Acts 22:30-23:10
Dear RTB’ers,
Paul in Jerusalem, continuing. We have a hint today concerning yesterday’s confusion. Recall my comment yesterday: “Up to this word they listened to him. (v. 22a) It’s confusing to me also why the Jews listened to Paul ‘Up to this word…’, and then turned against him.” What “word” bothered them? Today we read that …some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” (v. 23:9b) Reading this verse, it seems that yesterday’s “Up to this word…” had to do with Paul twice claiming that he had spoken directly with God (Paul speaking): “And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me…” (v. 22:8a); and “And the Lord said to me…” (v. 22:10b) Presumably Paul’s claiming to have spoken directly with God amounted to blasphemy for them. My thoughts…
And Paul said, “ … it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’” (v. 23:5) Since I am clearly guilty of Paul’s admonishment in this verse, I looked up that Old Testament quote (Exodus 22:28). Specifically, it says, You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people. So thankfully, even though I have spoken evil of (some of) our leaders, I have not specifically cursed them. In fact, I have made it a point to pray for them whenever I think about it, as we do every Sunday at church. In this day and age, our political leaders in both parties are clearly in need of prayer!!
Blessings!