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Scripture Reading: Acts 21:18-26
In this message we shall continue to consider Paul’s situation in 21:18-26.
We have seen that, on the one hand, James and all the elders glorified God when they heard about the things God had done among the Gentiles through Paul’s ministry (vv. 18-20a). On the other hand, they pointed out to Paul that in Jerusalem thousands of Jews believed and were zealous for the law (v. 20). Furthermore, these believing Jews had been instructed concerning Paul that he taught “apostasy from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children, nor to walk according to the customs” (v. 21). James and the elders went on to make the following requirement of Paul: “Four men are with us who have a vow on themselves; take these and be purified with them, and pay their expenses that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things of which they have been instructed concerning you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the law” (vv. 23-24). As we have seen, the vow mentioned here is the Nazarite vow (Num. 6:2-5). To be purified with the Nazarites was to become a Nazarite with them, joining them in their vow.
According to verse 24, Paul was told to be purified with the four men who had a vow on themselves and to pay their expenses. The first thing a Nazarite had to do was to purify himself in the presence of God. According to the custom at the time, the rich would often pay the expenses of the offerings needed for a Nazarite to complete his purification. Sometimes the poor Nazarites could not afford to pay for all the offerings. Thus, they needed someone to help them with the expenses. Those who helped the Nazarites in this way joined themselves to them.
Here in Acts 21, for Paul to be purified with the Nazarites and to pay their expenses was for him to be joined to them so that the four would then become five. In the words of James and the elders in Jerusalem, if Paul were to be purified with the Nazarites and pay their expenses, all the believing Jews would know that Paul himself also walked orderly, keeping the law. But was Paul keeping the law? He certainly was not keeping the law. Nevertheless, James and the elders told Paul to join himself to the four Nazarites so that the Jewish believers would see that he kept the law. This was a serious, terrible, and mistaken requirement made by James and the elders.
In 21:25 James and the elders said to Paul, “But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should keep themselves from idol sacrifices and blood and anything strangled and fornication.” Their word here has the same old tone as that in chapter fifteen.
Acts 21:26 says, “Then Paul took the men on the following day, and having been purified with them entered into the temple, giving notice of the completion of the days of the purification, until the offering was offered for each one of them.” The completion spoken of here is the completion of the Nazarite vow (Num. 6:13).
I would call your attention to the word “having been purified.” Here we see that Paul had already been purified with the four Nazarites. He then took them into the temple and waited with them for the offering to be offered for each one. This time of waiting is indicated by the word “until.” Having been purified along with the four, Paul waited in the temple with them for the priest to come at the end of the completion on the seventh day to offer sacrifices for them all, including Paul.
It is very difficult to believe that Paul would be purified, enter into the temple, and wait for the offerings to be offered by the priest. He did this after writing the Epistles to the Galatians and the Romans, books that were written not long before he came to Jerusalem. Although it is difficult to believe that Paul carried out the word of James and the elders, it is a fact that he joined himself to the Nazarites and went with them into the temple.
As we shall see in a later message, there was an uproar against Paul (21:27—23:15), and he was seized by the Jews in Jerusalem (21:27-30). Concerning this, 21:27 and 28 say, “Now when the seven days were about to be concluded, the Jews from Asia saw him in the temple and threw all the crowd into confusion; and they laid their hands on him, crying out, Men, Israelites, help! This is the man who is teaching all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has profaned this holy place.” This uproar took place “when the seven days were about to be concluded,” that is, on the seventh day. Humanly speaking, Paul’s intention in going into the temple was to avoid trouble. Actually, his going into the temple with the four Nazarites caused a great deal of trouble for him.
Suppose Paul had decided not to go to the temple but simply to stay with the brothers in the house of Mnason, with whom Paul and his companions were to lodge in Jerusalem. Let us further suppose that Paul had said to the brothers, “I do not care for the temple, because God is finished with it. Brothers, did the Lord Jesus not tell us that God has forsaken the temple? I am practicing the Lord’s word concerning us. The priesthood and all the sacrifices are also over. Therefore, I cannot go back to the temple to have any share in the offerings and the priesthood. Brothers, I would like to stay here to have fellowship with you.” Would not the situation have been very different if Paul had decided not to go to the temple and instead had spent his time having fellowship with the brothers? To be sure, the situation would have been very different.
In chapter twenty-one of Acts Paul was compromising. He was the writer of the Epistles to the Galatians and the Romans, yet not long after these Epistles were written, he took the step described in this chapter. For Paul to take such a step was a great compromise on his part.
According to 21:26 and 27, Paul was in the temple waiting for the completion of the days of the purification. He was to be in the temple until the priest came to offer the offerings for him and the four others. How could Paul bear to stay in the temple for that period of time? Do you think he was happy? Do you think he was joyfully praising the Lord? Paul could praise the Lord when he was in prison in Philippi (16:23-25). But do you think he could praise the Lord there in the temple in Jerusalem? Apparently, the temple was a much better place for Paul than a prison. However, that prison in Philippi actually became a holy place, even the heavens, for Paul, whereas the temple in Jerusalem was a prison for him. In a very real sense, Paul was imprisoned there in the temple, unable to be released. Paul had become “trapped” in that situation.
Although Paul was imprisoned in the temple, the Lord had a way to release him from this prison. The Lord used the Jews to accomplish this release. In particular, the Lord used the uproar caused by the Jews to take Paul out of the temple. On the one hand, Paul was then in greater difficulty. On the other hand, he was released not only from the temple but also from the God-condemned mixture of the New Testament grace with the Old Testament law in Jerusalem. In His sovereignty the Lord protected His faithful servant from that terrible mixture.
We have pointed out that Paul went to Jerusalem the last time not only to carry out his loving concern for the need of the poor saints there, but also to have fellowship with James and the other apostles and elders in Jerusalem concerning the Judaic influence upon the church there. The decision made by the conference of the apostles and elders in Acts 15 to solve the problem concerning circumcision was not fully satisfactory to him. Therefore, in going to Jerusalem, Paul might have intended to clear up the Judaic influence on the church there. However, God had His own way to deal with the situation. In His sovereignty He allowed Paul to be arrested by the Jews and imprisoned by the Romans. He then allowed the terrible mixture of the grace with the law in Jerusalem to remain until the city was destroyed by Titus with his Roman army in A.D. 70. That mixture was terminated approximately ten years after the events recorded in Acts 21.
In the Gospel of Matthew the Lord Jesus prophesied the coming destruction of Jerusalem. For example, in the parable in Matthew 21:33-46 concerning the transfer of the kingdom of God, the Lord portrayed the leaders of the Israelites as evil husbandmen (vv. 33-35, 38-41), indicating that God would “miserably destroy those evil men, and will lease the vineyard to other husbandmen, who will render the fruits to him in their seasons.” This word concerning destruction was fulfilled when Titus destroyed Jerusalem. The Lord also predicted the destruction of Jerusalem in the parable in Matthew 22:1-14. In Matthew 22:7 He says, “And the king was angry; and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.” These “troops” were the Roman soldiers under Titus who destroyed Jerusalem.
In Matthew 23:37-39 we see the Lord’s forsaking of Jerusalem with its temple. Concerning the coming destruction of the temple, the Lord said to His disciples, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, A stone shall by no means be left upon a stone which shall not be thrown down” (Matt. 24:2). This also was fulfilled when Titus destroyed Jerusalem. According to the description given by Josephus, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple was thorough and absolute. Thousands of Jews were killed, perhaps including many of the Jewish believers. In His anger the Lord not only destroyed a rebellious nation of Israel; He also terminated Judaism and the mixture of Judaism with Christianity. When Jerusalem was destroyed, the source of the “poison” that was flowing out of it was also terminated. Therefore, the Lord had His marvelous way to deal with the situation in Jerusalem.
The Lord knew what was in Paul’s heart. He also knew that Paul was faithful but was not able to help the situation. Instead of helping it, Paul was trapped in it by compromising with it. However, the Lord used the uproar described in 21:27—23:15 to rescue Paul. The Jews seized him and were seeking to kill him (21:30-31). But a commander of the Roman cohort intervened, laid hold of him, ordered him to be bound with chains, and inquired concerning the situation (21:31-33). It was not the commander’s intention to protect Paul. He was simply fulfilling his duty to maintain order in the city. He could not allow such an uproar to continue. Therefore, he intervened, and through his intervention Paul was rescued. Actually, the commander’s intervention was Paul’s protection from the plot of the Jews.
Through the intervention of the Roman commander, Paul was given the opportunity to defend himself before the rioting Jews (21:40—22:21). Following that, he was bound by the Romans (22:22-29) and defended himself before the Sanhedrin (22:30—23:10). Because of the plot of the Jews (23:12-15), Paul was transferred to the Roman governor in Caesarea (23:16—24:27), where he remained in custody for quite a period of time. Apart from God’s sovereignty in using the Roman commander to protect Paul, he would have been killed. God sovereignly delivered Paul out of that threatening situation.
In His sovereignty the Lord caused Paul to have a dispensational transfer. Paul was in favor of such a transfer. He came to Jerusalem with the positive intention and strong purpose to help the believers there to experience this dispensational transfer. However, instead of helping them, he himself was eventually trapped in a situation of mixture and compromise.
Paul must have been unhappy when he was in the temple with the four Nazarites, for he did not have a way out of the situation. Paul must have regretted joining those who had the Nazarite vow. He might have regretted going to the temple instead of staying in the house of Mnason with his co-workers, keeping himself away from the attention of the Jews. Paul, however, joined himself to the Nazarites and went with them into the temple, where he was seen by Jews from Asia and seized by them. Their intention was to kill him. Who except the Lord could help the situation? The Lord was sovereign and helped Paul to have a complete transfer out of the Judaic mixture in Jerusalem.
As a result of what happened in Jerusalem, Paul was taken to Caesarea and was probably kept there for two years. We may infer that those two years were a profitable and an excellent time for Paul. What do you think Paul did during those years in Caesarea? What did he do while he was being kept from both his work and from the trouble caused by the plotting Jews? He may have been preparing to write the crucial books of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Hebrews. While Paul was in custody in Caesarea, he might have considered putting into writing those materials that would complete his ministry. Thus far, Paul had written only six of his fourteen Epistles: Romans, Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Although these books are basic, they are not as crucial as Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Hebrews. Before 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon were written, these four crucial books were written after Paul’s two-year period of custody in Caesarea. Just as Paul’s time in Arabia had much to do with the early part of his ministry, so the two years in Caesarea had a great deal to do with Paul’s upcoming writings in the completion of his ministry.
We need to be impressed with the Lord’s sovereignty in completing Paul’s transfer from the old dispensation to the new. Praise the Lord that such a transaction took place! In His sovereignty and wisdom, the Lord carried out such a complete transfer with Paul, and this transfer is fully recorded in the holy Word. Having this record in our hands, we can now see a full pattern concerning the complete transfer from the Old Testament economy to God’s New Testament economy.
