03/22/2021 – Day 309 – Acts 13 – 14 // 2 of 2 – Ch 14
14:4 – Let’s look at this for this is us today. Just a generation ago, we had our butts in the pew on Sunday. But we were lukewarm. Scripture says: “You are lukeward; I will spit you out.” Now , we are progressively and steadily moving to a world where there is no middle. Spiritual warfare that has been going on throughout the history of the world is heating up. And soon, there will be no “sitting on the fence” between the two, playing life “safe”.
Now, let’s check out what Matthew Henry writes on the situation in Iconium. Here is Matthew’s commentary:
“The division which this ocassioned in the city (v. ): The multitude of the city was divided. It seems the business of preaching the gospel was so universally taken notice of that every person, even of the multitude of the city, was either for it or against it, none stood neuter. We may here see the meaning of Christ’s prediction that he came not to send peace upon earth, but rather division . Luke xii. 51-53. If all would have given in unanimously into his measures, agreeing here, the breach was wide as the sea. It is better that part of the city go to heaven , than all to hell. Let us not think it strange if the preaching of the gospel ocasssion division, it is better to be persecuted as dividers for swimming against the stream than yield ourselves to be carried down the stream that leads to destruction.”
Ok, a pause – to be continued tomorrow. We will witness how Paul and Silas will be mistaken for the gods Mercury and Jupiter, respectively. Paul gets Mercury for he is the talker…
Come back again within the week; I can’t let this go…
03/23/2021:
Devout Jewish people were not easy converts. Why? 1) Recall, you couldn’t even look into the face of God , for if you did, His holiness would just vaporize you in an instant. 2) So, then you are told that this itinerant rabbi/ carpenter from Nazareth was in fact crucified and rose again to save our sins. Well , there are “suffering servant” Messiah passages in the old testament, Psalm 22 being just one example. But the Jewish people chose the conquering hero Messiah that would usher in a kingdom here on earth. So which one did they grab onto? Uh, yea… 3) Here in Acts, the prophecies of Isaiah come to fruition , and the gospel is extended to the Gentiles. But wait, a minute , we are the chosen covenant people. Who are these pagans? As these verses note, the jeolousy feeds on itself, as we see in these verses. The diaspora Jews reject Paul and Barnabas, and then, the Gentiles seem to take to it like ducks to water.
In Lystra, Paul and Barnabas are proclaimed as Mercury and Zeus in the flesh , after they heal a crippled man, attributing of to their power, not God’s. And then the beligerent Jews from Antioch and Iconium appear and actually win the crowd over. Where is the Lystra crowd to defend them, that just a few minutes ago were proclaiming them gods. Doesn’t this illustrate the fickleness of worldly people?