Acts of the Apostles (50)
Introduction
We see in this passage how the sovereign God moves all things in accordance with His purpose and will, and He turns the machinations of the wicked back upon them. Right at the jump, God had told Paul that he was going to bear witness to Christ in Rome; he need not worry. All plots against him would therefore misfire.
The Text
“And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul . . .” (Acts 23:11–35).
Summary of the Text
The Lord encouraged Paul that night, assuring him that he would bear witness in Rome, just as he had in Jerusalem (v. 11). This indicates that the idea of testifying in Rome was the long game that Paul had in mind as he was insistent on going to Jerusalem, despite all the warnings he received. Here the Lord confirms him in that plan. So the next day more than forty Jews bound themselves with an oath, saying they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul (vv. 12-13). They came to the Council and told them this, and suggested a plan to them—the Council should ask for another opportunity to question Paul, and they would kill him while he was on the way (vv. 14-15). Paul’s nephew heard of it and came to warn Paul of the plot (v. 16). Paul called one of the centurions and asked him to take the boy to the Captain, which the centurion then did (vv. 17-18). The Captain took him aside privately by the hand and asked for the message (v. 19), which the boy delivered (vv. 20-21). So the Captain sent the boy away with a charge to tell no one about it (v. 22). The Captain then ordered a force of 470 men to escort Paul to Caesarea at nine in the evening (vv. 23-24) and provided a mount for Paul (v. 24).
The Captain sent an accompanying letter to Felix the governor, a letter designed to fudge the details just a bit. To the most excellent governor Felix, he wrote, greetings (v. 26). This prisoner had been taken by the Jews, who would have killed him if not for the prompt action of the Captain who, having discovered that Paul was a Roman, came and rescued him (v. 27). You should recall that he actually discovered Paul was a Roman right when he was on the verge of having him flogged. Everything after this part was accurate enough though. He had wanted to know more and brought him before the Jewish Council (v. 28). It was there he learned that Paul had done nothing worthy of death or imprisonment, but that it was just another Jewish wrangle over words and stuff (v. 29). He then mentions the fact that he was made aware of a plot against Paul, and so he sent Paul to Felix. He reported that he had told Paul’s accusers to take their complaint straight to Felix (v. 30).
And so the soldiers, as commanded, took Paul to Antipatris that night (v. 31), a city halfway between Jerusalem and Caesarea. The next day the foot soldiers returned to Jerusalem, leaving Paul to go on to Caesarea with the 70 cavalrymen (v. 32). They came to Caesarea, delivered the Captain’s letter, and presented Paul to Felix (v. 33). Felix read the letter and asked Paul was province he was from, and learned it was from Cilicia (v. 34). He said that he would hear Paul out after his accusers had arrived. Until then, Paul was to be kept there in Herod’s judgment hall (v. 35).
Paul’s Nephew and Jerusalem Intrigues
Agabus had predicted that Paul would be seized in Jerusalem, and turned over to the Gentiles (Acts 21:11). This had now come to pass, but the Gentiles wound up serving as Paul’s guards and protectors.
We are given a tantalizing glimpse of Paul’s extended family. Paul’s nephew (his sister’s son) heard of the plot against Paul (v. 16). We are told that he is a young man (neanias), and we can see that he is very young in the fact that the Captain takes him aside, leading him by the hand (v. 19). This creates the possibility that Paul’s sister was much younger than he was—Paul was in his early to mid-fifties by this point. Shortly after this, in the epistle to Philemon, he refers to himself as “aged” (Phile. 9).
Now the conspiracy against Paul was organized at the highest levels, involving forty men and the Council, which means that Paul’s family was close enough to the corridors of power (still) to have become aware of the plot. We don’t know that they were Christians, but we do know that there was at least familial sympathy for Paul. I still remember how much this story delighted me as a young boy. The conspirators were not going to eat and drink until they had killed Paul, and I thought “I bet they are pretty hungry by now.” However, they probably would have been able to get some kind of rabbinical workaround that would release them from their oath. They were most likely planning to conduct this murder on the stairs leading down from the fortress—defiling the Temple with a murder.
We can see that this was a very serious situation—the Captain was concerned about the security of Jerusalem, in that the 400 foot soldiers returned to Jerusalem as soon as Paul was safely out of harm’s way. The Captain wanted those troops back on the scene.
And so, instead of a successful assassination, what happened? Paul was brought out of Jerusalem with an escort fit for a prince.
A Few Details About Felix
Felix, the Roman governor at this time, was a brutal man. He had originally been a slave, and had been emancipated by the emperor Claudius, or possibly the mother of Claudius (who was the daughter of Mark Anthony). Felix’s tenure was marked by all kinds of societal disturbances (terrorists, messiahs, false prophets, sicarii), which Felix responded to with real brutality in kind. The Roman historian Tacitus noted that Felix “practiced every kind of cruelty and lust, wielding the power of king with all the instincts of a slave” (Histories 5.9). All of this background makes the comment made by Tertullus in the next chapter (24:2)—that “by thee we enjoy great quietness”—a bit of flattery and pretty funny.
We will see in the next chapter that Felix would tremble when Paul reasoned with him about righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come . . . and he had reason to tremble (Acts 24:25). We will see in the next chapter that Felix was married to a Jewess named Drusilla, who was the younger sister of Bernice, who was living with their brother Agrippa (amid rumors of incest), who show up in chapter 26. Drusilla had been married off at fifteen to a king, Azizus, but Felix had stolen her away from him with the help of a sorcerer. Drusilla and Felix had a son, another Agrippa, who died in the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D.
Watching Out for Paul
Now it is quite true that the Captain wrote his letter to Felix in a way that intended to cover up for his earlier blunder in ordering that Paul be flogged. He did streamline the truth a bit there, watching out for himself. But notice also how this Roman soldier, not a believer, goes out of his way to protect Paul. He gives Felix his opinion that Paul did not deserve death and he did not deserve chains (v. 29). In addition, he tells the story in such a way as to make it clear that he was sending Paul to Felix because Paul’s accusers were not acting in good faith, planning murder as they were (v. 30).
The Invisible Hand
In the book of Esther, God is not mentioned by name once—but at the same time, His protecting and providential hand can be seen throughout the entire narrative. It is the same kind of thing here. God had said that Paul needed to testify in Rome (v. 11), and with that end in view, without mentioning God again, we can see how seamlessly all the chess pieces were moved to their necessary places—including the would-be assassins.
So what is the application for you? Always remember how the doctrine of God’s sovereignty is such a comforting doctrine. Whatever your challenges, whatever afflictions beset you, the cupped hands of your everlasting Father are around you. You must not ever think of yourself as somehow just caught in the machinery.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him (Ps. 34:7).