SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/23/2018
9:50 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro to Acts 23:12-35
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
23:12-35
Message of the verses: “12 When it was
day, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under an oath, saying
that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty who formed this
plot. 14 They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, "We have
bound ourselves under a solemn oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul.
15 “Now therefore, you and the Council notify the commander to bring him down
to you, as though you were going to determine his case by a more thorough
investigation; and we for our part are ready to slay him before he comes near the
place." 16 But the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, and he
came and entered the barracks and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the
centurions to him and said, "Lead this young man to the commander, for he
has something to report to him." 18 So he took him and led him to the
commander and said, "Paul the prisoner called me to him and asked me to
lead this young man to you since he has something to tell you." 19 The
commander took him by the hand and stepping aside, began to inquire of
him privately,
"What is it that you have to report
to me?" 20 And he said, "The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring
Paul down tomorrow to the Council, as though they were going to inquire
somewhat more thoroughly about him. 21 “So do not listen to them, for more than
forty of them are lying in wait for him who have bound themselves under a curse
not to eat or drink until they slay him; and now they are ready and waiting for
the promise from you." 22 So the commander let the young man go,
instructing him, "Tell no one that you have notified me of these
things." 23 And he called to him two of the centurions and said, "Get
two hundred soldiers ready by the third hour of the night to proceed to
Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen." 24 They were
also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to Felix the
governor. 25 And he wrote a letter having this form:
26 “Claudius Lysias, to the
most excellent governor Felix, greetings. 27 “When this man was arrested by the
Jews and was about to be slain by them, I came up to them with the troops and
rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. 28 “And wanting to ascertain
the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their
Council; 29 and I found him to be accused over questions about their Law, but
under no accusation deserving death or imprisonment. 30 “When I was informed that
there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also
instructing his accusers to bring charges against him before you."
31
So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by
night to Antipatris. 32 But the next day, leaving the horsemen to go on with
him, they returned to the barracks. 33 When these had come to Caesarea and
delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. 34 When
he had read it, he asked from what province he was, and when he learned that he
was from Cilicia, 35 he said, "I will give you a hearing after your
accusers arrive also," giving orders for him to be kept in Herod’s
Praetorium.”
As
I look at this section of Scripture, the last part of chapter 23 I can’t help
but think about what the Lord had just told Paul in a vision that He was
thankful that Paul was obedient to Him in Jerusalem, testifying to the Jews,
and now the Lord tells Paul that he must testify of Him in Rome too. It will take a while before Paul goes to
Rome, but he will get there, as the book of Acts closes while Paul is in Rome.
Another
thing I think about is what the Lord had told to Peter found in the 21st
chapter of the book of John where He tells him exactly how he will die to the
glory of the Lord, and then later on we found Peter in a cell chained between
two soldiers where he was to be executed the next morning. Peter was asleep, and I believe he was asleep
because of the assurance of what the Lord had told him earlier how he would
die, and it was not by the sword.
In
John MacArthur’s commentary he introduces this section by talking about how
perhaps Paul may have been thinking about King David and the ten years that he
was on the run, running from King Saul, but David was assured that he would
become King of Israel because the prophet Samuel had anointed him to be king when
he was a young man. As we look at these
three Biblical characters they all have in common that the Lord had given them
promises and they all believed them. I
suppose that the dream that Joseph had when he was a young man also fits into
this category too.
MacArthur
writes that perhaps Paul was thinking about a psalm that David wrote which I
will include in this SD. Psalm 56:1-13
is the psalm quoted in his commentary.
1 Be gracious to me, O God,
for man has trampled upon me; Fighting all day long he oppresses me. 2 My foes
have trampled upon me all day long, For they are many who fight proudly against
me. 3 When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.4 In God, whose word I
praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere
man do to me? 5 All day long they distort my words; All their thoughts are
against me for evil. 6 They attack, they lurk, They watch my steps, As they
have waited to take my life. 7 Because of wickedness, cast them forth,
In anger put down the peoples, O God! 8 You have taken account of my
wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book? 9 Then
my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for
me. 10 In God, whose word I praise, In the LORD, whose word I
praise, 11 In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do
to me? 12 Your vows are binding upon me, O God; I will render thank
offerings to You. 13 For You have delivered my soul from death, Indeed my feet
from stumbling, So that I may walk before God In the light of the living.”
John
MacArthur writes: “This narrative
passage contains no doctrinal truths or practical exhortations; it merely
recounts an event in Paul’s life. Yet no
passage of Scripture could more clearly illustrate the providence of God.
“God’s
providence is His sovereign control over and ordering of natural circumstances
to accomplish His will. It is also
illustrated clearly in the Old Testament in the book of Ester, where God
providentially protected His people, Israel, from their destructive enemies. God’s providence underlies such familiar and
comforting passages as Philippians 4:4-7; Hebrews 13:6; and Luke 12:22-34.
“God’s
dramatic, providential deliverance of Paul plays out in three scenes; the plot
formulated, found out, and frustrated.”
Lord,
willing, we will begin by looking at Acts 23:12-15 in our next SD, “The Plot
Formulated.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I have always believed that God is in control
of all things and that He will use these things to bring about His will upon
the earth. In believing this it makes me
think just how great, and how powerful God is as He takes even sinful things
and causes them to bring glory to His name.
For instance, as we look at what happened in World War Two we see that out
of all the mass killing and terrible things that happened out of that war came
the re-birth of the nation of Israel, something that was prophesied in Ezekiel
chapters 36-37.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the
Lord even in times when things do not seem to be going the way I would want
them to go as I know He is working things out for His glory and for my good.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “First day of the first month
of the second year” (Exodus 40:2, 17).
Today’s Bible question: “Whom did Paul counsel to be rich in good
works?”
Answer in our next SD.
8/23/2018 10:32 AM
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