A Plot To Kill Paul

Acts 23:21  

"But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, 

which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink 

till they have killed him: and now are they ready, 

looking for a promise from thee."   

   Here we see two things. First, we see the lengths to which the Jews would go to kill Paul. Under certain circumstances the Jews regarded murder as justifiable. So forty men put themselves under a vow. The vow was called A cherem, which means destroy, and it is also referred to as the ban. When a man took such a vow he said, "May God curse me if I fail to do this." These men vowed neither to eat nor drink, and put themselves under the ban of God, until they had assassinated Paul.
   Second we see the lengths to which the Roman government would go in order to administrate impartial justice. Paul was a prisoner; but he was a Roman citizen. God has all things at His disposal. A nephew of Paul's, never mentioned elsewhere, hears of an ambush laid for him and warns him of it. Paul sends him to the chief captain, who expedites the departure of Paul under a guard to Caesarea. Therefore a Roman Commander quickly removes Paul that very night to Caesarea, protected by 470 armed soldiers. He sends a letter ahead to Felix in Caesarea, explaining why Paul is being sent to him. 
  My Friends, We are on different ground here. God watched over him, but all is on the level of human divine foresight an opportune ways. There is not the angel as in Peter's case, nor the earthquake as at Philippi. 
Amen!

Reading: Acts 23: 12-30
Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry