SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/20/2018
8:38 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The
Conflict”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 23:2-5
Message of the verses: “2 The high priest
Ananias commanded those standing beside him to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then
Paul said to him, "God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do
you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to
be struck?" 4 But the bystanders said, "Do you revile God’s high
priest?" 5 And Paul said, "I was not aware, brethren, that he was high
priest; for it is written, ’YOU SHALL NOT SPEAK EVIL OF A RULER OF YOUR PEOPLE.’"”
We
begin by looking at the shocking bystanders who said to Paul in verse 4 “Do you
revile God’s high priest?’” John
MacArthur writes that “Revile’ translates loidoreo,
which means ‘to reproach,’ ‘to insult,’ or ‘to abuse.’ It is used in John 9:28 when the Jewish
leaders insulted and mocked the blind man whom Jesus had healed. Paul used it in 1 Corinthians 4:12 to
describe the opposite of blessing. Peter
used it to describe the abuse heaped on Jesus (1 Peter 2:23).
The noun form appears twice in the New Testament, both times in lists of
vices that characterize unbelievers (1 Cor. 5:11; 6:10). The adjectival form also appears twice in the
New Testament. First Timothy 5:14
describes reviling as an activity of Satan, while 1 Peter 3:9 forbids
Christians to do it.
“The
use of loidoreo shows that the people
felt Paul’s strong language was not some calculated legal ploy to take
advantage of Ananias’s violation of the law but an expression of anger. It was something, as he himself acknowledges
in verse 5 that violated God’s law. Although
an evil man and a disgrace to his office, the high priest still occupied a
God-ordained position of authority. He
was not to be reviled but respected (cf. Deut. 17:8-12). ‘The high-priest stands before God. To abuse him, especially in the discharge of
his office, is blasphemy’ (H. Hanse, ‘loidoreo,’
in Gerhard Kittle, ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament).”
We
have learned that Paul was a very humble man, and thus he quickly admitted his
error as he explained in verse five “"I was not aware, brethren, that he
was high priest; for it is written, ’YOU SHALL NOT SPEAK EVIL OF A RULER OF
YOUR PEOPLE.’"” In Paul’s case he
only was admitting that he did not realize that this man was the high priest,
but the high priest was still wrong in causing him to be hit in the face. The quote comes from Exodus 22:28 “"You shall not curse God, nor curse a
ruler of your people.” By quickly
quoting this verse it shows that Paul knew the Old Testament very well and it
also shows the maturity of his walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was dealing with this sin in his life
very rapidly “But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged (1
Cor. 11:31).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Pride is probably the reason that I am
not willing to admit when I sin, but pride is something that I need to rid
myself of and agree with God quickly whenever I sin so that I can stay in
fellowship with my Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To remember
that I am to count it all joy.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Ebenezer” (1 Samuel 7:12).
Today’s Bible question: “Who was the king of Babylon that destroyed
Jerusalem?”
Answer in our next SD.
8/20/2018 9:06 AM
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