and bring forth their life's learning and professions, as each book of life the brain be opened, to see which shall pass into the lambs book of life, that taste not of physical death to pass into the fountain of youth???

it is as a game of russion roulette, the game of heaven or hell and life or death, decided by each it's own professings of what itself is???

have you any knowing of these things???

these i am is most interested in???

have you heard of this from your master's who teach you of your god of text???

it is also written that the "evil energy of bias" from this day forward shall create in REAL TIME, with no time delay once afforded unto mankind for days of gathering knowledge???

have you heard of this???

also written after the passing of the mortal time mark unto infinity, that this will increase the great out pouring of the cup of wrath of holy spirit, creating willing servants of evil as zombies that claw and clutch at others to destroy them, for the sake of fear and loathing of the losing of the soul???

have you heard of these things???

many of man minds have been struck with thought to provide all song and movies to make aware of such things???

awh, but the telling of what be as already come to pass, eluded you due to the bias of the heart, and kept thine eye's from seeing what your equals displayed upon all the airwaves of the earth and it's realms???

find quickly what shall serve as your offering unto all the others of your spieces as good???

for behold, bring forth the herald, and sound the trumpets unto the four corners of the earth, and strike with lightening the drafters table that hold mark the four corners of the universe, and bring together the cosmos, and dry now the great river of ignorance that once prospered.....

listen to one of your prophets bono and get on your boots for heavy walking......

peace

I decided to all of Acts 21....And this is the reason why.....There is a lot to be learned from all believers either in God or in his son Christ. I feel that the lessons learned in Acts 21 will also help your to truly understand where I am coming from. It will be lengthy and forgive me for that, but I didn't want to leave anything out. Please also Miles read in entirety.


Acts 21

Paul is so determined to do the work of the Lord. He displays on his way to Jerusalem. Following in the steps of the Lord Jesus, Paul by his life sets the seal of authenticity on the gospel (Lk 9:22, 44, 51/Acts 20:22-24; 21:4, 10-11; compare Lk 18:31-34; Mt 16:23/Acts 21:4, 12; compare Lk 9:45). So far the only reason Luke has given us for Paul's willingness to embrace danger is his determination to complete "the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace" (Acts 20:24).

For Paul "the church has become a countercultural, global network of communities caring for their own subversive missionaries who are now traveling to and fro throughout the Empire"

The bonds of Christian fellowship forged in this short week are strong, and they cannot but help give strength to the apostle as he continues down the road to certain suffering. We too should never miss an opportunity, by fellowship and prayer, to strengthen the determination of fellow Christians as they face hard tests.

Philip's daughters with the gift of prophecy are a reminder that in fulfillment of Joel 2:28/Acts 2:17, without regard to gender, God is pouring out his Spirit in each spiritual generation of the time period called "the last days."

It is not Philip's daughters but Agabus (compare 11:27-28), come down from Judea--that is, Jewish territory--who in an acted prophecy offers another opportunity for Paul to renew his determination to go to Jerusalem. The action and word together communicate the effective and self-fulfilling word of God (Is 55:11; Bruce 1988:401; see Old Testament examples: 1 Kings 11:29-40; Jer 13:1-11).

The theological significance is similar. It is neither the desire nor the just deserts of a righteous person to be given over to the power of enemies (Ps 26[27]:12; 40[41]:3; 73[74]:19; 117[118]:18; 139[140]:9). That is what God has determined as the fate for Israel in punishment for its sins (3 Kingdoms 8:46; 14:16; 2 Chron 25:20). So for this to be prophesied of Paul points to his innocence. As Peter will point out later, Christians are called upon to suffer for the right reason (1 Pet 4:15-16).

If anything divides Christians today, it is this question: Is the miraculous--signs and wonders, the gift of healing or prophecy--intended to continue beyond the apostolic age or the closing of the canon of Scripture? Some who answer in the affirmative with regard to prophecy use this passage to argue that New Testament prophecy is qualitatively different from the prophetic revelation reported in the Old Testament. They define it as simply "telling something that God has spontaneously brought to mind" and claim for it an authority less than Scripture's and even less than recognized Bible teaching. They reason that Paul disobeyed the prophecy of Acts 21:4; Agabus was wrong when his prophecy is compared with Acts 21:30-33; and the daughters of Philip may have prophesied, but as women they would not have been permitted to teach authoritatively (1 Tim 2:12).

We have already seen that these assessments of Acts 21:4 and Agabus's prophecy are not the preferred ones. The distinction between prophecy and teaching and the implications for 1 Timothy 2:12 for Philip's daughters' ministry activity are well taken. Still, for Luke a New Testament prophet

is the Lord's instrument, one among several means by which Jesus leads his church. As one who makes known (gnostos) the meaning of Scripture, exhorts and strengthens the congregation, and instructs the community by revelations of the future, the Christian prophet manifests in the power of the Spirit the character of his Lord, who is the Prophet of the end-time.

This is the standard for defining and testing all alleged prophetic utterances in our day.

Paul responds with unwavering determination as he seeks to help them sort out the will, of God in this matter. In such a process he recognizes the effects of their emotions on him. They are weeping for him as the women did for Jesus on the way to the cross (Lk 23:28). They are breaking [his] heart, his resolve, as stone is pulverized. He reaches back for the rationale that guides his whole life: for the name of the Lord Jesus. The One under whom he serves (Acts 20:19, 24) and in whose name he preaches, heals and baptizes (9:27-28; 16:18; 18:15; 19:5) is the One for whose name he is willing to suffer, even die (9:16; compare Lk 21:12; Acts 5:41). He reaffirms his resolve: he is ready . . . to be bound (21:33) and, like the prophets and Jesus before him, to die in Jerusalem (Lk 13:33-34).

In devout resignation, unable to persuade him otherwise, they gave up (literally, "became quiet"; Lk 14:4; Acts 11:18), saying the only thing a Christian can say in such perplexing circumstances: The Lord's will be done (Lk 22:42).

We learn from Paul that suffering for the right reason, for the Lord's sake, is the key to a determination that correctly sorts out God's will. From the Christians we are instructed positively and negatively. Negatively, we must ask ourselves, "Has our own fear of radical obedience ever prompted us to crush someone else's determination to do the Lord's will? Has tender affection ever been substituted for courageous love in wanting God's best for someone else?" Positively, do we know when to cease striving with one another and in humility, recognizing our lack of definitive knowledge of God's plan for the other, start asking God to carry out his desire for their lives?

The Church of all Nations, Paul’s Palestinian Ministry

From the moment the military tribune handcuffs Paul in the court of the Gentiles, the apostle conducts his ministry as a prisoner awaiting final trial and verdict. This last quarter of Acts, parallel to the passion narrative of Luke's Gospel, provides a realistic and necessary balance to Luke's report, to this point, of the church's triumphant advance (Lk 24:26; Acts 14:22).

Paul at Jerusalem

In the midst of some Jews' death-dealing intentions counterbalanced by Roman protective justice stands the Christian witness Paul. He shows that rare combination of loyalty to his ethnic traditions (that's what gets him into trouble in the first place) and boldness to seize every opportunity to proclaim the universal gospel.

Promoting Harmony

When a person becomes a Christian, what becomes of his or her religious past? Must all previous pious practice be left behind? Or may some be made fit patterns for the new life in Christ? A patient thinking through of Luke's teaching on the Christian, the Old Testament law and religious tradition, as modeled in Paul's conduct, will give us guidelines by which we can make judgments about our own religious past. Joy over the Successful Gentile Mission (21:17-20)

Then Paul offers a praiseworthy report. As at the Jerusalem Council, he reported in detail (idiomatically, "one item after another") what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry (Acts 15:12, 14; also see 14:27; 20:24). Luke's phrasing reminds us that anything accomplished through a ministry from the Lord, for the Lord and in his name is, in the final analysis, accomplished by the Lord alone. Planning our outreach strategies, preparing our people and materials for our next big advance for God that we forget that he must do the work. True ministry for him will always be ministry by him.

The church leaders counsel Paul to combat words with action. Four pious but indigent men in the congregation have taken on themselves a Nazirite vow of limited duration (Num 6). By abstaining from products of the vine, not cutting their hair and avoiding ritual impurity, they have been showing thankfulness for past blessings, earnestness in petition or strong devotion to God. The multianimal sacrifice and cleansing ceremony at the end of the vow period, when the hair is cut and offered to God, is financially prohibitive (6:13-20). Paul is asked to bear the expenses of the four. This was a commonly recognized act of piety (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 19.294). To do so he must go through a seven-day ritual cleansing himself, because he has recently returned from Gentile lands Num 19:12. The intended result is that the rumors about Paul will be shown to be baseless and he will be seen living in obedience to the law. Lest Paul's action be misunderstood in another direction, as making Jewish custom normative for Gentile Christians, the elders hasten to add that the Jerusalem Council decree is still in place (see discussion above at Acts 15:20, 29). It is repeated here in essential detail.

Not unlike Jesus' "triumphal entry" into Jerusalem (Lk 19:37-38), Paul's arrival is surrounded by praise. Interestingly, after reporting the glorifying of God at Jesus' birth, for his teaching and especially his healing ministry, and at the way he died, Luke makes the salvation of the Gentiles his crowning reason for praise (Acts 11:18; 13:48).

Indeed, if we bear the mark of grace we will respond in praise when we hear of saving grace coming to others. That grace will be especially evident when they are persons against whom we were formerly prejudiced because of race, class or culture. Praise for their salvation is the only proper starting point for building a framework of harmony within which all can deal properly with their religious past. False Reports About Paul's Teaching (21:20-22)

In full spiritual unity, the elders point out to Paul that massive numbers of Jews, all of them zealous for the law, have become believers. These may be the converted Pharisees of Acts 15:5. Literally "zealots for the law," they lived out their loyalty to God by combining ardent nationalism with strict observance of the whole Mosaic code. Phinehas, Elijah and the Maccabees were their worthy predecessors (Num 25:10-13; 1 Kings 19:10, 14; Josephus Jewish Antiquities 12.271).

These converts have been particularly troubled by reports that Paul has been teaching Diaspora Jews to turn away from Moses. This phrase translates apostasia, which refers to either political or spiritual rebellion (2 Chron 29:19;Acts 5:31, 39; 2 Thess 2:3). Specifically, Paul is alleged to have instructed these Jewish believers to stop having their children circumcised and "to stop walking according to the customs"

While it is easy to see how such implications might be drawn from Paul's teaching of a law-free gospel, there is no evidence that Paul ever instructed Jewish Christians this way (Rom 2:25-30; Gal 5:6; 6:15). In fact, Paul was most scrupulous not to offend the conscience of the "weaker brother," the Jewish Christian who maintained ancestral customs, and even went so far as to have Timothy circumcised (Acts 16:3; Rom 14:1--15:13).

Our religious past can make distortions of the truth attractive to us, especially those that reinforce our pride in loyalty to our traditions. What can be done to overcome such falsehood, which always threatens to bring disunity to the church? Conciliatory Respect of Ritual Observance (21:23-26)

What does the elders' counsel to Paul say about Luke's view of Christians and their religious past? Before we can draw general principles, we must deal with unique and theologically significant factors concerning the Jewish law. At its core was divine revelation in three aspects: moral, civil and ceremonial. Surrounding that were oral tradition and rabbinic exposition. Luke's use of terminology often prevents us from easily distinguishing which aspects of the law he is referring to. Still, Luke's use of the term customs does seem to show he is aware of the difference between divine revelation and human tradition (15:1; 21:21; 26:3; 28:17). And there may be a distinction in Luke's thinking between the moral, ceremonial and civil aspects which will enable us to make decisions about normativeness based on content (Lk 10:25-28).

If we focus on the divine revelation component of a Jewish Christian's religious past, the Old Testament law, we can see Luke says it has no relevance for salvation (Acts 13:38-39; 15:10-11). While the moral aspect is universally normative (Lk 10:25-28; 18:18-23), Luke also sees a positive use for the ceremonial laws, to aid Jewish Christians in the expression of their piety. He does not make these laws binding on Gentiles, however. Only when Gentiles are in the company of Jewish Christians with scruples should they keep ceremonial ritual purity, and then not beyond what God mandated in the Old Testament for aliens living in Israel.

What guidelines does this incident yield for today? There is a large measure of freedom, but that freedom is to be used to promote (1) the advance of the gospel and (2) the unity of an ethnically diverse church. So long as our conscience is not bound by non-Christian traditions and practices and the Christian gospel is not syncretized with the thought behind non-Christian practice, our pre-Christian religious past, properly cleansed, may move into a transformed spiritual future.

Arrested in the Temple

"Will we survive?" is the pressing question for Jews in every generation. Twentieth-century Jews in the shadow of Hitler's holocaust vow "Never again!" First-century Jews saw Paul's Gentile mission as equally a threat to their survival, for it effectively erased the line between Jew and Gentile within the people of God. The eternally decisive issue, however, is, Which "people of God" does God intend to survive? Accusations That Stir Up a Crowd (21:27-29)

Paul has faced constant opposition from Asian Jews, and now, under cover of a Pentecost pilgrimage, they have dogged his steps to Jerusalem (19:9; 20:19; compare 6:9; 20:29). They stirred up the whole crowd, so that a mob scene ensues (19:32). Paul is seized by his persecutors as they broadcast the charges against him (compare Lk 21:12; Acts 4:3; 5:18; 12:1).

Agitation, confusion and physical violence are the hallmarks of persecution. For the disciple of Christ they are neither a surprise nor beyond God's providential control and saving purposes (Lk 21:15, 18).

Whereas the Gentiles of Macedonia asked for help in hearing the message of salvation, the Jews of Jerusalem request help for destroying the messenger (Acts 16:9). The Asian Jews raise a general charge against Paul's teaching: it opposes our people and our law and this place, that is, the temple (compare 6:11, 13-14; 24:5-6; contrast Paul's understanding of his stance toward Judaism, 24:14-16). Acts does not record Paul's views on the temple (but compare 7:48-50 and 17:24). He does say the law is unable to free from sin or bring forgiveness (13:39). Paul does not teach against the people. Rather, the Jews who oppose Paul and his gospel--the good news of the fulfillment of the promises made to their forebears--reveal by their opposition that they are not part of the true people of God. So it is with any opposition to the gospel. It is a revelation of the persecutor's error, not a valid judgment against the message.

The specific charge is that Paul has brought Greeks into the temple and thus defiled it. The Asian Jews have seen the Asian Trophimus in Paul's company (Trophimus is part of the delegation bringing the collection--20:4; 2 Tim 4:20). They assumed, wrongly (compare 14:19; 17:29), that this apostle whose preaching so effectively has torn down barriers between Jews and Gentiles would not hesitate to take a Gentile beyond the court of the Gentiles into the court of women, even the court of Israel.

Though Gentiles were welcome to worship in the outermost court, they were forbidden on penalty of death to enter beyond the balustrade into the two inner courts.

It is ironic indeed that Paul is arrested while doing the very opposite of what he is accused of. In the process of seeking to show his respect for Jewish ethnic identity within the church by practicing ritual purification, he is arrested for allegedly defiling the temple. All this occurs because Paul is committed at one and the same time to the unity of all through their identity in Christ, no matter racial and ethnic background, and to the respect of cultural diversity in the body of Christ. Paul seized (18:17) and dragged (16:19) out of the temple's sacred courts to the court of the Gentiles. And immediately the gates were shut.

In these few brief details of the Jerusalem Jews' final rejection of the Christian gospel, we see the last major spiritual and geographical turning point in Acts. Never again will Paul return to Jerusalem for worship or witness. By shutting out the messenger and the message of salvation, Paul's opponents have sealed the city's doom (Lk 13:34-35; 21:6, 20). Israel's ethnic pride, which constantly fueled its determination to survive, prevented it from fulfilling its divinely intended mission as "a light for the Gentiles" (Is 49:6). It robbed the temple of the universal glory God planned for it as "a house of prayer for all nations" (Is 56:7; compare Lk 19:46). May every "people of God" (church) in every nation and culture heed Jerusalem's negative example, lest it too find itself under God's judgment for failing to reach out with the gospel to those beyond its own kind.

When we understand the Jewish view of Paul's alleged crime, we will know the mortal danger he was in as the temple police proceeded to beat him. As implied by the wording of the last phrase of the inscription--"whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his subsequent death"--the penalty for defiling the temple sanctuary was summary execution, "death at the hands of heaven." This applied as much to a Jew who brought a defiling person into the sanctuary as to the unclean person himself (b. Erubin 104b). No trial was required. The charge alone was sufficient to warrant being delivered into the hands of the temple police, dragged into the outer court, the court of the Gentiles, and beaten to death (for example, having one's brain split open with clubs. The Romans normally did not interfere with such executions. Such summary justice was demanded not only by the nature of the crime but by its consequences. The Jews believed the temple remained profaned until the trespasser had been executed by the priestly authorities on behalf of God. This background not only explains the bloodthirsty reaction of the crowd now and as they interrupt Paul's speech but also supplies an understandable motive for the curse vow of those who subsequently conspire to murder him (21:36; 22:22-23; 23:12). If the commander of the Roman garrison had not arrived, Paul would have been beaten to death. The arrest Saves the Apostle (21:31-36)

It is not surprising, then, that when the commander of the garrison heard that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar, he himself, with some centurions and soldiers, ran down the steps of the fortress into the court of the Gentiles to restore order. The commander's arrest (which was a rescue), his interrogation of the crowd (though unsuccessful) and his removal of Paul to the barracks, away from the crowd's murderous intent, all model what Luke sees as the state's proper role toward the Christian. The state's order must protect Christians against anarchic persecution. State justice must be exercised based on getting at the truth based on the facts (22:24, 30). By affirming these values through his positive portrayal of Roman military officials, Luke certainly gained a hearing among his Roman audience, whom he would encourage to follow the same example by getting at the facts of the gospel (Lk 1:4).

By contrast, the Jews are thoroughly discredited, for all they want is to do away with the gospel messenger (Lk 23:18; Acts 21:36; 22:22). When ethnic survival in this life is the highest priority, one is bound to miss salvation for eternity (9:23-26).Defense Before the Mob (Acts 21:37--22:21)

What's a Jewish Christian to do? He feels very comfortable in his new faith with its Old Testament roots. At the same time this faith has radically transformed him into a "world Christian." He is now at home in the ethnically diverse body of Christ. Misunderstandings, even opposition, are bound to arise. How do you explain that following a universal gospel does not mean surrendering one's Jewishness, especially one's piety? In Paul's defense he declares that the risen Christ is the key. Correcting Wrong Thinking (21:37-40)

Paul answers that he is a Jew, not a foreign false prophet. This also explains why he is in the temple. He is citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia, not an Egyptian; a person with civic status, not a disenfranchised revolutionary.

What Theophilus and we should learn from this interchange is not to confuse the gospel's liberation with political revolution. The Lord Jesus and his kingdom present a more radical challenge than that.

Paul asks and receives permission to speak to the crowd. His courage and determination are at once remarkable and readily understandable. What would cause him to want to address a crowd that had slandered him, given him an executioner's beating and, only minutes before, so violently rushed on him and called for his death that Roman soldiers had to physically pick him up so they could make a hasty exit? It is a total commitment to his Lord and his calling (20:23-24; compare Lk 21:13). This perspective gives the gospel its integrity. It's a stance we must all adopt.

With the stairs as his platform and the crowd below as his ready-made congregation, Paul stood . . . and motioned to the crowd with his hand (Acts 12:17; 13:16; 19:33). Miraculously, they become silent. Here is not simply the force of personality or even of a courageous character. Here the power of God is at work to gain a hearing for the battered, arrested, faithful apostle. Paul addresses the people in Aramaic, "in the Hebrew language"; Declaring Paul's Jewish Piety (22:1-3)

Paul's address, Brothers and fathers, together with his use of Hebrew, is a proper and effective exordium or opening. He shows respect to the dignitaries, priests and Sanhedrin, the older members in the crowd. He identifies with his audience in the use of their sacred language. They quiet down and listen.

Paul's brief narratio, a statement of the facts adapted to persuade his listeners that the charges are groundless, follows the common ancient pattern for describing one's formative years: birth, rearing, education. He is a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia. Hence he is not against the Jewish people. He was brought up in Jerusalem. One can hardly expect the son of Diaspora Jews, returned to Jerusalem for his formative years, to be against the temple. Under (literally, "at the feet of") Gamaliel Paul was trained "according to the strictness of the law of the fathers." How could one who had allowed himself to "be dusted by the dust" of such an eminent scholar's feet now teach against the law (Pirqe Abot 1:4; see comment at Acts 5:34)? Would one who is as zealous for God (see comment at 21:21) as any in the crowd bring a Gentile into the temple's sacred courts and defile them? Paul prizes his Jewish heritage, and so should every Jewish Christian. Such loyalty will get Theophilus's attention.Probatio--Proof One (22:4-5)

Scene one portrays Paul as the persecutor of the followers of the way. The extent of his persecution (women as well as men) and the outcome (sometimes death--7:58; 8:1; 26:10) proved Paul's zeal for the Jewish God (Phil 3:6). They were also a silent witness to his sin and rebellion against God. Luke consistently portrays sinful ethnic Israel as the persecutors and murderers of God's true apostles and prophets (Lk 11:49; Acts 7:52; compare Lk 21:12). Paul never recovered from the shame of what had been for him a badge of honor (1 Cor 15:9; 1 Tim 1:13-15).

At this point Paul simply wants his audience to know his zeal, and he appeals to the records or the memory of high priest and Sanhedrin as testimony to the fact. One of the most exasperating things about self-righteous rebellion against God is that it can appear in the guise of zeal for God. Probatio--Proof Two (Acts 22:6-11)

Scene two, the risen Lord's encounter with Paul on the Damascus Road, places under judgment his life of persecuting believers out of zeal for God. Luke highlights the overpowering nature of the divine encounter by noting that in the brightness of the midday sun a divine light flashed around Paul. Blinding at noontime and being cast to the ground picture the spiritual judgment under which Paul found himself (Is 25:12; 26:5; 29:4). Jesus' haunting question Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me? reveals that Jesus of Nazareth, in his resurrection power, is the key for distinguishing between proper and misguided zeal for God. And it is the same today for Jew and Gentile alike. Jesus is the litmus test. Any zeal for God that turns a person against the followers of Jesus is misguided.

Paul makes sure that this supernatural event can serve as a sign and undeniable proof in his probatio by describing the experience of corroborating witnesses, his companions. Paul's encounter with Christ was objective yet personal. His companions saw the light surrounding Paul but not the risen Lord who appeared to him (Acts 22:9, 14; 9:7). They heard a voice addressing Paul but were not privy to its message (9:7; 22:9).

Paul's enlightenment concerning his guilt led to enlistment in Christ's cause. Neither as a good Jew responding to divine revelation, nor as one simply stupefied, realizing he must change, but like the Pentecost crowd, realizing it was under judgment, Paul asked, What shall I do, Lord? (2:37). The Lord did not answer directly but called for trust and allegiance as he directed Paul to the city. Paul's blindness was another sign that something supernatural had indeed happened to him on the Damascus Road. Luke's phrasing, brilliance of the light leaves little doubt in the reader's mind that this is the splendor of the exalted Lord Jesus appearing from heaven (Lk 24:26; 21:27; also see 9:26, 31-32; 2:9; Acts 7:2, 55).Probatio--Proof Three (22:12-16)

Scene three, in Damascus, expounds, possibly by reverse parallelism, the meaning of Paul's conversion in terms of divine and human initiative and relates his calling to preach the universal gospel. Paul's witness to all this was Ananias, whose piety according to the law was attested by all the Jews of Damascus. He embodies the continuity and discontinuity of Jewish Christianity, for the man of such renowned piety was also the Lord's instrument and mouthpiece for equipping Paul in the first steps of his newfound faith and mission.

The acted parable of the Lord's saving work, moving from blindness to sight, was completed as Ananias stood beside Paul and said, "Brother Saul, receive your sight!" (anablepo, "to see again" or "to look up"; when Luke describes the restoration he uses the same verb with Ananias as the object, so that possibly both meanings are meant here--Paul saw again as he looked up at Ananias). The key role Ananias played in Paul's conversion demonstrates to the audience that being a pious Jew and being a Christian convert are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

As Ananias interpreted to Paul his calling on the Damascus Road, the continuity was emphasized. It was the God of our fathers who had appointed him (3:13; 5:30; 7:32; Ex 3:13). God had chosen Paul to know his will. From the Damascus Road encounter Paul had the haunting realization that his persecution had been actually directed at Jesus of Nazareth, the risen and exalted Messiah. From this he knew that God's will must have something to do with his saving purposes and their implementation through the gathering of a body of believers called followers of the Way. But God had chosen Paul for more. He was privileged like the other apostles, though "as one abnormally born" (1 Cor 15:7-8), to see the risen Lord (Acts 1:22; 2:32; 3:15; 4:33).

This points to the heart of the gospel: the risen, exalted Jesus of Nazareth, whom Paul sees, is the vindicated victim of an innocent death. And Paul was destined to hear from the voice of his mouth the gospel message, to which he was called to bear lifelong witness. This full-orbed revelation of the gospel would both fulfill and supersede the document of promise, the law.

Paul's responsibility was to be Christ's witness to all men of what [he had] seen and heard (Lk 24:46-48; Acts 1:8; 9:15). The universal scope of the gospel's offer of salvation is stated in general terms here. In the end it will prove to be the stumbling block to those who hear this speech (22:21-22). Note how much of the gospel message (Lk 24:46-48) is stated or implied in Acts 22:7-10, 14. Ananias rightly contended that Paul's gospel was revealed to him from heaven (compare 26:14-18; Rom 10:9-10; 1 Cor 15:1-4; Gal 1:12, 15-16).

Either as a mild rebuke (so the NIV) or possibly as a simple question (Marshall 1980:357), Ananias completed his mission by encouraging Paul in the next step: fulfilling his responsibility in response to his conversion. He was to "get himself baptized," picturing in that outward purification the inward cleansing from his sins that had resulted from his calling on the name of the Lord for salvation (Acts 2:38, 21; 9:14, 21).

Paul is a model for all those who become disciples in answer to the call of those who are fulfilling their Lord's commission (Mt 28:18-20). For identification with the church through public profession of faith and baptism is not only a matter of obedience, it is a matter of spiritual health, now and in eternity (Lk 12:8). We need the outward sign of our salvation applied to us like a stake in the ground.Probatio--Proof Four (22:17-21)

In the last scene Paul himself models the tension of continuity and discontinuity in a Jewish Christian's life. He remained loyal to the Lord's holy place, exercising piety in worship in the temple upon his return to Jerusalem. Even after conversion, then, he practiced a piety that gave the lie to the recent charges that he taught against the temple and cavalierly defiled it by bringing Gentiles into its sacred precincts.

During worship, in a trance, Paul saw Jesus, the Lord of the temple (Lk 19:45-48; compare 2:46-49). The Lord directed him, Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me. This heavenly command and rationale declared the scandalous proposition that the risen and exalted Messiah would direct his messengers of salvation tidings away from Israel. Its rationale was an indictment of Israel's unwillingness to receive the gospel.

Paul showed his zeal for the people by remonstrating with the Lord. Surely his life as a persecutor and his service as an accomplice to Stephen's death would be enough evidence of his Jewish loyalty and would gain him a hearing (7:58; 8:1, 3; 9:2; 22:4). The Lord did not argue with Paul. He had already given his rationale: Israel did not oppose the messenger but the message, your testimony about me. All that remained was for the Lord to repeat the command and for Paul to obey. Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles (2:39; 13:46; Eph 2:13, 17). The Gentile mission was the focus of Paul's ministry, yet always within a "to the Jew first" strategy (Acts 9:15; 13:46; 14:27; 15:3, 12; 21:19).

In the divinely commanded mission to the Gentiles and the Jewish people's refusal to accept the gospel we have the explanation of the Jews' opposition to Paul. The charges are false, but the opposition is real. Should our Lord's directive to Paul become a paradigm for church-growth strategy today--for example, "hold resistant fields lightly; concentrate harvesters where the response is greatest"? The Jewish people's unique position in relation to the Gentiles in salvation history (Rom 11:25-26) prevents us from extrapolating principles about responsiveness and concentration of forces. The momentum, however, always seems to be toward the frontiers, toward those who have never heard the gospel.

For a Christian such as myself the gifts of the Holy Spirit are real and are happening today. Does this mean that people use the gifts not to uplift the church or the people yes. But again that is between them and the Lord. Acts 3 speaks clearly of the gifts. Which I believe are very very real.

Well if Jesus is a spirit now and has the ability to see what we type here or for that matter all the attention he is getting throughout the world, he would certainly be laughing at how he is remembered 2009 years ago.

Maybe even dancing

Of course for (others) he may not be laughing or dancing for the bible misinterpets what his true intentions where at the time.

So we have two groups of people with each a different idealogy of what Jesus represents at the time. If he was a humantarian who is misenterpeted on his actions or if he was actually the son of God, savior of life and endless happiness.

Whatever works best for you is what is important now anyway.

May you find a way to smile, shed light, and show joy and happiness to others when trending on mother Earth.

Each has a different way of doing this. I choose Buddhism for it makes me most happy each day and occassionally join my native friend to sing to the great spirit Wanka Tanka. Although he is a better singer then I am

I didn’t take anything out of context. God says that if Adam eats from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then the day that he does so, he will die. But later Adam eats the forbidden fruit and yet lives for another 930 years.


Again Krisma I will ask when the Lord God said to Adam that he will die if he eats the fruit...What does that mean?

Now Feral.. Read This and see where he addresses why Paul was in the Temple and what he did.

It skips over it and goes on to pauls arrest throughout the whole article they are making excuses for what they can not explain.

Arrested in the Temple

"Will we survive?" is the pressing question for Jews in every generation. Twentieth-century Jews in the shadow of Hitler's holocaust vow "Never again!" First-century Jews saw Paul's Gentile mission as equally a threat to their survival, for it effectively erased the line between Jew and Gentile within the people of God. The eternally decisive issue, however, is, Which "people of God" does God intend to survive? Accusations That Stir Up a Crowd (21:27-29)

Paul has faced constant opposition from Asian Jews, and now, under cover of a Pentecost pilgrimage, they have dogged his steps to Jerusalem (19:9; 20:19; compare 6:9; 20:29). They stirred up the whole crowd, so that a mob scene ensues (19:32). Paul is seized by his persecutors as they broadcast the charges against him (compare Lk 21:12; Acts 4:3; 5:18; 12:1).

Agitation, confusion and physical violence are the hallmarks of persecution. For the disciple of Christ they are neither a surprise nor beyond God's providential control and saving purposes (Lk 21:15, 18).

Whereas the Gentiles of Macedonia asked for help in hearing the message of salvation, the Jews of Jerusalem request help for destroying the messenger (Acts 16:9). The Asian Jews raise a general charge against Paul's teaching: it opposes our people [laos] and our law and this place, that is, the temple (compare 6:11, 13-14; 24:5-6; contrast Paul's understanding of his stance toward Judaism, 24:14-16). Acts does not record Paul's views on the temple (but compare 7:48-50 and 17:24). He does say the law is unable to free from sin or bring forgiveness (13:39). Paul does not teach against the people. Rather, the Jews who oppose Paul and his gospel--the good news of the fulfillment of the promises made to their forebears--reveal by their opposition that they are not part of the true people of God. So it is with any opposition to the gospel. It is a revelation of the persecutor's error, not a valid judgment against the message.

The specific charge is that Paul has brought Greeks into the temple and thus defiled it. The Asian Jews have seen the Asian Trophimus in Paul's company (Trophimus is part of the delegation bringing the collection--20:4; 2 Tim 4:20). They assumed, wrongly (compare 14:19; 17:29), that this apostle whose preaching so effectively has torn down barriers between Jews and Gentiles would not hesitate to take a Gentile beyond the court of the Gentiles into the court of women, even the court of Israel.

Though Gentiles were welcome to worship in the outermost court, they were forbidden on penalty of death to enter beyond the balustrade into the two inner courts (m. Kelim 1:8).

It is ironic indeed that Paul is arrested while doing the very opposite of what he is accused of. In the process of seeking to show his respect for Jewish ethnic identity within the church by practicing ritual purification, he is arrested for allegedly defiling the temple. All this occurs because Paul is committed at one and the same time to the unity of all through their identity in Christ, no matter racial and ethnic background, and to the respect of cultural diversity in the body of Christ. Paul seized (18:17) and dragged (16:19) out of the temple's sacred courts to the court of the Gentiles. And immediately the gates were shut.

In these few brief details of the Jerusalem Jews' final rejection of the Christian gospel, we see the last major spiritual and geographical turning point in Acts. Never again will Paul return to Jerusalem for worship or witness. By shutting out the messenger and the message of salvation, Paul's opponents have sealed the city's doom (Lk 13:34-35; 21:6, 20). Israel's ethnic pride, which constantly fueled its determination to survive, prevented it from fulfilling its divinely intended mission as "a light for the Gentiles" (Is 49:6). It robbed the temple of the universal glory God planned for it as "a house of prayer for all nations" (Is 56:7; compare Lk 19:46). May every "people of God" (church) in every nation and culture heed Jerusalem's negative example, lest it too find itself under God's judgment for failing to reach out with the gospel to those beyond its own kind.

When we understand the Jewish view of Paul's alleged crime, we will know the mortal danger he was in as the temple police proceeded to beat him. As implied by the wording of the last phrase of the inscription--"whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his subsequent death"--the penalty for defiling the temple sanctuary was summary execution, "death at the hands of heaven." This applied as much to a Jew who brought a defiling person into the sanctuary as to the unclean person himself (b. Erubin 104b). No trial was required. The charge alone was sufficient to warrant being delivered into the hands of the temple police, dragged into the outer court, the court of the Gentiles, and beaten to death (for example, having one's brain split open with clubs--m. Sanhedrin 9:6; Philo Legatio ad Gaium 212). The Romans normally did not interfere with such executions (Josephus Jewish Wars 6.124-26). Such summary justice was demanded not only by the nature of the crime but by its consequences. The Jews believed the temple remained profaned until the trespasser had been executed by the priestly authorities on behalf of God. This background not only explains the bloodthirsty reaction of the crowd now and as they interrupt Paul's speech but also supplies an understandable motive for the curse vow of those who subsequently conspire to murder him (21:36; 22:22-23; 23:12). If the commander of the Roman garrison had not arrived, Paul would have been beaten to death. The arrest Saves the Apostle (21:31-36)

Here is what was happeneing in short just a few verses..


Acts 21:20-27

20 and they having heard, were glorifying Yahweh. They said also to him, 'Thou seest, brother, how many myriads there are of Jews who have believed, and all are zealous of the law,

21 and they are instructed concerning thee, that apostacy from Moses thou dost teach to all Jews among the nations, saying — Not to circumcise the children, nor after the customs to walk;

22 what then is it? certainly the multitude it behoveth to come together, for they will hear that thou hast come.

23'This, therefore, do that we say to thee: We have four men having a vow on themselves,

24 these having taken, be purified with them, and be at expence with them, that they may shave the head, and all may know that the things of which they have been instructed concerning thee are nothing, but thou dost walk — thyself also — the law keeping.

25'And concerning those of the nations who have believed, we have written, having given judgment, that they observe no such thing, except to keep themselves both from idol-sacrifices, and blood, and a strangled thing, and whoredom.'

26 Then Paul, having taken the men, on the following day, with them having purified himself, was entering into the temple, announcing the fulfilment of the days of the purification, till the offering was offered for each one of them.

27 And, as the seven days were about to be fully ended, the Jews from Asia having beheld him in the temple, were stirring up all the multitude, and they laid hands upon him,
YLT


This is what he was doing Feral..


Num 6:9-20

9'And if anyone dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. 10 Then on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting; 11 and the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned in regard to the corpse; and he shall sanctify his head that same day. 12 He shall consecrate to Yahweh the days of his separation, and bring a male lamb in its first year as a trespass offering; but the former days shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.

13'Now this is the law of the Nazirite: When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 14 And he shall present his offering to Yahweh: one male lamb in its first year without blemish as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish as a sin offering, one ram without blemish as a peace offering, 15 a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their grain offering with their drink offerings.

16'Then the priest shall bring them before Yahweh and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering; 17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of a peace offering to Yahweh, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 Then the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering.

19'And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them upon the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair, 20 and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord; they are holy for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.'
NKJV



Anyone can see these are both the same. Paul and the Disciples had no problem 20 years after Yahshua's death going into the Temple to offer a Sacrafice as Yahweh's Law instructed.

Futher more before this happens the Disciples who were thier were anxious to tell Paul about the Rumour that he was not keeping the Law. So Paul went to prove he did.

This was common knowledge the disciples kept the Law of Yahweh they kept Sabbath they kept the Feast Days of Yahweh and so on.

I would say that it was known that as long as the Temple stood they Sacraficed then it was destroyed and noone has since. In the kingdom the people sacrafice.


Feral do your own homework. They have you so duked that all you have to do is read some writing of some so called scholar and you know the bible.

They control your mind. It is Brainwashing as I have said all along.


If you know what is happening in acts then explain what i have asked in YOUR WORDS.. Blessings...Miles

You guys are having a serious copy and paste extended exegesis war here aren’t you?

Baruch HaShem YHWH!!!! Speak the TRUTH!
Shalom!

And you wonder why Valium is the most prescribed medication in America.

Yahweh told Adam that since he ate of the fruit he would die. Adam lived for many years...then he DIED.

Yahweh spoke the truth, Adam DIED.

Back to the original ? of the topic...

I don't know who JC is, but I know Yahshua certainly laughed, smiled and danced! Yahweh laughs too, he laughs at the people going to and fro planning their tomorrows as if it is a certainty that there will be a tomorrow.

Shalom!

It was implied (used as a threat in fact) that he would die right away obviously. It was a capital offense. If someone told me that I would die if I partook of a singular act, yet then allowed me to live another 930 years, well, that’s not very consequential at tall.

before they were innocent Krisma.. If they would of did what was told they would be alive today Blessings..Miles

No they would not because people in biblical times rarely saw age 30, let alone 900+ years. Why do you think that young brides were betrothed often at 14-15 years of age?

So lack of knowledge = innocence? I wonder who is the most one on this thread?

Nice to see you on here Yahsgirl66

Hope all is well.

Num 6:24-7:1

24 "Yahweh bless you and keep you;
25 Yahweh make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
26 Yahweh lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace."'

27 "So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them."


NKJV
Blessings Dear Sister....Miles

I thought that was when they had their first period, meaning they were an woman. (<- so glad to be not a woman)

Miles..Paul did what he did, not becaue he was required to do so by law...

but Paul did what he did.... because it says when we are with the jews, to be like the jews..even though Paul was was already saved.

Just like I am also saved..but when I visit new york,
I go to the Jewish Synagogue with my friends on Long Island....

I eat milk and meat products separately as they do...I respect and honour their sabbath....and their holy days.. etc etc...follow me?

Now .....about the unpardonable sin...

the unpardonable sin is blaspheming the Holy Ghost....

by rejecting Jesus,over and over and over.....

even unto death...and then dying in ones sins.


That is the sin that can NOT be forgiven ....

rejecting Jesus ..and dying in our sins.

Cause Jesus cannot force us to accept Him as Saviour...

even when we still reject him as we die.

God can't go aganst His Word, by going agaisnt our free will.

And one last thing...Jesus is My Lord and Saviour.

I Have Known Great Joy and Peace ,After Recieving Jesus into My heart ,as My Saviour....

and also Making Him Lord over My Life.

Unspeakable Joy I Have, Miles.
And Peace.

It All Comes From Knowing My Saviour.


And Yes, I know Jesus is Known as Yeshua in Hebrew.

But God is not some petty God, that requires I just say His Name in Hebrew only.

And no Miles...not saying Jesus Name in Hebrew ,is NOT the unpardonable sin.

Sorry Miles.

I won't argue with you though...

Jesus lives in my heart..... I know He is My Lord and Saviour..My Redeemer.

That is All I need to Know.

Jesus would have long ago told me, if I had to just say His Name in Hebrew.

But I know My Jesus is not that petty.

God Bless You, Miles.