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.
