PAUL LOOKED STRAIGHT AT THE COUNCIL. He speaks to them, not as judges, but as fellow countrymen. He probably knew some of those who formed the Council. MY CONSCIENCE IS PERFECTLY CLEAR. His whole life had been lived to please God. He deeply regretted the time he spent opposing Christ, but he had bee... [ Continue Reading ]
TO STRIKE HIM ON THE MOUTH. This is not the Annas of Acts 4:7, but the son of Nebedaeus, whom Herod had appointed to be high priest. He served from 47 - 59 A.D. He flares up in anger when Paul claims to have a clear conscience about all that' he had done. GOD WILL CERTAINLY STRIKE YOU. Paul is indig... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN PAUL SAW. The Council [Sanhedrin] was made up of both parties. The teachers of the Law were Pharisees, and the chief priests were usually Sadducees. It was the teaching about the raising from death that made the Sadducees so angry against the Gospel (_see_ Acts 4:2)_. Alford_ (Greek Testament)... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FOLLOWING NIGHT. We would say _that same night._ The Lord Jesus stood beside Paul and spoke words to give him courage. This was supernormal help. Paul needed it; he was a prisoner; even the Jerusalem church suspected him; his own race wanted to kill him; twice, in two days' time, he had narrowly... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY TOOK A VOW. These Jews may have been some of his bitter enemies from Ephesus who had grabbed him in the temple. They may have been "armed terrorists" [Zealots - Assassins], who later played such an important part in the Jewish wars against Rome. [A vow was cancelled, if it was impossible to per... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE COMMANDER WROTE A LETTER. Roman law said that when a prisoner was sent up the chain of command, a letter had to go along giving the charges against him. CLAUDIUS LYSIAS is the Roman commander's name. I LEARNED THAT HE IS A ROMAN CITIZEN. He didn't find this out until after he had rescued Pa... [ Continue Reading ]
AS FAR AS ANTIPATRIS. They went at night to keep the Jews from finding out about it until the next day. Antipatris was about thirty-eight miles from Jerusalem, toward Caesarea. After daylight came, the foot soldiers went back to Jerusalem, and the seventy horsemen went on with Paul to Caesarea. The... [ Continue Reading ]