Acts 13

1. In the church at Antioch there were these prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon (also called Niger), Lucius (from the city of Cyrene), Manaen (who had grown up with Herod [Antipas], the ruler) and Saul.

Some teachers say that this Simeon is the one who carried the cross for Jesus.

2 – 3

They were all worshiping the Lord and giving up eating. The Holy Spirit said to them, “Give Barnabas and Saul to me to do a special work. I have chosen them for it.”

So they gave up eating and prayed. They laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul and sent them out.

This is an example of the gifts of the spirit being used in the right way. See 1 Corinthians 12 and 14.

4 – 5

Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit. They went to the city of Seleucia. From there they sailed to the island of Cyprus. When they came to Salamis, they preached the Gospel of God in the Jewish synagogues. John Mark was with them to help.

Paul always gave the Jews the first chance to be saved.

6 – 8

They went across the whole island to Paphos. In Paphos they met a Jew who was a magician. His name was Bar-Jesus. He was a false prophet, who always stayed close to Sergius Paulus, the governor. Sergius Paulus was a smart man.

He asked Barnabas and Saul to come to him, because he wanted to hear the message of God. But Elymas, the magician (that is what his name means), was against them. He tried to stop the governor from believing in Jesus.

It is interesting to see that Peter and Paul faced many of the same things: healing a crippled man, casting out demons, being set free from jail by the Lord, raising the dead and coming against a magician.

9 – 10

But Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit. (Saul’s other name was Paul.) He looked straight at Elymas and said, “You son of the devil! You are an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of evil tricks and lies. You are always trying to change the Lord’s truths into lies!

Paul decided that since he was going to be bringing the Gospel to non-Jews. He would start using his Gentile name.

11. Now the Lord will touch you, and you will be blind. For a time you will not be able to see anything—not even the light from the sun.” Then everything became dark for Elymas. He walked around, trying to find someone to lead him by the hand.

In spiritual warfare we do not give the enemy time to show what he can do. Demons can make noises, and cause people to see things, and in many other ways they want to show what they can do. We forbid them in the name of Jesus to do these things.

12 – 13

When the governor saw this, he believed. He was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
When demonic activity is stopped people can hear the message clearly. There is a spirit of deafness.

Paul and those with him sailed away from Paphos. They came to Perga, in Pamphylia. But John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.

Later this caused an argument between Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:39). Mark was a young man and he might have only planned to go visit his relatives in Cyprus. Years later, we see that Paul forgave him. 2 Timothy 4:11

14. They continued their trip from Perga and went to Antioch, a city in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

Paul got sick in this area which is known for malaria. Surely you remember that I was sick when I first brought you the Gospel. Galatians 4:13

15 – 24

The law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were read. Then the leaders of the synagogue sent a message to Paul and Barnabas: “Brothers, if you have any message that will encourage the people, please speak!”

Paul stood up. He raised his hand and said, “Men of Israel and you other people who worship God, please listen! The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors. He made the people great during the time they lived in Egypt. He brought them out of that country with great power. And He was patient with them for 40 years in the desert. God destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave the land to His people. All this happened in about 450 years.

“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked for a king. God gave them Saul son of Kish. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. He was king for 40 years. After God took him away, God made David their king. This is what God said about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse. He is the kind of man I want. He will do all that I want him to do.’

So God has brought one of David’s descendants to Israel to be their Savior. That descendant is Jesus. And God promised to do this. Before Jesus came, John preached to all the people of Israel. He told them about a baptism of changed hearts and lives.

Paul knows that they have heard all this before, but they need to really get the message this time. Many times we tell God that we already know some things and think we do not need to be reminded. He made sure that they knew that Jesus came from the line of David because they would remember that this was a prophecy of the Messiah. 1 Samuel 13:14. Psalm 89:20

25. When he was finishing his work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the Christ. He is coming later. I am not worthy to untie his sandals.’

John said, “I am not who you think I am.” John 1:19–23

26. “Brothers, sons in the family of Abraham, and you non–Jews who worship God, listen! The news about this salvation has been sent to us.

It made the Jews angry that Paul was saying that non–Jews could be saved.

27 – 32

Those who live in Jerusalem and their leaders did not realize that Jesus was the Savior. They did not understand the words that the prophets wrote, which are read every Sabbath day. But they made them come true when they said Jesus was guilty. They could not find any real reason for Jesus to die, but they asked Pilate to have Him killed.

They did to Him all that the Scriptures had said. Then they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him up from death! After this, for many days, the people who had gone with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem saw Him. They are now His witnesses to the people. We tell you the Gospel of the promise God made to our ancestors.

The people may have heard some stories about Jesus, but Paul is making sure that they get the whole story clearly in their minds.

They can look up the signs of the Messiah in the Old Testament to make sure Paul was telling the truth. The Berean synagogue did check Paul’s facts and found them to be true. Acts 17:11

33. We are their children, and God has made this promise come true for us. God did this by raising Jesus from death. We read about this also in Psalm 2 ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.’

Psalm 2 does not say that God raised Jesus from the dead, but Paul was suggesting both ideas when he said that God raised Jesus up to be known. Psalm 2:7

34 – 37

God raised Jesus from death. He will never go back to the grave and become dust. So God said: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings that I promised to David.’ But in another place God says: ‘You will not let your Holy One rot in the grave.’

David did God’s will during his lifetime. Then he died and was buried with his fathers. And his body did rot in the grave! But the One God raised from death did not rot in the grave.

Paul is saying the same thing that Peter said in Acts 2:29–30. He is showing that the Scriptures were not only talking about David, but they pointed to Christ being raised from the dead. Isaiah 55:3, Psalm 16:10

38 – 39

Brothers, you must understand what we are telling you: You can have forgiveness of your sins through Jesus. The law of Moses could not free you from your sins. But everyone who believes is free from all sins through him.

When the Jews come to God on the Day of Atonement they hope that the good things they have done will be more than the bad things they have done. The Jews gave sacrifices for certain sins, but there was no sacrifice in the Old Testament for the evil things that you do on purpose.

Paul is saying that all sins can be forgiven through Christ. They missed what Paul was saying and were angry that he said that everyone, including non–Jews, can be forgiven.

40 – 41

Be careful! Do not let what the prophets said happen to you: ‘Listen, you people who doubt! You can wonder, and then die. I will do something in your lifetime that will amaze you. You will not believe it even when you are told about it!’”

The something that they would not believe is Gentiles getting saved! Habakkuk 1:5

42 – 43

While Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people asked them to tell them more about these things on the next Sabbath.

After the meeting, many Jews followed Paul and Barnabas from that place. With the Jews there were many who had changed to the Jewish religion and worshiped God. Paul and Barnabas were persuading them to continue trusting in God’s kindness.

God's Spirit works to make people want to hear more about God's world as they compare their world to what they are hearing.

44 – 47

On the next Sabbath day, almost all the people in the city came to hear the word of the Lord. Seeing the crowd, the Jews became very jealous. They said insulting things and argued against what Paul said. But Paul and Barnabas spoke very boldly.

They said, “We must speak the message of God to you first. But you refuse to listen. You are judging yourselves not worthy of having eternal life! So we will now go to the people of other nations! This is what the Lord told us to do. The Lord said: ‘I have made you a light for the non-Jewish nations. You will show people all over the world the way to be saved.’”

Now the Jews were very angry because Paul was using the Scriptures to say that non–Jews could be saved. Isaiah 49:6

48. When the non-Jewish people heard Paul say this, they were happy. They gave honor to the message of the Lord. And many of the people believed the message. They were the ones who decided they wanted to have life forever.

Some teachers say that this verse means that only certain people can be saved. There are many places in Scripture that say that God offers eternal life to anyone who will come to Him.

49 – 51

And so the message of the Lord was spreading through the whole country. But the Jews stirred up some of the important religious women and the leaders of the city against Paul and Barnabas. They started trouble against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their area. So Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet and went to Iconium.

In spiritual warfare the devil has territory that people have given to him. They shook the dust off their feet because they were showing the Jews that they could not be blamed for telling the truth. The Jews could keep their territory and the permission that they had given to the devil.

If any household or town does not welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave. Mark 10:14

52. But the followers were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

This time the filling of the Spirit was not with the gift of tongues. God does not do everything in the same way every time.