Bible Study on Acts 26, verses 12 to 23, Paul recounts the road to Damascus

 

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.

 

Bible Study on Exodus 25, verses 23 to 30, the table of the shewbread

 

Exodus 25:23 ¶  Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. 24  And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. 25  And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about. 26  And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof. 27  Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table. 28  And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them. 29  And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them. 30  And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.

There was to be this table of shewbread set before the Lord at all times. This represents the communion that God wishes to have with His people in their hearts. We are to be in constant communication and fellowship with our Creator.

Romans 12:12b  …continuing instant in prayer;

1Thessalonians 5:17  Pray without ceasing.

It is of great importance to keep one’s mind focused on God.

Isaiah 26:3  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

And there is a future event that this idea of communion with God signifies, in my mind.

Revelation 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

In symbolism that the Bible gives us bread is compared to God’s words. See the contrast here between being without bread and being without the words of God.

Amos 8:11  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

Words and food are contrasted in other places. For instance,

Job 34:3  For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.

And Christ is likened to bread.

John 6:35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Whereas the priests were supposed to eat of this bread…

Matthew 12:4  How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

…the believer is a type of priest…

1Peter 2:5  Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ…9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light…

 

…and we partake of communion with God symbolically memorializing Christ’s death with bread representing His body, broken on the Cross…

1Corinthians 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

So, there are a lot of symbols associated with bread and I think many sermons could be made about the shewbread in the sanctuary and bread in general as representing our communion with God, Christ as the bread of life, God’s words as bread, and other representations that I have missed here. Of course, there is always the risk of taking a type or symbol too far.

The main point is that the shewbread continually set before God and eaten by the priests represents God’s desire to commune with mankind, one of His apparently prime motivations in His ministry of reconciling sinful man to Himself, the main theme of the Bible.

Why do I say that this is the main theme of the Bible? Well, you will find mention of Heaven in the Bible but not have all of your questions answered about it. You will find mention of science, history, philosophy, and other topics referred to in the Bible but never have all the answers you need. There is no wedding ceremony for Christians, no orders on how we are to conduct church services, no funeral ceremony. We are not told how to conduct the minutiae of living from day to day in the Bible. What we will be doing in eternity or in the millennial reign of Christ even is not completely explained. However, God’s work in drawing man to Himself is thoroughly and clearly laid out for us to see. The Bible is the revelation of God’s efforts at providing a way to be saved from the eternity of death man has chosen. By necessity we learn about God’s nature, His power, His love, His desire for us, and the response of many to Him, favorable and unfavorable, from the words in this book as He reveals His actions toward us.

You will search the Bible for definitive answers on many topics but be frustrated by the lack of information and how topics are dismissed with a casual reference. For example great men of history are given short shrift. Alexander the Great gets a mention as the prince of Grecia and many others are completely ignored. This is why preachers try to make the Bible say things it does not say, because they are looking for answers in it that it does not provide because they are not its subject. The subject of the Bible is God’s ministry of reconciling mankind to Himself and in doing so it provides the key to our salvation. But, it does not tell you how to conduct Wednesday night prayer meeting or even if you must have one. We need to quit misrepresenting God like Job’s friends and twisting the text like taffy to make it mean something that matters to us but just isn’t there.

That being said, you can find yourself in every verse, and God has something to tell you in every passage. We need to be open to the Holy Spirit’s leading. What a verse means to you spiritually and practically may not be what it means to me. Obviously, the Hebrews of the twelfth century BC would see this passage differently than you or I would today in many respects. We have the complete revelation of God’s ministry of reconciling mankind to Himself although we await its final fulfillment. Think about what knowledge and understanding they would have had at that time.