Acts 23:31-35 - I will give you a hearing

23:31,32

As often happens in Acts (and the gospels) we get incidental details, these are not crucial to the “theological” account of what is happening, but to add to the authenticity. Roman soldiers exercised daily, often in the form of twenty or more mile marches. After they got to Antipatris the soldiers returned to the barracks. Antipatris was at the end of the Judean hill country, so the rest of the journey would be over largely Gentile country and so a lot safer. So the horseman took Paul the final part of the journey. The soldiers would be better used in Jerusalem.

23:33-35

So the cavalry arrived in Caesarea and presented the letter and Paul to Felix. Again we get an incidental detail. Felix asked which province Paul was from, the reason was that it would be possible for Paul to be sent to the governor of that province. On hearing that Paul was from Cilicia Felix decided not to send Paul there. The reason was that the governor of Cilicia  was the governor of Syria, and he was Felix’s immediate superior. So it would look as though Felix was not capable of handling the matter, so it would not look good for him. So Felix would deal with the matter, once Paul’s accusers had arrived. In the meantime Paul was given accommodation in the palace of Herod the Great. Paul was a high-status prisoner.

Acts 23:23-30 - Felix the governor

23:23,24

The matter was obviously taken very seriously, with a substantial cohort of soldiers being sent with Paul. Caesarea was the Roman capital of Judea. The commander was intent of Paul being safely delivered to the governor Felix. Felix was governor from about AD 52 to AD 59. He was a freedman, ie a former slave, and other historical documents condemn him as being corrupt.

23:25-30

A letter was sent and this constituted a formal legal referral. The letter had the typical format for letters of that type of the time. The commander stresses that he rescued Paul, and did so because he was a Roman citizen. Then he makes it clear that the cause of the dispute was a matter of Jewish law, and nothing to do with Roman law. He also regarded the man as innocent, and certainly not deserving of death. He had learnt of the death threat, and so sent Paul to Felix for a proper hearing.

Micah 7:17,18 - Who is a God like you?

7:17

Micah paints a very vivid picture of the state that the nations will come to. They will be utterly debased and will have to acknowledge the supremacy of the Lord, and will even be afraid of His people. With our Western mindsets we find this very difficult to comprehend or even accept, but this is because of a lack of understanding on our part, a lack of appreciation of who God is, and a lack of appreciation of the nature and awfulness of sin.

7:18

“Who is a God like you ...” Taken together with the previous verse we see here a vital element of God’s forgiveness. It is the sins of His people, of His inheritance who He forgives. He does pardon sin and forgive transgression, but this is not something that is just doled out willy nilly. It is forgiveness towards His chosen people. We should also note that it is not a simple matter. His own people suffered punishment from the Lord.

Acts 23:14-22 - We are ready to kill him

23:14,15

This plot to kill Paul was done in collusion with the chief priests and the elders and the Sanhedrin. Their plot was to have Paul brought to the Sanhedrin and this would give them an opportunity to kill Paul on the way. So we see the absolute antagonism of the Jewish religion to the gospel. Jesus said that anyone who tries to save his own life will lose it, but that he who loses his life for Christ’s sake will save it, (Lk 9:24). We often read this in the context of risking one's life for Christ’s sake, and this is obvious application there. But there is also application in terms of our salvation. The Jews were seeking to protect their position, their status. In doing so they would indeed lose their own life, and this would happen physically in AD 70. If instead they had admitted their guilt and their inability to save themselves they would have found eternal life.

23:16-22

However, the Jews were not the only ones at work, God was also at work. The son of Paul’s sister heard of the plot and went to warn Paul. Paul then told one of the centurions to take his nephew to the commander. This duly happened and the young man informed the commander of the plot. The commander told the young man to keep quiet about things, and he acted on this information.

Micah 7:14-16 - I will show them marvellous things

7:14

Again we have the shepherd analogy. The fundamental point of all the references to shepherds is that it is the Lord Himself who shepherds the flock. We need to be looked after by the Lord, and we are meant to be looked after by the Lord. Israel made a fundamental mistake when she insisted on a king, rejecting the Lord’s kingship. Mankind as a whole made a fundamental mistake when he rejected the Lord. We were designed to live under His care and guidance, and we should seek to develop a relationship with the Lord. Bashan and Gilead were among the first lands to be taken by Israel when she entered the promised land, and among the first lands to be lost.

7:15,16

Once again God would show His wonders. There are sometimes great arguments over whether or not there are miracles today, or whether there should be miracles. The consistent of testimony of Scripture is that miracles are part of God’s “armoury”, part of His way of working. Miracles are in the hand of the Lord, we go wrong if we think we have control over them. And part of the purpose of miracles is to confound the wise, in this case it is the nations that will be put to shame. If we look at the ministry of Jesus we see that He shamed the religious leaders on several occasions with His miracles. As we live in an arrogant society that thinks it knows so much better than the Lord we should not be surprised if the Lord starts doing miracles to confound the “wise”.

Acts 23:11-13 - Take courage

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.

Micah 7:10-13 - The earth will be desolate

7:10

Israel was mocked, and even today there are many who denigrate Israel. The church is mocked in the West, and just as Israel in many ways deserved her mocking, so the church deserves much of the mockery she receives. But this is not how things will remain, for the strength of Israel does not lie in Israel herself, and the strength of the church does not lie within the church. Indeed, Israel went wrong when she thought her strength was her own, just as the church goes wrong in the same way. But Israel is God’s nation, and the church is Christ’s, so the final outcome will be Israel turns to her God, to Christ, and that the church, even in the West, will recognise that Christ alone is Lord, and then things will change. “She will be trampled down in the mud”. The streets in those days were the dumping ground for all sorts of rubbish, including human waste.

7:11-13

The walls in this verse are not fortification walls, but boundary walls. There shall be proper boundary walls established again, rather than the rich and powerful taking whatever took their fancy. In that day people from many places will come to Israel. Verse 13 could possibly be seen as a result of human pollution, but it will be as a result of God’s judgement on man’s sin.