American Loon

All Glory to God the Father and to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

We will head back to our story of 2 weeks ago. Paul and his friends were in Jerusalem, going through purification, as dictated by the Elders of the church. The reason why Paul and his friends were doing this is because of having an extended stay in Asia Minor and they were considered unclean. When you brushed elbows with Gentiles, that made you unclean. Plus, the friends of Paul were very likely Gentile converts and that made all the Jews nervous. Acts 1:1-26 covers this.

As we found out 2 weeks ago, there was a stone with an inscription that was thought to be installed on the Temple wall. It had been found in the late 1800’s when archaeologists had been digging in Jerusalem. The script was thus: “NO MAN OF ALIEN RACE IS TO ENTER WITHIN THE BALUSTRADE AND FENCE THAT GOES ROUND THE TEMPLE. IF ANY ONE IS TAKEN IN THE ACT, LET HIM KNOW THAT HE HAS HIMSELF TO BLAME FOR THE PENALTY OF DEATH THAT FOLLOWS.”

The Jews knew of this as they probably saw it every time they went to the Temple. Anybody of the Jewish faith would be shocked that Gentiles would be allowed in the Temple. And what puts shine on the apple was that it was Paul that did this. Their boy Saul (Acts 9:1-9), now Paul, and working for Jesus instead of holding the coats of those that would stone prophets. See Acts 7, the whole chapter for this. It is a good read and I encourage you to check it out.

Paul, being Jewish, was exempt from what was being asked of his friends, as told to him by James, the brother of Jesus, not James, the brother of the “one whom Jesus loved”, which was John. But Paul, out of love for his friends and wanting to show these nervous Jews that they were willing to satisfy the Law to make everybody happy.

James, the brother of Jesus, was the head of the Jerusalem church and had made this decision to calm the waters of Jewish discontent. Not all were on board with the inclusion of Gentiles.

Acts 21: 20-26 And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; 21 and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. 22 What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; 24 take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law. 25 But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.” All of this we covered two weeks ago, but it is good to bring us back up to date.

These zealous for the Law Jews would need something from the Law, namely Purification, to make this bitter pill easier to swallow. And like I mentioned, Paul was a Jew and did not have to do any of this. But that’s not what Jesus taught. Your love of fellow man requires you to do these things, so that your lesser faithed friends would gain faith by your participation. We see a good example of how this works in:

Galatians 2:11-14 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. 13 The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?

Peter had been eating with his new friends, the Gentiles. Everything was fine until men from the Jerusalem church showed up and started giving Peter the stink eye about him hanging with his new friends. Remember, these Jews were the “zealous for the Law” types. So zealous in fact, they could not reconcile their old beliefs with their new beliefs. Peter had a weak moment and stopped eating with his new, but now old and un-welcomed friends. It takes Paul to upbraid Peter to his face to set things back into perspective and right. Which must have been a defining moment to both Paul and Peter. Peter, the man Jesus told to “tend His sheep.” Paul a former enemy of Christ and now Apostle by the direct commissioning of Christ Himself. One Apostle councils and corrects another Apostle’s weak moment. The Gentiles had to have noticed their Jewish friend had not been a good or lasting friend. Everything told to them by Paul and Barnabas was that we are all one big inclusive church and that love rules all. After Paul had stopped hanging around and eating with them, they had to be wondering about that.

Matthew 22:37-40 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

The Bible is a continuing source of wisdom for those that seek it. In what I have written, the story of Paul and his friends, we find a story that is applicable today, or applicable to those at any point in the past. How is that you might ask. Here we have a disciple making new disciples. Brotherly love of one man for another. Doing something that would not cause a brother or sister whose faith is not as strong as yours to fall. Example: You can drink wine, your brother or sister was brought up believing that all alcohol is wrong. God has said in Acts 10 verse 15 “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” So, in spite of that, you do not drink wine when you are around those whose faith in God would be questioned. You could apply this lesson in oh so many ways. Masks and distancing to name a few.

Disciple making:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’”
Mark 16:15

“‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”
Acts 1:8

That whole sitting in the pew, fidgeting and glancing at your watch doesn’t cut it. Really.

Brotherly Love:
“And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me.” Matthew 25:40

“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;” Romans 12:10

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!” Psalm 133:1

“Better is a dish of vegetables where love is Than a fattened ox served with hatred.” Proverbs 15:17

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:35

And so on. The Bible is sprinkled with references to Brotherly Love. This is from John MacArthur: “Other common errors include equating love with emotionalism or sentimentality, or confusing it with a friendly spirit of tolerance and brotherhood toward others—often apart from any consideration for doctrinal purity or biblical convictions. But biblical love is none of those.

The “more excellent way” Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 12:31 is love that comes from God Himself and conforms to His holy attributes. We have no capacity to generate it on our own. The Greek word for that kind of love is agapé, and it is characterized by humility, obedience to God, and self-sacrifice. John 13:1 says of Christ’s love for His disciples, “He loved them to the end.” That literally means He loved them to perfection—to the limits of love. In verses 4-5 He demonstrates His love by washing their feet. Love is humble. It focuses on meeting needs.

In addition, love is obedient and willing to make sacrifices for others. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). God made the supreme sacrifice for us in that He “so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16).

First Corinthians 13 applies to Christians of every generation because we all face the danger of misusing our spiritual gifts. As we study it and other passages about love, ask yourself if your love is all that God wants it to be. If not, take note of what changes you need to make in light of what you’re learning.”

Did you catch that? We have no capacity to generate the love required by God, on our own. The love God wants from us is humility and obedience to Himself, along with self-sacrifice. Think about that, I mean really think about that and how it applies to your life.

And keep in mind that Paul and his friends have been grabbed by the crowd, hustled out of the Temple, and the doors slammed behind them. We will head that direction next week.

In the meantime, read your Bible, study your Bible, for we know not the span of our days. You don’t want to be left thinking you’ll get around to it and then one day you hear a soft voice in your head “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ Luke 12:20

All Glory to God the Father and to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

Something a bit more topical than usual.

We are living in interesting times. There are those that see this as a sure sign of the end times and Christ’s imminent return. While that may be a possibility, the scriptures state that God has kept the time of Christ’s return known only to Himself.

Mark 13:32 But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

I have always had an interest in history and from my reading, there have been many times in the past that looked to the people who were living through it, that the end was nigh. As I watch the country I grew up in unravel, I think we are not looking hard enough at the big picture. The really big picture is how God sees things. Is He happy with how we as a country have followed His Will?

Hence, I see this as God’s wrath at a people who have rebelled against his Word and Will. We have, as a people, and I am talking about Americans here, codified into the law of the land, the murder of infants in the womb. In a time of only essential services being allowed to be open for business, via an edict of your local Caesar, Planned Parenthood was open and running. Churches were closed, but Planned Parenthood was open and providing its “essential” service. Those were scare quotes by the way.

So how do you suppose that God is going to feel toward a country that has kicked him out of most of our lives? Churches, many churches, have opened their doors to the world and adopted social issues, rather than spiritual truths. The Bible does deal with social issues:

Matthew 5:44
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Romans 12:1-2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Lamentations 4:3
Even jackals offer the breast; they nurse their young, but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.

Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
That last one has to make us all a little uncomfortable. God knows each of us before we are born.

Psalm 139:16
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

And yet the Supreme Court of our Land says that woman’s choice is the law of the land.

All of the above is my argument that COVID 19, Black Lives Matter, Defund the Police, riots, schools being closed and the mask mandate are His wrath at our rebellion and not necessarily an indication of immediate (more or less) end times. And I say again, I could very well be wrong about that.

Fine and dandy you say, but what do we do about this?

Have you ever wanted God to speak to you? To have direct chat with you, telling you about Himself and His will and what He wants from us? Well, have I got a deal for you. He wrote a book.
Nah, that old thing, you reply. And I don’t like reading. Hearing this, I naturally wonder if you raised by wolves?

Seriously, God wrote a book. 40 authors over 1500 years, and a consistent story. And after reading it, studying it and teaching from it, I find that it is timeless. Sure they talked, dressed and smelled differently back then, but there is nothing new under the sun. That little saying comes from:

Ecclesiastes 1:9
That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done is that which will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.

Which is thought to be written by Solomon, the wisest man in the world. And I have to agree with him. Now getting back to God writing a book:

2 Peter 1:20-21
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

There are more things like this in the Bible when you start reading it, or listening to it if you don’t like reading. Amazon has lots of audio versions of the bible.

Getting back to what should be done about God’s wrath being played large across the land. Well first of all the acknowledgement that we deserve it. Fear not, the bible has an answer as to how to bring us back into alignment with God’s will. In fact there are quite a few examples of how people found themselves suffering God’s wrath and did something, and then they found we have a Merciful God. What did they do? They wholeheartedly repented, and God’s Mercy was shown to them. The key word here is wholeheartedly.

Let’s look at an example. Jonah, the guy that spent some time in a big fish. If you went to Sunday school, Jonah was a favorite one to use because of the big fish. Maybe you didn’t go to Sunday school (see the wolves comment above) and don’t know the story. Jonah was chosen by God to go tell a sinful city to repent or else.

Jonah 1:1-3
The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

Jonah was a man much like us, born to sin, and hearing the word of the Lord telling him to do this thing, thought nope, and ran in the other direction.

Jonah 1:3
But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

Have you ever done something that you knew was wrong, but did it anyway? We go back to “nothing new under the sun.”

Jonah 1:4-6
The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”

What we see here in Jonah’s day is what we see in our day. Calling upon their own god or idol, and notice a small “g” god, to save them. What would that be now in our day? BLM, Feminism, LGBTTQ or even our own political alignment. Sometimes it is just chaos that some people have for a god/idol. Jonah tried to run from his God. The captain and crew were terrified and asked him to appeal to his God.

Jonah 1:7-9
Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”

Interesting that the captain and crew’s god had no effect on their fate. Just like today. Your small g god/idol will have no effect on what you hope to accomplish. Just cast you further into sin. Jonah’s God, our God, the true Living Word, arranged the lots to fall upon Jonah, as they have now fallen on us.

Jonah 1:10-17
10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” 13 However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they called on the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”

15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah fessed up and into the sea he went. And our Lord had the perfect penance, a time for reflection you might call it.

For those of you getting antsy over what my point is, I will speed things up and come to my point. Jonah was told to go to Nineveh and tell them to repent.

This is from John MacArthur’s Study Bible, this being his commentary:

Jonah 3:5 Jonah’s experience with a fish in light of the Ninevites’ pagan beliefs certainly gained him an instant hearing. From the Divine side, the wholesale repentance was a miraculous work of God. Pagan Sailors and a pagan city respond to the reluctant prophet, showing the power of God in spite of the weakness of the servant.

And here is the payoff or my point, if you will.

Jonah 3:5-10
Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. 7 He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. 8 But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. 9 Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.”

10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

Everybody in that day knew the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. You’ve got a strange prophet in your town, one who says he was swallowed by fish. He’s saying change your sinful ways or else. The king of Nineveh got what the “else” part could mean. And everybody, man and beast were to be covered with sackcloth. I checked with Amazon for sackcloth and all they could offer is burlap.

But what I want you to understand is, if we are under the wrath of God, the bible shows us, more than once, what we must do. Sure, you didn’t protest, riot or burn any building, at least I hope not. But you are of this people who has abortion, gay pastors and marriage as laws of the land, to name a few. Daniel understood this and included himself in the sins of his people, while Daniel himself was righteous before God.

Daniel’s Prayer for His People
Daniel 9:3-10
Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

True contrition of the heart and repentance is required from each and every one of us. On your knees repentance. The bible truly is God’s breathed out Word and as such provides the information you need to live in these troubled times. Read it, study it and pray to God for wisdom in the scriptures.

All Glory to God the Father and to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

Just one question today for review:
Who have we been talking about for the last several weeks?

Answer: John 1:6-8
6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

Today I thought we would be covering John 1:9-13 but wanted to take one more swing at this Nazarite business. We find in Acts 21 that Paul and his friends had come back to Jerusalem after an extended stay in Gentile lands. They were considered, by those fastidious Jews, to be unclean, brushing elbows with a people they reviled. Little did they know that because of their hard hearted ways, God had included Gentiles in his saving Grace and that would really stick in their craw.

Act 21:17-26
17 After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.
18 And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.
19 After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law;
21 and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.
22 What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.
23 Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow;
24 take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law.

This shaving of the head was a practice commonly associated with a Nazarite vow. Num. 6:18

25 But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.”
26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

So you see that being a Nazarite, this special vow unto God that you would be sober minded in all things, in accordance to God’s will, carried some weight upon the shoulders of those that held this vow. Shaving their heads would be noticeable to all and out of the ordinary for the average Jew. Just travelling around with Paul had to be quite an experience. You would likely be included in beatings and the occasional stonings just for hanging around with the guy.

Also take note that this part of Acts is just before the Jews seized Paul for basically forsaking his Jewish heritage and bringing the knowledge of the Light to the Gentiles.

So, with that thought in mind let’s follow where Acts leads us. John will just have to wait a bit.

Acts 21:27
27 When the seven days were almost over, (this being the purification process) the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him,

These Jews from Asia had come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. These same Jews had followed Paul around in Asia like a bad smell and knew him by sight. So they probably had been watching Paul eagerly as he passed in and out of the courts of the Temple. He was seized, with all the tokens of his purification still upon him (compared with Acts 24:18), about to offer sacrifices, and raised a cry which was sure to throw the whole city into an uproar.

The standard period of time for a vow of a Nazarite was for 30 days. It could go longer, of course, but not shorter. And to complete the purification process, a sacrifice was called for. These Jews from Asia knew this and grabbed Paul before he could sacrifice. Paul, knowing that Christ had removed the need for sacrifice, was doing this because it was the traditional end of this kind of vow and more than likely for the men that were with him.
We find in MacLaren’s Expositions, which is a commentary I quite often use, this bit of text describing Paul’s actions:

“The stronger a man’s faith, the greater will and should be his disposition to conciliate. Paul may seem to have stretched consideration for weak brethren to its utmost, when he consented to the proposal of the Jerusalem elders to join in performing the vow of a Nazarite, and to appear in the Temple for that purpose. But he was quite consistent in so doing; for it was not Jewish ceremonial to which he objected, but the insisting on it as necessary. For himself, he lived as a Jew, except in his freedom of intercourse with Gentiles. No doubt he knew that the death-warrant of Jewish ceremonial had been signed, but he could leave it to time to carry out the sentence. The one thing which he was resolved should not be was its imposition on Gentile Christians. Their road to Jesus was not through Temple or synagogue. As for Jewish Christians, let them keep to the ritual if they chose. The conciliatory plan recommended by the elders, though perfectly consistent with Paul’s views and successful with the Jewish Christians, roused non-Christian Jews as might have been expected.

This incident brings out very strikingly the part played by each of the two factors in carrying out God’s purposes for Paul. They are unconscious instruments, and co-operation is the last thing dreamed of on either side; but Jew and Roman together work out a design of which they had not a glimpse.”

A disposition to conciliate, this is a pretty good description of what we all need to think about when it comes to other people’s faith. My sterner interpretation of scriptures is quite often at odds with a disposition to conciliate. I have had a problem with the “Faith, but” attitude I find in many people. I understand God to be sovereign over all things and I do mean all things. To the point that if God chose to make an example of me for my sterner than thou ways, I might possibly walk out of this room with leprosy. A disease that is not at all common in this land. And He might get a hearty round of applause for doing that.

Paul went through a purification process and was going to carry through with a sacrifice that he knew was not necessary, but his brethren needed because their faith was not one where Jesus knocks you off your horse and asks you why you are doing what you have been doing.

How do we handle our friends, family and others that are in fear of dying, in fear of catching the COVID 19, or anything at all, now? They are afraid of being closer to another human than a very arbitrary distance of 6 feet. We have people that have stopped coming to our church because they think we are in violation of the governor’s Emergency Powers Act of a strong recommendation of wearing masks and keeping our distance to other people no closer than 6 feet. However, if you are protesting, you are good to go. As of yet there is no mandate to wear masks, but still we have people that are convinced that mask-wearing is essential for something or other, and angry at you if you don’t wear one in their presence.

So how do we handle these people? That their faith is not our faith, which I admit is a little bit troubling to think about. The Apostle Paul went the extra distance, to the point of almost being killed at the temple by these rabble-rousing Jews.

Back to Paul, the whole city is in an uproar, and it’s a two-part outrage. First part, Paul who they have been dogging through all of Asia Minor is now standing in the temple in Jerusalem. They bring against Paul virtually the same charge as what they charge Stephen with and that is found in Acts 6 verses 11 to 13, so let’s go there.

Acts 6:11-13
Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
12 And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the Council.
13 They put forward false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law;

So they charge Paul with speaking against Moses and God and generally making a nuisance of himself..

The second part is that he brought Greeks, uncircumcised Gentiles into the Holy Place. The specifics of this is beyond the middle wall of partition (Ephesians 2:14) which divided the court that was open to strangers from that which none but Jews might enter.

We find in Ephesians 2:14
For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,

Christ is our peace and brought Jew and Gentile together. He tore the curtain down the middle at his crucifixion, removing the barrier to coming to God without a sacrifice, because He was our sacrifice. And the Jews weren’t buying it, still aren’t buying it.

Here’s an interesting bit of history that was dug up by the Palestine Exploration Society in 1871. They found a slab which illustrates the horror with which the Jews looked on such a desecration. Its contents show that it must have formed part of the low wall just mentioned:—“NO MAN OF ALIEN RACE IS TO ENTER WITHIN THE BALUSTRADE AND FENCE THAT GOES ROUND THE TEMPLE. IF ANY ONE IS TAKEN IN THE ACT, LET HIM KNOW THAT HE HAS HIMSELF TO BLAME FOR THE PENALTY OF DEATH THAT FOLLOWS.” This, accordingly, was the punishment which the Jews of Asia were now seeking to bring on St. Paul and his friends.

Let’s jump back a bit, and again go through Acts 21:17 and beyond. Paul steps off the boat and gets a warm welcome. We’ll pick it up there. The Bible tells the story much better than I do.

Act 21:17
17 After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.

18 And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

19 After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

20 And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law;

21 and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.

22 What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

23 Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow;

24 take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law.

25 But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.”

26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

The next thing you know, Jews are pulling their hair out and wanting to kill him. For Paul that’s pretty much a typical day.

Let us continue at verse 28:

28 crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

30 Then all the city was provoked, and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.

They closed the temple doors so they could piously claim that he was not killed in that Holy Place.

We go back to MacLaren’s Expositions:
“Notice the carefulness to save the Temple from pollution, which is shown by the furious crowds dragging Paul outside before they kill him. They were not afraid to commit murder, but they were horror-struck at the thought of a breach of ceremonial etiquette. Of course! for when religion is conceived of as mainly a matter of outward observances, sin is reduced to a breach of these. We are all tempted to shift the centre of gravity in our religion, and to make too much of ritual etiquette. Kill Paul if you will, but get him outside the sacred precincts first. The priests shut the doors to make sure that there should be no desecration, and stopped inside the Temple, well pleased that murder should go on at its threshold.”

And we will leave it right here just like they used to do in the old black and white serial movies. A cliffhanger if you will. Paul and friends grabbed, about to be killed on the temple steps.

Rom. 15:5-6 – May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Nazirite or Nazarite, both spelling are accepted.
When a Nazirite completed a vow he was to cut his or her hair and present the locks of hair, which represented the duration of the oath of service, at the Temple in Jerusalem where it was to be burned on the sacrificial Altar with animal and grain sacrifices. The sacrificial requirements for a completed vow were an expensive undertaking and often wealthy Jews would sponsor a poor Nazirite who had completed a vow. The required offerings are described in Numbers 6:13-21:

a ritually perfect male lambs to be entirely burnt up on the Altar
a ritually perfect female lambs as a sin sacrifice which after having been roasted on the Altar the Old Covenant priests will eat.
a ram to be boiled and then eaten by the offers and their families in the Holy Place as a communion offering
along with unleavened bread and wine to accompany the sacrificial meal.
the appropriate cereal offerings and wine libations for the Altar sacrifice and the sacrificial meal.
In addition to the “ram without blemish” for the communion (peace) offering, the Nazirite had to provide a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine wheat flour mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil in addition to the regular meat offering and wine libation [Numbers 6:14, 15]. The Mishnah explains how and in what proportions the unleavened bread that accompanies the communion sacrifice was to be prepared and that all was to be offered in one vessel. The sin offering [which the offerer could not eat but would be eaten by the priests] was the first sacrifice presented, then the holocaust sacrifice which would be wholly consumed in the fire of the Altar, and finally the sacrifice which was the communion or peace offering, which reestablished fellowship with Yahweh after He had accepted the offerer’s atonement for sins in the sin sacrifice.

According to the Mishnah, after the required animal, grain and wine sacrifices, had been offered by the priest the Nazirite withdrew to the Nazirite’s chamber which was located in the Court of the Women. There the peace offering cut up and was boiled in a cauldron and cutting off the hair that had remained unshorn during the length of the vow, the hair was then thrown into the fire under the cauldron. The priest then “waved” the offering as it is described in Numbers 6:19 & 20, and the fat was salted and burned upon the holy sacrificial Bronze Altar in the courtyard of the Temple. The breast of the sacrificed animal, the fore-leg and the boiled shoulder of the peace offering as well as the waved cake and wafer of unleavened wheat flour belonged to the priests. The loaves of unleavened bread and the remaining meat of the communion sacrifice were eaten by the Nazirite and his friends and family.

In Acts 21:18-26, James the first Christian Bishop of Jerusalem requested that St. Paul, as a sign of good faith and solidarity with his Jewish brethren, sponsor 4 Nazirites who had completed their vow period: So the next day Paul took the men along and was purified with them, and he visited the Temple to give notice of the time when the period of purification would e over and the offering would have to be presented on behalf of each of them.” Paul in obedience to James submitted to a Old Covenant ritual which no longer had any real meaning in the New Covenant of Jesus Christ for every Christian had now been consecrated to accepting a lifetime vow of service in the royal priesthood of believers who received the sacrament of baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. The Latin word sacramentum is translated as “oath”. In the Sacraments we swear our oath of consecrated service to the Most Holy Trinity and claim that one perfect sacrifice that is ours for all time and eternity. In the Book of Hebrews, St. Paul writes:”He says first You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the cereal offerings, the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them; and then he says: Here I am! I am coming to do your will. He is abolishing the first sort to establish the second. And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ made once and for all.” Hebrews 10:8-10.

In this sense all New Covenant believers serve God as perpetual Nazirites who are not defiled by death for our Savior has conquered death. In our vow of holiness we offer our lives as a living sacrifice in service to Christ: “I urge you, then, brothers, remembering the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, dedicated and acceptable to God; that is the kind of worship for you, as sensible people. Do not model your behavior on the contemporary world, but let the renewing of your minds transform you, so that you may discern for yourselves what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and mature.” Romans 12:1-2

By Michal Hunt, https://www.agapebiblestudy.com/documents/The%20Nazirite%20Vow.htm

All Glory to God the Father and to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

We will start with a bit of a review from last week.

Question 1: What were the names of John the Baptist’s parents?

Answer: Luke 1:12-13
12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.

Question 2: Where did John the Baptist grow up?

Answer: Luke 1:80
“And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.”

Question 3: What was John the Baptist’s life dedicated to from birth on?

Answer: Luke 1:15
“For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.”
The term for this is Nazarite. There was some confusion last week over what a Nazarite was. At all times a Nazarite was to control his appetite and passions to be in harmony with God’s moral law. There is more to it than that of course and for a complete study of it, I would refer you to Numbers chapter 6, Judges chapters 13 and 16 and Amos chapter 2. These are all the areas I found to have references to describing what a Nazarite is and the particulars of being a Nazarite.

Question 4: As a Nazarite, what were the foods that John ate that made him stand out from the average Jew?

Answer: Matthew 3:4
Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Question 5: Who were the two prophets that prophesied that a man would come and be a herald of the coming of Christ?

Answer: Isaiah 40:3
A voice is calling,
“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

Malachi 3:1
“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.”

So the Jews had ample warning that their Messiah was coming and that a man preaching from the wilderness and clearing the way, as seen in both Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1

We ended last week with the beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry. Matthew 3 describes all of Judea and the surrounding districts as going out to be baptized in the River Jordan by this man wearing camel hair and preaching to them to repent of their sins. John’s mission can be summed up by one word, “prepare.” He was to prepare the way for the coming of Christ.

Matthew 3:11
11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Hundreds, if not thousands, were immersed by him. And his success was solely in the message he proclaimed.

The multitudes said that he performed no “sign,” though they regarded his message concerning Christ as true:

John 10:41
“Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.”

This passage appears to indicate that John did not perform demonstrative miracles, as Jesus and the apostles did, found in:

Matthew 10:1
Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

The power of John’s preaching, together with the void in Israel’s hearts, did what the Pharisees and Sadducees, with rules added to the backs of the Jews, could never do. You could never be righteous enough according to the law and that was the whole point of the coming of Christ. He, the Divine Light, would come and remove the need for animal sacrifice for atonement. A great example of this in Matthew 22, verses 34 to 46:

34 But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.

35 One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him,

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38 This is the great and foremost commandment.

39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question:

42 “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They *said to Him, “The son of David.”

43 He *said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet”’?

45 If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”

46 No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.

The Pharisees and Sadducees also came to John the Baptist wondering if he perhaps was the Christ, this is where we left off last week, with John berating them as a brood of vipers, which must have been very satisfying to those in the crowd that had heard this exchange.

The high priests had gotten curious as to why so many people were traveling to the Jordan River and from the reports that they had received, along with their knowledge of the scripture, they started thinking that perhaps this might be the Christ. So they sent their boys, these soon to be called Vipers, down to the Jordan River to talk to a hairy man with a camel skin garment, to ask him “Are you the Christ?”

John 1:19-23
19 This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

20 And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

21 They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

23 He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

You can understand their confusion, they had read the scripture, and this guy was doing his baptism thing in the river, telling people to repent for judgement is coming. This fits their idea of who the Christ might be. John the Baptist says “No, I am not the Christ.” You have to remember the term Christ means Messiah. When we say Jesus Christ, what we are really saying is Jesus the Messiah.
Messiah comes from the Hebrew word, Mashiach, meaning “the anointed one,” or “the chosen one.”

Now these vipers grasp on to the next possibility, which is Elijah. Scripture says he’ll come again.

Malachi 4:5-6
5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.

6 He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

“Well, who are you then so we can report back to our masters and what do you have to say about yourself.” A bit of paraphrasing there. Reading that from scripture, from something that was written more than two Millennia ago, you can just hear their frustration. They’re going to have to go back to their masters and say no, this man says he is not the Christ, and he is not Elijah, just a man crying out in the wilderness, preparing the way for the True Divine Light. And I like that John the Baptist can quote Isaiah 40 verse 3, the very scripture that prophesied of a man in the wilderness crying out, making the path straight for the coming of the Lord.

And all the while more and more people were traveling out to the Wilderness, to the River Jordan, to hear this man and be baptized, repenting of their sins, for that is what he was teaching.

With that out of the way the next event that happened in John the Baptist’s life was the realization of the prophecy, Jesus came to be baptized.

Matthew 3:13-17
13 Then Jesus *arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.

14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”

15 But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *permitted Him.

16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him,

17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

This must have been a very bittersweet moment for John. The very reason for his existence, predicted so long ago. The reason he did not drink wine or eat grapes, the reason he spent his life in the wilderness and felt compelled to baptize people with water, knowing that he was just the messenger. Jesus walks into his life and says baptize me. What do you do when your creator says to do something? You comply and do it.

And so he did it, and shortly afterward he heard Jehovah Himself telling everyone within earshot “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”

That was pretty much the culmination of John the Baptist’s work. As we go through the scripture, we will see other references to John the Baptist, of him introducing his disciples to Jesus the Lamb of God. He continued his work, pointing out to his disciples, Behold the Lamb of God. So we will leave John right here, having met Christ, baptizing Him and hearing God the Father saying He is well pleased.

Numbers 6:22-26
“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”