Audio Download

Acts 22:1-30  I Will Send You Unto The Gentiles

[Study Aired September 3, 2023]

Act 22:1  Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.
Act 22:2  (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)
Act 22:3  I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.
Act 22:4  And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
Act 22:5  As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.
Act 22:6  And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.
Act 22:7  And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
Act 22:9  And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
Act 22:10  And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.
Act 22:11  And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.
Act 22:12  And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,
Act 22:13  Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
Act 22:14  And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.
Act 22:15  For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
Act 22:16  And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Act 22:17  And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;
Act 22:18  And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
Act 22:19  And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:
Act 22:20  And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.
Act 22:21  And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.
Act 22:22  And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.
Act 22:23  And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air,
Act 22:24  The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.
Act 22:25  And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?
Act 22:26  When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman.
Act 22:27  Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.
Act 22:28  And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.
Act 22:29  Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
Act 22:30  On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.

In our last study Paul had been apprehended by the Jews who had falsely accused him of teaching the Jews, which were among the Gentiles, that they should forsake the law of Moses and no longer circumcise their children. Here is that lie as it was told to James, the Lord’s brother:

Act 21:21  And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.

James knew Paul was teaching no such thing. Nevertheless, he asked Paul to demonstrate to the “many thousands of Jews that believe” that he was indeed ‘walking orderly and keeping the law’ of Moses by “being at charges” with four men who had a vow and purifying himself with those four men:

Act 21:23  Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Act 21:24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.

Paul had no objections whatsoever to James’ request and took the four men who had a vow, entered the temple with them and initiated the seven days of purification, after which an offering would be made for all five of them. Just before the seven days ended, this is what happened in the temple:

Act 21:27  And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him,
Act 21:28  Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.
Act 21:29  (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)
Act 21:30  And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut.
Act 21:31  And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

The chief captain “took soldiers and centurions and ran down unto” the mob and rescued Paul and saved his life “as they went about to kill him.” The chief captain asked the mob what Paul had done wrong, and because he got a lot of conflicting answers, he decided to take Paul into the castle and examine him. “When he came upon the stairs” leading into the castle, Paul asked the chief captain for permission to speak to the angry multitude, and the chief captain consented and gave him license to do so. Paul now has the opportunity he has always desired to speak to his own people en masse at Jerusalem and give them his own incredible testimony of how he, too, had zealously fought against the gospel of Christ. He especially wanted to tell them how and why he had become a follower of Christ.

Act 22:1  Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.
Act 22:2  (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)
Act 22:3  I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

Paul identifies with the zeal of the multitude. It is the same zeal he had before he was struck down on the road just outside Damascus. Paul had no problem identifying with how all these Jews, who were all “zealous of the law”, felt when being lied to and told that Paul was teaching that Jews living among the Gentiles no longer needed to keep the law, and that he had brought a Gentile into the temple and had defiled the temple. He is hoping that if he tells them the extraordinary circumstances of his conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ he can convince them ‘that the things they are informed of concerning him are nothing, but he himself walks orderly and keeps the law.’

Act 21:24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.

To that end he tells them what brought him to become a follower of the very way that he, too, once hated:

Act 22:4  And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
Act 22:5  As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.
Act 22:6  And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.
Act 22:7  And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
Act 22:9  And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
Act 22:10  And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.

The way the Lord instructs Saul of Tarsus about “all [the] things which are appointed for [him] to do” reveals how He instructs each of us until this very day:

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places [within us (Luk 17:21)] might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

Just as the Lord used Ananias as His spokesman, that is how He uses us to this very day.

Act 22:11  And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.
Act 22:12  And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,

Ananias was a devout Jew and was “walking orderly and keeping the law” just as Paul was teaching the Jews to do. He points this out in commending Ananias’ devoutness to demonstrate that he himself also keeps the law.

Act 22:13  Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
Act 22:14  And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.

The same is true for each of us today if we are given to distinguish the voice of the True Shepherd from the ‘voice of a stranger’:

Joh 10:4  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

Act 22:15  For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
Act 22:16  And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

Baptism was part of the law which Paul is here instructed by Christ Himself to keep. “Calling on the name of the Lord” means that Paul was baptized in Jesus’ name, not in the name of the Father and the Son and the holy spirit. It is the same throughout the book of Acts. All baptisms were “in the name of Jesus.”

Act 2:38  Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Act 8:16  (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

Act 19:5  When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Act 22:17  And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;
Act 22:18  And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
Act 22:19  And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:
Act 22:20  And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.
Act 22:21  And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.

“I will send you far hence unto the Gentiles” was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak. The multitude had been willing to hear that the Lord had told Paul the people of Jerusalem would reject his testimony concerning Christ, but they would not tolerate being told that the Lord Himself had sent Paul to the Gentiles. Paul certainly didn’t come out and say that the Jews were being “broken off” so the Gentiles could be “grafted in”, but telling them that the Lord had informed him while he was “in the temple, in a trance [that the people of “Jerusalem… will not receive thy testimony concerning me” and that the Lord would “send [Paul] far hence unto the Gentiles” was enough to make any Jew who was carnally ‘zealous of the law’ to want to destroy Paul, just as Paul himself had earlier wanted to destroy those who preached Christ. The doctrine of the salvation of the Gentiles apart from the law of Moses was as radical at that time as the doctrine of the salvation of “all…in Adam” is today.

Rom 11:15  For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Rom 11:17  And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Rom 11:18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Rom 11:19  Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
Rom 11:23  And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
Rom 11:24  For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?

Paul here reveals, for those with eyes that see, when all Israel shall be saved:

Rom 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in [At the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death (Rev 20:11-15)].
Rom 11:26  And so all Israel [and all men (1Co 15:22, 1Ti 2:4, 1Ti 2:10, 2Pe 3:9, 1Jo 2:2)] shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Rom 11:28  As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
Rom 11:29  For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Act 22:22  And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.

Telling the Jews about the salvation of the Gentiles in Paul’s day was like telling Christians that:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

As a ‘very good elderly Christian’ of my own family emphatically told me when I read that verse to her, “That’s your opinion. The Bible does not teach that everybody will be saved!” The religious world believes that they are much more righteous and deserving of ‘going to heaven’ than all those less religious sinners in the world.

Like many ‘Christians’ of today, “if [they] had a holy ghost machine gun they would blow [such heretics] away to the glory of God” to quote a well-known American mega-minister. The Jews of Paul’s day, who signify the ‘Babylonian Christians’ of today, did not simply say, “Away with such a fellow.” What they said was, “Away with such a fellow from the earth!” In “believing a lie” they wanted Paul dead. Death is the fruit of believing a false doctrine:

2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned [G2919: ‘krino’ judged] who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

“Every man’s works” are tried because we all first “should believe a lie that [we] all might be judged.”

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Biblical ‘fire’ does not torment people forever with no purpose or goal in view. Biblical ‘fire’ produces salvation for “every man”. However, very few are being judged in this present age:

Luk 17:26  And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Luk 17:27  They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all [Very few saved].
Luk 17:28  Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
Luk 17:29  But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all [Very few were saved].

Luk 18:7  And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Luk 18:8  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth [Very few saved]?

As James pointed out to Paul, there were indeed “many thousands  of Jews… which believe”, and since “they are all zealous of the law”, the believing Jews themselves may very well have been part of “all the people” who, out of zeal for the law, “laid hands on [Paul]…and… went about to kill him” because they had been falsely told Paul was teaching the Jewish Christians among the Gentiles to forsake the law of Moses and because they had falsely been told that he had brought a Gentile into the temple.

James and the elders knew Paul had done no such thing, and they were very happy to see him.

Act 21:20  And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:

Act 21:27  And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him,
Act 21:28  Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.
Act 21:29  (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they [falsely] supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)
Act 21:30  And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut.
Act 21:31  And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

Act 22:23  And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air,
Act 22:24  The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.
Act 22:25  And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?

This is a good practical example for each of us of how to “use this world” without abusing it:

1Co 7:31  And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.

Claiming one’s earthly citizenship to avoid a physical beating is not at all to deny one’s heavenly citizenship:

Php 3:20  For our citizenship is in the heavens, whence also a Saviour we await–the Lord Jesus Christ–

Act 22:26  When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman.
Act 22:27  Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.
Act 22:28  And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.
Act 22:29  Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

Paul’s actions in this case are an example of how we are to be ‘wise as serpents but harmless as doves.’

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Mat 10:18  And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

Paul claimed his Roman citizenship to avoid an unlawful beating. That is being ‘wise as a serpent but harmless as a dove.”

Act 22:30  On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.

In our next study Paul will again demonstrate how to be wise as a serpent but harmless as a dove when he finds himself in a no-win situation.