Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:02]
Tara Leigh Cobble
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Leigh Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible recap. Yesterday, 470 soldiers delivered Paul to Governor Felix in Caesarea. Today we pick up five days later when some of the authorities from Jerusalem have come to talk to Felix about Paul. They brought a spokesman lawyer named Tertullus with them. Tertullus starts off by flattering Felix, then launches into accusing Paul of starting riots and defiling the temple, neither of which he's done. Paul defends himself with the truth. He says he goes to great lengths to live with integrity and that he has honored the ways of Yahweh, including everything written in the law and the prophets, which is the shorthand way of saying all the Hebrew scriptures, that is the Old Testament. Felix is pretty familiar with first century Christianity, or the Way, as Paul calls it, possibly because he lives in Caesarea among prominent evangelists like Philip. He wants to hear more from Paul, so he tells the people who came down from Jerusalem that he'll make a decision later and sends them back home. In the meantime, he tells the soldiers to keep Paul in prison, but to be nice to him. Remember, in this day, prisons aren't required to care for you. Your friends have to do that. And sometimes prison guards even prevent the friends from doing that. Felix keeps calling Paul up to talk to him about the Way, but it's never enough for him. He's also kind of hoping Paul is going to pay him a bribe so he can get out of prison. But even here, Paul maintains his integrity, sharing the Gospel and obeying the rules. After two years, Felix leaves office unexpectedly. History tells us he was kicked out of office because he couldn't keep peace between the Jews and the Gentiles. So in order to make things less awkward with the Jews, he leaves Paul in prison. Festus takes over after Felix. But even after two years, the issue with Paul has not cooled off at all. In fact, this is one of the first things that gets addressed when Festus comes into office while he's in Jerusalem. The authorities say, hey, Festus, have your people bring Paul up here so we can deal with this. They want to do it this way because they've hatched another plan to kill Paul along the way. But Festus says, nah, you guys just come back to Caesarea and we'll deal with it there. I've got a few empty seats in my chariot, so you can just hitch a ride back with me. They come down a week or so later, make their case against Paul, and he maintains that he hasn't broken any laws, not Jewish law and not Roman law. Festus wants to keep peace with the Jews, too, and certainly doesn't want to be evicted from office like Felix was. So he says, how's about we take you back to Jerusalem for trial, which the Jews would love. Paul says, hard pass between the two of you. This is going nowhere. So I'm going to make an appeal to Caesar instead. As a Roman citizen, Paul is asking to be elevated to a higher court, one that, in theory, should weigh more in his favor. Festus agrees to his appeal. A few days later, King Herod Agrippa II comes to town. While Governor Festus and King Agrippa are chatting, Festus lays out the whole story for him of what's happened with Paul. And Agrippa says, I want in on this, too. Bring him out tomorrow so I can hear his side of the story. The next day, they bring Paul out in front of Agrippa and some of the prominent leaders in town, and Festus introduces him by basically saying, everyone wants this guy to die, but I don't think he's done anything wrong. What should I do? This all sounds far too familiar, doesn't it? Paul opens by asking the king to be patient with him as he tells his story. Let's hope the king isn't sitting on an open third story window. While he talks. Paul tells the story about his days as a persecutor of the church, followed by his conversion. Near the end, Festus interrupts and tells Paul he's lost his mind. Paul has just given a beautiful explanation of the Gospel, but Festus doesn't get it. This reminds me of what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:18. The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. Paul says, I'm not crazy, and the king knows it, too. You believe all of this, don't you, King Agrippa? And maybe Paul was right, but King Agrippa probably feels like he's on the spot in front of the governor and the local leaders. So he says, whoa, whoa. I'm not sure I'm ready to convert just yet. Paul, give me some time. And Paul says, as long as it takes, as long as it takes. Because I want everyone who is here today to convert. I want everyone to know the God I know and love, the God I love. My only hope is that it doesn't land you in prison, too. They wrap things up, and as the king and governor and leaders are all discussing things afterward, they agree that Paul is innocent. And they say the timing is a shame, because if Paul hadn't appealed to Caesar and King Agrippa had been allowed to decide his case, then he would have been set free. But even in what seems like terrible timing, God is at work. And that's where I saw my God shot today. Even though Paul missed his chance at freedom, God is still directing Paul's steps according to his plan. We'll continue to see that, but even Paul sees it already. Today in 2622, he said, to this day, I have had the help that comes from God. Think about all he's been through, trial after trial, false accusations, character assassination, torture, interrogations, beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonment, you name it. And even in all of that, he says he sees God's help every step of the way. Paul has his eyes set on eternity. He has his heart set on the glory of God. And he knows help looks very different with that mindset than if he were seeking his own good. He refuses to trade the temporary for the eternal. And even though the road is hard and lonely and frustrating, God equips him with all he needs along the way. God is our helper, and he's where the joy is. Does the term idolatry feel a little archaic to you? I've seen some of the ancient BAAL and Asherah idols on display at Museum of the Bible, and it feels like nobody still does that, right? But we do, just in our own ways. We may not worship statues of false gods like we've seen all throughout Scripture, but idolatry is still very real today in our world and in our lives. Ezekiel 14 says we can even take idols into our hearts. Yikes. I don't want that. So we built out a PDF with more info on how to identify idolatry in your own heart, and we'd love to share it with you. If you're interested in getting this resource for free, all you need to do is submit your email address@thebiblerecap.com idols or click the link in the show notes.