– 6:1-6 The choosing of the 7 deacons (servants) for food distribution reminds me of Jethro advising Moses on distributing authority to the people and Israel approving (or disapproving) their kings.
– Hearing the word church in reference to the Jewish believers throws me a bit. I wish the translators would have used either the word congregation or assembly to keep it consistent with the OT.
– 6:8 Stephen also did wonders and miracles.
– 7:25 For [Moses] supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.
Why would Moses have thought that at 40? If he had, the next 40 years humbled him to the point of not wanting the job.
– 7:38 “This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us…” Did Moses speak to Yahshua (the Angel of the Lord) on Mount Sinai?
– 7:59-60 Stephen sounded like Yahshua perishing on the cross, even forgiving those who had stoned him.
– 9:9 Paul did a 3-day dry (or Esther) fast when he had arrived in Damascus.
– 9:11 A street called Straight, LOL!
– 9:36 At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas.
Her name in both Aramaic and Greek respectively means gazelle. I like Tabitha, the Aramaic one.
– 9:40-42 Peter imitating the Lord raising the little girl from the dead, except this was a grown woman, valued by her community. There is some symbolism here. May the Father give me or someone the privilege of revelation. Amen.
– 15:36-41 Paul and Barnabas, while having a disagreement, agree to disagree for a time.
– 16:6-7 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.
I wonder why Christ blocked them? How receptive are you to the leading or prompting of the Holy Spirit?
– 16:9-10 If Paul would have had a vision of a woman saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us,” would he have?
– 17:22-31 Paul used the altar dedicated to the unknown God as a tool to proclaim the Good News. Can we use things of the culture and other religions to reach people for salvation’s sake?
– 18:15 [Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia, said], “But if it is a question of words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such matters.”
1 Corinthians 6:1-11 Paul explains why we are not to go to the secular powers for judgment on personal matters.
– 18:19 “And [Paul] came to Ephesus, and left [Priscilla and Aquila] there; but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.” Although Paul declared he was going to teach the Gentiles since the Jews didn’t want to hear it (13:46, 28:28), he couldn’t help himself. He loved his people that much.
– 19:13-17 ‘Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”
Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.’
This will always be hilarious to me. There is no ritual or words that empower believers; only faith, which come from accepting the Creator Himself.
– 19:23 “And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way.” Can we call it the Way (to God) again? I do. The term makes our walk to Him through Him alive and active with a set goal.
– 19:24-29 ‘For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen. He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.”
Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions.’
The old buggy whip argument makes folks resistant to change, even for the better. I love how the idol makers used mob mentality to try to get their way, but the government official shut that nonsense down. How great was their goddess if people didn’t make idols to her?
– 20:7 “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread…” Remember, they could only read the Torah scrolls at the synagogue during Shabbat. They would read, then explain the readings to the Gentiles who would not go to the synagogue.
– 20:8 “There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together.” That meant it was crowded, so crowded that one sat in a window.
– 20:9–10 “And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.” Elijah and Elisha did the same thing, lying on the young men until life returned to their bodies.
– 20:11 “…and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed.”
– 20:7 “Paul…spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.”
That is me. I can talk about the Lord, Scripture, history, languages, linking what is happening today with verses in the Bible, and His supernatural work in my life for hoursssss.
– 20:24 “…I may finish my [running] race [course] with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
– 13:25 “And as John was finishing his [running race] course, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’”
2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the [running] race [course], I have kept the faith.”
Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.”
Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race [contest] that is set before us…”
1 Corinthians 9:24-26 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.”
Do you see how Paul and the writer of Hebrews both use running a race/playing athletic games as analogies for our journey with Christ to the Father? We can view our lives as a game: rules, an objective, an adversary, and two cheat-codes (Christ and His Spirit). I see it as both a game and our crucible for refinement. This viewpoint creates a disconnect I need to be in the world yet not of it (John 17:14, John 8:23, John 15:19, 1 John 3:13, 1 John 4:5).
– Lots of corporate prayer going on, even in public places. I love it.
– 21:11 When [Agabus] had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
– 21:4 “[The disciples] told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.”
Twice it had been prophesied that Paul would have trouble in Jerusalem. That tells me Paul also knew what was going to transpire and hoped it would give the Lord glory. See 21:13 and 21:14. Are we will to take risks for the Evangel’s sake?
– 21:20-25 And [the elders] said to [Paul], “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.
“What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law.
“But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.”
This means Christendom was wrong in forcing Jewish converts to give up their heritage.
– Chapter 22, Paul’s testimony
– 22:28 The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this [Roman] citizenship.”
And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”
The literal translation states, “But Paul saying, ‘I however even was [free] born.’” This matches his usual wordiness.
– Acts 23:4–5 And those who stood by said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?”
Then Paul said, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
Exodus 22:28 “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.”
Ecclesiastes 10:20 “Do not curse the king, even in your thought; do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom; for a bird of the air may carry your voice, and a bird in flight may tell the matter.”
That is why Shimei had to die. Both David and Solomon had granted him mercy (2 Samuel 19:16-23, 1 Kings 2:36-46), but he had violated the agreement to reclaim two runaway slaves. Sometimes, it’s best to either let things go, or get some help.
– Paul noticed both the Pharisees and Sadducees in the audience and chose to introduce the resurrection of the saints, which the Pharisees believed, but the Sadducees did not. This caused an old debate to flare, which reminds me of Jesus doing the same (John 10:34) to disrupt the Sanhedrin so He could escape. Paul did it to witness to high-ranking government officials. Clever, that one.
– 24:5 Terullus, the representative for the ones accusing Paul, used the term Nazarenes, a term used for the Jewish Christian sect.
– 24:27 “But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.” After witnessing to Felix for two years, all the thanks Paul got was continued jail time. Nice…
– 26:18 “…to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’”
Isaiah 42:16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them.
Isaiah 42:7 To open blind eyes. To bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
Psalm 107:10 Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons…
Luke 1:79 To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.
Matthew 4:16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, Light has dawned.
– 26:31–32 “…they talked among themselves, saying, ‘This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.’
Then Agrippa said to Festus, ‘This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.’”
More confirmation that Paul knew the risk of going up the hierarchical ladder, wanting to witness to Caesar, fulfilling what Yahshua pronounced in 9:15. He was also innocent, just as his Savior was. The mirroring symbolism is strong here, just on a longer time frame.
– 27:31–32 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off.
After dismissing Paul’s first prophecy about the journey, I am surprised they obeyed Paul this time. I guess his prophecies about the trip struck something in their hearts. It reminds me of what Jesus said about the centurion (Matthew 8:10, Luke 7:9), “Truly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”
– After the snake attack didn’t kill Paul, the Maltese natives switch from believing him a murderer to a god. Something similar happened in Athens; the people wanting to sacrifice to him and Barnabus for healing a man. No in-betweens with superstitious folks, and they had lost the old belief of everything coming from the essence of the Creator.
– Chapter 28 24And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved. 25So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, 26saying, ‘Go to this people and say:
“Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand;
And seeing you will see, and not perceive;
27For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”’”
Isaiah 6:10 “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.”
Psalm 119:70 Their heart is as fat as grease, but I delight in Your law.
Psalm 17:10 They have closed their fat hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.
Deuteronomy 32:15 “But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, You are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.”
Zechariah 7:11 But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear.
Matthew 13:15 “For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.”
Luke 19:42 …and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.”
John 12:40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.”
Romans 11:8 Just as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, To this very day [Isaiah 29:10].”
A Whisper, Screamed 
Three-Month Bible Reading Notes – Part 14 – Acts
– 6:1-6 The choosing of the 7 deacons (servants) for food distribution reminds me of Jethro advising Moses on distributing authority to the people and Israel approving (or disapproving) their kings.
– Hearing the word church in reference to the Jewish believers throws me a bit. I wish the translators would have used either the word congregation or assembly to keep it consistent with the OT.
– 6:8 Stephen also did wonders and miracles.
– 7:25 For [Moses] supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.
Why would Moses have thought that at 40? If he had, the next 40 years humbled him to the point of not wanting the job.
– 7:38 “This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us…” Did Moses speak to Yahshua (the Angel of the Lord) on Mount Sinai?
– 7:59-60 Stephen sounded like Yahshua perishing on the cross, even forgiving those who had stoned him.
– 9:9 Paul did a 3-day dry (or Esther) fast when he had arrived in Damascus.
– 9:11 A street called Straight, LOL!
– 9:36 At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas.
Her name in both Aramaic and Greek respectively means gazelle. I like Tabitha, the Aramaic one.
– 9:40-42 Peter imitating the Lord raising the little girl from the dead, except this was a grown woman, valued by her community. There is some symbolism here. May the Father give me or someone the privilege of revelation. Amen.
– 15:36-41 Paul and Barnabas, while having a disagreement, agree to disagree for a time.
– 16:6-7 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.
I wonder why Christ blocked them? How receptive are you to the leading or prompting of the Holy Spirit?
– 16:9-10 If Paul would have had a vision of a woman saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us,” would he have?
– 17:22-31 Paul used the altar dedicated to the unknown God as a tool to proclaim the Good News. Can we use things of the culture and other religions to reach people for salvation’s sake?
– 18:15 [Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia, said], “But if it is a question of words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such matters.”
1 Corinthians 6:1-11 Paul explains why we are not to go to the secular powers for judgment on personal matters.
– 18:19 “And [Paul] came to Ephesus, and left [Priscilla and Aquila] there; but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.” Although Paul declared he was going to teach the Gentiles since the Jews didn’t want to hear it (13:46, 28:28), he couldn’t help himself. He loved his people that much.
– 19:13-17 ‘Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”
Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.’
This will always be hilarious to me. There is no ritual or words that empower believers; only faith, which come from accepting the Creator Himself.
– 19:23 “And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way.” Can we call it the Way (to God) again? I do. The term makes our walk to Him through Him alive and active with a set goal.
– 19:24-29 ‘For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen. He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.”
Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions.’
The old buggy whip argument makes folks resistant to change, even for the better. I love how the idol makers used mob mentality to try to get their way, but the government official shut that nonsense down. How great was their goddess if people didn’t make idols to her?
– 20:7 “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread…” Remember, they could only read the Torah scrolls at the synagogue during Shabbat. They would read, then explain the readings to the Gentiles who would not go to the synagogue.
– 20:8 “There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together.” That meant it was crowded, so crowded that one sat in a window.
– 20:9–10 “And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.” Elijah and Elisha did the same thing, lying on the young men until life returned to their bodies.
– 20:11 “…and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed.”
– 20:7 “Paul…spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.”
That is me. I can talk about the Lord, Scripture, history, languages, linking what is happening today with verses in the Bible, and His supernatural work in my life for hoursssss.
– 20:24 “…I may finish my [running] race [course] with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
– 13:25 “And as John was finishing his [running race] course, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’”
2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the [running] race [course], I have kept the faith.”
Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.”
Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race [contest] that is set before us…”
1 Corinthians 9:24-26 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.”
Do you see how Paul and the writer of Hebrews both use running a race/playing athletic games as analogies for our journey with Christ to the Father? We can view our lives as a game: rules, an objective, an adversary, and two cheat-codes (Christ and His Spirit). I see it as both a game and our crucible for refinement. This viewpoint creates a disconnect I need to be in the world yet not of it (John 17:14, John 8:23, John 15:19, 1 John 3:13, 1 John 4:5).
– Lots of corporate prayer going on, even in public places. I love it.
– 21:11 When [Agabus] had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
– 21:4 “[The disciples] told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.”
Twice it had been prophesied that Paul would have trouble in Jerusalem. That tells me Paul also knew what was going to transpire and hoped it would give the Lord glory. See 21:13 and 21:14. Are we will to take risks for the Evangel’s sake?
– 21:20-25 And [the elders] said to [Paul], “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.
“What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law.
“But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.”
This means Christendom was wrong in forcing Jewish converts to give up their heritage.
– Chapter 22, Paul’s testimony
– 22:28 The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this [Roman] citizenship.”
And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”
The literal translation states, “But Paul saying, ‘I however even was [free] born.’” This matches his usual wordiness.
– Acts 23:4–5 And those who stood by said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?”
Then Paul said, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
Exodus 22:28 “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.”
Ecclesiastes 10:20 “Do not curse the king, even in your thought; do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom; for a bird of the air may carry your voice, and a bird in flight may tell the matter.”
That is why Shimei had to die. Both David and Solomon had granted him mercy (2 Samuel 19:16-23, 1 Kings 2:36-46), but he had violated the agreement to reclaim two runaway slaves. Sometimes, it’s best to either let things go, or get some help.
– Paul noticed both the Pharisees and Sadducees in the audience and chose to introduce the resurrection of the saints, which the Pharisees believed, but the Sadducees did not. This caused an old debate to flare, which reminds me of Jesus doing the same (John 10:34) to disrupt the Sanhedrin so He could escape. Paul did it to witness to high-ranking government officials. Clever, that one.
– 24:5 Terullus, the representative for the ones accusing Paul, used the term Nazarenes, a term used for the Jewish Christian sect.
– 24:27 “But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.” After witnessing to Felix for two years, all the thanks Paul got was continued jail time. Nice…
– 26:18 “…to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’”
Isaiah 42:16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them.
Isaiah 42:7 To open blind eyes. To bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
Psalm 107:10 Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons…
Luke 1:79 To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.
Matthew 4:16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, Light has dawned.
– 26:31–32 “…they talked among themselves, saying, ‘This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.’
Then Agrippa said to Festus, ‘This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.’”
More confirmation that Paul knew the risk of going up the hierarchical ladder, wanting to witness to Caesar, fulfilling what Yahshua pronounced in 9:15. He was also innocent, just as his Savior was. The mirroring symbolism is strong here, just on a longer time frame.
– 27:31–32 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off.
After dismissing Paul’s first prophecy about the journey, I am surprised they obeyed Paul this time. I guess his prophecies about the trip struck something in their hearts. It reminds me of what Jesus said about the centurion (Matthew 8:10, Luke 7:9), “Truly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”
– After the snake attack didn’t kill Paul, the Maltese natives switch from believing him a murderer to a god. Something similar happened in Athens; the people wanting to sacrifice to him and Barnabus for healing a man. No in-betweens with superstitious folks, and they had lost the old belief of everything coming from the essence of the Creator.
– Chapter 28 24And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved. 25So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, 26saying, ‘Go to this people and say:
“Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand;
And seeing you will see, and not perceive;
27For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”’”
Isaiah 6:10 “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.”
Psalm 119:70 Their heart is as fat as grease, but I delight in Your law.
Psalm 17:10 They have closed their fat hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.
Deuteronomy 32:15 “But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, You are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.”
Zechariah 7:11 But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear.
Matthew 13:15 “For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.”
Luke 19:42 …and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.”
John 12:40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.”
Romans 11:8 Just as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, To this very day [Isaiah 29:10].”
Share this:
Related