Acts 21

1 – 6

We all said goodbye to them and left. We sailed straight to Cos island. The next day, we reached Rhodes, and from Rhodes we went to Patara. There we found a ship that was going to Phoenicia. We went aboard and sailed away. We sailed near the island of Cyprus. We could see it to the north, but we sailed on to Syria. We stopped at Tyre because the ship needed to unload its cargo there. We looked for some followers in Tyre, and we stayed with them for seven days.

Through the Holy Spirit they warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem. When we finished our visit, we left and continued our trip. All the followers, even the women and children, came outside the city with us. We all knelt down on the beach and prayed. Then we said good-bye and got on the ship. The followers went back home.

Paul was praying that his trip to Jerusalem would not be for nothing. He was glad to find some Christians so that they could build each other up in the faith. He had been planning this trip for a long time, even as the Romans Christians to pray about.

Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit.

Pray that I will be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to obey God. Pray also that the believers there will be willing to accept the donation I am taking to Jerusalem. Romans 15:30–31

7 – 9

We continued our trip from Tyre and arrived at Ptolemais. We greeted the believers there and stayed with them for a day. We left Ptolemais and went to the city of Caesarea. There we went into the home of Philip and stayed with him. Philip had the work of telling the Good News. He was one of the seven helpers.  He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophesying.

An early Christian leader named Papias tells how he visited Philip’s daughters and asked them for details of what it was like when Jesus was on the earth.

10 – 11

After we had been there for some time, a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea. He came to us and borrowed Paul’s belt. Then he used the belt to tie his own hands and feet. He said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘This is how the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man who wears this belt. Then they will give him to the non-Jewish people.’”

We have already met Agabus in Acts 11:28. Agabus was only saying what the Lord showed him, he was not telling Paul what to do about it.

12 –– 13

We all heard these words. So we and the people there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem. But he said, “Why are you crying and making me so sad? I am ready to be tied up in Jerusalem. And I am ready to die for the Lord Jesus!”

Paul would never ignore anything that the Holy Spirit told him not to do. Paul’s friends were giving their own ideas about the warnings. The Lord had already told Paul that he would suffer many things in the ministry. This new warning was to remind Paul that he was sent to speak to kings and to get his mind ready for what was coming.

Moreover, by [Your Words] Your servant is warned. Psalm 19:11

14. We could not persuade him to stay away from Jerusalem. So we stopped begging him and said, “We pray that what the Lord wants will be done.”

Paul’s friends stopped pushing him and agreed that God knows what He is doing. Paul here reminds us of how Jesus felt in the garden of Gethsemane.

15 – 16

After this, we got ready and started on our way to Jerusalem. Some of the followers from Caesarea went with us. They took us to the home of Mnason, a man from Cyprus. Mnason was one of the first followers. They took us to his home so that we could stay with him.

When you know that a brother is going through a hard time, and there is nothing else that you can say, stay with him and walk with him through these hard days.

17 – 20

In Jerusalem the believers were glad to see us. The next day, Paul went with us to visit James. All the elders were there, too. Paul greeted them and told them everything that God had done among the non-Jewish people through him.

When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul, “Brother, you can see that many thousands of Jews have become believers. But they think it is very important to obey the law of Moses.

The church of Jerusalem had gone backwards. They believe that Jesus was the Messiah, but they lived by the law of Moses. This would mean that they were still offering sacrifices for sin and did not understand that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. They were afraid of the Jewish leaders and they allowed this fear to bring confusion into the church.

For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Hebrews 10:4

21 – 22

These Jews have heard about your teaching. They heard that you tell the Jews who live among non-Jews to leave the law of Moses. They heard that you tell them not to circumcise their children and not to obey Jewish customs. What should we do? The Jewish believers here will learn that you have come.

We can see that there were many lies told about Paul. They thought that Paul would make Jews become non-Jews. Jews still think this today and cannot understand how they can be saved with Jesus as the Messiah and still be Jewish.

23 – 24

So we will tell you what to do: Four of our men have made a promise to God. Take these men with you and share in their cleansing ceremony. Pay their expenses. Then they can shave their heads. Do this and it will prove to everyone that what they have heard about you is not true. They will see that you follow the law of Moses in your own life.

Paul was listening to them because he did not want to offend the Jewish Christians. When Paul was talking to the Corinthians and Galatians he showed them that they should not follow Jewish customs, but he is with a different group of Christians now.

25. We have already sent a letter to the non-Jewish believers. The letter said: ‘Do not eat food that has been offered to idols. Do not taste blood. Do not eat animals that have been strangled. Do not take part in any kind of sexual sin.’”

They are reminding Paul that they never told the Gentiles to live as Jews. Paul was trying his best to get along with these brothers, but it is sad to see that they did not even say “thank you” for the gifts he brought.

26. Then Paul took the four men with him. The next day, he shared in the cleansing ceremony. Then he went to the Temple. Paul announced the time when the days of the cleansing ceremony would be finished. On the last day an offering would be given for each of the men.

We do not live by Jewish customs, but it would not hurt us to put aside some days to make sure that our lives are clean before God. Paul would not have been part of any offerings for sin because Jesus is the offering for our sins. There are other offerings such as: peace offerings, and offerings, which showed that you are setting yourself apart to the Lord.

27 – 28

The seven days were almost over. But some Jews from Asia saw Paul at the Temple. They caused all the people to be upset, and they grabbed Paul.

They shouted, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who goes everywhere teaching things that are against the law of Moses, against our people, and against this Temple. And now he has brought some Greek men into the Temple. He has made this holy place unclean!”

A stone has been found which shows the penalty of death for any non-Jewish person who came into the temple. Jesus came to tear down the wall of bad feelings between Jews and non-Jews.

For Christ Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in His own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of anger that separated us. Ephesians 2:14

29. The Jews said this because they had seen Trophimus with Paul in Jerusalem. Trophimus was a man from Ephesus. The Jews thought that Paul had brought him into the Temple.

This is how the devil works. He takes something and twists it to tell a story that sounds like something people want to hear.

30 – 31

All the people in Jerusalem became very upset. They ran and took Paul and dragged him out of the Temple. The Temple doors were closed immediately. The people were about to kill Paul. Now the commander [Lysias] of the Roman army in Jerusalem learned that there was trouble in the whole city.

The Jews were not allowed to kill anybody unless it was a crime against the temple. John 18:31

32 – 36

Immediately [Lysias] ran to the place where the crowd was gathered. He brought officers and soldiers with him, and the people saw them. So they stopped beating Paul. [Lysias] went to Paul and arrested him. He told his soldiers to bind Paul with two chains. Then he asked, “Who is this man? What has he done wrong?” Some in the crowd were yelling one thing, and some were yelling another.

Because of all this confusion and shouting, [Lysias] could not learn what had happened. So he ordered the soldiers to take Paul to the army building. The whole mob was following them. When the soldiers came to the steps, they had to carry Paul. They did this because the people were ready to hurt him. They were shouting, “Kill him!”

It makes us wonder where the thousands of Christians in Jerusalem were during the riot? Every time we read about a Roman commander in the Bible they are shown to be men with character. Lysias later protected Paul and wrote a letter to the court that showed that he was not against Paul.

37 – 38

The soldiers were about to take Paul into the army building. But he spoke to [Lysias], “May I say something to you?”
 [Lysias] said, “Do you speak Greek? I thought you were the Egyptian who started some trouble against the government not long ago. He led 4,000 killers out to the desert.”

History book show that there was an Egyptian who started riots in Jerusalem. The Romans killed all of his followers but the Egyptian escaped. Lysias thought that maybe Paul was this Egyptian.

39 – 40

Paul said, “No, I am a Jew from Tarsus in the country of Cilicia. I am a citizen of that important city. Please, let me speak to the people.”

The commander gave permission, so Paul stood on the steps. He waved with his hand so that the people would be quiet. When there was silence, Paul spoke to them in the Jewish language.

Paul was not afraid of being killed, but he would give anything to see these people come to Christ.

For my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed, cut off from Christ, if that would save them. Romans 9:3