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Hey, Bible nerds.
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This is Dr. Manny Arango and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the Journey family. Welcome to Acts chapter 1923. We got a lot of chapters to cover today. We're gonna move really, really fast. If you haven't done the for today, go ahead and pause this episode and get the reading done. I've actually had a couple of people tell me the, the, the podcast episodes don't make sense if you don't do the reading and that it's designed that way. Okay, I'm not gonna like, walk you through, like, step by step through the chapters. I'm gonna give an overview. So go ahead and get the reading done right now. Loosen, actually, from yesterday's reading that I want to tie up. When Paul is in, at can see this in chapter 17, verse 31, the, the people at the Areopagus are like, they're like listening to Paul. They're kind of vibing with what he's saying. He's getting some amens. And then all of a sudden he brings up resurrection. And I mean, these people are like, you would have thought that like he said something that's just like absolutely wild. And in context, he does. Okay, this is where you need some context clues. And anyone in a Greco Roman world would have believed in an idea called Gnosticism, which actually believed that the body is evil, the body is bad, and the spirit is good, and that the body is a prison for the spirit. And that what happens when you die is that your spirit is finally free to escape the prison of your body and that, you know, real, like, life is lived in the spiritual realm. And so bodily resurrection is the worst thing that could happen because that means that your spirit is back in the prison of your physical body. So everyone would have been upset about bodily resurrection. So the, the apostles and the disciples like walking through Greco Roman culture proclaiming that Jesus rose from the dead. That may sound like good news to us, but in a Gnostic culture, that is actually really, really bad news. That's a massive turnoff. And that is actually what turns everybody off at the Areopagus. So loose end from yesterday. Let's get Into Acts, chapter 19. Paul is going to stay in Ephesus longer than he stays anywhere else. Okay, Paul's going to stay in Ephesus I mean, yeah, there we go. For two years. So Acts 19:1 starts off like this. While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and R and arrived at Ephesus. In verse 20 of chapter 19, if you've been reading through the book of Acts, you're going to get this over and over and over again. Verse 20 says this. In this way, the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. So there's this repeated phrase all throughout the book of Acts that the word of the Lord spread and people came to faith. One of the things that I want to point out in verse 13 is that Paul gets to Ephesus and they're these Jewish priests, seven sons of Sceva. Sceva is the Jewish priest. And one day the evil spirit answered them. The Jewish. The sons of the Jewish priests, they thought that they could just go around using the name of Jesus. Okay? So they say, in the name of Jesus, who Paul preaches, I command you to come out. This is a great story. The demon says, Jesus. I know, Paul, I know, but who are you? Then a man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. A couple of days ago we talked about Simon, Simon who wants to pay Peter to get the power of the Holy Spirit because he saw what the Holy Spirit could do. And again we see another moment where people want the power that comes along with the Holy Spirit, but they don't want the person of the Holy Spirit. And God is not going to allow people to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit without accepting the person of the Holy Spirit. Also, the name of Jesus isn't like a magic trick. The name of Jesus. I know this is going to sound controversial. The name of Jesus doesn't have power. It's the person of Jesus that has power. And without a relationship with the person, using his name is not going to yield the intended result that a lot of us think that it's going to yield. And I know we've grown up in church for a long time. The name of Jesus has power in. In. In a GRE and not in a Greco Roman world. In a Jewish world. Your name was your essence, so your name was your identity. A name was a way of describing someone's personhood. So when the Bible talks about the name of Jesus, it's not just talking about. I can just say the name Jesus. There are lots of people with the name Jesus. Joshua or Yeshua is a common Name in the first century. It's not just the name, it's the person. It's the identity of Jesus that has power. And without putting faith in the person of Jesus and accept identity of Jesus and living a lifestyle that is commiserate with the identity in the work and the ministry of Jesus, then his name is not actually going to have power.
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What if I told you that what you're learning in this video was just the tip of the iceberg? The Bible department is actually powered by arma. What is arma? I'm so glad you asked. ARMA is an online subscription based platform that we designed to help people, everyday people, learn the Bible for themselves. We started ARMA so that anybody, anywhere can have access to trustworthy and entertaining Bible and theology content. In addition to this podcast, we have over 60 courses on individual books of the Bible, on theology topics, and on some hot topics like homosexuality, tithing and women in ministry. But really, ARMA is a community, a community of people that I've gotten to know. A community where thousands of people are currently finding family, asking questions and nerding out on the Bible together. If you want a community to read the Bible with you this year, or if you want to dive into some deeper theological content, or if you want.
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More exclusive access to me and the.
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Entire armor team, how about you go to the bibledepartment.com I'll be sure to post the link in the description of this video. Let's make this your year to become a Bible.
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Okay? In order to understand what's happening in Ephesus, the whole city goes into an uproar. There's a massive riot in Ephesus. Verse 24 says this. A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. And of course he called them together along with the workers and the related trades, and said, my friends, we receive good income from this business. You see how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that the gods made by human hands are not gods at all. This guy is upset. And everywhere Paul goes, actually he's messing with people's finances. He's disrupting power. Back in Philippi, there's a girl who's a slave, but she can tell people's futures. And she's enslaved by people who are making money off of the demon that is giving her the ability to tell people's fortune. And Paul, of course, exorcises the Demon. And now they're mad because they can't make money off her anymore. Same thing is happening in Ephesus. Paul is causing people to not believe in Artemis anymore. Artemis is the main goddess, okay? She's the. She's a big, big deal. I'll talk about Artemis in a second. But because of what Paul is doing, he's jacking up the economy, he's messing with people's money. And anytime power structures are being challenged, they're going to be riots. And of course, a riot breaks out. And you get this in verse 34. But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shot it in unison for about two hours. Great Is Artemis of the Ephesians. Now, the words Artemis in Ephesus are almost synonymous. The massive Artemis is the goddess, Greek goddess of fertility, chastity, and childbearing. And her temple is in Ephesus. And her temple in Ephesus is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This is a massive building with taunts. It's actually not just a temple. It was known as the Artemisium. It would have been like a creation museum in the first century. People are not just a part. People don't just follow Artemis. They're actually part of the Artemis cult. In order to understand the books of First Timothy or second Timothy, because Timothy is going to pastor this church that Paul starts in Ephesus, you actually need to understand Artemis because Artemis preached a. Well, the cult of Artemis preached a radical form of feminism. And that is going to have implications for what Paul is going to say about women in ministry when he tells Timothy about how to pastor his congregation in Ephesus. Let's keep moving. Chapter 20. I also want to point out Paul's doing a lot of traveling, and I need you to, like, wrap your mind around this. Paul traveled more than 10,000 miles in his lifetime, many of that being on foot. Okay. And started 14 churches. And so in yesterday's reading, we kind of covered Paul's second missionary journey, which stretches from Acts 16:23 to chapter 18, verse 22. What we're going to get in today's reading is the third missionary journey that starts in chapter 18, verse 23, and goes all the way to chapter 20, verse 38. Now in Acts, chapter 20, verse 16, we're gonna see something that we saw in the Book of Luke. Remember, in chapter nine of the Book of Luke, it's almost like there's a shift in the book. And the Bible says that Jesus starts to journey to Jerusalem. And so from chapter nine of Luke all the way to chapter 19 of Luke. There's this long trek to Jerusalem, and Jesus knows that he's going to die in Jerusalem. But the Bible says he sets his face like flint to. To journey to Jerusalem. It's like he's on a death march. He knows he's going to die, but he's resolute to do it anyway. A very similar thing is happening here in the book of Acts. I want us to read Acts, chapter 20, verse 16. We're then going to read Acts, chapter 21, verse 4. And then we're going to read Acts, chapter 21st, verse 12. Let's start in Acts, chapter 20, verse 16 says this. Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost. So there's this subtle moment where now Paul has set his face to go to Jerusalem, just like Jesus set his face to go to the to Jerusalem in Luke chapter nine. And remember, Luke has written the book of Luke and Acts, and they are actually paralleling each other. There's tons of parallels to the book of Luke and Acts. We may make some bonus content showing you the parallels between Luke and Acts. That's up for debate, though. Now let's go to chapter 21, verse 4 says this. We sought out the disciples there. Oh, here's another thing that I want to point out to you. This is actually. I should have said this yesterday, but I'm glad I caught it. Okay. In chapter 16, verse seven, the pronoun that's being used is they. Okay? And then three verses later, in verse 10 of the same chapter, the pronoun gets is. Is we. Which now means Luke has joined the crew. Okay, we know that Luke is now journeying with Paul and Silas and Timothy and the rest of the gang because the pronoun goes from they to to we. So now the man who's actually writing has joined the the crew. Okay, so let's get to 21 4. And it says we sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit, they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. And then verse 12 of chapter 21 says this. When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. So there's actually a prophet. Let's actually back up a little bit. Verse 10 says, after we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea, coming over to us. He took Paul's belt, tied his hands and his feet with it and said, the Holy Spirit says, in this way, the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles. So what's happening? Paul has decided to go to Jerusalem. But Paul keeps getting prophetic words that when he goes to Jerusalem, he's only. He's going to get arrested, he's going to die. It's not going to be positive. What is the. Is the Holy Spirit saying, don't go to Jerusalem or is the Holy Spirit saying, go to Jerusalem? Well, the Holy Spirit is saying, go to Jerusalem and when you get there, you're going to get arrested. Just because something bad is going to happen doesn't mean the Holy Spirit's not saying to do it. I think sometimes we assume that. I know there are people who are like, man, God told us to do this. And then it didn't turn out good. It's like God never said that he was going to give you a guarantee that you were going to like it. He just had to do it. Obedience doesn't mean that it's going to be good. And so everybody is interpreting what the Holy Spirit is saying in different ways. The people giving Paul prophetic words are hearing the Holy Spirit correctly, but then they're interpreting that Paul's corresponding action should be not to go. Paul is hearing the same words and interpreting. Yeah, the Holy Spirit is saying to go. The Holy Spirit didn't say not to go. The Holy Spirit just said, I'm going to get arrested when I do go. And that's exactly what happens. Paul now gets to Jerusalem. When he gets to Jerusalem, he's actually met with joy, which, wink, wink. Who else has this happened to? They got to Jerusalem. Remember, remember the triumphal entry? When they get to Jerusalem, it's all happy and, and, and great. And then immediately it turns verse 17 of chapter 21, everything is happy. And then verse 27, ten verses later, when the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him. So Paul now gets arrested. And now we've got this massive back and forth for the next two chapters where Paul's going to get arrested, Paul's going to get taken to Caesarea, Paul's going to have to talk to Herod. Then Paul has to talk to the Roman governor, he has to talk to Felix and he has to talk to Festus. Then he's got to go back to Herod. And this back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And guess what? This should remind all of us of getting to Jerusalem. There being a happy entry into Jerusalem, then being arrested at the Temple. There being conflict between the Temple and a religious leader, that is getting arrested, getting taken to the Sanhedrin, then the Sanhedrin brings you to the governor, and then the governor brings you to a person named Herod. What should that remind you of? It should remind you of what Luke just told us about when Jesus got arrested in Jerusalem and when Jesus got crucified. Everything that's happening in Acts is actually showing you something that Paul is going to talk about in Colossians chapter one, verse 24. Colossians chapter one, verse twenty four is actually a very, very fascinating passage of Scripture, because here's what it says. Now, I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, which is the Church. Paul and Luke definitely believe that Paul's hardships, arrests, flogging, stonings, they are creating a narrative that's supposed to lay on top of Jesus's flogging, beating, arrest to make you see that if you're actually going to follow Jesus, that you will fill up in your body what is still lacking in Christ's afflictions. Colossians chapter 1, verse 24 spells out plainly what Luke is actually showing us through his Gospel and then through the book of Acts, that Paul is not just suffering for Christ, but he's suffering like Christ. And that brings us to our timeless truth of the day. The life of the believer is a life marked with hardship, with suffering. And that the word to be a witness, all the way back in Acts, chapter one, verse eight, you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. That word witness, if you look at that word in the Greek, it's mare, witness. To be a witness doesn't just mean that I see the goodness of God, but actually that I see something that makes me say something. And by saying something, I become a martyr. I suffer along with God, that my prayers are not just for a bigger house and a bigger car and a bigger salary, but my prayer is that when I face with persecution, I, like a good soldier, suffer for Christ. Well, that's our timeless truth for the day. And with that, I'll see you tomorrow. Right here, as we actually close out the book of Acts, finally get to the ends of the earth, which is what Acts has been pointing towards since Acts 1:8. I'll see you right here tomorrow. Proud of you for being on this journey. Love you, Peace. Thank you so much for joining me on the Bible Department podcast. If this episode was helpful, it would mean the world to me if you'd give us a follow rate and review the show. And don't forget to share. You can learn more about the show@thebibledepartment.com and find us on Instagram hebible department if you want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com. we'll see you back here tomorrow.