Archive for the 'Bible Tidbits' Category

Published by admin on 16 Jun 2010

Acts 18 - Paul’s Vow

  • Acts 18:18 NASB - Paul, having remained many days longer, took leave of the brethren and put out to sea for Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchrea he had his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow.

Just what was Paul’s vow? The majority of commentators say that it is unknown and was probably a vow he had made “in one of his seasons of difficulty or danger” (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary) or the suggestion that we shouldn’t conjecture at all because “where nothing is recorded, conjecture is useless” (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible).

However, I do not believe that “nothing is recorded” regarding Paul’s vow. In fact, I believe that Paul’s vow is revealed in context, in that very chapter.

Acts 18:1 tells us that Paul is now in Corinth. Verse 4 tells us that he was going to the synagogue every Sabbath, trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks. After the arrival of Silas and Timothy, Paul began concentrating on convincing the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

  • Acts 18:4-5 NASB
    (4)  And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.
    (5)  But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

But in verse 6 we find out that the Jews resisted Paul’s testimony and blasphemed. It is here where Paul makes his vow to God:

  • Acts 18:6 NASB  - But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.“

Paul went from visiting the synagogue every Sabbath to vowing to avoid them altogether and concentrate on the Gentiles. Verse 7 tells us that after making this vow, he went to the house of a man named Justus (or Titius Justus; some translations), “a worshiper of God.” This man was a Gentile, whose house was next to the synagogue.

  • Acts 18:7 NASB  - Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue.

After being assured in a vision that he would not be harmed, Paul remained in Corinth for a year and six months (Acts 18:9-11). But eventually the Jews rose up against Paul, attempting to convict him before Gallio, a Roman leader of the province. When Gallio refused to take action against Paul, the Jews turned their anger against a synagogue leader. Shortly after this incident, Paul chose to leave Corinth and head for Ephesus. This brings us to the verse where we learn that Paul was keeping a vow:

  • Acts 18:18 NASB -  Paul, having remained many days longer, took leave of the brethren and put out to sea for Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchrea he had his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow.

The cutting off of his hair signifies the end of the vow (see Numbers 6:5). Now notice the very next verse:

  • Acts 18:19 NASB - They came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

This is a reversal of his vow earlier where he said that he would from then on go to the Gentiles. There is no record between that time and this that he had entered a synagogue to proclaim the word to the Jews.

Sometimes the best explanation goes unseen right in front of our eyes.

Bible Tidbits, paul

Published by admin on 03 May 2010

Similarities Between John 9 and Acts 9

In Sunday school this past Sunday we read and discussed Acts chapter 9. As it happens, I’m reading the Gospel of John at home and on Monday morning I read chapter 9. Some interesting similarities between the story of Jesus giving sight to the man born blind and Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road jumped out at me.

1. “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” (John 9:5 NASB) As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; (Acts 9:3 NASB)
2. He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash‘; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.” (John 9:11 NASB) And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; (Acts 9:18 NASB)
3. and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing. (John 9:7 NASB) So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 9:17 NASB)
4. Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?” (John 9:8 NASB) and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” (Acts 9:20-21 NASB)
5. So they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a prophet.” … “Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. (John 9:17, 21b-22 NASB) and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” … But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ. (Acts 9:20, 22 NASB)

Commentary:

1. Jesus is associated with light in both texts.

2. Jesus put clay (or mud) on the blind man’s eyes; scales fell from Paul’s blind eyes.  The word translated “scales” means also “flakes.” Dried mud may also resemble flakes. The sequence is different in the two verses. In Acts, the scales fell from Paul’s eyes, then he was washed (baptized). In John, the washing removed the clay from the blind man’s eyes.

3. The man born blind was sent to the pool of Siloam, which itself means “sent,” by Jesus, where he would regain his sight. Ananias was sent to Paul by Jesus so that Paul would regain his sight.

4. People who knew them both were astonished that such a change had occurred in them. The man born blind was no longer blind and Paul no longer persecuted Christians, but rather became one.

5. The man born blind, after receiving his sight, proclaimed Jesus to the Jews.  Paul, after regaining his sight, preached Jesus to the Jews in Damascus.

Bible Tidbits