Acts 23:6-10 - What if an angel spoke to him?

23:6

Paul then proceeded to take advantage of the split between the Sadducees and Pharisees. So we see Paul not being afraid to use rhetorical skill and political nous. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection (in a general sense), angels and other things, the Sadducees believed in very little. In Jesus’ time on earth it was the Pharisees that seemed to be the main activists in the opposition to Jesus. In Acts they are generally very quiet and the Sadducees take the lead in opposing the gospel. Maybe it is because of the resurrection being the centrepiece of the gospel preaching that the Pharisees did little to oppose it. Paul here is deliberately stirring up the antagonism between the two groups.

23:7-9

Paul’s ploy worked! Dissension arose in the gathering, and this would be no quiet matter. The Pharisees adopted a similar line to that taken by Gamaliel (Acts 5:34). They liked Paul’s talk of resurrection and angels. Moreover, they could not argue against Paul without seeming to approve of some of the teachings of the Sadducees.

23:10

The debate was getting extremely heated, so heated that the commander feared violence might ensue, and Paul be harmed or even killed. As Paul was a Roman citizen he could not allow him to be harmed. So Paul was forcibly taken back to the barracks.

Micah 7:8,9 - Rejoice not over me

7:8

Micah now addresses his enemies. These enemies could be people who were mocking and taunting him, or unseen spiritual forces that were mocking him. Yes, it was true that at present he was sitting in darkness, he had fallen, but he would rise, the Lord would be his light. In fact, it seems as if Micah is uttering these words on behalf of the nation of Israel. It is a common feature of the Bible that one person stands before God on behalf of others. The whole priesthood did this, Moses did this on behalf of Israel on several occasions. Abraham prayed for Sodom and Gomorrah. Supremely, Jesus prays to the Father on our behalf.

7:9

Israel did not seem to realiser her sinfulness, but Micah did, so he prays for her. This does not mean that Israel does not need to come to the point of acknowledging her own sin and her own need of Christ, she must certainly does need to do this. Nor if we pray for someone, that does not mean that they do not need to meet God for themselves. They do!  But there is a place for us praying on behalf of others. We can also see a picture here of Christ bearing the wrath of God, then afterwards He would be brought into the light through the resurrection. We should pray for others.

Acts 23:1-5 - You whitewashed wall

23:1-3

Paul addressed the Sanhedrin claiming to have a clear conscience before God, having fulfilled his duty to God. Paul does not mean that he is perfect, but that his work among the Gentiles was all part of God’s plan, it was God’s work. The high priest acted in the time honoured manner instructing those near Paul to strike him. This was typical of the Sanhedrin’s reaction to anyone who went against their ways (John 18:22). Paul responded by calling them whitewashed walls, reminding us of the time that Jesus called likened them to whitewashed tombs (Matt 23:27). In fact the Sanhedrin were contravening the very Law they claimed to be so zealous about upholding. They would come under God’s judgement. We perhaps see a similar reaction today to anyone who dares to question the LGBT agenda. They are immediately accused of being homophobic or transphobic all in the name of diversity and tolerance, yet the liberal elite are the often the most intolerant people on earth.

23:4,5

Paul was berated for supposedly insulting God’s high priest. Paul’s response should perhaps be read as being said with a degree of sarcasm when he quotes Ex 22:28 to them. Perhaps he is demonstrating that he has a better knowledge of the Law than they do.

Micah 7:4-7 My God will hear me

7:4,5

In all governments and organisations there are gradations of qualities of people, but even the best of the Israelites were not very good! So judgement was coming, and people would be thrown into confusion. No one would be trustworthy, anyone could betray you. This is the sort of thing that happened in Nazi Germany and in Communist Russia, and continues to happen in authoritarian regimes. There is a complete breakdown of trust.

7:6

Remember that Jesus spoke of father and son, mother and daughter being opposed to each other (Luke 12:53). The family should be the place where we are most secure, but when trust breaks down this becomes a most insecure place. This is what happens when we abandon God and His ways. And we see this in the massive breakdown of families in the West. It breeds massive insecurity, with enormous economic, social and psychological costs.

7:7

So what is one to do in such circumstances? What are we to do in our day when society is increasingly rejecting Christ and Christian values, even making it a crime to hold and expound Christian values? We are to look to the Lord. We are to wait for the God of our salvation, confident that He will hear our prayer. Now this waiting need not be passive, rather it means we look to God and we continue to act and live according to His ways. Salvation will come.

Acts 22:26-30 - A citizen by birth

22:26-30

The Roman soldiers were now in a quandary. Paul was leading to social unrest, which must be avoided, but he was also a Roman citizen, so he must be respected. The commander went to Paul to first check that he actually was a Roman citizen. If he wasn’t, then they could mistreat him as much as they liked. The situation turned out to be even more serious, for Paul was a Roman citizen by birth, whereas the commander had had to buy his. So Paul now had to be treated with the utmost respect and care. So we see God using things that happened long ago, and over which Paul had had no control, playing an important part. There is nothing in our lives that is an accident.

So the commander arranged to have Paul brought before the Sanhedrin. This would be done under Roman orders. Ie they had to give Paul a chance to fully explain himself, this was no show court.

Micah 7:1-3 - Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well

7:1

Micah now starts feeling sorry for himself. Sometimes we think that we must never feel down or depressed, never let God know how we really feel. Yet the Bible is full of examples of people who let God know how they really felt. The Psalms are full of this, Job is a textbook on complaining to God. Elijah just wanted to die, Jeremiah thought it was all too much. Jonah thought God had got it really wrong with Nineveh. We could go on. However, there is a key difference between the examples we find in the Bible and the current mania of self-centeredness that is so prevalent in the world today. The world says this is how I am feeling and you must respond to my feelings, my feelings must rule. In the Bible people were honest about their feelings, but they knew it was they who needed to change, not God. For instance, Job eventually gets to meet God, but it is then Job who must repent, and who is made aware of the realities of life.

7:2,3

It seems as if there is no fruit, no harvest to be had. There are no faithful ones left in the land. Remember that Elijah felt much the same, complaining that he was the only faithful one left (he wasn't). However, unfaithfulness was indeed rife. People were out to get each other. This could be said to be a pretty accurate picture of the social media world today. The state does not administer justice, but rulers were in it for themselves, demanding bribes from the people. They did not administer God’s law, but their own desires.

Acts 22:22-25 - He should not be allowed to live!

22:22

These last words from Paul, about going to the Gentiles, enraged the crowds. The crowd had a vehement hatred of the Gentiles, considering themselves better than the Gentiles, and so they hated Paul because he was taking God’s message to the Gentiles. There is something very important that we need to note, and that is that Paul’s message was one of repentance. He went to the Gentiles not to say “you are doing OK and God loves you”, but to call them to repentance because God loves them. This is a crucial difference.

22:23-25

The Roman commander wanted to avoid any trouble, so he had Paul taken away as he was stirring up trouble. Also, he did not understand why the crowd were so incensed at Paul. So he ordered Paul to be flogged. The Romans seemed to flog people at the drop of a hat. Just as they were getting ready to flog him Paul reminded them that he was a Roman citizen. This put a whole different complexion on the matter, for a Roman citizen could not mistreated lightly.