23:11
We now have another direct communication from God to Paul. The Lord stands near to Paul and tells him to “take courage”, and that he will testify in Jerusalem and in Rome, so his end would not come in Jerusalem, despite all that was going on. So we see that when Paul needs direct encouragement God gives him direct encouragement. The notion proposed by some that God no longer gives any encouragement beyond the written word of God is nothing more than an idle notion, and one that is at odds with the record of Scripture itself. As I have pointed out before, we should also note that Paul did not seek the revelation, or at least we are not told of his seeking it. We are to build up our knowledge of God and our understanding of Him (and ourselves for that matter) through the Scriptures, and through prayer and worship (according to the Scriptures). But we can also be confident that if we truly need a direct intervention of some sort from God He will give it, if he has not given us some form of direct communication then we can be confident that at that precise moment we do not need it.
23:12,13
The Jews were still plotting. They had bound themselves with an oath that they would kill Paul, and this was a very serious matter. We see here how warped the human mind can become. We see the same sort of thing with Islamic terrorists and their dedication to killing people. And this was not just a few loonies, but over forty men had committed themselves to this line of action.
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