Acts 18:12-18
New King James Version
(NKJV)
12 When Gallio was
proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought
him to the judgment seat, 13 saying,
“This fellow persuades
men to worship God contrary to the law.”
14 And when Paul was about
to open his mouth,
Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, O
Jews, there would be reason why I should bear with you. 15 But if it is a question
of words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such matters.” 16 And he drove them from
the judgment seat. 17 Then
all the Greeks took
Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. But Gallio took no notice of
these things.
18 So Paul still remained a
good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and
Priscilla and Aquilawere with
him. He had his hair
cut off at Cenchrea, for he had taken a vow.
Sometimes it is very difficult to
understand why specific passages are put in the Bible. It always leads to speculation but I use
those opportunities to ask the Lord to show me something in that scripture that
I can apply to my life. This is one of
those passages but as I considered the words today I had to remember what Jesus
had spoken to Paul in the verses just previous to these and then I found my
answer. Acts 18: 9 – 10 9 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by
a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak,
and do not keep silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one
will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.”
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2018:%209%20-%2010&version=NKJV
Who
would have thought that Paul would have made it to the court and the court
would have let him go? Generally they
would have at least given him a few lashes with the whip and offered an empty
threat, not to disturb the Jewish ways and would have sent him on his way. Paul didn’t even get a chance to speak in
this setting but was rather handed back over to the Jews. Then the craziest thing happened, the Jews
turned on their leader and beat him instead of beating Paul! We don’t know why they beat him, maybe it was
because he didn’t present the case the way that he should have or because he
had become a follower of Christ. If we
focus on the leader and the Jews we will lose focus of these verses. If however, we put our focus on what did not
happen to Paul, we see that Jesus’ words were most accurate. Paul was spared a beating by both the courts
and the Jewish leaders. How amazing is
that? The courts basically told the Jews
they could do with Paul as they wished but rather than beating Paul they turned
on their own leader. I have to think of
the works of God in the Old Testament when Joshua took over Jericho and the
walls came down at the obedience of the people who marched around the city for
seven days. It was not the act of
marching that brought those walls down but the obedience of the people to do as
the Lord had spoken. Or the time when
God had Gideon take only 100 men to defeat the Midianites. A hundred men used trumpets and torches to
scare the Midianites to the point that they killed each other. To me that is what happened in the situation
in our passage for today. This time it
was the Jews who fought against each other taking the attention off of
Paul. This gave Paul the ability to
leave and go and spread the Gospel.
Notice, however, that Paul did not leave the city but remained “for a good
while”.
This
passage taught me today that we don’t have to be afraid of this world and the
actions they may take against us when our trust is in the Lord. If God wants us in a specific situation and a
specific place then we need to stand strong and firm in His will for our
lives. I am sure it was difficult for
Paul to remain in that city yet he was convinced by the Lord that he was
supposed to be there. When there was an
out for him, he could have decided that the Lord had given him the passage of
right away to leave yet he knew he was to remain and that he would be
protected.
As
I seek the Lord today I seek the faith that Paul had to remain in a situation
that was not necessarily ideal for him.
He didn’t run at the first chance he had because he knew the Lord well
enough to know when it was time for him to leave and when he was to
remain. I want to know my Lord so well
that I begin to live the way He would live not the way I want to live. In order to do this I must continually seek
Him and His ways in my life and I urge you to do the same. Always, continually, in ceaseless prayer seek
the Lord with all your hearts and serve Him with gladness no matter what the
situation. When it is time to move on
you will know, just as Paul did and the Lord will bless you and keep you in His
arms.
Seeking
Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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