Lesson for July 23, 2025
Paul the Apostle
Lesson 9
Paul’s Failure in Jerusalem – Part 2
Acts 21:25-38
Verses 25-26
“But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.”
Because the pastors in Jerusalem were teaching keeping the Mosaic Law for the Christian life, they instructed Paul to take a vow which would prove that he condoned what they had been teaching and it would appease the religious Jews in Jerusalem. James and the other pastors in Jerusalem should have known better than to teach the Mosaic Law for the Christian life. God had already shown Peter, years before, that salvation was for everyone, not just the Jews. (Acts 9:32-43, 10:1-48) Later in Acts 15, there had been a council convened to discuss this very issue of keeping the Mosaic Law, and it was determined that Gentile believers were not required to keep it, but they did not include Jewish believers.
The vow that Paul took was part of a “Nazarite vow” from Numbers 6:1-21. The Nazarite vow was taken by individuals who voluntarily “dedicated” themselves to God. The vow was a promise of a person who desired to yield their life to God “completely.” It was a voluntary vow done by either men or women that had a specific time frame, specific requirements, specific restrictions, and at its conclusion, a sacrificial offering.
So, what did it mean to take this vow? When a person declared their intention to take this vow under the Mosaic Law, they had to do the following: 1) they had to let their hair grow until the time specified of the vow was complete 2) they had to abstain from wine, any fermented drink, grape juice, grapes, or raisins, and they could not go near a dead body because that would make them ceremonially unclean (even if a member of their immediate family died) 3) they had to come up with a monetary offering within 30 days 4) they had to go to the priest at the completion of the vow and shave off all their hair, and the priest would take it to the altar and burn it. 5) at the end of the vow they had to bring a lamb, a ram, a basket of unleavened bread, a grain offering, and a drink offering.
Verses 27-29
“When the seven days (of purification) were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, ‘Men of Israel, help! This is the man who instructs everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place!’ For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they thought that Paul had brought him into the temple.”
The seven days were the days of purification for the vow Paul had taken. Paul had been coming into the temple each day to announce his compliance with the vow. Paul could have changed his mind at any time about what he was doing. And Paul’s act of legalism did nothing to win over the Jews. They still wanted to kill him. His compromise accomplished absolutely nothing, except divine discipline.
Paul had not been teaching against the Law of Moses, he had actually been preaching the correct purpose of the Law of Moses, which was to point people to Christ. They accused Paul of not keeping their distorted understanding of the Law and their manmade traditions and customs. Trophimus, a Gentile, had not been in the temple, as they assumed. They were just looking for an excuse to kill Paul.
Verses 30-33
“Then all the city was provoked, and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul, they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. While they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. At once he took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to them; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the commander came up and took hold of him and ordered him to be bound with two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done.”
The Greek word for provoked is “kineo,” and means to stir into violent emotion. Rome’s policy was “law and order” throughout the Empire. The commander had no thought of catering to the religious Jews. A riot was a riot, and the commander moved right in to stop it. The presence of the military stopped the riot.
When the commander came with troops, the mob moved back and stopped beating Paul. The Romans seized Paul but did not come to any assumptions at the moment. As soon as Paul was bound, the commander started to make an investigation without jumping to any conclusion. He kept on trying to find out the facts and thought he had seized a criminal called “the Egyptian” who had begun an unsuccessful revolution against the Roman Empire but had managed to escape.
We might ask ourselves where the Jerusalem church was at during all of this. The Jerusalem church apparently gave no help to Paul, and he was now in the hands of the Romans whose emphasis on law and order fortunately supported him and protected him. The Jerusalem church did not protect Paul; the Roman Empire protected him. The contrast shows that the Jerusalem church was generally in a state of carnality. Paul would have been beaten to death, except for the Romans.
It is obvious that an apostate and legalistic Jerusalem church had no influence or impact in this community. Whenever you find churches becoming apostate, departing from doctrine, and becoming legalistic, they have absolutely no influence within the community or the nation. The church loses its impact, when it teaches false doctrine and becomes legalistic. It is the accurate Bible doctrine taught by the church and the spiritual life of the members that have an impact upon their city and nation.
The greatest believer of the Church Age had come to the church in Jerusalem and had initially been welcomed. But they were nowhere to be found when Paul really needed them. It was obvious that these believers in Jerusalem were trying to please men (the religious Jews) and not God, and they were most likely afraid of the mob. Ignorance of doctrine and compromise had ruined the Jerusalem church.
Verses 34-38
“But among the crowd some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. When he got to the stairs, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob; for the multitude of the people kept following them, shouting, ‘Away with him!’ As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, ‘May I say something to you?’ And he said, ‘Do you know Greek? Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?’”
Immediately the officer realized that he was not going to get the truth from the crowd because they were all saying different things about what was going on. So, he removed Paul and took him to the Roman headquarters. As Paul was being taken up the stairs, the mob kept following and shouting. Apparently, Paul could not move very fast because he had just been beaten (violence of the mob), so the Romans were carrying him.
Verse 39
“But Paul said, ‘I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.’” Paul said he was a Jew, indicating that he was not “the Egyptian” they thought he might be. He was talking to the Roman officer who understood that Paul was a free citizen from one of the great cities of the Roman Empire. This helped him determine that Paul was no ordinary Jew. I beg you, was actually a polite way of asking a question, showing respect for this Roman officer. Paul was calm under fire because he had a tremendous amount of Bible doctrine in his soul. The commander represented everything that was good in the Roman Empire, which we can see because he was cool, relaxed, and objective, and was making an investigation on the spot before he made his next decision. He was going to make his decision based on the facts of the case, not the emotion of the crowd.
Verse 40
“When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great hush, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying.” Paul now attempted to justify himself and his message to this riotous crowd by giving his personal testimony of his experience of salvation. It was an opportunity to present the Gospel to this crowd of Jews, but it had no effect on them. Paul was in the wrong place, at the wrong time!!!!!