{"id":32483,"date":"2024-09-11T22:00:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-12T05:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts-22_17-30-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-08-06T20:46:42","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T03:46:42","slug":"acts-23_1-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts-23_1-11\/","title":{"rendered":"The God Who Stands Near You"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 23:1-11 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Acts 23:1-11.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 23:1-5 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.”
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Those who were standing near Paul said, “You dare to insult God’s high priest?”
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-5:\u00a0 Paul appears before the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin.\u00a0 He tells them that with a clear conscience he can say that he has fulfilled his duty to God, suggesting that those in the Sanhedrin who are upset with him are upset for no good reason.\u00a0 In response, the high priest Ananias, whom historians describe as a hot-tempered and corrupt leader, orders Paul to be struck on the mouth.\u00a0 Paul reacts strongly.\u00a0 He calls Ananias a white-washed wall (i.e. a hypocrite), promises that God will strike Ananias and accuses Ananias of violating the law by ordering that Paul be struck without just cause.\u00a0 When questioned as to how Paul could insult the high priest, Paul says that he did not realize that Ananias was the high priest and quotes Exodus 22:28, in a way reprimanding himself for speaking evil about an appointed leader.<\/p>\n

(By the way, did Paul really not know that Ananias was the high priest?\u00a0 If the high priest leads the Sanhedrin and you\u2019re going to testify before the Sanhedrin, wouldn\u2019t you know going into the proceedings who the high priest is?\u00a0 Perhaps it\u2019s because the Sanhedrin assembled under short notice so Ananias was not wearing his high priestly clothes.\u00a0 Or maybe, according to some scholars, Paul was speaking tongue in cheek, suggesting that though he knew that Ananias was the high priest, Ananias was not acting in a way that was becoming of a high priest.)<\/p>\n

In any event, I can totally understand Paul\u2019s anger here.\u00a0 What amazes me even more is how Jesus responded when a similar incident happened in his life.\u00a0\u00a0 In John 18, while being questioned by the high priest, Jesus is unjustly struck in the face.\u00a0 Yet Jesus responds with incredible self-control, wisdom and grace: “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” \u00a0(John 18:23)<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0How we respond in our anger says a lot about us.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0In times when we are angry, even when our anger is justified, let us pray that we have enough self-control not to sin in our anger.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Acts 23:6-10 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead.”
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 6-10:\u00a0 Paul does something here that I think is brilliant.\u00a0 Paul knew that the topic of resurrection was contentious between Sadducees (who didn\u2019t believe in resurrection) and the Pharisees (who believed in resurrection).\u00a0 It is also reasonably safe to assume that Paul knew that the Sanhedrin consisted of both Pharisees and Sadducees.\u00a0 So Paul speaks about his background as a Pharisee and how he is on trial because he believes in the resurrection of the dead.\u00a0 Immediately the Pharisees start to identify with Paul and tensions erupt within the Sanhedrin over the issue of resurrection.\u00a0 Such a ruckus ensues that the Roman commander who ordered the Sanhedrin to assemble now has to take Paul back into the barracks to ensure that Paul is not harmed.<\/p>\n

If Paul did all of this intentionally, then Paul is teaching us a classic lesson on connecting with your audience and exposing the cracks within your opponent\u2019s walls.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0When you know that the people coming against you are themselves divided on a certain issue, you can simultaneously distract your opponents from attacking you and even gain sympathy with some of them by siding with one of them on that contentious issue.<\/p>\n

Whether Paul did this intentionally or not, I’m amazed that once again something about Paul\u2019s background results in Paul’s deliverance.\u00a0 Before it was the fact that he was a Jew from Tarsus, and then a Roman citizen, that allowed Paul to have special favour or protection with whoever he was talking to.\u00a0 Now it was the fact that he was a Pharisee who believed in resurrection.\u00a0\u00a0In the end, it was God, the One who determines the exact places and times where Paul should live (Acts 17:26), who was orchestrating all of this to write a greater story with Paul\u2019s life.\u00a0 He does the same with you and me.\u00a0 Your background and DNA \u2013 all the things about your make-up \u00a0that are beyond your control \u2013 are ultimately determined by God so that you can fulfill your unique purpose.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Acts 23:11 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 11:\u00a0 The Lord comes near to Paul and speaks to him the next night, telling him to take courage and promising that he will also go to Rome to testify about Him.\u00a0 Now we see why God kept delivering Paul over and over again from the Jews in Jerusalem.\u00a0 It\u2019s because God had a greater plan to have Paul not just proclaim his faith in Jerusalem but in Rome, the capital of the entire empire.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from all this?\u00a0\u00a0In our time of need and uncertainty, God stands near us as our comforter and our encourager.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0If you\u2019re going through difficulty or uncertainty today, know that God is writing a far greater story with your life than anything you could imagine, not for your glory but for His.\u00a0 We just need to take courage, trust Him and not give up.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Lord Jesus, in my anger, I pray that I would not sin.\u00a0 And in my uncertainty, thank You that You are my hope and my encourager.\u00a0 Thank You that things about my background which I cannot control You hand-picked so that I could fulfill my unique purpose.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Acts 23:1-11.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 23:1-5 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.”
\n2\u00a0\u00a0At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”<\/p>\n

On verses 1-5:\u00a0 Paul appears before the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin.\u00a0 He tells them that with a clear conscience he can say that he has fulfilled his duty to God, suggesting that those in the Sanhedrin who are upset with him are upset for no good reason.\u00a0 In response, the high priest Ananias, whom historians describe as a hot-tempered and corrupt leader, orders Paul to be struck on the mouth.\u00a0 Paul reacts strongly.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32483"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32486,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32483\/revisions\/32486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}