Holy Scriptures and Israel

Gideon Levytam: The study of Acts Chapter 21, look at this, verse 23. "Are they ministers of the Messiah? I speak as a fool. I am more in labors, more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent." And notice the last three words in verse 23: "In death often." Can you imagine living your life often in the danger of death? They wanted to kill him in Asia Minor wherever he was traveling, and now they wanted to kill him right there outside of the temple after they shut the door. They wanted to kill him, and the Apostle Paul said, "I was in my life as a servant of the Lord. Oftentimes, I experienced near death."

You remember earlier also in Chapter 14 when they took him as if he was dead after they stoned him? So he was all his life under the danger that maybe he was going to leave this scene because there was so much opposition to the message of the Gospel of the Messiahship of Yeshua. He was the one that was used by the glorified Messiah to send him to the Gentile world to preach the message of the Gospel. You remember we were just talking in our Bible class in the Book of 1 Corinthians Chapter 1? "For the preaching of the cross to them that perish, it is foolishness, but to us that believe, it is the power of God."

The world looks at the message of the Messiahship of Yeshua and the Gospel message—the Messiah's death on the cross—as foolishness. There is hatred towards that message because, by preaching that message, men have to recognize and confess that they are doomed to eternal separation from God if they do not accept the message of the Gospel. Paul was preaching it without shame, without fear, and that is why we find him saying, "I often was in a situation that was a near-death situation in my life." What a life to live on the edge, always at the edge. Just the next—who knows what is going to happen in the next day, in the next moment? He was living for the Messiah, living for Yeshua, the glorified Messiah.

So the city was moved, and the people were about to kill him in verse 31A. In verse 31B to verse 33, he somehow, by the grace of God, was delivered out of their hands, and he was bound by the chief captain of the temple. Somehow, by the grace of God, he was delivered out of their hands. We read in this verse 31: "And tidings or news came unto the chief captain of the band, and all Jerusalem was in an uproar." This chief captain, verse 32, "immediately took soldiers and centurions and he ran down unto them. And when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul."

Then verse 33, we read: "And when the chief captain came near, he took him (that is, Paul) and he commanded Paul to be bound with two chains and demanded who he was and what he had done." Now, that is also interesting because this person who was the chief captain heard because he was responsible over the temple. The chief captain was actually a commander of a thousand Roman soldiers. I understand that there were about 6,000 Roman soldiers, and there were six captains there in the Jerusalem area. When he was the chief captain over 1,000 soldiers and heard there was a problem in the temple area and one man was in danger of being killed, immediately he took soldiers with him.

Notice it says "centurions." A centurion is a commander of a hundred. Because we have a plurality here, he may have taken two or three hundred commanders and their soldiers, maybe two or three hundred soldiers. He brought them in, and notice it says "he ran down." He ran down from where? Well, apparently, brothers and sisters, at that time in the temple area, there was a castle that is called really the Antonia Fortress. It was a castle that was built by Herod the Great, and it was connected to the temple. There were towers there, and out of these towers, the Roman soldiers could look into the temple.

They could see what was going on in the courts of the temple to make sure that there was order, to make sure that things were okay and there was no uprising and disorder. So he went down. Apparently, he went down and sent those soldiers down from these towers of the Antonia Fortress into the outer court. That would be the court of the Gentile. There, they saw the Apostle Paul ready to be killed by those Jewish people who came from Asia who had not acknowledged the Messiahship of Yeshua. When he sent them, the soldiers came in, and those people saw them; they stopped beating the Apostle Paul.

Can you imagine they beat him and they beat him? He must have experienced again a near-death experience, as he has mentioned in 2nd Corinthians Chapter 11. "Often time in death often," in near-death experiences often. So when they saw this chief captain and the soldiers, they stopped beating the Apostle Paul. Then the chief captain took him, and he commanded him to be bound with two chains, and he demanded who he was and what he had done. I'm sure as he was speaking and wanted to know who is this man, what has he done, why is it that so many people are against him?

You and I know very well that what the Apostle Paul did, he has done nothing wrong. He simply accepted that Yeshua was the Messiah and that he was called to be a servant of the Messiah to share with the world, including his people, the message of the Gospel. So he has done nothing wrong. He simply came to have the vow of the Nazirite to show his brethren, his people, that he is not against the law, he is not against the temple, he is not against the Jewish people, but he is a believer in Yeshua the Messiah.

So the captain wanted to know who he is, what he had done in verse 33. Now, as we're moving on towards the end of this portion, we find out in those last verses here that verses 34, 35, and 36, there was a crying against Paul and the violence against the Apostle Paul. You can see that it is brought into the surface here. "Some cried one thing, some another thing among the multitude. And when he could not know the certainty for this confusion, he commanded him to be carried into the castle."

When he came down out of the castle on the steps down from this tower of that castle, he came into the outer court. That will be the court of the Gentile. He wanted to know who the Apostle Paul was and what he had done. So people were saying, "Oh, he did this," and others, "He did this." They were accusing Paul right there in that outer court. I've seen various things such as this happen. Some of my trips, I've seen people accusing one person and shouting at him and speaking against him. In fact, I have experienced this right in Israel where there were some Jewish believers having an outreach and how they were accused, and one said this and another said this. There's confusion. Some say things they don't even know, but they just joined the crowd.

You remember, brothers and sisters, how when Yeshua was walking into the city of Yerushalayim, how they accused him? In fact, again, we were talking in the Gospel of Mark how everyone was accusing Yeshua—everyone. The soldiers were mocking him, the Roman soldiers. The passersby were raging at him, railing at him, speaking against Yeshua the Messiah. The priests were saying, "Oh, he saved others, himself he cannot save." Even the thieves on the cross were railing at him, as we read in Mark Chapter 15. Later on, one of them recognized that he was wrong, and he stopped railing and he confessed before him and he says, "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

But people were railing, everyone was against the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Now we see how all the crowd was against the servant of the Lord. I don't know if you've ever can imagine what it must be to experience such an experience where everyone is around you and accusing you and beating you and shouting at you and condemning you. Can you imagine? You remember that is exactly what the Apostle Paul said earlier: "I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of our Lord Yeshua." This is what he said in Chapter 21, the same chapter, in verse 13.

So Paul was ready to give his life for the name of our Lord. What a devotedness this servant had been. So this chief captain, when he could not make out what they said—this one says one thing, the other one says another thing against Paul—he decided and he says, "You know what, let's take the Apostle Paul, let's take this man out of here." He commanded him to be carried into the castle. Again, I remind you that castle is what Herod the Great had built very near to the temple. Therefore, this Antonia Fortress was that they could overlook and see what was going on in the temple and how things were going on.

The Romans were concerned that the Jewish people would rise against them, and so they were watching very carefully what was going on in that temple. So the cry is in verse 34. Some say one thing, others said another thing against Paul. So this captain told them, "Just take the Apostle, take this man and bring him now into the castle." So notice that it was carried by the soldiers. Apparently, maybe he didn't have any more strength maybe to stand or so, or maybe the soldiers probably surrounded him and protected him because they were really ready to kill him.

So it says in verse 35: "And when he came upon the stairs," notice that, those stairs are towards the towers of this Antonia Fortress. "When he came upon the stairs, so it was that he was borne (notice, carried) of the soldiers for the violence of the people." They just wanted to get him away from them, to do him out. They didn't want him anymore, and that's why they earlier said those statements: "This is the man that teaches all these things against the people, against the law, and against the temple." They really hated the Apostle Paul.

You know, Paul, he knows that very well because he has done the very same thing to the early Jewish believers whom he persecuted, who he hated, whom he wanted to kill them, whom he was also pursuing them, bringing letters from the chief priest in order to grab them and to bring them and ultimately to judge them. So he has experienced what he himself had done to his own Jewish brethren. Interesting that here's a Jewish believer. Once he was not a believer, he has done it to his brethren. Now as a believer, he is experiencing this from his brethren. Very interesting to see how the table is turning, and it all happened when he made a decision for Yeshua the Messiah.

So the violence of the people was tremendous. So in verse 36, we see the rejection of Paul by the multitude. Look at this: "For the multitude of the people followed after, and look what they cried. They cried, 'Away with him!'" And if you notice, if you turn to Chapter 22 and verse 22, they said it again later on: "Away with such a fellow!" You know, brothers and sisters, this is something that is sad to know about our people who do not want for us as Jewish people to believe in the Messiah. They think we have gone so much astray and have done so much wrong and says, "Away from such a person."

This is what we call fanatic view and action, fanatic to the extreme. It happened among our Jewish people; it happened in various religious systems in the world then when a person changed his ways or goes in a different direction, there is that mob hatred against that person that they want to put him away totally. It's happened in many religious groups as well, as we know that from history. You remember Paul as well? It happened to him in Ephesus where they actually the mobs came in the arena there and they wanted actually to kill him as well. It happened to him before, and it happened in many religious groups today because of religion—the hatred that comes, and it's so extremely sad and extremely troubling.

So they say, "Away with him." It's the same thing that happened to Yeshua the Messiah in Luke Chapter 23 when they said, "Away with this man" as well in the Gospel of Luke. So you see, they wanted totally to remove the Apostle Paul. They really wanted him actually to be killed. This really brings us to the end of the chapter before the Apostle Paul is going to speak to the multitude in verses 37 to 40. Paul requests from the chief captain to speak to his Jewish brethren. In verse 37, we read the request, first of all, to talk to the chief captain.

Paul was to be led into the castle, so as he was going to go into the castle, on the way, he said unto the chief captain, "May I speak with you?" He kind of stopped there and he said, "Can I speak with you?" He wanted to talk to the chief captain so he will grant him permission to speak to his own brethren. So the chief captain, in verse 37B and verse 38, the chief captain said to him, "Can you speak Greek?" Well, apparently, Paul could. "Can you speak Greek? And he says, 'Are not you or are not thou that Egyptian which before these days made an uproar and led out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?'"

Apparently, he assumed or he thought that Paul may be that Egyptian. Apparently, there was a man, an Egyptian man, that was very well known by the people of Israel, by the Jewish community, by the Romans. He must have had something happen earlier, a certain Egyptian that came to Israel into the temple area, and before these days, he made an uproar, and he led out into the wilderness 4,000 men who were murderers. These men apparently were anti-Romans, and they didn't like anybody who supported the Romans. From what I understand, they were actually Jewish men who came from Egypt, and they had a leader.

They did not support the fact that the Romans are in charge over the Jewish community. They didn't want the Romans to rule them. Therefore, they were kind of causing all kind of uproars in the city, in the temple against those who supported the Romans. So he was thinking that here's an uproar in Jerusalem, here's again another one that's causing problem that everybody is against them. So he thought, "Are you that Egyptian which before those days made an uproar? Are you that one that caused this uproar?" And Paul was not that one.

Paul was never using all sort of means to hurt people. Even if he did not agree, he never used carnal means against anyone. He was never a hater. He was a lover of Yeshua, a lover of the nation, a lover of mankind. He spoke the truth in love. So he thought that he was that Egyptian that claimed, I understand, he claimed to be a prophet and wanted the Romans totally not anymore to rule over our Jewish people. So Paul said to him, and brothers and sisters, look at this, and we're going to conclude with this in verse 39 and verse 40. Look what Paul is saying to him, and I love that.

He's saying to him in verse 39, Paul responding to him and he says, "I am a man which am a Jew, of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city, and I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people." Paul was saying to the chief captain here, he says, "I'm a man which am a Jew." I told you this many times in the past when someone who met me years ago, a Christian man, a godly man, a Bible teacher, he came and he said to me, "Are you the one who used to be a Jew?" And I said to him, "No, my dear brother, I am a Jew." Not was a Jew and now became a non-Jew.

You know, it is interesting that people know the Bible very well, and they need to take the Scripture for what the Scripture says. Paul never was a Jew and became non-Jew since he became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah. No. He was a Jew, he remained a Jew, he will be a Jew, he will die a Jew, but he's a Jew who believes that Yeshua is his Messiah and Savior and Lord. So he said to him, "I am a man which am a Jew." In Romans 11:1, he says, "I am an Israeli." In Philippians 3:5, he says, "I am a Hebrew." He was a Hebrew, he was an Israeli, he was a Jew.

I should say it this way: he is a Hebrew, he is an Israeli, he is a Jewish person who believes in the God of Israel through the person of Yeshua the Messiah. So he responded in such a beautiful way: "I am a man which am a Jew, and a Jew of Tarsus." Tarsus was in the province of Cilicia. Apparently, it says here about Cilicia, Tarsus by the way in the present day Turkey today. Apparently, he's saying which is a citizen of no mean city. Now, I was looking at that, what does it mean "no mean" city? Really, an insignificant city. In other words, that city was a large city. There was a large population. It was a city that is well-known city, the city of Tarsus, and that's where he came from.

The Apostle Paul, while he was a Jewish person who was born in Tarsus, but he was constantly under the study of the Hebrew Scripture, under the study of Gamaliel, Rabban Gamaliel—we're going to read about him a bit later. Even though he was born in the diaspora, yet he's saying he knew the language, he knew the people, he knew the religion or the religious activity of his people, he knew the law, he knew the Word of God. "I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, the city of Cilicia, a citizen of not an insignificant city, a well-known city, and I beseech you," he's saying to the chief captain, "suffer me to speak unto the people."

Now, would you want to speak unto the people who wanted just right now to kill you and to do away with you? You might say, "I do not want to speak to them." But you see, Paul loves his brethren, love his people, and he wanted to speak to them to share with them why he believe what he believe. In the last verse of this chapter, he opened his mouth and he began, notice, he began to speak to his Jewish brethren in the Hebrew tongue. We call it in Hebrew, we say Be'ivrit, basafa ha'ivrit, in the Hebrew tongue.

It says in verse 40: "And when he had given him license, he waited to get permission. Paul stood on the stairs," this is the stairs towards the tower of the Antonia Fortress. "He stood on the stairs, he beckoned with his hand, he lifted up his hands like that towards the people, the multitude, the groups that were all waiting there, wanted him to be getting away from them. He lifted up his hands to the people, and when there was made a great silence, everybody was quiet."

Then he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue saying. He spoke unto them in their mother's tongue, in his own mother's tongue. You know some people says, "No, he spoke Aramaic." No, the Bible doesn't say he spoke in Aramaic, even though he may have known Aramaic, but here we read that he spoke in the Hebrew tongue, the Ivrit, the Hebrew language, which was the nation's language. That gave him an opportunity to get their attention. You could see that by speaking in their mother's tongue, in his own brethren, in his own tongue, he received the attention of the people. We read that there was a great silence, and he began to speak unto them in the Hebrew tongue.

We find that expression "Hebrew tongue" mentioned a few times. It's mentioned in Chapter 22 and verse 2, in fact, it mentioned in Chapter 26 and verse 14, where Paul was saying that he heard the Messiah speaking to him from heaven in the Hebrew tongue. Yeshua himself spoke to him from glory in the Hebrew tongue. We're going to get to that, beloved brothers and sisters, in the next chapters. But we are going to conclude today with this verse 40. He lifted up his hand and the silence among the multitude and he began to speak unto them in the Hebrew tongue.

I wish I could hear that because this is my mother's tongue, and it's such a precious thing to be able to hear the message of the Gospel in your own mother's tongue. That's why there are missionaries and servants around the world who preach the message of the Messiahship of Yeshua in the very language where the people could listen to this voice of the Lord in the very language that it's very dear to their hearts. Well, brothers and sisters, we're going to conclude here in verse 40. In the will of the Lord, we're going to continue as we study the Book of Acts next time, next ministry meeting that I speak in Chapter 22 on, so we can see what Sha'ul, what Paul said to his own Jewish brethren in the Hebrew tongue. May the Lord bless His word to us all. Can we say amen to that? Amen.