SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/25/2018 10:39 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Plot
Found Out
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
23:16-22
Message of the verses: “16 But the son of
Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, and he came and entered the barracks and
told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, "Lead
this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him."
18 So he took him and led him to the commander and said, "Paul the
prisoner called me to him and asked me to lead this young man to you since he
has something to tell you." 19 The commander took him by the hand and
stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, "What is it that
you have to report to me?" 20 And he said, "The Jews have agreed to ask
you to bring Paul down tomorrow to the Council, as though they were going to
inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him. 21 “So do not listen to them, for
more than forty of them are lying in wait for him who have bound themselves
under a curse not to eat or drink until they slay him; and now they are ready
and waiting for the promise from you." 22 So the commander let the young
man go, instructing him, "Tell no one that you have notified me of these
things."”
I
learned some things here that I did not know before reading this section of
Scripture for the first time, and that is that Paul had a sister, and a
nephew. How old his nephew is I do not
know, but old enough to come to Paul on his own and tell him what he had
learned. More of the providence of God displayed here.
There
are some questions that John MacArthur brings up about Paul’s family. What were his sister and nephew, and probably
husband doing in Jerusalem? Was his
nephew studying to become a Rabbi like his uncle? If his family disowned him after he became a
believer did they now become believers and are supporting him. Well the Bible does not tell us all of these
answers, so my thoughts are that God did not want us to know, but like all
human beings we are curious in wondering about these things.
Because
there were forty people involved in this plot one has to believe that the word
would get out, and so it did, but how Paul’s nephew heard about it is not
told. Once he found out about the plot
he came and told Paul about it right away.
After that Paul called a soldier to him and asked him to take his nephew
to see the commander. We can see that
Paul did not tell Lysias out of respect for him, but asked a soldier and
because Paul was a Roman citizen the soldier did as Paul asked him to do.
The
commander still did not know what to do with Paul, and as we will see it seems
that he was eager to hand him off to someone higher in the Roman world. Because of this he listened to what Paul’s
nephew said. The boy told him what he
had heard, and then after hearing from him he told the young man not to breathe
a word to anyone about what he had told him.
John
MacArthur concludes his comments on this section by writing: “If the conspirators realized that their plot
had been uncovered, they would undoubtedly have abandoned it and formulated
another. And if that one were not
discovered, Lysias reasoned, Paul might be killed. Further, if the Jews did not know that he
knew of the plot, they could not question his motives for sending Paul to Caesarea. Then he took the necessary measures, without
imaging he was carrying out God’s providential protection of Paul.”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “To seek and to save that
which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
Today’s Bible question: “Who said, ‘Take him, and judge him according
to your law’?”
Answer in our next SD.
8/25/2018 11:01 AM
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