Acts 13:13-20
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to
Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. 14 From
Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the
Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. 15 After
the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue rulers sent word to them, saying,
“Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please
speak.”
16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and
said: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! 17 The
God of the people of Israel chose our fathers; he made the people prosper
during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power he led them out of that country, 18 he endured their conduct for
about forty years in the desert, 19 he overthrew seven nations in Canaan and
gave their land to his people as their inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years.
“After
this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.
I chose only a portion
of the message that Paul gave to both the Jews and the Gentiles who had
converted to Judaism. We will look at it
in sections.
First of all it is
important that we take note that John left Paul and Barnabas a matter of a
dispute later on in Acts. We don’t know
why he left but that he did. Seems kind
of strange in the middle here but it will have a purpose later on.
Paul and Barnabas are
sitting in the Synagogue on the Sabbath, they went to church and were visitors
there. I have to wonder if the leaders
really knew who they were because they invited them to speak if they had some
encouraging words. How did the leaders
know that these men might have something to say? How many churches today would ask a visitor
to speak? Maybe it was because God
worked through those leaders and prompted them to ask them. Maybe it was tradition to ask visitors. I really don’t know why but they asked
them. Of course they had something to
say. Some of it was encouraging while
some of it was very pointed to the Jews and how they responded, in a negative
way, to the Christ.
Can you imagine sitting
in church after listening to the Word of God, ready to get home after the
service and some stranger gets up and starts giving you a history lesson? Most of us would be stewing about our roast
in the oven rather than listening to what that person had to say. We get so caught up with the clock at church
rather than getting caught up in the moment with God. Why is that?
Notice that Paul does
not only address the Jews but makes sure the Gentiles know that this message is
for them too.
He starts out talking
about the good of the Father upon the Jewish people. He talked about the power of God and how He
led the prosperous captives out of the land of Egypt. Notice that God endured their conduct. Have you ever had to endure the conduct of
someone for a little while? In other
words have you had to be patient with someone for a few minutes or a few
hours? Possibly it was a rebellious
child who would never listen to you, maybe you endured their rebellion for
years and prayed for them, loving them all the while. How many of us have done that for 40
years? God endured their rebellious ways
for 40 years. He could have given up on
them from the beginning but He didn’t.
Lastly we see that the
captivity of the Israelites until the time they overthrew seven nations took
450 years. Wow, our nation, they United
States of America, has not even been established that long! We have a God who is patient. We have a God who is not worried about time. We have a God who will not leave us but is
always aware of our suffering, pain, and our joy. Life was not good in Egypt, but God used that
time to raise up a people to bring out of Egypt. He heard the cries of His people but not
everyone that cried came out of the country as did those who wandered in the
desert for 40 years. Why did He choose a
generation that would rebel as soon as they were set free? Maybe it is because any of us would have
rebelled because of the sinful nature of man.
He has set us free but how many times do we do the things we should not
do?
It doesn’t make sense
why the Israelites turned on God. Wait,
it doesn’t make sense when we grumble and complain about things of this world
either. God is in control, we hear that
all the time but when things aren’t in our control and go the way we don’t want
them to what do we do about it? Do we
pray? When we pray what do we say? I tend to find myself telling God how it
should go down rather than trusting that He has it under control. When we pray do we grumble to God and urge
Him to do it our way or do we give it all to Him and allow Him to work in His
mighty and mysterious ways? We live in a
fast paced world, in a time that things are almost instant. We have fast food restaurants, microwave ovens,
and computers that allow us to communicate with people all over the world in a
matter of seconds. But one thing we need
to remember is that God is no respecter of time. What we need to remember is that we should be
a respecter of Him and that we should be content in His timing, not ours.
As you seek Him today,
thank Him for His mighty works and give Him the glory, honor, and praise for
all that He has and will do. Remember He
doesn’t always move at the pace that we would like but He always moves at the
perfect time.
Seeking Him with all my
heart,
Sheila
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