by Timothy W. Burnett
Paul not only went to great lengths to teach the truth to anybody, but he also committed himself to comforting and edifying the church of God. Paul held forth truths from God that was never known before. Much of them can still be learned today from what is available in the Bible.
Yet as meek as Paul was toward God in the overall ministry, he did not believe God's warnings about something very important. The record of this starts in Acts 20:22-24, "And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there. But only that the Holy Ghost witnesses in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God."
The words "bound in the spirit" were translated from earlier known texts which meant to be firmly resolved. As we continue this study it will be seen that he was not lead by God to Jerusalem. Instead he was lead by his own firm resolve to be there on the day of Pentecost.
Chapter 21 of Acts reveals some events related to God's warnings. Please notice in the above verses that Paul had already been warned prior to this. Now, according to Acts 21:3 Paul found disciples in Tyre who told him "by the spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem." This reveals God's will was. Understanding this will be important in a moment.
Later Paul came to Caesarea and stayed with Philip who had four daughters. His daughters were young women who were spiritually strong. It says they prophesied. Based on the context, we can safely deduce that they prophesied for him to not go to Jerusalem.
While with Philip, a man named Agabus from Judea traveled to Paul and also prophesied. More details are given in verse 11, "And when he was come to us, he took Paul's girdle and bound his own hands and feet and said, 'Thus says the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owns this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'" This reveals the result of Paul�s potential disobedience.
From the next verse we can see that Paul not only was ready to be arrested, but to die in Jerusalem. He openly said this even after being warned by the spirit of God to not go.
Up to this point we can see a clear distinction between what God's will was and what Paul's will was. They were on opposite sides. God did not want him to go, and Paul wanted to go.
Next we come to Acts 21:14, "And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, "The will of the Lord be done." After all that we read about people prophesying for Paul to not go to Jerusalem, suddenly it appears that they decided that it was God's will for him to go. What happened? Why the apparent contradiction? Why did they change their minds and say, "The will of the Lord be done." A closer look at verse 14 will reveal that there was no contradiction.
The common interpretation of this verse relies largely on the comma just before the word "saying" in the King James Bible. The earlier known Greek texts did not have punctuation marks.When we remove the comma in front of "saying," the verse would read, "And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased saying, "The will of the Lord be done."
We might make decisions that bind us, but God is not bound. He was still able to work through Paul as seen during the big storm in Acts 27:22 where he glorified God before the guards and prisoners. And according to Acts 28:31 Paul continued to teach about the kingdom of God and the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
Home