Frameworks:
Acts 21: To
Jerusalem, a riot and Paul is arrested
(The
objective of these ‘Frameworks' is to provide an easy-to-read
layout of the text in order then to use these individual verses
for verse-by-verse study or meditation.)
v.1-3
First leg to Jerusalem
v.4-7
Stop-off at Tyre
v.8-16
Stop-off at Caesarea: Agabus prophesies
v.17-26
Paul's Arrival at Jerusalem
v.27-36
Paul Arrested
v.37-40
Paul Speaks to the Crowd
v.1-3
First leg to Jerusalem
v.1
After
we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed
straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there
to Patara.
v.2
We
found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set
sail.
v.3
After
sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to
Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was
to unload its cargo.
[Passage
Synopsis: Leaving
the Ephesian elders they sail across the Mediterranean Sea eventually
arriving at Tyre.]
v.4-7
Stop-off at Tyre
v.4
We
sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days.
Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
v.5
When
it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of
them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the
city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.
v.6
After
saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they
returned home.
v.7
We
continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where
we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a
day.
[Passage
Synopsis: Meeting
with the disciples in the church in Tyre, they feel guided by
the Spirit to urge Paul not to go down to Jerusalem.]
v.8-16
Stop-off at Caesarea: Agabus prophesies
v.8
Leaving
the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed
at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven.
v.9
He
had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
v.10
After
we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came
down from Judea.
v.11
Coming
over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with
it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders
in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him
over to the Gentiles.'”
v.12
When
we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to
go up to Jerusalem.
v.13
Then
Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am
ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the
name of the Lord Jesus.”
v.14
When
he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord's will
be done.”
v.15
After
this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem.
v.16
Some
of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to
the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus
and one of the early disciples.
[Passage
Synopsis: They continue
on down towards Jerusalem stopping off in the home of one of the
original deacons, Philip [see Acts 6:5) now better known as an
evangelist with four daughters known for their gifts of prophecy.
[an interesting family!] While there, a prophet by the name of
Agabus arrives and prophesies that Paul will be arrested in Jerusalem.
Paul, however, would not be persuaded.]
v.17-26
Paul's Arrival at Jerusalem
v.17
When
we arrived at Jerusalem , the brothers and sisters
received us warmly.
v.18
The
next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the
elders were present.
v.19
Paul
greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the
Gentiles through his ministry.
v.20
When
they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You
see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all
of them are zealous for the law.
v.21
They
have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among
the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise
their children or live according to our customs.
v.22,23
What
shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, so do
what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow.
v.24
Take
these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses,
so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know
there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself
are living in obedience to the law.
v.25
As
for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision
that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood,
from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”
v.26
The
next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them.
Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the
days of purification would end and the offering would be made
for each of them.
[Passage
Synopsis: So we
have seen two warnings given to Paul about what would await him
if he went to Jerusalem, one in Tyre and the other in Caesarea.
Much discussion among commentators surrounds his going to Jerusalem
after he had been given these warnings by the Holy Spirit. He
had already had a feeling about going on to Rome [see Acts 19:21]
and one can't help wondering in the light of what follows if he
would have achieved the goal of going to Rome in a much shorter
time and with much less upheaval as ensues. On the other side,
he is going to be able to testify to at least two rulers but there
is not a satisfactory outcome with either of them. Similarly in
his adventures at sea, he has the opportunity to point sailors
and travellers to the Lord, though again there is not the fruit
that has been see on his three missionary journeys. As far as
Acts is concerned his fruitfulness comes to an end for the next
couple of years but seems to be restarted when he is in Rome.
The following chapters feel more like an adventure story with
a very different feel from all that has gone on in chapters 13
to 20.]
v.27-36
Paul Arrested
v.27,28
When
the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of
Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and
seized him, shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the
man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our
law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the
temple and defiled this holy place.”
v.29
(They
had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul
and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)
v.30
The
whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions.
Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately
the gates were shut.
v.31
While
they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the
Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar.
v.32
He
at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd.
When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped
beating Paul.
v.33
The
commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound
with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.
v.34
Some
in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the
commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he
ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.
v.35
When
Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he
had to be carried by the soldiers.
v.36
The
crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”
[Passage
Synopsis: Yet again
Jews (who are in Jerusalem from the province of Asia) attack Paul
and try to kill him and uproar ensues, resulting in the Roman
commander and his soldiers arriving taking Paul out of the fray
and into the barracks.]
v.37-40
Paul Speaks to the Crowd
v.37
As
the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked
the commander, “May I say something to you?”
“Do
you speak Greek?” he replied.
v.38
“Aren't
you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists
out into the wilderness some time ago?”
v.39
Paul
answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no
ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.”
v.40
After
receiving the commander's permission, Paul stood on the steps
and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said
to them in Aramaic:
[Passage
Synopsis: Paul obtains
the commanders permission to speak to the crowd.]
Continue
to chapter 22