Acts 13

How do you react when God seems to change His plans? How do we stop second-guessing God? Let's dig in to Acts 13 to see how the Jews that Paul speaks to deal with it.

We find ourselves back at Antioch. This is the city known as the "Asian Rome", an important city worldwide. Antioch became the center for Gentile missions.

We meet some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen and Saul. (Note that a prophet is not one who predicts the future, but is an inspired teacher who speaks God's message.) Barnabas we know. Simeon's other name was Niger which means "black". Some say he was African, but some say "black" was a common name. Lucius is mentioned again in Romans 16:21. Manaen seems to have been a child raised with Herod, a playmate for royalty. Saul we know, this is the chapter where his name changes to Paul.

We find the church worshipping, praying and fasting. They are seeking God's direction. The Holy Spirit says to set apart Barnabas and Saul. They were not set apart to be priests, Bishops or any special office. They were set apart to be missionaries. We do this today when we send missionaries out into the field. We set them apart, lay hands on them and pray for them.

Why do you think God picked them? Have you ever felt "called" to do something? Have you thought about what God wants you to set apart for Him?

They sailed from the port at Orontes to Cyprus. This is a large island in the Mediterranean. This was to be their first missionary trip, some say they went there because it was Barnabas' "hometown". There was a large Jewish population there. They have Barnabas' relative, John Mark, along to help.

Could this be an example of when you witness, start with your family and friends? Have you ever tried to talk to your family members about Christ? How do they receive the information?

The island is 130 miles wide by about 50 miles wide. Paphos is the capitol and at the west end of the island. In Greek mythology, it is the birthplace of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. Salamis is at the east end of the island. Here Zeus, the king of the gods and father of Aphrodite is worshipped. When Barnabas is here in 61 CE he is stoned to death.

Jewish law forbids sorcery, but some found a way around the law. Today there are Christians who take scripture about fortune telling and mediums out of context to justify their dabbling in the occult.

There were many false prophets and sorcerers who swayed the leadership on this large island.

Cyrpus was ruled by a proconsul (governor) named Sergius Paulus. He was eager to hear what Barnabas and Saul had to say. ("If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." Mark 4:23) There was a sorcerer named Bar-Jesus who already had his ear and did not want to give up his puppet. Little did he know of the power of God and what was going to happen.

Saul (also called Paul) fixed his eyes on this man and rebuked him severely. He pointed out his spiritual blindness and the man was struck blind physically.

Note that two things happened, Saul's name changes to Paul from now on and a man is struck blind.

God uses irony: the one man that would stand in the way of Sergius to receive the Good News is used to bring him to Christ.

We must be careful of who we yoke ourselves with. Who are you receiving advice from? Who are you dating? Who do you allow into your life and make decisions with? If they ever make you choose between them and your God be advised, our God is a jealous God. And nothing will separate you from His love.

We had a good discussion as to why Saul's name changed from Saul to Paul. Saul is his Hebrew name which means "borrowed". Paul is his Latin (Gentile) name which means "small". What it boiled down to is that God called Paul to preach to the Gentiles, so of course he would use his Gentile name.

...I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. 1 Corinthians 9:22b

Paul steps into his leadership role and they sail to Perga on the Asiatic mainland. John departs here, either by an argument, illness or homesickness. (Galatians 4:13)

They arrive in another Antioch-capital of Pisidia. They preach in the synagogues, remember the Gospel is offered to the Jews first.

Each Sabbath the synagogue would follow a sequence of scripture readings throughout the year. With Paul's reference to Deuteronomy 1:31 and Isaiah 1:1-27, we can tell it was the 44th Sabbath of the year which normally landed in July/August. It was customary for guests to speak so Paul stood. Remember, the synagogue is full of Jews and devout Gentiles.

As he speaks, he finds common ground and starts with David--a beloved King of Israel. Then he builds his case for the promised Son of David: Christ.

Do you think if he had preached Christ in the synagogue to start with, would he have been well-received? Remember, he is preaching to Jews and Gentiles who want to be Jews. So calling to their minds scripture referring to David and the Messiah helped to build his point. He even refers to John the Baptist, a prophet who was respected and cousin to Jesus.

When I read verse 26, I could almost hear the crowd's collective gasp.

"Brethren, sons of Abraham's family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. Acts 13:26

Check it out, he calls brethren the "sons of Abraham's family"--Jews...AND "those among you who fear God" --Gentiles.

There must have been surprise at both ends of the spectrum...great Joy for the Gentiles, and great shock for the Jews. Because they both believed the Messiah came only for the Jews. He goes on, quoting scripture and calling to their minds prophecy. He reminds them there is a punishment worse than physical death. He has a captive audience and they are hanging on his words. So much so that when he ends, several follow him...asking more questions, wanting to know more.

When you share Christ, there will be some who reject what you are saying. Remember they are not rejecting you, but Christ. The ones that keep asking questions and keep crossing your path are the ones He is calling. When a door opens to share, walk through it.

Paul and Barnabas are the talk of the town. And the next Sabbath, practically the whole town shows up. Immediately the Jews are jealous. They see their control being undermined. They could see their offerings and donations drying up. They see officials who used to ask them for counsel on lawmaking turning a deaf ear to them. They see their livelihood taking a nosedive. All because two men came to town and spoke in their synagogue. They started to back talk Paul, to contradict what he was saying, they heckled him.

Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. Acts 13:46

They reminded them of prophecy in Isaiah:

He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth." Isaiah 49:6

Many Gentiles came to Christ. But look how the Jewish officials, the ones who thought they knew what God was up to reacted. And we must ask ourselves, how do we avoid shaking our fist at the air when we think God has changed his mind? We must stay in the Word, then we will know His mind and understand when plans seem to go South on us. Like the Gentiles who had studied hard and wanted to be included, they understood when Paul reminded them what the Isaiah had said. But the officials thought they had God figured out and they were in a win-win situation. They forgot all about scripture that pointed to Christ and the Gentiles.

The Jewish officials weren't done yet. They appealed to devout women who were high up in the social ladder. These women worked on their husbands who then drove Paul and Barnabas out of the district.

This is a warning to wives. We have the ear of our husbands. They want to please us...remember that saying, "When momma aint' happy, nobody's happy!" Too many of us are guilty of nagging our husbands to action. Whether it's for good things or bad, we do not honor our husbands by pushing them to action! We do this by pushing him to join that committee, write that check, make that phone call...We sign him up for something or give him the cold shoulder until he submits to what we want him to do. The Bible says to honor our husbands. Where is the honor for a husband who has a wife that "wears the pants" in the family? Too often our husbands do not step up to the task because we've already butted ahead of him.

de·vout (d-vout)
adj. de·vout·er, de·vout·est
1 : devoted to religion or to religious duties or exercises
2 : expressing devotion or piety
3 a : devoted to a pursuit, belief, or mode of behavior

Let this verse speak to us as "devout women".

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these {men} also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes's and Jambres's folly was also. 2 Timothy 3:1-9

My question is this: are you simply devout, religious...always learning but never grasping with your heart? Or are you truly seeking a relationship with Christ through His word? We can be very knowledgeable, but our "devout" self image can trip us up and we fall into a trap just like the devout women in Acts.

The People's New Testament Commentary said of the Gentiles in this chapter, "It is God's ordination that those of humble, teachable, honest hearts, seeking the truth and life, shall come to life when it is offered, and such accepted the gospel on this occasion."

The people who are called to Christ will receive Him. You may just be a sower of seed and never see the harvest. Or, you might be the one who leads another to Christ. It's up to the Holy Spirit, not us, to lead others to Christ.

Whenever you face selfish-willed and contradictory spirits instead of real discussion, it's time to leave. There are those out there who are looking for a good fight. They are either devil-driven, or they're mad at God and will refuse to have a healthy discussion. These ones you need to leave to God. Shake the dust off your sandals...you want no guilt clinging to you for their choice.

Because in the end it is all about free will.

And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:52