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Sing the Word of God set to music (as a means to get it into our heads) and then we sit for a moment in silence here at the Church/Studio.
When we come back we pick up where we left off last week in our verse by verse study.
Acts 25.13-end
Acts 26.1-6
September 3rd 2017
Milk
All right two weeks ago we left off in Acts 25 with Paul standing before Festus and saying to him:
Acts 25:11 For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.
12 Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt thou go.
Let’s read through our text for today beginning at verse 13 where we are going to now be introduced to some new characters.
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 license 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.”
Acts 25:13 And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus.
This Agrippa was the son of Herod Agrippa, (whom we met in Acts 12:1) who was the great grandson of Herod the Great.
When his father died, he was in Rome with the emperor Claudius and (again) according to Josephus the emperor Claudius wanted to bestow upon Agrippa all of his father s dominions, but was dissuaded to do so by his ministers because Agrippa was so young and inexperienced.
I won’t go into how he slowly had areas bestowed upon him first by Claudius and the Nero.
This Agrippa (known as Agrippa II) had been brought up at Rome and was strongly attached to the Romans.
When troubles started popping up in Judea (which ended in the destruction of Jerusalem) he did all that he could to preserve peace and order, but to no avail.
Ultimately he joined his troops with those of the Romans, and assisted them at the destruction of Jerusalem.
Here he arrives with Bernice who was his sister. She had been married to Herod, king of Chalcis who was her own uncle on her father’s side so Bernice was a little mixed up when it came to male companionship.
After his death, she married Polemon, king of Pontus, if he would become circumcised but the marriage didn’t last long. Leaving him, she returned to her brother Agrippa and had a relationship with him that caused great scandal due to the fact that they were siblings.
So much so that Josephus directly charges her with incest in his Antiquities.
In any case King Agrippa II and Bernice came to show Festus some respect.
14 And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul’s cause unto the king, saying (Festus speech to King Agrippa II is going to take us all the way through verse 21 and he begins with), “There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix:”
We might suppose that Festus did this on a number of accounts.
Agrippa was a Jew and so he would have had interest in Paul.
Agrippa had an affinity with Rome of which Paul was a free-born citizen and
Perhaps by appealing to the King and his wisdom Festus was covering himself.
So he starts by telling Agrippa that Paul had been “left in bonds,” by Felix. And at this point we get a rehearsal from Festus on the details of Paul’s imprisonment, saying (Verse 15)
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 license to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.
In other words, “I insisted that Paul get a fair hearing even though the Jewish leaders wanted to convict him as soon as possible.” Verse 17
17 Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow (Something he added, I suspect, to show that he was giving Paul all manner of respect as a Roman) 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:
In other words, Festus was saying that when Paul’s accusers brought accusations against him they were a surprise to Festus – meaning they had very little to do with Roman law
19 But (instead his accusers) had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.
We are about to learn a very important principle in biblical studies – ready?
First remember that Festus was standing before the appointed King of the area who was a Jew. It is doubtful that Festus would have purposely insulted him by referring to elements of his faith as superstitions – so we have to ask ourselves, “Why is this term used in the King James?”
Not making our understanding any easier the word translated to superstitions is DICE-EE-DAHEE-MON-EE-AH and it properly means the worship or fear of demons.
But it is doubtful that this is what Festus was saying, so what’s up?
This is where ancient studies of antiquity help us in our study of the Bible because while the Greek literally means the fear or worship of demons another application in Roman and Greek culture was that it simply meant religious worship, as toward their gods.
So in all probability this is what was being said by Festus.
And from this we learn that in our study of scripture sometimes the King James will fail us.
Then we learn that sometimes other translations will fail us too because if we go to the modern King James it translates Festus saying to the Jewish King:
“But they had certain questions about own demon-worship . . .” which was obviously very misleading and doubtful that Festus would use such a term with a Jewish King.
So other translations may also fail us.
Then we see that even sometimes the original language will fail to inform us (as this Greek word biblically does represent demon worship – but it does not make sense to the context.)
So finally, we have to resort to secular information to understand what the heck things might mean.
This is one reason we get together and present information that has been studied so we don’t just read a word and take it at face value and build an entire faith system on its present definition.
So, in addition to Festus saying that the Jews brought elements of Jewish worship against Paul he adds:
And of one Jesus, which was dead. Perhaps a more direct Greek way would be “and of one dead Jesus.”
From the way this reads in the Greek I seems evident that Festus had no belief that Jesus had been raised up; and in this he would expect that Agrippa would concur with him.
Paul had admitted that Jesus had been put to death but he maintained that he had also been raised from the dead.
Festus did not believe this and so he spoke of Paul’s claim with contempt.
He was telling Agrippa II
“They (also) had a dispute about one dead Jesus, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.” Festus continues (verse 20) saying:
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.
What is missing here is Festus admitting his failure to let Paul go immediately when it was ascertained that no Roman law had been broken.
Instead, Festus continues to abuse Paul’s rights as a Roman citizen and admits to then trying to get him to go back to Jerusalem to stand trial for these religious issues.
I mean it would be like a American Muslim coming to know Jesus and the American Government choosing to send him back to Afghanistan NOT to stand trial for anything he had done here but so they could punish him for failing to uphold the rules of Allah.
Festus adds
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.
As we noted a few weeks back the reigning emperor at this time was Nero. The name Augustus—sebastou – was just his title which means venerable, or worthy of honor and reverence.
22 Then Agrippa said unto Festus, “I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him.”
And so yet again, and for whatever reason, another leader desires to hear Paul speak.
Certainly Agrippa had heard of Jesus and of the sect of Christians who followed Him so even if he was unaware of Paul (which he probably was not) he had a chance to actually hear one of the Lord’s followers give reason for their faith.
Chapter 26 verse 1-32 is the defense Paul presents and it is a whopper.
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.
The King James says that Agrippa and his sister Bernice came forward with much pomp but the Greek word is FAN-TAZE-EE-AHth which to the Greeks means a vain show.
Of course we get the word fantasy from the term but it all dovetails into one meaning when we view it from the Christian perspective –
Agrippa and Bernice allowed for a vain show to be presented upon their arrival.
Vain shows are a fantastic indicator of the tenor of what is about to happen and the persons involved.
I have always found long introductions of speakers humorous vain shows – especially in academia. They just make me laugh.
We even see them in the faith when people – regular old human beings are introduced with grand words of praise for their achievements, and applause, and other forms of vanity.
Of course the world is all about fan taze ee ah – its just funny when that slips in to the faith.
In any case there was a grand parade of spectacle before Agrippa and his sister lover came into “the place of hearing,” or courtroom.
Luke adds:
“with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus’ commandment Paul was brought forth.”
So the “chief captains” the word used here is “chiliarchs “ (commanders of a thousand men) and principle men of the city were also in attendance. Luke then writes:
at Festus’ commandment Paul was brought forth.”
From verse 24-27 we hear the words of Festus and they are pretty self explanatory as he says:
24 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.
Festus appears to feel he was in somewhat of an embarrassing situation.
He was about to send a prisoner to Rome to be tried, who had been tried by Felix before him (and found innocent) and was again tried by himself (and found innocent) and from his words he hoped that re-examining Paul again in the presence of all of these important men of the city (as well as King Agrippa) he would obtain enough fodder to compose a letter to go with Paul to Rome and his hearing there.
This brings us to Paul and his eloquent response in 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:
Ge 3:15-16; 22:18; 26:4; 49:10; De 18:15; 2Sa 7:12; Ps 132:11; Isa 4:2; 7:14; 9:6; 40:10; Jer 23:5; 33:14-16; Eze 34:23; 37:24; Da 9:24; Mic 7:20; Ac 13:32; 23:6; Ro 15:8; Tit 2:13
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.
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.
24 And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.
25 But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
26 For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.
27 King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
29 And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
30 And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them:
31 And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.
32 Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.
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:
The use of a hand in public speaking was so common that anciently they would clip the fabric of the robe up and around one shoulder so a speaking could freely wave the hand and arm about while talking.
Now, having appealed to the Roman Emperor it is unlikely that Paul thought that this speech would have set him free.
I am of the opinion that Paul knew he was on his way to Rome.
So we might believe that he was speaking for another reason – and that would be to bring those within earshot to the light.
Isn’t that why we say almost anything in this life ? Certainly its to communicate but the underlying purpose is to either enlighten or to deceive.
To use our mouths and words to either illuminate and enlighten and therefore free and ease and unburden others OR . . . OR to try and capture and control or to manipulate people into doing what we want them to do. Or what we think God wants them to do.
It is a fascinating premise when we really think about it. Every word we speak, every single one of them, is aimed, from our heart of hearts, to
Encourage
Enlighten
Assist
Inform
Illuminate
Unburden
Free
Liberate
Support
Heal
OR
To discourage
To push people into darkness
To hinder them
To give them disinformation
To burden
To hurt
Bind
Control
Every one of them. Of course motives play an enormous role (before God) as to why people say the words they say.
An active Mormon may with the purest of intentions praise their prophet fully believing that they will actually help other people in their lives.
Just as an active Christian may verbally condemn others in Jesus name just because they are mean.
Thankfully God is the knower of all motives – but in the end the point remains the same – the words we speak, which scripture does call, Spirit, are either going to lead people to freedom or bondage, to the light or to the dark, and hence Jesus advice to keep our words limited because otherwise whatever is more evil springs.
With motives to enlighten and liberate, Paul, arm outstretched, begins to speak truths to his audience.
And he says:
2 I think myself happy (fortunate, well-off, blessed), king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews:
TO me, Paul considered this invitation to speak far more advantageous to his purposes because he had the ear of someone who would understand where he came from.
He adds (verse 3):
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.
The word for expert here is gnosis and Paul is merely telling Agrippa that he knows and can relate to everything that he is going to present to him.
The Mosaic laws, the promises of a Messiah, and all the questioning – the debates, the sects – that hovered over the Jews and their thriving passionate culture.
I honestly do not believe that Paul could have been a flatterer as flattery is condemned in scripture.
So I think he was just openly telling Agrippa that he was blessed to have someone who could understand where he was coming from.
And at verse four he begins his actual rehearsal, saying:
4 My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;
How I lived my life – my opinions, principles, and conduct from my youth have been recognized and known among our brethren the Jews, Paul says.
While born in Tarsus Paul during an early period of his life he had been sent to Jerusalem for the purpose of education in the school of Gamaliel (we remember this from Acts 22:3).
There is the great possibility that Paul was distinguished in the school of Gamaliel for zeal in the Jewish religion and for this he was personally known.
(Verse 5)
5 Which (the Jews who were aware of these facts about his life) Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
Those who would have known me from the beginning, Paul says, would all testify that I followed after the strictest sect of our religion – that of being a Pharisee.
We are often known in life by what we start off being and that is something many people can’t shake.
Paul was appealing to his beginnings because it would show that he took the faith of his youth seriously.
I have the opposite claim and anyone who knew me as a child or teen would readily attest to the fact that I was out of control and had no interest in being regimented by anyone at anytime.
But Paul was of the most rigid, the most strict sect on earth from a child, not only in regard to the written law of God, but the traditions of the elders.
And he not only followed them he appears to have distinguished himself in them.
The stage is set. He knew and lived and followed the Law and traditions of the strictest sect of the Pharisees.
Speaking of big introductions Paul lays out one heck of a personal pedigree for Agrippa.
And the bomb:
6 And now . . . I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers:
And NOW, King Agrippa, here I stand and am actually JUDGED . . . FOR THE HOPE OF THE PROMISE MADE BY GOD UNTO OUR FATHERS!
I personally relate to this part of Paul’s life. He is appealing to his life of faith, he is not discarding it, he seems to be pleased by having experienced it, and he seems to be wanting to show that WHAT he is being judged for was something that God Himself promised the fathers of the faith!
In other words he is proving that what he is offering the world is a fulfillment of what they as a nation had long taught and believed!
And what was this that Paul was saying God promised unto the forefathers of the faith –
The HOPE of the promise! Let me wrap up where Paul, the Pharisee of Pharisees could have pointed to in their ancient scripture to prove what he was saying was true about God having given them a promise of hope.
All the way back in Genesis 3:15 Moses has God tell Satan:
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
In Genesis 22:18 God tells Abraham:
“And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”
Two chapters later God says to Abraham:
Genesis 26:4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
In Psalm 132:11 the Lord tells David:
“The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.”
Again to David God said:
2nd Samuel 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
Moses said in Deuteronomy 18:15 “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;”
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
And of course
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
Jeremiah 33:14-16 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.
Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
And the prophet Micah wrote of God:
Micah 7:20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
Paul was hoping that Agrippa would remember these promises, and would be able to help him see that they had come forth, that God was true, and He was a witness to this Messiah, even Jesus Christ.
That the Messiah did come and do what God had said He would do – and that he was coming back to wrap it ALL up.
Just as the Jews could NOT accept that the promises of God to their forefathers had occurred, most Christians today will not allow themselves to believe that God has also done as promised in the New Testament – and they insist on ignoring what the New Testament lays forth for all people plainly.
And we all see that there is never anything new under the sun.
Q and A
Prayer
No Adam’s Road October 1st
