Acts 21:1-40
1 And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara:
2 And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard, and set forth.
3 Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden.
4 And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.
5 And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed.
6 And when we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship; and they returned home again.
7 And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day.
8 And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.
9 And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.
10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.
11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
12 And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.
13 Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
14 And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.
15 And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem.
16 There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.
17 And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.
18 And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
19 And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
21 And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
22 What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.
23 Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
24 Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
25 As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.
27 And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him,
28 Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.
29 (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)
30 And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut.
31 And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
32 Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul.
33 Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done.
34 And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle.
35 And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people.
36 For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him.
37 And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek?
38 Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?
39 But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.
40 And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,
From this point onwards there is no record of the work of God spreading as it had previously through Paul's energetic ministry. In fact, we read of no conversions until Chapter 28:24, though we may be sure there were other cases; but Paul himself becomes confined, as his work does too, as a result of his purpose to go to Jerusalem in spite of being warned by God not to go. We may fully recognize his consuming love toward his people Israel, and his earnest desire to see them turned to the Lord. It was this that moved him mightily in going to Jerusalem. However, it is a mistake to trust our devotion to God and to the interests of His people, no matter how deep this may be: we can trust only the Word of God for guidance, as for everything else.
Leaving Miletus they came with a straight course to Coos, then to Rhodes and Patara. Changing ships, they sail to Phenicia, pass by Cyprus to Syria, landing at Tyre. God put no hindrances in the way on their journey. Indeed, for a man taught of God, as Paul was, the Word of God should have been enough. Smooth circumstances could not change this. Finding disciples at Tyre, however, they remain seven days. Evidently these had not known Paul before, which makes the more unusually striking their telling him, through the Spirit of God, that he should not go to Jerusalem. This is so clear and unequivocal that we can only marvel that the apostle paid no attention to it. Having his mind fully made up, it seems he would allow nothing to change it.
The affections of the disciples here were very real. They all, (including women and children) accompanied Paul and his companions out of the city to the shore where the boat was docked. There they kneeled down on the shore and prayed. The witness of the impending imprisonment and sufferings of Paul produced a serious effect on all the company. Many details are spoken of in the history that appeal to human interest. While the one company boarded the ship, the other returned home again.
Ptolmais was the end of the journey by ship. Here they remained with the brethren only one day, then proceeded by foot to Caesarea, not far distant. Philip the evangelist had come there after the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:40): now this was evidently his home. His house was large enough to accommodate all of
Paul's company, and they remained with him for many days. Though nothing more is said of Philip's work, he was still called "the evangelist," and he had four daughters who prophesied, a lovely commendation. Of course it is not at all implied that they were public speakers, for prophesying may certainly be done in private circumstances. This is a valuable gift for sisters to cultivate.
Observe that Paul had much time on this journey to consider whether he actually ought to go to Jerusalem. Now we read of a brother, a prophet named Agabus coming from Judea to Caesarea. Binding his own hands and feet with Paul's girdle, he prophesied that in such a way the owner of the girdle would be bound by the Jews and delivered to the Gentiles. This is just what happened to the Lord Jesus, and no doubt Paul thought of this, not in such a way as to dissuade him from going, but the opposite. He would apparently not seek to avoid being treated in the same way as was his Lord. Though both his friends with him and the saints of Caesarea entreated him not to go, he told them he was prepared, not only to be taken prisoner, but the die at Jerusalem. Of course it was there that the Lord Jesus had died. But none of these prophecies had mentioned death for Paul. Yet he had been plainly told, through the Spirit of God, that he should not go up to Jerusalem (v.4). The saints then say nothing more but to commit the matter to the will of the Lord.
The company is enlarged on this last leg of the journey with disciples from Casesarea attending them, and an early disciple, Mnason of Cyprus, who evidently had a home at Jerusalem, where he entertained Paul and his company. Arriving at Jerusalem, they were received gladly by the brethren, at least those whom they first met. Paul then loses no time in meeting with James and the elders, informing them of the great work God had performed among the Gentiles by his ministry. This made no little impression and they glorified God for it.
Though James and the elders at Jerusalem rejoiced for the work God had done among the Gentiles, yet they felt it important that Paul should clarify a matter that was causing thousands of believing Jews some serious concern. They had heard that Paul was teaching Jews among the Gentile nations to forsake Moses by no longer circumcising their children and by giving up the ritualistic customs of the law. We may be sure that Paul did not object to the fact of Jewish children being circumcised, for he himself had circumcised Timothy because his mother was Jewish (Acts 26:1); but he did teach that the mere outward fact of circumcision gives one no spiritual advantage (Cf. Romans 2:25). On the other hand, his letter to the Hebrews is clear enough that Christian Jews ought to leave the camp of Judaism and go forth to the Lord Jesus alone (Hebrews 13:12).
James and the elders, however, do not question Paul about this, but assume that his thoughts are not so different from theirs. They urge him to identify himself with four men who were under a vow, likely the vow of Nazariteship (Numbers 6:1), at the conclusion of which the participant was to shave his head, then offerings were to be made for him. Of course Paul knew that the Lord Jesus had done away with such vows (Matthew 5:33) in introducing the grace of God to a condemned world, but he probably applied the principle here, "unto the Jews I became as a Jew." In this case, however, it seems that principle is carried a little too far; but he was in a predicament in which he probably saw no other way out. When we are in a wrong place we shall find ourselves virtually bound to do the wrong thing. The elders expected this to prove that Paul was not guilty of the charges laid against him, and that he himself kept the law of Moses.
They confirmed what they had agreed before as to the Gentile converts, that they were not expected to observe any such things, though urged to keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood and from fornication. It is of interest that they evidently saw no inconsistency in requiring Jews to do what Gentiles were not asked to do. They were very slow to give up the Judaistic system of things.
With the four men then Paul entered the temple, submitting to the ceremonial purification in view of an offering being offered for all of them. Certainly Paul knew better than this as his epistle to the Hebrews declares plainly in Chapter 10:12-18, but no doubt by this means he hoped to gain the ear of the Jews.
This was of no avail, for Jews from Asia, recognizing him, caught him and cried out to inform the people that this was the man who was teaching against Israel, the law and the temple. They added that he had brought a Greek into the temple, which was only an assumption since they seen him in the city with Trophimus, an Ephesian.
The uproar they caused, however, defeated their own purpose. They might have killed him more easily in a more covert way, but the noise drew the attention of the Roman captain of the band, who quickly intervened, taking centurions and soldiers with him, so that he rescued Paul from being beaten to death. Taking him prisoner, he demanded who he was and what he had done. Paul had no opportunity of answering this, for a multitude of voices answered from the crowd, only leaving the matter in confusion.
When the captain gave orders that Paul should be taken into the castle, the soldiers had to carry him up the stairs because of the violence of the crowd in demanding his death. The faith of Paul is seen remarkably here, however, when he asks permission to speak to the captain with the desire of addressing the people. The captain was surprised that he could speak Greek, for he had already supposed that he must be a terrorist, and likely a specific one -- an Egyptian -- who had before raised an uproar, attracting a following of four thousand men who were murderers. He could not understand such a tumult over one who was not a rabble rouser.
Paul corrected this by giving his Jewish background and as born in Tarsus of Cilicia; then asked permission to speak to the people. When the crowd was in such a state of excited hostility, it seems amazing that Paul would desire to speak to them. Yet the captain allowed him to do so. God miraculously quieted the crowd as Paul stood and beckoned with his hand at the top of the stairs.