Acts
25:13 ¶ And after certain days king
Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus. 14 And when they had been there many days,
Festus declared Paul’s cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left
in bonds by Felix: 15 About whom, when I
was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me,
desiring to have judgment against him. 16 To whom I answered, It is not the manner of
the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the
accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the
crime laid against him. 17 Therefore,
when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the
judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth. 18 Against whom when the accusers stood up, they
brought none accusation of such things as I supposed: 19 But had certain questions against him of
their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to
be alive. 20 And because I doubted of
such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem,
and there be judged of these matters. 21
But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus,
I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar. 22 Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also
hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him. 23 And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and
Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the
chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus’ commandment Paul was
brought forth. 24 And Festus said, King
Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about
whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also
here, crying that he ought not to live any longer. 25 But when I found that he had committed
nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have
determined to send him. 26 Of whom I
have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth
before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination
had, I might have somewhat to write. 27
For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to
signify the crimes laid against him.
It was said about Paul
previously;
Acts
9:15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy
way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles,
and kings, and the children of Israel:
Now he is going to
speak before King Agrippa. According to historians this was Herod Agrippa II.
He was the eighth and last in the line of Herod, the fifth to bear the title of
king. He ruled only over territories outside of Judea as a Roman puppet.
Agrippa would be overthrown by his subjects in 66AD and support the side of
Rome in the coming rebellion that saw the destruction of Jerusalem and the
Temple.
Acts,
chapter 26
Acts
26:1 ¶ Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou
art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and
answered for himself: 2 I think myself
happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee
touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews: 3 Especially because I know thee to be
expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I
beseech thee to hear me patiently. 4 My
manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at
Jerusalem, know all the Jews; 5 Which
knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most
straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of
the promise made of God unto our fathers: 7
Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God
day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused
of the Jews. 8 Why should it be thought
a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead? 9 I verily thought with myself, that I ought to
do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many
of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief
priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.
11 And I punished them oft in every
synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad
against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.
One thing of note here
was that it was common under persecution for a Christian to be required to
renounce Christ before being released. Usually, this followed a great deal of
torture and threatening thus the compelled them to blaspheme statement. This
occurred under Roman as well as Jewish persecution and even today a Christian
in the Sudan who refuses to renounce his faith in Christ is likely to suffer
most horribly. This underscores that persecution in the Bible is not about
someone ripping off your magnet sign from your car as much as it is about
physical suffering and death.
Matthew
10:28 And fear not them which kill the
body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell. 29
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall
on the ground without your Father. 30
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value
than many sparrows. 32 Whosoever
therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father
which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever
shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in
heaven.
Romans
8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs
of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us.
2Timothy
2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign
with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
There were contentions
in the historical church early on whether or not a Christian who denied Christ
under torture could be readmitted into fellowship with other Christians.
Fortunately, for us, we know from the example of Peter at Christ’s trial that
God has provided a way back for those in places like Vietnam or Indonesia today
who face terror and persecution and give in, so to speak. Some early Christians
did lose their nerve but then came back and led exemplary lives for Christ even
being killed in later persecutions.
Acts
26:12 ¶ Whereupon as I went to Damascus
with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13 At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light
from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them
which journeyed with me. 14 And when we
were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in
the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for
thee to kick against the pricks. 15 And
I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet:
for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a
witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the
which I will appear unto thee; 17
Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom
now I send thee, 18 To open their eyes, and
to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan
unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them
which are sanctified by faith that is in me. 19
Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly
vision: 20 But shewed first unto them of
Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then
to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for
repentance. 21 For these causes the Jews
caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me. 22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I
continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other
things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: 23 That Christ should suffer, and that he
should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto
the people, and to the Gentiles.
There are two
possibilities here as this account has some additions to the earlier accounts
of Paul’s Damascus road experience with Christ. One possibility is that Paul is
embellishing his story as people often do when recounting it. But a second more
likely possibility is that this is a more fuller version of the event and the
Holy Spirit wants us to have all of the information to see the complete
picture. This is done throughout the Bible where you need to cross-reference
and review every verse on a doctrine or an event to get the complete picture.
So, in essence I believe this account to be accurate simply because the Holy
Spirit included it in the Bible and it is not challenged by anyone at the time.
Here are the other two
examples for you to compare. First, from Luke, presumably having been told by
Paul, to the pen and parchment;
Acts
9:3 And as he journeyed, he came near
Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice
saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord
said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the
pricks. 6 And he trembling and
astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto
him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
Then, Paul, defending
himself in front of an angry Hebrew mob.
Acts
22:5 As also the high priest doth bear
me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters
unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound
unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. 6
And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto
Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about
me. 7 And I fell unto the ground, and
heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he
said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 9 And they that were with me saw indeed the
light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
10 And I said, What shall I do, Lord?
And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be
told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.
We can piece together
the full confrontation with Christ that Paul had by looking at all three. Some
also assume that Paul is simply merging events and what he was told into one
scene rather than two or three.
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