PT-1 "The Consultation Regarding Paul's Testimony" (Acts 25:13-22)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/11/2018 9:19 AM

 

My Worship Time Focus:  PT-1 “The Consultation Regarding Paul’s Testimony”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                       Reference:  Acts 25:13-22

 

          Message of the verses:  “13 Now when several days had elapsed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and paid their respects to Festus. 14 While they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, "There is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix; 15 and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. 16 “I answered them that it

is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before the accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. 17 “So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought before me. 18 “When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, 19 but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. 20 “Being at a loss how to investigate such matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand trial on these matters. 21 “But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar." 22 Then Agrippa said to Festus, "I also would like to hear the man myself." "Tomorrow," he said, "you shall hear him."

 

          John MacArthur writes three paragraphs about the history of the “Herod’s” as he begins his commentary on this section and so I thought that although I am sure that there have been books written about the exploits of the Herods during this time period, beginning with before Jesus Christ was born, this will give us some insight into them.

 

          “Several days after Paul’s appeal to Caesar, King Agrippa (Herod Agrippa II) and his consort Bernice arrived at Caesarea.  They had come to pay their respects to the new governor, Festus.  The last in the line of Herods who figured prominently in New Testament history Agrippa II ruled the northern part of Palestine during the Roman occupation.  His father, Agrippa I, was the Herod who killed James, arrested Peter and met an untimely end, being eaten by worms after failing to give God glory (Acts 12:1-23).  His great-uncle, Herod Antipas, figured prominently in the gospels (Luke 3:1) as the ruler who executed John the Baptist (Mark 6:14-29), sought Jesus’ life (Luke 13:31-33), and later tried Him (Luke 23:7-12).  His great-grandfather was Herod the Great, who ruled at the time of Jesus’ birth (Matt. 2:1-19; Luke 1:5) and murdered the children of Bethlehem in an effort to kill the newborn King.

 

          “Agrippa’s private life was scandalous; Bernice was not only his consort but also his sister.  (Their sister, Drusilla, was the wife of the former governor, Felix.)  Their incestuous relationship was the subject of gossip in Rome (where Agrippa had grown up).  Bernice would occasionally leave her brother and lover for another man (she had been the mistress of Emperor Vespasian and later his son Titus), but she always returned.  They are inseparable in the Acts narrative (cf. 25:13, 23; 26:30); she is, as some have suggested the symbol of Agrippa’s vice.

 

          “Although he did not rule Judea, Agrippa had been granted control of the temple treasury and the right to appoint the high priest.  The Romans considered him an expert on Jewish affairs, as did Paul (26:3).  Agrippa tried to prevent the Jewish revolt, but when it broke out in A. D. 66, he sided with the Romans and thus became a traitor to his people.”

 

          Seeing how we are on vacation at this time I am not writing very long Spiritual Diaries, and so I suppose that it will take us three SD’s to get through this first section that we will be looking at for several days.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jezebel” (2 Kings 9:30-36),

 

Today’s Bible question:  “In the Old Testament, what man made up riddles?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

9/11/2018 9:52 AM