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BIBLE STUDY LESSON

For the week beginning Sunday July 2, 2017

PAUL APPEARS BEFORE FESTUS

Acts 25:1-22

   In Acts 25, three days after the new governor, Festus, had arrived in Caesarea to take over the office that was involuntarily vacated by Felix, he traveled to Jerusalem, and while there, he met with the Jewish leaders who then officially made their charges of heresy, sacrilege, and sedition against the Apostle Paul.

    The former governor, Felix, had been forced out of office because of his unethical and illegal practices in his dealings with the people of Judea. He had spitefully left Paul in prison for the last two years of his administration, because he had been unsuccessful in his attempts to extract bribes from him. He also wanted to gain the favor of the Jewish hierarchy in Jerusalem who sought to prosecute Paul on trumped up charges.

    While meeting with Festus in Jerusalem, the Jews tried to get him to transfer Paul back to Jerusalem for further questioning. They saw an opportunity to put their old plan of ambushing Paul while in route between the two cities, back into action. Remember they had tried to run the same scheme a couple of years earlier when they sought to trick the Roman commander, Lysias, into unwittingly going along with their plot.

    However, Governor Festus had another idea and he suggested that since he would be heading back to Caesarea soon, why don’t those of the Church who are in authority, ride back with him to see Paul. And if Paul has done anything wrong, they could address those charges then (Vs.1-5).

    The Jews found Festus to be quite different from Felix, and they realized very early that he was not one to be handled. He had little desire to come up against the Jews so soon and so he offered them a compromise they couldn’t refuse. And besides, none of the charges leveled against Paul mattered to Rome anyway. They weren’t concerned at all about the religious differences that they had with Paul. Those charges of heresy, sacrilege, and sedition were totally unimportant to Rome, and they certainly didn’t merit the death penalty that the Jews were seeking from them. And even the Jews themselves only believed that the heresy charge was legit. They knew full well that the charges of sacrilege and sedition were accusations that they made up in order to strengthen their case.

    Days later Festus returned to Caesarea to take over his new responsibilities, and the day after he arrived, Paul’s trial began (v.6). When Paul arrived at the courthouse, the Jews began to lay out many charges against him that they couldn’t prove. Paul declared his innocence against all charges saying that he was not guilty of any crime against the Jews, the Temple, or, the Roman government (Vs.7-8).

    Governor Festus, now wanting to please the Jews, asked Paul if he would consider going to Jerusalem to stand trial. However, Paul, knowing his rights as a Roman citizen, declined to go, saying, “This is the official Roman court, so I ought to be tried right here. You know very well I am not guilty. If I have done something worthy of death, I don’t refuse to die. But I am innocent, neither you nor anyone else has a right to turn me over to these men to kill me!” And then Paul declared the key words that could put a halt to the legal proceedings that he found himself in that day, “I appeal to Caesar!” (Vs.9-11).

    Festus then quickly conferred with his advisers who apparently informed him that he couldn’t proceed any farther, and he was forced to grant Paul his request to take his case before Caesar in Rome (v.12). By law, if a Roman citizen felt that they were not getting a fair shake in a provincial court, they could appeal directly to Caesar the Emperor, and so Paul did.

    A few days later King Agrippa arrived in town with his sister, Bernice, to pay their respects to Festus. In the course of their visit of several days, Festus took the opportunity to discuss Paul’s case with the king. He filled him in on the details of the case and the now curious king expressed that he would like to hear what Paul had to say for himself.

PAUL SPEAKS TO AGRIPPA

Acts 25:23-27

    And so the next day Agrippa received his opportunity to examine Paul in the regal setting of the auditorium there in Caesarea. There was great pomp and anticipation as the king and his sister Bernice, the governor Festus, and many other prominent men of the city gathered inside to witness the proceedings.

    Festus then ordered that Paul be brought in, and he introduced Paul to the royal audience who came to see the man whose death was demanded by both the local Jews, and, by those who resided in Jerusalem. Festus began by expressing that he himself didn’t see anything that Paul had done wrong, and certainly, he had done nothing that merited the death penalty, as far as Rome was concerned.

    But still, all things considered, Paul had appealed his case to Caesar, and even though he had no real charges against him, as far as Rome was concerned, Festus was bound by law to grant his request. However, having nothing to write to the Emperor concerning Paul (no relevant charges) it presented the governor with a dilemma, and it just didn’t seem reasonable or wise to send a case to Caesarea that had no merit. In fact, such an unwise decision might even endanger his newly acquired position as governor, by causing Caesar to question his judgment, and his ability to perform his new appointment over the province of Judea. Stay tuned!

A Sunday school lesson by,

Larry D. Alexander

Legendary Locals of Grand Prairie - Google Books Result

Larry Dell Alexander (1953–) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas

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BOOK BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY

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BIBLE STUDY LESSON

For the week beginning Sunday June 11, 2017

PAUL APPEARS BEFORE FELIX

Acts 24

   Five days after Paul was delivered to Caesarea by order of Lysias, the commander of the Roman garrison, to stand trial before the governor Felix, Ananias, the high priest, and a few of the Jewish leaders, arrived in town with their lawyer, Tertullus, to press charges against Paul.

    When Paul was called before Felix, Tertullus laid down the charges against him before the court in a dramatic, eloquent, and flattering style that would make even the best of our modern-day Prosecutors blush. In fact, it is even sickening the way this courtier kisses up to Felix who was known to be a man who accepted bribes for his favor. In the Old Testament times he would have been called “Dayyaneh Gezeloth”, the Hebrew term for “Robber Judges”.

    The anti-CHRIST Jews’ case against Paul (Acts 24:1-9) basically involved these three false charges;

·         They presented Paul as a troublemaker, and a disturber of the peace. Such a person would have been deemed as highly likely to involve himself, and others, into “civil disturbances”, something that was absolutely forbidden by the Roman Government.

·         They presented Paul as a leader in the “MESSIANIC Movement” and a member of the much-hated “Sect of the Nazarenes” (as they were referred to by the world), who were followers of the doctrine of JESUS CHRIST, and, who referred to themselves as “Adherents of the Way”, or, in short, “The Way”. They were considered to be, not only a threat to the Jews, but also, in many ways, a threat to the Roman Empire itself.

·         They falsely presented Paul as one had defiled the temple by allowing a Gentile (Trophimus) to enter into areas that were restricted to Gentiles.

    After the Jews sounded out in agreement with Tertullus’ charges against Paul (v.9), in verses 10-21, it becomes Paul’s turn to speak and Governor Felix motions for him to stand up and speak to address the charges being leveled against him. Here Paul offers up several points toward his own defense, and after giving the Governor his props, he begins his refutation. 

    The first thing Paul points out is that he hadn’t even been in Jerusalem long enough to stir up any kind of disorderly acts among the people, and even at this point, he’d only been in the area of Jerusalem for about 12 days. And no one could honestly say that they had seen him instigate a riot, nor a disturbance of any kind.

    Secondly, Paul points out that he is a devout follower of CHRIST JESUS, the SON of the living GOD of his ancestors, and that he firmly believes in the written law of GOD. He also went on to say that he has his hope in the Almighty GOD just as his accusers claim they do, and he believes that GOD will eventually raise both the righteous and the unrighteous from the dead.

    Paul goes on to explain to Felix that, after being away for several years on his third missionary journey trying to raise money to help relieve the famine in Jerusalem, he returned to deliver the proceeds, and to celebrate the Pentecost and worship and teach in the temple. In fact, Paul says, he was just completing a purification ritual when this whole debacle started. And there was no crowd around him at the time.

    After completing the purification ritual, as had been recommended by the Church leaders, Paul says that a group of anti-CHRIST Jews from the province of Asia, who, by the way, should be there to bring these charges (not these men), came and stirred up trouble for me, and in fact, tried to kill me. These men (the Sadducees) standing here bringing charges against me now, don’t have anything against me, except that I believe in salvation through CHRIST JESUS only, and, in the resurrection of the dead, while they don’t.

    Felix was quite familiar with the religious group called “The Way”, because his wife, Drusilla, was the daughter of Herod Agrippa I, and herself, was a Jewess trained in the Jewish tradition of having high regard for the things of GOD. She had been previously married to a man named Azizus, who was the king of Emesa. Felix seduced her from him and persuaded her to marry him. And so Paul had probably tweaked his feelings of guilt by drudging up his memories of the high morals of GOD, that he had so obviously violated, with his adulterous marriage to Drusilla, another man’s wife.

    Feeling quite disturbed at this point, Felix decided to adjourn the proceedings, and opted instead to wait on the arrival of Lysias, the commander of the garrison that brought Paul to Caesarea. Paul, however, was ordered to be kept under house arrest until then. Felix did grant him some freedoms, however, and he also allowed Paul to have visits from friends who could take care of his personal needs.

    A few days later Felix and his wife, Drusilla, sent for Paul, and they sat down and listened to him talk to them about faith in JESUS CHRIST and the things of GOD. As Paul spoke to them about righteousness and self-control, and also about the judgment from GOD that would inevitably come, Felix seemed terrified and very upset, and in fact, requested that Paul leave and come again at another time.

    However, unfortunately we see in verse 26, the underlying reason why Felix really wanted to see Paul in the first place. I said earlier that Felix was a “Robber Judge” who accepted payment to rule in a person’s favor. There Scripture tells us here that Felix was seeking an opportunity to extract a bribe from Paul. In fact verse 26 also tells us that after this first occasion, Felix often talked to Paul and he continually sought opportunities to line his pockets.

    Paul remained incarcerated for two more years before Felix was finally got caught up in some other wrongdoings, probably involving the extraction of bribes from some imperiled defendants, who had the misfortune to stand before him in front of the judgment seat. As a result he was recalled from his governmental post by Caesar, and Jewish history now tells us that his offense was so dire that he faced a possible death sentence if he had been convicted. In fact, he was actually saved from execution by his brother Pallas, and he was immediately replaced by Festus, and the Jewish leaders hurried to him to try and win his favor, hoping they could persuade him to help them in their ongoing plot to execute, or assassinate Paul.

A Sunday school lesson by,

Larry D. Alexander

Larry Dell Alexander (1953–) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas

LARRY D. ALEXANDER'S BOOK BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY

larrydalexanderbiblestudies.blogspot.com

            Larry D. Alexander's Books and Publications Spotlight

Larry D. Alexander - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

                                 

LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website

Clinton Family Portrait - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia