Bible Study on Acts 20, verses 1 to 6, Paul and his companions

Acts 20:1 ¶  And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia. 2  And when he had gone over those parts, and had given  them much exhortation, he came into Greece, 3  And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia. 4  And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5  These going before tarried for us at Troas. 6  And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.

 

Aristarchus the Macedonian had been mentioned in verse 29 of chapter 19. He will be mentioned again as a fellow prisoner with Paul in Rome;

 

Acts 27:2  And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.

 

Colossians 4:10  Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;)

 

Philemon 1:24  Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers.

 

Due to the context in a few verses there appears to be more than one Gaius which may have been a fairly common name. There is Gaius and Aristarchus who are said to be men of Macedonia in Acts 19:29. Derbe was in Galatia where this Gaius was from. There is a Gaius from Corinth in 1Corinthians 1:14. Finally, Gaius was Paul’s host in Rome in Romans 16:23 where he awaited this fate before Caesar.

 

According to tradition Tychicus wrote Ephesians as Paul’s amanuensis or secretary. He also was co-writer of Colossians with Onesimus as per the postscript added to early King James Bibles. He is mentioned in the letters to the Ephesians, Colossians, and to Timothy.

 

Trophimus will be part of the scandal in the next chapter and in 2Timothy 4:20 he is left at Miletum, not far from Ephesus, sick.

 

Troas is mentioned twice before in Acts 16 and will be referred to again. Troas is also called Troad in its Anglicized version and means ‘The Land of Troy’ and is on the extreme west of the Asian mainland. The ruins of the ancient city of Troy, subject of Homer’s Illiad, the ancient Greek’s “Bible”, are in that region.

Bible Study on Exodus 23, verses 10 to 19, three feasts compared to the rapture of the church

 

Exodus 23:10 ¶  And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: 11  But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard. 12  Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed. 13  And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth. 14  Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. 15  Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) 16  And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. 17  Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD. 18  Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning. 19  The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

The Hebrews were to have a sabbath for the land, not harvesting in the seventh year and permitting the poor and animals eat freely. This also applied to grapes and olives.

Leviticus 25:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, 2  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. 3  Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; 4  But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. 5  That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. 6  And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, 7  And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

The sabbath of rest for the seventh day of the week is given: a day of rest also for animals, servants, and foreigners who worked for the Hebrews. It is interesting how Christians who bring forward the Ten Commandments and the Law given to Moses in general as applicable to Christians don’t also regard the Sabbath of rest, a day of the week given to man and beast to rest from their labors, as also applicable.

In a world filled with idol worship and devil worship and all under the pretense of worshipping gods, little g, the Hebrews were not to even mention their names.

There were three feasts they were to keep in a year; the feasts of unleavened bread, of harvests, and of ingathering. These three times in the year all males were to appear before God in a place appointed and to keep a feast.

The feast of harvest is also called the feast of weeks.

Exodus 34:22a  And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest…

The feast of ingathering, when everything is brought in, is also called the feast of tabernacles.

Deuteronomy 16:13  Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:

Deuteronomy 16:16  Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

There are specific instructions given later for these feasts. It is interesting to note the three feasts, the three times they were to come before the Lord. Three times in the Bible the phrase come up hither, meaning ‘come up here,’ is used in different contexts.

Proverbs 25:7  For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.

Revelation 4:1  After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

Revelation 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

Three times in one verse the pre-Flood patriarch, Enoch’s, translation from earth to God’s presence is mentioned.

Hebrews 11:5  By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

It is interesting to imagine that the translation of the church, popularly called ‘the rapture’, a word not found in the Bible, takes place in three steps with Christ and those who were resurrected at His resurrection being first.

Matthew 27:52  And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

And then two more times mentioned in Revelation of the pre-Tribulation saints and then of those who come to Christ during the Great Tribulation. However, we have enough to do with the clearer statements in the Bible regarding our relationship with God in His ministry of reconciling man to Himself, things that we are not doing, to spend time arguing about the more obscure doctrines of the Bible.

However, several early church “fathers” like Hermas, Cyprian, Victorinus, and Ephraim the Syrian spoke of the church being removed before God’s wrath is poured out at the end of time.

Christians today who do not believe in the Translation of the church, popularly called ‘the rapture,’ will say that preacher of the early 1800’s, John Nelson Darby, invented the doctrine. He did popularize it in opposition to a world that regarded evolutionary progress as truth and that mankind and Christians in particular were headed toward a ‘golden age’ of righteousness and peace.[1]

But, he obviously did not invent the doctrine, merely gave it his own twist. As John Reeve wrote  two centuries before Darby’s, in the 1600’s, “Then shall the Elect, by the Decree or Voice of Jesus Christ, the Archangel, first appear out of the Graves, and, in the twinkling of an Eye, with all the Elect that are then living, as one Man, with a glorious Shout, shall, with distinct immortal Bodies, like unto their God, ascend to meet the Lord in the Air, and with him and his mighty angels, as swift as Thought, enter into that vast new Heaven and new Earth above the Stars….[2]

My intent here is not to approve of any preacher’s particular doctrines or idiosyncrasies or even personal opinions or heresies but simply to show that the doctrine was not invented by Darby, as some would say. Only the timing of when it would happen, before the Great Tribulation mentioned in Matthew and Revelation, during, or at the end of it were in contention among those that believed in it. Although I have not read his work there is supposedly another pretribulation rapture commentator named Morgan Edwards from the century prior to Darby.

Other references to the idea of the church being physically removed are from such diverse preachers and commentators as Jesuit priest, Francisco Ribera, in 1590, Puritan Cotton Mather in the 1600s, and John Gill in the 1700s.[3]  In the first decade of the 1700s Matthew Henry even uses the phrase, “rapture in the clouds,” in his commentary on 1Thessalonians 4:17 which is so commonly free on the internet I don’t need to give you directions here.

Darby’s view was that what he called “the rapture” must take place before the return of Christ. The Bible seems to say that then there is the thousand-year reign of Christ and the general judgment follows.

My point in bringing all of this up is to only say that a doctrine can exist in the Bible and either be misunderstood, not be known by most believers, or that those against it or for it may misrepresent it to justify their own beliefs. The Jews believed that Israel would be restored to its past greatness, not seeing the Cross or the Resurrection of their Messiah. Many Christians of the 1800s, the age of the so-called great revivals, were Postmillennialists and believed they would turn the world over to Christian principles and values without Christ present so, no rapture and Christ’s rule coming after we had perfected the world. We must always remember that our understanding is incomplete until we stand before our Saviour.

Early eighteenth century Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, reported, apparently from older Jewish authorities, that it was common for the Gentiles to boil (see Ezekiel 24:5 for seethe as to boil) a kid (goat) in its mother’s milk and sprinkle that over fields to ensure a good harvest in the future. God forbade such magical nonsense. What is important here is that God has set up three feasts for the Hebrews to remember events by, to commemorate what has happened.

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[1] J.N. Darby, “The Rapture of the Saints,” in The Heavenly Hope, or, What is the Hope of the Christian? What is the Hope of the Church? (Dublin: Dublin Tract Repository, 1844).

https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16305370W/The_Heavenly_hope_or_What_is_the_hope_of_the_Christian_What_is_the_hope_of_the_Church_A_letter_from_

[2] John Reeve, “An Epistle to a Kinsman,” in Joyful News from Heaven (London: Francis Cosinet, 1658), 60.

https://openlibrary.org/works/OL245574W/Joyful_news_from_heaven_or_The_last_intelligence_from_our_glorified_Jesus_above_the_stars

[3] Mal Couch, ed., Dictionary of Premillennial Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1996).

Bible Study on Acts 19, verses 21 to 41, trouble in Ephesus

 

Acts 19:21 ¶  After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. 22  So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. 23  And the same time there arose no small stir about that way. 24  For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; 25  Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. 26  Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: 27  So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. 28  And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. 29  And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre. 30  And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. 31  And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre. 32  Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. 33  And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people. 34  But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. 35  And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? 36  Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. 37  For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. 38  Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another. 39  But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. 40  For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse. 41  And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.

 

Paul now takes it upon himself to go to Rome via Jerusalem. There is some question as to whether or not it is in God’s perfect will for Paul to go to Jerusalem with the purpose he will state in a short while in the text. It is certainly within God’s permissive will as it does indeed happen. We will see what the Holy Spirit said about this later.

 

But, first he must deal with something in Ephesus. Declaring that Christ is the only way to heaven and that no other gods should be worshipped was a great threat to the commerce of Ephesus. Verse 27 says So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

 

Diana was the Roman name for the Greek goddess Artemis whom I believe is just one of the manifestations of Ishtar around the world such as Amaterasu in Japan. Jupiter is the Roman name for the Greek Zeus, the head of the Greek pantheon of gods. Making gods of stone and wood was a great industry in the Roman empire of the first century, if not the most prosperous industry. Many gods were allowed as long as Rome’s patron gods and goddesses were appeased like Roma for the city of Rome. The Christians had not desecrated any temples or insulted any gods or goddesses but preaching that Jesus Christ was the Only Begotten Son of God put them on a confrontation course with the culture. Still, Alexander insisted that if charges were to be brought they should be done in an orderly fashion lest the Roman authorities come down on their heads.

Bible Study on Exodus 23, verses 1 to 9, keep far from a false matter

 

Exodus 23:1 ¶  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. 2  Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: 3  Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. 4  If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. 5  If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. 6  Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. 7  Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked. 8  And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. 9  Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The context of this entire passage is about not mistreating the poor person or the foreigner, both politically powerless entities. Here begins with a warning not to bear false witness as stated in the list of ten earlier. Another admonition against following wicked and evil people follows. The book of Proverbs gives warnings against following the sinful ways of others. To wrest judgment is to pervert judgment, a corrupt thing to do. Here, in context it is referring to abusing the poor and backing the powerful in a way that perverts judgment.

James 2:6  But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

Verse 3 is difficult because of the archaic use of the word countenance as a verb. It does not necessarily mean, ‘to favor,’ as some commentators insist, stating that you should not support a poor man just because he was poor. In Baret’s 1574 dictionary, referenced earlier, you can find one meaning as to deny, refuse, or forbid. Other dictionaries at the same general time frame, and you can verify this by accessing the early modern English website previously mentioned, also suggest the possibility of the false pretense of justice by putting a good face on it but the reality not being so. So here it is forbidden to refuse a poor man equitable judgment and put a false, hypocritical honest face on it. This is an archaic meaning of the verb but one that is readily accessible to anyone interested. This meaning fits well in the context here and in the context of other Biblical admonitions against abusing the poor. It is not the proverbial ‘rocket science.’ Just look for the meaning of a difficult word used rarely in a particular form in the Bible around the time that this Bible was translated. The information is there. Do you really want to know what the Bible says?

Verse 4 mandates kindness, as taking it on oneself to return another’s straying beast back to him. Verse 5 requires one to render assistance to a beast struggling with a load he is having a hard time supporting even if the owner of the beast is someone they know doesn’t like them and they probably don’t like. This calls for compassion for an animal regardless who owns it.

Verse 6 reinforces verse 3 and 7 verse 1. Clearly, the context of these judgments is a fair and equal treatment regardless of someone’s social status and an attitude of mercy and compassion regardless of your difficult relationship with others. Verse 8 denies bribery or oppressing the politically powerless or weak.

These are important principles that are often not followed. It may be helpful to offer examples that are easy to understand. If you do not get along with someone or even have a feud going and their dog escapes from their yard you would return the dog regardless of your feud as an act of righteousness. Although we use mechanical ‘beasts’ of burden now in that time if a Hebrew were to see another man’s donkey struggling under a burden he would be compelled to ease the burden of the poor animal. The fact that these are listed under the Law given to Moses for the Hebrews shows us that matters of personal responsibility were coded into the civil regulations. You could be held responsible for not being a good neighbor even to a neighbor you didn’t like.

Bribery was forbidden.

Deuteronomy 16:19  Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

Proverbs 17:23 ¶  A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.

Our government is corrupt today because of lobbyists for even good causes who put money, desirable vacations, and even luxurious homes in front of our lawmakers to pervert judgment.

There is a tie-in here with doing right regardless of another’s social status and following the law regardless of your relationship with another person. There is an absolute standard here that rises above your petty selfishness. There is compassion for the weak that goes beyond your hatred or contempt. The righteous man does right regardless of the enticement to pervert judgment or ignore the suffering of another. From the point of view of God another person’s social status or your relationship with them should not be affected by your doing what is right in obedience to God and not doing what is wrong.

Bible Study on Acts 19, verses 13 to 20, the word of God prevailed

 

Acts 19:13 ¶  Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14  And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 15  And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 16  And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17  And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18  And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. 19  Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20  So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.

 

These Jewish exorcists try to use Christ without having faith in Him and their paybacks are painful and embarrassing. This episode brings to mind some verses. First understand that workers of iniquity in the Old Testament are the wicked, unrighteous in several verses. Here are two examples.

 

Psalm 64:2  Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:

 

Psalm 92:7  When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:

 

Now, let us move to Jesus’ sermon in Matthew 5-7.

 

Matthew 7:21 ¶  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

 

There are probably people right now preaching, teaching, supposedly casting out evil spirits, supposedly speaking in the tongues of angels, ministering to the poor and sick who are tares, the phony hypocrites who will be burned in the oven on the last day. They make merchandise of the gospel and use Christ’s name without actual faith and belief. I don’t have to say any names because I personally cannot know one’s heart. But the seven sons of Sceva may represent them.

 

Matthew 13:24 ¶  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn… 36  Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. 37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

43  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

 

Notice the response of an evil spirit when Jesus Himself ordered him out.

 

Mark 1:23 ¶  And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,

24  Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. 25  And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. 26  And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.

 

Bible scholar H.C. Hoskier in his 1910 book entitled, Concerning the Genesis of the Versions of the New Testament, an incredibly important work for serious Bible students, talked about the prosperous book trade in the first century. The literate were avid readers and much translation work abounded. Verse 19 shows us that there was an enormous market in books on the occult and magic as the amount of books destroyed by the owners of those books exceeded a large sum of money. The curious arts, as you can imagine, refers to these occultic and wicked practices among a people wholly given to one religion or the other, worshipping and challenging nature and God Himself for power they coveted to have.

A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 79, verses 1 to 5, How long, LORD?

 

Psalm 79:1 ¶  «A Psalm of Asaph.» O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps. 2  The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. 3  Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them. 4  We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us. 5  How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

 

John Gill underscores that this is a prophecy of the Asaph who lived in David’s time and is not written by some other person named Asaph after the destruction mentioned here. This foretells the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in the time of Nebuchadnezzar in the 500s BC. Imagine the shock that this prophecy would create in the time of the mighty King David.

 

2Kings 24:11  And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. 12  And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. 13  And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.

 

2Kings 25:1 ¶  And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. 2  And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 3  And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. 4  And the city

was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain. 5  And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him. 6  So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. 7  And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.

 

    8 ¶  And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: 9  And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house burnt he with fire. 10  And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about.

 

This destruction came again in the time of the future emperor, Roman general Titus, in 70AD.

 

Mark 13:1 ¶  And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! 2  And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

 

This future event is acknowledged by the Psalmist to be God’s judgment. God did use other nations to punish Israel for its idolatry.

 

I believe, wrongly or rightly, that every Christian is a type of the ancient nation of Israel and while God will not cast us off forever He will permit us to suffer for our apostasy. We must not think of our faith as a charm if we sin and are unrepentant and don’t seek God with tears and sorrow. We can suffer in this life for our unfaithfulness even though we do have eternal life with Christ if we are saved. The Psalmist next pleads for God’s vengeance on the heathen.

Bible Study on Acts 19, verses 8 to 12, heard the word of Lord Jesus

 

Acts 19:8 ¶  And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. 9  But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. 10  And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. 11  And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: 12  So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

 

The school of Tyrannus probably was, according to some sources, some sort of guild or lecture hall where popular orators or philosophers entertained high class clients who had mornings to hear a speech or sermon. Philosophers commonly made money by giving speeches or sermons throughout the Greek world. In fact, I have read that Stoic preachers would have competitions to see who could better make an audience laugh or cry and be judged by it. They would even be tested and would compete on giving sermons on the most ridiculous subjects to see how clever they were, such as one I read about where a Stoic preacher was challenged to speak about a donkey. One Stoic preacher famously gave a sermon on morality and sobriety just before falling face first drunk into his meal at a wealthy person’s dinner party.

 

But hearing philosophy was an enjoyable pastime for the wealthy. Paul may have rented this school during off peak hours or Tyrannus may have been a sympathetic Jew or Gentile who let Paul and company teach for free. It was a great opportunity to deliver the gospel. He spent two fruitful years there and the word of God was spread wide by his disputations. Paul, which we will see in the book of Romans, was a competent lawyer who was capable of presenting arguments that his party, no matter whether they were Jew, Roman, or Greek, would understand.

 

Paul’s lectures were probably open to all classes for free if he did not depend on the money he may have received to support himself. We aren’t told. But, for the message to spread so widely it is possible that God used this venue to let Paul use his talents to declare the message of Christ. And to back up his words God gave him signs and wonders that he performed showing that among his hearers were Jews. Paul would appeal, most likely, to the Greek Gentiles by argument but the Jews were impressed with signs and wonders. God gave Paul both.

 

1Corinthians 1:22  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: