College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Acts 21:17-26
THE VOYAGE TO ROME
1.
AT JERUSALEM. Acts 21:17, Acts 23:30
a.
Paul's salutation and the advice of the elders. Acts 21:17-26.
And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.
And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
And when he had saluted them, he rehearsed one by one the things which God had wrought among the Gentiles through his ministry.
And they, when they heard it, glorified God; and they said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of them that have believed; and they are all zealous for the law:
and they have been informed concerning thee, that thou teachest all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
What is it therefore? they will certainly hear that thou art come.
Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men that have a vow on them;
these take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges for them, that they may shave their heads: and all shall know that there is no truth in the things where-of they have been informed concerning thee; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, keeping the law.
But as touching the Gentiles that have believed, we wrote, giving judgment that they should keep themselves from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from fornication.
Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them went into the temple, declaring the fulfilment of the days of purification, until the offering was offered for every one of them.
Acts 21:17-19 Paul was received this time somewhat in the same way that he and Barnabas had been when, years before, they had brought the problem of the circumcision of Gentiles to the apostles in Jerusalem. On the day of their arrival they were given a warm welcome. The preparations for staying in the home of Mnason were made and the night was spent in rest. On the day following an important matter must needs be taken care of. Luke was present at this meeting and hence we have the pronoun we and us used in discussing the incident.
There was a real interest in the things that God had wrought through the ministry of the apostle Paul. It must have taken no little time to tell one by one the victories for the gospel in the many places where Paul had preached. But James and the elders listened attentively to these words, and when he had finished they gave praise and glory to the proper onethey glorified God.
Acts 21:20-21 But even before Paul had told of the first gospel triumph these men had something that was clamoring within them for utterance. The coming of Paul to Jerusalem was a matter of no small import. He had a reputation; his actions and words were followed carefully by thousands of Jews. The criticism of this one was ever present and entered the city of Jerusalem long before he did. Indeed, the Jews who hated his gospel of freedom had been constantly at the job of dinning it into the heads of all who would listen to them that this Paul was the worst of heretics. To this evident fact the elders and James now make mention. Word that Paul was in Jerusalem would soon be common knowledge and the hatred of these Jews would make it impossible for him to do anything for Christ, unless something could be done and that right away.
831.
What was the response of James and the brethren over the victories of the gospel told by Paul?
Acts 21:22-23 It would do no good to say before all that Paul did not forsake Moses, for it was well known that he did preach among the Gentiles that they need not circumcise their children and that the customs had no claim on them. What then could be done? It was not for the sake of the Gentiles that the advice of the elders was given, for they had a letter written as to their standing before God it was for the Jews.
What is this that is asked of PaulFour men that have a vow? Be at charges for them? This surely was the keeping of the customs of the law. These four men were probably Christian Jews who were fulfilling the ceremonies that were connected with the law of the Nazarite. J. W. McGarvey seems to feel that these men had contaminated themselves through contact with a dead body before their vow was fulfilled and that they were now purifying themselves in the temple.
832.
How did the coming of Paul to Jerusalem pose a problem for the leaders of the church?
833.
Why not solve the problem by simply stating that Paul DID NOT forsake Moses?
834.
Were Christian Jews concerned in this matter, or non-Christian?
835.
Why were these four men purifying themselves?
Acts 21:24-26 To be at charges for them had to do with purchasing the animals that they must sacrifice and of entering the temple to tell the priest that the days of their purification were fulfilled. This they could not do for they were unclean. Paul could further identify himself with these men by his cleansing himself of uncleanness. He was counted unclean on the general basis of the law as given in Leviticus 15:1-3. He could be purified in one day.
Now I ask you, was this an act of compromise on the part of Paul? The writer especially likes the words of J.W. McGarvey on this point. He says: I think it must be admitted that subsequent to the writing of the epistle to the Ephesians, and more especially that to the Hebrews, he could not consistently have done this; for in those epistles it is clearly taught, that in the death of Christ God has broken down and abolished -the law of commandments contained in ordinances-' which he styles -the middle wall of partition-' (Ephesians 2:13-15); that the Aaronic priesthood had been abolished (Hebrews 7:8); and that the sacrifice of Christ had completely superseded that of dumb animals (Hebrews 9:19). But in Paul's earlier epistles, though some things had been written which, carried to their logical consequences, involved all this, these points had not yet been clearly revealed to his mind, and much less to the minds of the other disciples; for it pleased God to make Paul the chief instrument for the revelation of this part of His will. His mind, and those of all the brethren, were as yet in much the same condition on this question that those of the early disciples had been in before the conversion of Cornelius in reference to the salvation of the Gentiles. If Peter, by the revelation made to him in connection with Cornelius, was made to understand better his own words uttered on Pentecost (Acts 2:39), it should cause no surprise that Paul in his early writings uttered sentiments the full import of which he did not comprehend until later revelations made them plain. That it was so is but another illustration of the fact that the Holy Spirit guided the apostles into all the truth, not at one bound, but step by step. In the wisdom of God the epistle to the Hebrews, the special value of which lies in its clear revelations on the distinction between the sacrifices and priesthood under Moses and those under Christ, was written but a few years previous to the destruction of the Jewish temple, and the compulsory abrogation of all the sacrifices of the law; and that thus any Jewish Christian, whose natural reverence for ancestral and divinely appointed customs may have prevented him from seeing the truth on this subject, might have his eyes opened in spite of himself. (ibid. pp. 208, 209).
836.
What is meant by the phrase be at charges for them?
JOPPA BY THE SEA.
We have already discussed Joppa in an earlier picture. Let us pause here to look carefully at this drawing. Here is a port to which Jonah went when he took the ship to Tarshish. We have all come to the port of birth and boarded the ship of life to sail out into the sea of time toward the port of eternity or the judgment. The ship in which Jonah found himself was a place of escape from Goda place to hide from God. To many people the ship of life has become a place to hide from Goda means of escaping God. But there is a storm ahead and we are going to need our God in a very real manner. On the shore of Joppa's port is a fishing boat. This might suggest to us that all of life is a fishing trip. Jesus made this comparison. In the sea of life we will indeed catch something, but what will it be? Will it not depend on the type of net you use? and upon the diligence you exercise in the task and upon the providence of God? Tell me, my soul, what is thy purpose as you sail upon the sea of life?
Paul probably thought that surely all would now be well, for in a day or two the seven days for the purification of these men would be accomplished and he would have the testimony of his help to give to all who were concerned in this affair. But the Holy Spirit had testified to him in every city that bonds and afflictions awaited him at Jerusalem, and he was very shortly to experience the fulfillment of the Spirit's words.
837.
How explain that Paul was not compromising in what he did?
838.
How would the purification in the temple help Paul's position with the Jews?