Monday: Riot in the Temple
Having accepted the church leaders’ suggestion, Paul would need to undergo a seven-day ritual purification to assist the completion of the men’s vow (Num. 19:11-13). At the same time, Jewish tradition stipulated that any person coming from Gentile lands would be unclean and so unable to enter the temple. This is why Paul had to purify himself before going to the priests to give notice of his purification process related to the Nazirites (Acts 21:26).
Read Acts 21:27-36. What happened to Paul at the end of his seven-day period of purification?
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A riot ensued, caused by those who stirred up the crowd against Paul, accusing him of attacking the most sacred symbols of Jewish religion, in particular of having desecrated the temple. As one of Paul’s travel companions was a Gentile believer from Ephesus named Trophimus (Acts 21:29), they thought the apostle had introduced him into the temple’s inner court, where only Jews could enter. If the accusation were legitimate, Paul would be guilty of a most serious offense. Along the wall that separated the outer from the inner court, there were signs in Greek and Latin warning Gentile visitors not to enter farther in, otherwise they would be personally responsible for their ensuing death.
“By the Jewish law it was a crime punishable with death for an uncircumcised person to enter the inner courts of the sacred edifice. Paul had been seen in the city in company with Trophimus, an Ephesian, and it was conjectured that he had brought him into the temple. This he had not done; and being himself a Jew, his act in entering the temple was no violation of the law. But though the charge was wholly false, it served to arouse the popular prejudice. As the cry was taken up and borne through the temple courts, the throngs gathered there were thrown into wild excitement.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 407.
When the news of the riot reached a Roman fortress, the Roman commander, Claudius Lysias (Acts 21:31-32; Acts 23:26), came with troops and rescued Paul before the crowd could kill him.
As the target of the attacks, Paul was arrested and bound with chains while the commander tried to inquire about what was going on. At the hysteric shouting of the crowd, he ordered the apostle to be taken to the fortress.
| Rumors, false ones at that, helped start this riot. Why must we be so careful with the kinds of rumors we listen to or, even worse, spread? |
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I do believe that the people who fell for the rumors were not as connected to a relationship with Christ, as much as they should be. If they were, they would not have been involved in the riot, they would have been at home praying for Paul. Getting just a little ahead of the story, a young man prayed and more. He stuck his neck out to save Paul by telling Claudius a plot to have 40 men kill Paul. The Lord had already intervened by protecting him from the rioters who wanted to murder him, now He intervened through Paul’s nephew. What can we learn from this? God is with those who turn to Him. Paul’s faith is the faith we need in these times. If He see’s fit to let us rest in the grave, we have an assurance that we will be there when the roll is called up yonder, on that bright and cloudless morning, when the dead in Christ shall rise. This is why Paul was so clam in prison, before Claudius and as we shall see soon before others to come.
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. Our God is good to those who do his will. The Lord promise Paul that He was going to protect him and He did.
Are we ready to be persecuted because of Jesus? Is our faith that strong? Thank God for all the opportunities He gives us in the sense of strenghtening our relationship with Him. We do not like to suffer but sometimes is the only thing that makes us grow. God knows, in His infinite love for us, how much we need to change. We have to accept His love. Glory be to Him Who misteriously works on us to brings us back to Himself.
Those who advised Paul to take this step had not fully considered the great peril to which he would thus be exposed. At this season, Jerusalem was filled with worshipers from many lands. As, in fulfillment of the commission given him by God, Paul had borne the gospel to the Gentiles, he had visited many of the world's largest cities, and he was well known to thousands who from foreign parts had come to Jerusalem to attend the feast. Among these were men whose hearts were filled with bitter hatred for Paul, and for him to enter the temple on a public occasion was to risk his life. For several days he passed in and out among the worshipers, apparently unnoticed; but before the close of the specified period, as he was talking with a priest concerning the sacrifices to be offered, he was recognized by some of the Jews from Asia.
With the fury of demons they rushed upon him, crying, "Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place." And as the people responded to the call for help, another accusation was added--"and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place."
Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 406-410.
How often accusation begins with unsubstantiated evidence and blown out of proportion?
That the church leaders would suggest a charade for Paul to act out, and that he agreed to it, indicates our need to be always watchful of our wrong tendencies at all times. They wanted to win the approval of others using human reasoning, and not by being faithful to the Truth at all times. Churches today will do similarly won't they? We cannot attract the world to the church, we can only call sinners to repent and believe the Gospel, pointing them to Jesus, while remaining true to the will of God always, consulting Him at every step.
It is interesting that 3 years after this incident, Paul wrote to the Ephesians saying "Be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." It was not God's will for Paul, or anyone, to compromise the truth with a charade to disarm the prejudice of the wicked. This was a city/nation that had rejected God in His Son, crucifying their Messiah and killing/persecuting His faithful servants. How ironic, again, that the Jews violated their law again in "punishing" Paul for his "supposed" violation of their sacred law. Their violation was greater than what they accused him of, but that log in their eye did not allow them to see it. Truly did Jesus say to them; "Your house is left unto you desolate". Isn't this why Jesus taught: "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet." Shaking off the dust seems to tell us not to take the problem with us, but to leave it there and leave those who have rejected truth into the care of the Lord, and seek those lost elsewhere. Paul really had no reason to be in Jerusalem did he?
Having been warned and told by disciples, speaking "in the Spirit", not to go to Jerusalem, and then by Agabus what would take place when he did, one wonders if Paul disobeyed the Holy Spirit by going to Jerusalem. But he wasn't the first to go somewhere he ought not have, despite warnings, and he won't be the last. Despite the mistake, Jesus still stood by Him and encouraged him that he would go to Rome and testify there.