It was extremely hard for Saul as a Pharisee who had persecuted those of the Way to be brought face to face with the One he was persecuting them for. As a Pharisee he was fanatical about the Law and just as judgmental in the person of Jesus Christ. He would learn the hard way the folly of unbelief. After his personal encounter with Jesus, Paul completely turned his life around, he came face to face with the truth of the salvation that only comes with a relationship with Jesus Christ. This encounter allowed him to be the apostle to the Gentiles then and now.
It is not for us to know the day and time of Christ return but we can spread the Good News carrying out the Father’s desire that no one would perish without Him.
Acts 22:1-5 22 “Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now.” 2 And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said: 3 “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, 5 as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished. 6 “Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ 8 So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ The New King James Version
1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
Peter was addressing Jewish believers who were suffering persecution. There was a lot of pressure for them to turn back to the Jewish doctrine and deny Jesus. They chose to wait for the return of their King. The Old Testament Prophets had searched but could not totally understand the mystery of the coming of Christ. The testing of their faith will be to the glory of the returning of the Lord. The dispersed Jews had not experienced Jesus’s earthly ministry. They would receive the end of their faith the saving of their souls.
Everything, every thing, is under God’s control and will be competed in His timing not ours.
Daniel 12:8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?”
Daniel 12:13 “But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.
Daniel heard but he did not understand and was wondering what would be the end of things. God told him to go about his life not worrying about when the end would be. In the end times Daniel would arise and receive his inheritance in God’s Kingdom.
Two parallel lines run through scripture. One the suffering Messiah and the other His glorious return and restoration of His Kingdom.
Jeremiah 30:4
Now these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah.
“For thus says the Lord:
‘We have heard a voice of trembling,
Of fear, and not of peace.
Jeremiah prophesied that in the future the tribes of Israel would suffer greatly. The day of tribulation would be a time of Jacob’s troubles.
Zechariah 13:8
And it shall come to pass in all the land,”
Says the Lord,
“That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die,
But one-third shall be left in it:
I will bring the one-third through the fire,
Will refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them.
I will say, ‘This is My people’;
And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
Acts 3:18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
Peter recalled to them that Christ would suffer many things and fulfill the Law. Jesus will return when they have repented of their unbelief and openly glorify Jesus Christ as their Messiah and King.
Genesis 35:16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.” And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.
In the land of Palestine while on the journey Rachel delivered her son and she called his name Benoni the son of suffering but Jacob changed it to Benjamin the son of my faith. The Old Testament prophets foresaw that there would be a suffering messiah and that He would also be the ruling King of the Jews. The Jews of today still look for the King who would rule the earth and not the suffering Messiah of the Old Testament.
In speaking to a hostile Jewish audience, Paul uses old testament imagery as he seeks to show that his message is not an abandonment of his Jewish heritage. He explains his message via his own encounter with Jesus.
Paul proudly proclaims he is a Jew. This emphasizes to the audience that the allegations against him are false. Paul had evidently moved to Jerusalem as a young man and studied under Gamaliel. Paul was well known among the nation’s elite. Paul’s reaction matches the reactions of those in the old testament who have divine encounters. Earlier, Acts records a shorter statement, leaving out this phrase, the Nazarene, which was one way Jesus was identified. Faithlife Study Bible
This was the first of five defenses Paul would make. After speaking Greek to the commander, Paul addressed the people in the Hebrew dialect, most likely Aramaic. When the people heard him speaking to them in their own language they were reminded that Paul was not a Gentile but a Jew like themselves. Therefore, they listened to what he had to say. Paul explained to the crowd that he understood why they were beating him and wanted him dead. They were zealous for God. Paul was not blaming them for what they had done to him. He pointed out that in his former zeal he would have done the same thing.
Paul showed compassion even to his attackers; we should model that same type of compassion for all people who have not yet placed their faith in Jesus. Paul shared his personal testimony. God has given to each of us a testimony of how He has changed our lives. We must share that testimony to everyone who will listen. Peter exhorts us in 1 Peter 3:15 always to be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within us. The NKJV Study Bible
Acts 9:1–22 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem…
Acts 26:9–18 “Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them…
Acts 8:3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
There will be seasons where we experience loss or suffering, and we will need to decide what we value and continue to hold dear. Resolving to serve the Lord may require costly sacrifice, but we, too, can entrust ourselves to our faithful God. In fact, our faith proves genuine when it is tested by trials, and through our obedience, God gets the glory He deserves (1 Peter 1:3-6). If we focus on pleasing Him, our hearts and minds will be filled with peace, even if we must walk through fire (Isaiah 26:3; Isaiah 43:2). First5
Hineini (Hebrew -- "Here I Am")
On this day may I be present
to the Miracle of being alive.
May I reach out to those who are suffering
and may I use my voice as a force for good.
May I have the courage to do what is right, not what is easy.
May I have the strength to shine a light in the darkness.
May I not distance myself from myself.
Joanne Fink
No comments:
Post a Comment