Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem
Acts 22
The Plot to Kill Paul
12 The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13 More than forty men were involved in this plot. 14 They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. 15 Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”
16 But when the son of Paul's sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.
17 Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.” 18 So he took him to the commander.
The centurion said, “Paul, the prisoner, sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”
19 The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”
20 He said: “Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him. 21 Don't give in to them, because more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him. They have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request.”
22 The commander dismissed the young man with this warning: “Don't tell anyone that you have reported this to me.”
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New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Paul had Civil Rights, under both Roman Law and Jewish Law, as he was both a Roman Citizen and a Jew. But, his ideas were dangerous to the Establishment, so those Civil Rights seemed to go out the window. Paul, being a learned man, was well aware of these infractions of both Civil and Religious Law. He fought back the best way he knew how...with words.
This only seemed to get him into more trouble.
I once got into a fascinating program on TV called "Mysteries of the Abandoned". The host goes around the world examining abandoned structures, and exploring the history of the building and why it was left to rot away. A number of these buildings were old hospitals and sanatoriums that featured marvelous Victorian Architecture on the outside, but dank, horrible medical waste and rot on the inside. Urban Explorers and Ghost Hunters LOVE these old buildings, but I can't even begin to imagine the pathogens that lurk in their foul interiors.
Paul is such an interesting character. He opens his defense quite reasonably, and gets slapped for it. His angry reaction is understandable, and he uses a strange epithet "Whited Wall" in response. Although it doesn't seem like such a big insult to you or me, it recalls a similar insult that Jesus Himself leveled at the Pharisees back during His Ministry on Earth:
Woes to Scribes and Pharisees …26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well. 27Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and every impurity. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.…(Matthew 23, NIV)
Some of the most enduring and wonderful ancient structures on the planet are actually TOMBS. Everything from the Great Pyramid, to the Tomb of China's First Emperor, to the Medici Tomb designed by Michelangelo, to King Tut's humble tomb in the Valley of the Kings, were erected not to house living people, but the moldering remains of the dead. Huge granite structures like the Ohio Reformatory, or St. Augustine's Pink Jail have become tourist attractions because their OUTSIDES belie the death and corruption that were on the INSIDE.
By calling the High Priest a "Whited Wall", Paul was really insulting the man. As soon as he realized he was saying this insult to the High Priest, Paul immediately apologized. Even at this point, even after being slapped, Paul still had respect.
Come and Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.
"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)
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Hallelujah and Amen
ML/LTOS