Acts 23
In chapter 23, we pick up where Paul was brought to the Jewish council to find out why a Jewish mob was trying to kill him. He stood in front of the council declaring that he was living his life in the way that God had set out for him. Because of what Paul said, the high priest ordered someone to punch him right in the kisser.
Paul knew that the Jewish council was divided up between Pharisees and Sadducees. Verse 8 highlights the main difference between the two. The Sadducees believed that there was no resurrection and that there are no angels or spirits while the Pharisees acknowledge them all. A big uproar began amongst all of them and started getting violent when finally the commander told his troops to get Paul out of there before he was ripped to shreds.
Later that night the Lord appeared to Paul in verse 11 to let him know he was going to get through this, get out of Jerusalem and make his way to Rome. The Lord didn’t say HOW, but just reassured him there was a promise in place.
The next morning a group of 40 Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. They all went to the Jewish council from the day before and asked if they could “have a word” with Paul. In reality, they had a plan to ambush him while he would have been on the way to the council and kill him before he ever got there. BUT, crazy enough, Paul’s nephew overheard the Jews talking about their killing plot and he went and reported it to the commander.
After hearing this, the commander prepared a bunch of armed men to escort Pual in the cover of the night to Caesarea and sent with them a letter to the Governor explaining how a group of Jews want to kill him and that he deserved a fair hearing in front of his accusers instead of dying for no reason.
What I keep going back to in this chapter is Paul’s nephew and the Lord’s promise. What are the odds his nephew overhears the group of Jews who were plotting out loud their plan to kill Paul?? We all know, have heard, what God’s miracles look like when they happen but what about the way God works in unseen ways that don’t APPEAR as miracles at first glance.
God promised Paul that he would have the chance to preach in Rome that night he was taken from the violent uproar. I can only imagine the relief that Paul felt knowing that that wasn’t the last night he would ever have again. It is sometimes easy to forget, but we need to remember…..everything, everyday, all of us are a part of God’s plan. It was not dumb luck Paul’s nephew overheard that plot for murder. God providentially arranged the time, place, and volume of the voices of the those would-be-killers and placed Paul’s nephew exactly when and where he needed to be to hear them. Let us all rest assured, God works His will through the mundane and ordinary events of a busy world and our busy lives.