God's Protection: Acts 23:10-35

We all know that God’s protection is always available to us, but sometimes we just don’t understand how He’s going to get us out of certain situations or circumstances. Paul must have been wondering some of those things as he was imprisoned in Jerusalem with the Jews out to get him. The Jews had tried to kill him once already during this, his final, stay in Jerusalem. They wouldn’t give up and Paul was at the mercy of the Roman commander and his soldiers. How was God going to get him out of this mess?

We’ve seen in the past that Paul was miraculously rescued from other prisons by angels. God sent His divine messengers and soldiers to break Paul’s chains and open prison doors. Would He do that this time? Or would He use some other means for protecting Paul from the Jewish mob and assassins?

In a rather long accounting of the events in Jerusalem Luke tells us how God worked in this situation. Acts 23:10-35 tells the story of Paul’s rescue from the mob and the people God used to accomplish this. First, the army gets involved. The commander saw the commotion going on in the Temple courtyard and went to investigate. Usually the Romans just let the Jews handle Jewish things on their own, but the commander (Lysias) saw that a riot was beginning to form and felt he needed to do something about it. So, upon finding Paul being attacked, he sent his soldiers into the fray and had them pull Paul out so an orderly hearing could take place. The commander tried to have a peaceful hearing, but the Jews again became agitated at Paul’s explanation of his life and ministry, and the commander had to rescue him a second time. So, God used the Roman soldiers to protect Paul.

During Paul’s night in the barracks of the Romans, he had a vision or an encounter with Jesus Christ. Acts 23:11 says, “But on the night immediately following, the Lord stood at his side and said, ‘Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome, also.’” So, Paul was encouraged through a miraculous appearance of Christ as he wondered what was going to become of him. It’s possible Paul was feeling defeated, depressed, self-incriminating because he failed to fully proclaim the resurrection message to the Jews of Jerusalem; he may have been wondering if God would still use him or if this was the end. But, Jesus told him to “buck up,” “take courage,” “be of good cheer” (depending on the translation looked at). God was still in the busy of miracles and he was not using angels this time.

He was using people. Acts 23:16 tells us of a young man (possibly a child) who overheard the Jewish plan to assassinate Paul, and reported it to Paul. (The Scriptures tell us the young man was Paul’s sister’s son.) Paul then sent the boy to the commander and the commander took immediate action to get Paul out of the city and to Caesarea where the governor, Felix, held court. The accusers would have to go to Caesarea to present their side of the story to Felix. (They probably did that in short order; we’ll see what happens in Acts 24 when I get there.) So, God used a child and the Roman commander, again, to protect Paul from the zealots in Jerusalem. Not only did the commander send Paul away but he sent an armed guard of about 472 men, including most of the cavalry. And they put Paul on a horse to expedite matters. They moved swiftly away from the city in the middle of the night and were more than halfway to Caesarea (more than 60 miles from Jerusalem) by morning.

God’s protection doesn’t end there. Felix saw fit to hear the case and put Paul under guard in Herod’s Praetorium until the trial could be held. Still protecting Paul (although not as respectfully as the commander in Jerusalem had treated him). Of course, Paul is away from the rabble-rousers in Jerusalem, but the trial was yet to be held. That takes place in Acts 24 so I’m excited to see how everything turns out. Maybe I’ll write about that next week.