Acts 26:12-18

It was for this purpose. He had gone to Damascus with the idea of trying to crush the Christian movement. This is the third time he tells about his converting to Christ. See Acts 9:1-9 and notes. Here he points out the brilliance of the light (God's glory), and tells us he heard the voice speak in the Hebrew language. This would be in the archaic Hebrew of the Bible (remember the people spoke the Aramaic dialect). Paul had been trained in the theology of the Law by Gamaliel, and understood this form of Hebrew perfectly. This shocked Paul to the very depths of his "Jewishness." You hurt yourself by kicking back. This translation reconstructs the rest of the proverb for us: "like an ox kicking against its owner's stick." Paul's audience would add this automatically. The meaning is that Paul was only hurting himself through his persecution of the messianic community. To appoint you as my servant. Paul was a devout man, even when he was persecuting the church of Christ. The Lord did not interfere with Paul's free will. Paul had already decided to serve God. All he needed was to be made aware of the facts. Paul had to see the Risen Lord to be qualified as an apostle. Paul was to be a witness to the Gentiles of God's act in Christ to set men free!