{"id":2089,"date":"2020-03-09T09:42:20","date_gmt":"2020-03-09T17:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=2089"},"modified":"2020-03-09T09:42:20","modified_gmt":"2020-03-09T17:42:20","slug":"devotion-acts-24-1-8-is-the-sky-falling-or-is-heaven-closer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=2089","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Acts 24: 1-8 Is The Sky Falling Or Is Heaven Closer?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 24:1-9<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Now after\u00a0five days\u00a0Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator\u00a0named\u00a0Tertullus. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

2\u00a0And when he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusation, saying: \u201cSeeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and\u00a0prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight,\u00a03\u00a0we accept\u00a0it\u00a0always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.\u00a04\u00a0Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your\u00a0courtesy, a few words from us.\u00a05\u00a0For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.\u00a06\u00a0He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him,\u00a0and wanted\u00a0to judge him according to our law.\u00a07\u00a0But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took\u00a0him\u00a0out of our hands,\u00a08\u00a0commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him.\u201d\u00a09\u00a0And the Jews also\u00a0assented, maintaining that these things were so.<\/i>\u00a0Note: Instead of the usual NIV translation, the NKJV is used.\u00a0\u00a0It is because the NIV does not include\u00a0V7<\/b>\u00a0because there is some dispute among scholars whether or not this is was later added by a well-meaning scribe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow after\u00a0five days\u00a0Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator\u00a0named\u00a0Tertullus. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0After being rescued from the murderous plot by the Jewish leaders, these men showed up five days later, presenting themselves as holy, humble righteous protectors of the truths of God.\u00a0\u00a0They were in their most sanctimonious best as they presented lies against Paul, hoping that he would be sentenced to death.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ananias, a corrupt high priest, was around eighty years old.\u00a0\u00a0The trip to Caesarea was an arduous one and was one that normally the elderly priest would not take.\u00a0\u00a0It is thought, because of a deep anathema toward Paul, he made the trip in hopes of witnessing Paul being condemned to death.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Along with the high priest and religious elders they brought a famous orator named Tertullus.\u00a0\u00a0Tertullus was not a lawyer, but a \u201csayer,\u201d or trained speaker.\u00a0\u00a0He was not an expert in the law but rather a person trained and skilled to move an audience to desired conclusions and answers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusation, saying: \u201cSeeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and\u00a0prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight,\u00a03\u00a0we accept\u00a0it\u00a0always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Tertullus, being the skilled speaker that he was, spoke to persuade the presiding judge, Felix.\u00a0\u00a0He knew that Felix was a vain and corrupt man.\u00a0\u00a0He attributed to Felix accomplishments and attributes that he was not worthy of.\u00a0\u00a0However, Tertullus knew that Felix would eat up the flattery and so Tertullus began to spread it thick.\u00a0\u00a0From reading the account of what Tertullus said, one would think that Felix was a beloved leader, but that was not true.\u00a0\u00a0He was another corrupt and brutal leader who would eventually hope for Paul to bribe him for his freedom.\u00a0\u00a0Felix was not interested in justice, only in how he could benefit, specifically, how he could line his pockets.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your\u00a0courtesy, a few words from us.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Tertullus was essentially saying that a wise person such as Felix, one who has made many wise and just decisions, need not be burdened with endless evidence to see the truth and what decision should be made.\u00a0\u00a0Rather than doing that, Tertullus stated that he would not bore Felix with endless arguments, but only give to him a few words.\u00a0\u00a0Actually, the argument and proof against Paul was hearsay, weak and scant so truly a long winded presentation by Tertullus would be \u201cseen through\u201d by Felix.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.\u00a06\u00a0He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him,\u00a0and wanted\u00a0to judge him according to our law.\u00a07\u00a0But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took\u00a0him\u00a0out of our hands,\u00a08\u00a0commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him.\u201d<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Tertullus accuses Paul of being a plaque, a pestilence that spreads that which is harmful to the healthy citizen and most importantly harmful to the Roman government.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul, being accused of being a pestilent fellow, is stated to be a creator of dissention among \u201call\u201d the Jews \u201cthroughout\u201d the world.\u00a0\u00a0Since they were accusing Paul of preaching a doctrine that was causing Jews all over the world to believe in the doctrine that he preached, that is the Gospel, we can be sure that Paul saw that what they accused him of he would consider high praise.\u00a0\u00a0They were saying that he was effectively sharing the Word and arguing the veracity of it.\u00a0\u00a0However, Paul\u2019s motive was not to divide the Jews, but that they would all be united in the faith of their Messiah Jesus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Calling Paul a ringleader, was tantamount to associating him as a leader of a criminal organization.\u00a0\u00a0It was meant to be an aspersion.\u00a0\u00a0However it was also an unwitting acknowledgement that Paul was a man being used by God to effectively spread the Gospel.\u00a0\u00a0Though meant as a slur, what a great honor<\/span><\/p>\n

The term Nazarenes is obviously meant to speak of Jesus, whom Paul followed and advocated.\u00a0\u00a0It is the only place in the New Testament that the term is used for Christians.\u00a0\u00a0This term was likely also meant as a slur as we can see by Nathaniel\u2019s remark (John 1:46<\/b>) that shows an obvious discounting of the city that some would have called a town of \u201chicks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him,\u00a0and wanted\u00a0to judge him according to our law.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The accusation the Paul had tried to \u201cprofane\u201d the temple was another lie.\u00a0\u00a0It was initiated by his original accusers, Jews from Asia.\u00a0\u00a0This accusation was the result of a lie that successfully riled up the people by saying that Paul had brought Gentiles into the Temple with him.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Claudius Lysias, in his letter, presented himself in an untrue way, making himself appear just and heroic.\u00a0\u00a0Now the Jews mispresented the facts as they said they had wanted to bring Paul to stand before their courts.\u00a0\u00a0In actually, Claudius Lysias had to have his men rescue Paul from being murderously torn apart by the Jews.\u00a0\u00a0Ah, how holy and innocent people can make themselves out to be.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took\u00a0him\u00a0out of our hands,<\/i>\u201d Here the Jews are blaming Lysias for blocking the justice that they wanted to bring.\u00a0\u00a0They accuse him as a person preventing justice when in reality, he saved the Jews from being murderers, though they would have preferred that he had let them murder Paul.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201ccommanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0So Tertullus is saying that they were there before Felix when it would have been unnecessary if Lysias had allowed them to bring about justice in Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The lies and hypocrisy are really almost unbearable.\u00a0\u00a0But we have cheated and read ahead.\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s plans were not being thwarted, but moved along.\u00a0\u00a0God was using the evil of these religious leaders to bring Paul to Rome to be his witness.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s not be confused by what the world\u2019s opinions are, but see what is happening with spiritual eyes both in these events, and also in our lives today (2 Corinthians 4:18 and 5:7<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s will is playing out and the end of it is us being with God for eternity in His peace and comfort.\u00a0\u00a0The world will cry out that the sky is falling, but we will instead say \u201cNo the heavens are not falling, but rather the will of God is bringing us closer to Heaven.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Praise God!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

P<\/b><\/span>salm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; and what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Your God<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acts 24:1-9\u00a0–\u00a0Now after\u00a0five days\u00a0Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator\u00a0named\u00a0Tertullus. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul. 2\u00a0And when he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusation, saying: \u201cSeeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and\u00a0prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight,\u00a03\u00a0we accept\u00a0it\u00a0always and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[82,129,100,94,1874,17],"class_list":["post-2089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-corinthians","tag-john","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-psalm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2089"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2090,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089\/revisions\/2090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}