Brit Chadasha Foundations-Concepts in Acts-Chapter 22

Acts 22.1-30 tells us about Paul’s defense and will illustrate the fact that the most controversial issue in the first century was not over whether Yeshua was the Messiah, but the acceptance of non-Jews into the kingdom of God and the Olam Haba without converting to become Jewish through ritual circumcision according to the 18 Edicts of Beit Shammai; the crowd riots in response to Paul’s statement about being sent to the non-Jews.

v 1…”Brethren and fathers (elders, teachers), hear my defense (this will be an interesting defense if Paul was a “Christian” in the modern understanding of the word) which I now offer to you.”

v 2…And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became more quiet; and he said,

v 3…”I am a Jew (“ani Yehudi”), born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city (and most probably heard of Yeshua, seen him or listened to him as a young man), educated under Gamaliel (he identifies with Beit Hillel who opposed Beit Shammai, a personal student of Gamaliel, a leading sage and grandson of Hillel, who opposed the 18 Edicts of Shammai) strictly according to the Law (Torah) of our fathers, being zealous for God, just as you are today (these are Paul’s credentials).

v 4…And I persecuted the Way (Messianic approach to the Torah as believers in Yeshua) to death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons (Paul persecuted Hellenistic believers not the Traditional Jews like himself-Acts 8.1-2),

v 5…as also the high priest (a Sadducee) and all the council of the elders (there were two councils; a religious council, headed by the high priest and a civil council headed by a Nasi like Gamaliel, a Pharisee) can testify (they were still there). From them I also received letters to the brethren (Jews in Damascus), and started off for Damascus (as a delegate of the religious council) in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished (Damascus was a Greek capital, and there was a conflict between the Hellenistic and Traditional Jews which goes back 200 years).

v 6…And it came about that I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light (the kivod of God) suddenly flashed from heaven all around me,

v 7…and I fell to the ground (along with all the others-26.14), and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

v 8…And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Yeshua the Nazarene whom you are persecuting (Yeshua was a very acceptable Messiah; you will notice here that they did not question this at this point; the resurrection was a well-established fact by this time; why didn’t they stop him if Yeshua was the issue? It’s because Yeshua was not the main issue and the believers had favor with the people-Acts 2.47).’

v 9…And those who were with me beheld the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking with me.

v 10…And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go on into Damascus; and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do (purposed, arranged beforehand).’

v 11…But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light (the kivod of God), I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus (now we have a question, why no uproar when he speaks about Yeshua?; he is addressing some who were there and participated in Yeshua’s death, maybe even in the crowd before Pilate).

v 12…And a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law (Torah observant) and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there (in Damascus),

v 13…came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very time I looked up at him (he was down).

v 14…And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will (chosen, elected from eternity-John 1.13; Eph 1.4), and to see the righteous one (Yeshua as the Messiah), and to hear an utterance from his mouth (Deut 18.15-18).

v 15…For you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard.

v 16…And now why do you delay (what are your intentions)? Arise, and be immersed, and wash away your sins, calling on his name (Yeshua is the door to all the benefits and purposes in the kingdom of God-immersion in his name is a change of status and opens these up to a believer-Luke 3.21, 7.30; Acts 20.27).’

v 17…And it came about when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the Temple (after he became a believer he stayed connected to the Temple, just as all the other believers did), that I fell into a trance.

v 18…And I saw him (he may have seen him as a younger man and knew who it was) saying to me, “Make haste (I need you elsewhere), and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’

v 19…And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in you.

v 20…And when the blood of Stephen (a Hellenistic Jew) was being shed (the act of stoning is described in the Mishnah, Sanhedrin 6.1-4), I was also standing by approving (Paul was a Traditional Jew, and possibly a delegate of the Sanhedrin) and watching out for the cloaks of those who were slaying him (Paul is presenting the case that he approved of this persecution and the Jews might receive his testimony, since he was such a bitter enemy).

v 21…And he said to me, ‘Go (at once)! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles (which was contrary to what Beit Shammai believed and the 18 Edicts; non-Jews have no place in the kingdom of God without becoming Jewish through ritual circumcision).'”

v 22…And they listened to him up to this statement and they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live (this was the biggest issue in the first century was not Yeshua, but it was the Traditional Jews against the Hellenistic Jews, and going to the non-Jews and their place in the kingdom of God-2 Tim 1.11-12)!”

v 23…And as they were crying out and throwing off their cloaks (in order to stone him) and tossing dust into the air (horrified at the calling of the non-Jews without conversion by ritual circumcision, according to the oral law of Shammai),

v 24…the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks (Antonio Fortress), stating that he should be examined by scourging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way (thinking a little torture would bring the truth out of him).

v 25..And when they stretched him out with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful (legal) for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?”

v 26…And when the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him saying, “What are you about to do (be cautious)? This man is a Roman.”

v 27…And the commander came and said to him (Paul), “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.”

v 28…And the commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money (it is believed Claudius Lysias was a Greek who took the name Claudius because Emperor Claudius was Caesar at the time-Acts 23.26).” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen (free-born because of his parents).”

v 29…Therefore those who were about to examine him immediately let go of him, and the commander also was afraid when he found out he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains (they did not want a report to be made back to the governor or higher that they had arrested him without legal evidence).

v 30…But on the next day, wishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he released him (from his chains) and ordered the chief priests and all the council to assemble, and brought Paul down and set him before them (to answer the false charges).

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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