Acts 26:12

"Whereupon as. journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests" This he did while on the mission of persecuting Christians. Acts 26:13 "at midday,. king,. saw on the way. light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me" This indicates that this was. supernatural event, because the light was greater than the sun at noon in the Syrian desert. Acts 26:14 "And when we were all fallen to the earth,. heard. voice saying unto me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why persecutes thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goad" "All fallen to the earth" This again stresses the fact that the source of this intense light was supernatural. "In the Hebrew language" This is. detail not mentioned in the accounts of this event found in Acts 9:1 or 22. "Why persecutes thou Me" Compare with Acts 9:4; Matthew 25:40. "It is hard for thee to kick against the goad" This was. common proverb in the ancient world. In is found in the works of Euripides, Aeschylus, Pander and Terence, "where this saying occurs as. metaphor for useless 'opposition to deity'" (Stott p. 372). The statement is taken from agricultural life. When sloughing, the farmer would carry. goad (a stick 6-8 ft. long, which was sharpened on the end). The goad was used to encourage the ox to go faster or obey the plowman. If the ox kicked back, he would only receive. severer prod. Hence Jesus is saying that Paul's opposition to the church is. fruitless exercise.

Some commentators think that Paul's conscience was already starting to bother him (that is, the goads of conscience). But the statements made by Paul himself in Acts 26:9-11 and Acts 23:1 reveal that Paul was not having any qualms about persecuting Christians. Note how Jesus believes that nothing can stop the spread of the gospel. Even the fiery and zealous Saul, armed with zeal, dedication and material resources could not stop this movement. This statement should serve as. warning to all who try to oppose and restrict the spread of the gospel.. life spent opposing Christianity is. life spent in. fruitless exercise. "It comes to denote an obstinate and refractory disposition and course of conduct, resisting the authority of Him who has. right to command, and opposing the leadings of providence, to the injury of him who makes the resistance" (Reese p. 353).