Acts 21

Acts 21:1

21:1-4a After the tender and affectionate farewell at Miletus, Paul and his companions sailed to the island of COS, where they spent the night. The following day they continued southeast to the island of RHODES. Leaving the northern tip of the island, they sailed eastward to PATARA, a seaport of Lycia on the southern coast of Asia Minor. At Patara they transferred to a ship that was sailing over to Phoenicia, the coastal strip of Syria, of which Tyre was one of the principal cities. As they sailed southeast across the Mediterranean, they skirted south of the island of Cyprus, leaving it on the left hand. The first port of call on the mainland of Palestine was TYRE. Since the ship was to unload her cargo there, Paul and the others looked up the Christian believers and stayed with them seven days. 21:4b It was during this time that these disciples told Paul through the Spirit that he should not set foot in Jerusalem. This raises the age-old question as to whether Paul was deliberately disobedient in going to Jerusalem, whether he unwittingly failed to discern the mind of the Lord, or whether he was actually in the will of God in going. A casual reading of verse 4b might seem to indicate that the apostle was willful and headstrong, acting in deliberate defiance of the Spirit. However, a more careful reading might indicate that Paul did not actually know that these warnings were given through the Spirit. Luke, the historian, tells his readers that the advice of the Tyrian disciples was Spirit-inspired, but he does not say that the apostle knew this as a definite fact. It seems far more probable that Paul interpreted the advice of his friends as calculated to save him from physical suffering or even death. In his love for his Jewish countrymen, he did not feel that his physical well-being was the important consideration. 21:5, 6 When the seven days had expired, the believers of Tyre turned out en masse to accompany the missionaries to the beach in an eloquent demonstration of their Christian love. After a time of prayer and affectionate goodbyes, the ship pulled out and those left on shore returned home. 21:7 The next stop was PTOLEMAIS (pronounced tol-e-may’-is), a seaport approximately twenty-five miles south of Tyre, and now known as Akko (Acre), near Haifa. It was named after Ptolemy. A stopover of one day permitted the Lord’s servants to visit the local brethren. 21:8 On the next day they took the final portion of their voyagea thirty-mile sail south to CAESAREA, on the Plain of Sharon. There they stayed in the house of Philip the evangelist (not to be confused with the apostle by that name). It was this Philip who was chosen to be a deacon by the church in Jerusalem and who carried the gospel to Samaria. Through his instruction, the Ethiopian eunuch had been saved. 21:9 Philip had four virgin daughters who prophesied. This means they were gifted by the Holy Spirit to receive messages directly from the Lord and to convey them to others. Some have inferred from this verse that it is permissible for women to preach and teach in the church. However, since it is expressly forbidden for women to teach, speak, or have authority over the men in the assembly (1Co_14:34-35; 1Ti_2:11-12), it can only be concluded that the prophetic ministry of these four virgin daughters was carried on in the home or in other non-church gatherings. 21:10, 11 During Paul’s stay in Caesarea, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. It was the same prophet who came to Antioch from Jerusalem and predicted the famine which took place during the reign of Claudius (Act_11:28). Now he took Paul’s belt and bound his own hands and feet with it. By this dramatic action, like many of the prophets before him, he was acting out his message. Then he gave the meaning of the object lesson. Just as he had bound himself, hands and feet, so would the Jews of Jerusalem bind the hands and feet of Paul and deliver him over to the Gentile authorities. Paul’s service for the Jews (symbolized by the belt) would result in his being captured by them. 21:12-14 When the apostle’s companions and the Christians in Caesarea heard this, they pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. But he could not sympathize with their concern. Their tears only served to break his heart. Should the fear of chains and imprisonment restrain him from doing what he considered to be God’s will? He would have them know that he was ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. All their arguments proved of no value.

He was determined to go, and so they simply said, The will of the Lord be done.It is difficult to believe that Paul’s parting words were spoken by a man who was knowingly disobeying the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We know that the disciples in Tyre told him through the Spirit that he should not go to Jerusalem (v. 4). But did Paul know they spoke through the Spirit? And did not the Lord later seem to approve his trip to Jerusalem when He said, Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome (Act_23:11)? Two things are clear: First, Paul did not think his personal safety was the main consideration in serving the Lord. Second, the Lord overruled all these events for His glory. 21:15, 16 From Caesarea to Jerusalem was an overland journey of more than fifty miles, a long trip in those days of slow transportation. The apostle’s traveling party had been increased by the addition of some of the disciples from Caesarea and also by a Christian brother named Mnason (pronounced nay’-son). Originally from Cyprus, he had been one of the earliest disciples there. Now he was living in Jerusalem, and was privileged to be host to the apostle and those who journeyed with him during Paul’s last visit to Jerusalem. Paul’s missionary journeys really end with his arrival in Jerusalem. The remainder of the Book of Acts is occupied with his arrest, trial, journey to Rome, trial, and imprisonment there. 21:17, 18 Upon arrival in Jerusalem, the apostle and his friends were cordially received by the brethren. The next day a meeting was arranged with James and all the elders. There is no way of knowing for sure which James is referred to here. It could be James, the brother of our Lord, James, the son of Alphaeus, or some other person with that name. The first is the most likely. 21:19, 20a Paul took the lead by telling in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. This caused considerable rejoicing. 21:20b-22 However, the Jewish brethren were apprehensive. Word had traveled around that the Apostle Paul had preached and taught against Moses and the law. This could mean trouble in Jerusalem. The specific charge being made against Paul was that he taught all the Jews in foreign lands to forsake Moses, by telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the Jewish customs. Did Paul actually teach this or did he not? He did teach that Christ was the end of the law for righteousness to those who believe. He did teach that once the Christian faith had come, believing Jews were no longer under the law. He taught that if a man received circumcision as a means of obtaining justification, then such a man cut himself off from salvation in Christ Jesus. He taught that to return to the types and shadows of the law, after Christ had come, was dishonoring to Christ. In view of this, it is not hard to see why the Jews should think of him as they did. 21:23, 24 But the Jewish brethren in Jerusalem had a scheme which they thought would placate their countrymen, both saved and unsaved. They suggested that Paul should take upon himself a Jewish vow. Four men were already in the process of doing this. Paul should join them, purify himself with them, and pay their expenses. F. W. Grant explains: Let him take these four men, who being believers like himself could yet bind themselves with the Nazirite vow, and presenting himself with them in the Temple purified, take upon him the expenses necessary for the completion of it, and that publicly, that all might recognize clearly his own relation to the law. We do not know much about what this vow involved. The details are veiled in obscurity. But all we need to know is that it was a Jewish vow, and that if the Jews saw the apostle going through the ritual connected with it, they would know assuredly that he was not turning others away from the law of Moses. It would be an indication to the Jews that the apostle himself kept the law. The action of the apostle in taking on himself this Jewish vow has been defended and criticized. In defense of Paul it has been argued that he was acting according to his own principle to be all things to all men, if by any means he might save some (1Co_9:19-23). On the other hand, Paul has been criticized for going too far in an effort to conciliate the Jews, and thus creating the impression that he was under the law. In other words, Paul has been charged with being inconsistent with his view that the believer is not under the law, either for justification or as a rule of life (Gal. 1 and 2). We tend to agree with this criticism, but we also feel that one should be careful in judging the apostle’s motives. 21:25 The Jerusalem brethren advised Paul that no rules need be imposed on Gentile believers other than those proposed by the council in Jerusalem, namely, the Gentiles … should abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. 21:26 The steps taken by Paul are not clear to us today. Many commentators think this was the Nazirite vow. But even if this were the case, we still do not understand the various steps in the ceremony as described in this section.

Acts 21:27

H. Paul’s Arrest and Trials (21:27-26:32) 21:27-29 When the seven days of the vow were almost ended, Paul’s attempt to pacify the Jews proved futile. When some of the unbelieving Jews from proconsular Asia saw him in the temple, they incited a riot against him. Not only did they charge him with teachings that were contrary to the Jewish people and to the law, but they also accused him of defiling the temple by taking Gentiles into the inner courts. What actually happened was this: they had previously seen Paul with Trophimus in the city of Jerusalem. Trophimus was a Gentile convert from Ephesus. Because they saw them together, they supposed that Paul had taken his Gentile friend into the inner courts of the temple.21:30-35 Although the charge was obviously false, it served its purpose.

All the city was thrown into an uproar. The mob seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple area, closing the gates of the inner courts behind them. As they proceeded to kill him, word reached the chiliarch, a military commander in charge of the garrison of Antonia. He came in a hurry with some of his soldiers and took Paul from the infuriated mob, bound him with two chains, and asked who he was and what he had done. The mob was, of course, incoherent and confused. Some … cried one thing and some another.

The frustrated officer commanded the soldiers to bring the prisoner into the barracks so he could find out more definitely what was going on. Even in the attempt to do this, the mob surged forward with such determination that Paul had to be carried by the soldiers up the stairs. 21:36 As they did so, they heard words ringing out from the multitudewords that perhaps some of them had heard beforeAway with him!21:37-39 Just as they were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the officer if he could say something. The officer was startled to hear Paul speaking Greek. He apparently thought he had arrested an Egyptian who had stirred up a rebellion and led four thousand men called assassins out into the wilderness. Paul quickly assured him that he was a Jew from the city of Tarsus, in Cilicia. As such, he was a citizen of no mean city; it was famous as a place of culture, education, and commerce, and had been declared a free city by Augustus. With characteristic fearlessness, the apostle requested permission to speak to the people.21:40 Permission was granted, and as Paul stood there, flanked by Roman soldiers, he quieted the crowd by motioning with his hand.

The silence was as great as the tumult had been. He was now ready to give his testimony to the Jerusalem Jews. The Hebrew language here probably means Aramaic (a closely related tongue) as spoken by the Hebrews at that time.