SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/27/2018 7:46 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “The plot Frustrated”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
23:23-35
Message of the verses: “23 And he
called to him two of the centurions and said, "Get two hundred soldiers
ready by the third hour of the night to proceed to Caesarea, with seventy
horsemen and two hundred spearmen." 24 They were also to provide mounts
to put Paul on and bring him safely to Felix the governor. 25 And he wrote a
letter having this form:
26 “Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent
governor Felix, greetings: 27 “When this man was arrested by the Jews and was
about to be slain by them, I came up to them with the troops and rescued him,
having learned that he was a Roman. 28 “And wanting to ascertain the charge for
which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their Council; 29 and I
found him to be accused over questions about their Law, but under no accusation
deserving death or imprisonment. 30 “When I was informed that there would be a
plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing his accusers
to bring charges against him before you."
31 So the soldiers,
in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to
Antipatris. 32 But the next day, leaving the horsemen to go on with him, they
returned to the barracks. 33 When these had come to Caesarea and delivered the
letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. 34 When he had read
it, he asked from what province he was, and when he learned that he was from
Cilicia, 35 he said, "I will give you a hearing after your accusersarrive
also," giving orders for him to be kept in Herod’s Praetorium.”
As we look at the letter that Lysias wrote to Felix we
can see that he left a few things out, and he probably did this to embellish
these things to make himself look better in the eyes of his boss, Felix who was
the governor over Judah. He left out the
part that he was going to scourge Paul, which is how he found out that he was a
Roman. I suppose that all in all he did
what he wanted to do in order to get Paul away from him, as I don’t think that
he actually wanted to deal with this problem.
After all the Jews had some sway over the political things that went on
in Judah, and it was probably best to get Paul to the governor.
The troops got Paul out of danger as they spent the night
in Antipatris, and so the next day only those on horseback continued to
Caesarea where they delivered Paul and the all important letter to those in
charge there. The verdict was that Felix
would give a hearing to Paul once those who were accusing him arrived. MacArthur adds “The stage was thus set for
the first in Paul’s series of Roman trials.”
He goes on to conclude his writings on this chapter: “God’s providential protection of His servant
demonstrates His faithfulness. Based in
part on his own experiences, Paul could declare to the Corinthians that ‘God is
faithful’ (1 Cor. 1:9; cf. 10:13; 2 Cor. 1:18; 2 Thess. 3:3). The first step in that direction occurred the
day after God’s promise to bring Paul to Rome.
He also showed His care for Paul by sovereignly providing a safe and
comfortable trip to Caesarea and providing the best of accommodations when he
arrived there. Paul experienced the
truth expressed by Peter: ‘Casting all
you anxiety upon Him because He cares for you’ (1 Pet. 5:7).
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Upon the earth.”
Today’s Bible
question: “Who were the drowned in the
Red Sea while pursuing the Israelites?”
Answer in our next SD.
8/27/2018 8:07 AM
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