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Tag: God

ANNOUNCEMENT of the Testimony of GOD
And when I came to you, brethren, came not in excellency of word, or wisdom, announcing to you the testimony of God.
1 Corinthians 2:1 DBY

Further rebuke of CHRISTIAN MINISTERS

The Apostle Paul begins NOT with a reminder of his considerable credentials but with an apologia for God’s evidence in Christ crucified and risen.

1 Corinthians 2:

I did not come with superiority of word or of wisdom [sophia]..
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Superiority, (elevation, pre-eminence, excellence in) Wisdom would have been what many Hellenists in Corinth might have expected in Paul.
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Note that the Apostle’s approach of rebuke of his Corinthian ‘brothers’ in the faith relies ONLY on the Authority of Almighty God. NOT speech (logos), NOT of wisdom [sophia], but an ANNOUNCEMENT and PROCLAIMATION.

proclaiming to you the witness of God.

καταγγέλλω – katangellō –

to announce, declare, promulgate, make known, to proclaim publicly, publish
Strong’s G2605 – katangellō – BlueLetterBible.org

AND shortly Paul will ask these Corinthian believers:

For who among men knows the depths of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?
1 Corinthians 2:11a LSB

Even so the depths of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

testimony – μαρτύριον – martyrion

The APOSTLE of the RISEN CHRIST JESUS is providing ‘something evidential, i.e. (genitive case) evidence given or (specially), the Decalogue (in the sacred Tabernacle):—to be testified, testimony, witness.

Paul has already written his thanks to God for the Corinthians, ‘even as the witness^G3142 about Christ was confirmed in you – 1 Cor 1:6

DO YOU FEAR GOD?
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Here is my testimony as Christ's apostle to you, my Corinthian brothers and sisters in the Lord:
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Jesus Christ, and Him crucified

And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my word and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power..

Listen to some of the descriptions Paul uses here for their condition:
- WEAKNESS of the body: its native weakness and frailty, feebleness of health or sickness
- of the soul: want of strength and capacity requisite
  - to understand a thing
  - to do things great and glorious
  - to restrain corrupt desires
  - to bear trials and troubles
- φόβος – phobos – FEAR, dread, terror
- MUCH TREMBLING
  - quaking with fear
  - with fear and trembling, used to describe the anxiety of one who distrusts his ability completely to meet all requirements,
    
    but religiously does his utmost to fulfil his duty
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Does this description of the Apostle Paul (who rebukes these Corinthians) resemble the pastoral approach of the ministers of YOUR church in any way?
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for ministers mature in Christ

Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten.
1 Corinthians 2:6 NLT – Paul’s ‘word to the wise,’ mature ministers of God’s word

Jesus taught followers to be mature

“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

“And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

“Therefore you are to be perfect^G5046, as your heavenly Father is perfect^G5046.
Gospel of Matthew 5:38 LSB

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete G5046, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Matthew 19:21 LSB

PAUL writes to the Corinthians who are MATURE ministers of the Lord to “be PERFECT,” become COMPLETE in your TESTIMONY of GOD.

the Mystery of God’s Wisdom

No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, (we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery ) which He destined for our glory before time began.

8 None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 Rather, as it is written:

“No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no heart has imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Isaiah 64:4

But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
1 Corinthians 2:10 Berean Study Bible

How are mature ministers of God different?
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The relationship of God and Man can become a Spirit to spirit love in Christ our Lord.
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14 The natural [psychikos] person does not accept the things of the Spirit [pneuma ] of God, for they are folly [foolishness] to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. – ESV

We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.

And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
1 Corinthians 2:12-13 BSB

Natural human? OR Spiritual minister?
- a natural man [anthrōpos] does not accept the depths of the Spirit of God
- 15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.
The Apostle again returns to the Prophet Isaiah:

16“For who has known the mind of the Lord [LORD or kyrios – ],

he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord

so as to instruct Him?”
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The APOSTLE here rebukes ministers of the church to be complete or mature in the Lord Jesus Christ:
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But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:16b BSB
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Paul will later mention Peter's testimony (1 Cor 15).
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Christ Crucified AND Risen!

Then He opened their minds G3563 to understand the Scriptures…
Gospel of Luke 24:45 LSB

Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God..

11 He tends His flock like a shepherd;

He gathers the lambs in His arms

and carries them close to His heart.

He gently leads the nursing ewes.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

or weighed the mountains on a scale

and the hills with a balance?

Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD *,

or informed Him as His counselor?
Isaiah 40:13 BSB
*Or mind of the LORD in the Septuagint (LXX)

NEXT: Meat for Ministers
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and Milk for New Babes
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and we — we have the mind of Christ. And I, brethren, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly — as to babes in Christ..

1 Corinthians 2:16b-3:1 – Young’s Literal Translation

Talk of JESUS . com

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
June 27, 2024
A First Letter to the Corinthians Intro
in the year of our Lord ano Domini 55 [A.D. 55]

& in the context of the culture of Corinth

Intro
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PREVIOUSLY in this Talk of Jesus series from CHURCH LETTERS - IS HE WRITING TO ME? we have glanced at a few of Paul's LETTERS (Epistles) to the Church written during his just completed missionary journeys. 

TODAY we continue with a brief look back at more letters already sent to the churches. 
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WHAT THE CHURCH HAS READ SO FAR:
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Just a reminder that all dates from reliable sources may vary but are used for chronological context only.
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- A.D. 49 – JAMES, the half-brother of Jesus and leader of the church in Jerusalem writes his LETTER
  - James also sends out a letter to the churches concerning gentiles from the Council in Jerusalem.
A.D. 49 – the Council at Jerusalem
- A.D. 49 – Paul writes his letter to the Galatians (actually, several new churches in Galatia)
HOT topics from Galatians – Perversion of the Gospel
- A.D. 50 – 1 THESSALONIANS
Paul’s unfinished business with the Thessalonians – 1
- A.D. 51 – 2 THESSALONIANS
II Thessalonians Intro – It is meet and right so to do..
- during the A.D. 50’s or A.D. 60’s (actual date unknown) – The GOSPEL OF MARK
1:1 Ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God – Mark 1:1

Consider the possibility that parts of the Gospel of John Mark, who had accompanied his uncle Barnabas and the Apostle Paul to Cypress, MAY HAVE been known even in Corinth where Paul has already travelled and whose FIRST LETTER we are about to examine.

The GREAT COMMISSION of JESUS CHRIST to the CHURCH is recorded in the Gospel of Mark 16:15

1 Corinthians:

This epistle was most likely written in the first half of A.D. 55 from Ephesus (16:8, 9, 19) while Paul was on his third missionary journey. The apostle intended to remain on at Ephesus to complete his 3 year stay (Acts 20:31) until Pentecost (May/June) A.D. 55 (16:8). Then he hoped to winter (A.D. 55–56) at Corinth (16:6; Acts 20:2). His departure for Corinth was anticipated even as he wrote (4:19; 11:34; 16:8).
John MacArthur :: Bible Introductions – 1 Corinthians

Paulus vocatus apostolus Christi Iesu per voluntatem Dei et Sosthenes frater
– 1 Corinthios (1 Corinthians) 1 :: Latin Vulgate (VUL)

in the context of the culture of Corinth

CORINTH, ACHAIA is ROMAN; not Macedonian (as in the former Empire of Alexander the Great).

Neither is the large city of Corinth simply Greek, as in ‘ancient Greece’ with ancient Athens whose glory had long ago been reduced to ruins.

In 146 BC, the battle of Corinth signified a defining moment in the history of ancient Greece. Situated on the narrow strip of land connecting the Peloponnese to the mainland of Greece, Corinth was a city-state with a significant strategic and economic position.
source:

The language of Greek (thanks to the Great Macedonian Alexander) has become the international language of the Roman Empire.

So in Corinth, Philippi, Ephesus, Antioch and even in Jerusalem the GOOD NEWS and Epistles [Letters] typically were written and read in GREEK.

Παῦλος κλητὸς ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ καὶ Σωσθένης ὁ ἀδελφός
Α΄ Κορινθίους (1 Corinthians) 1 :: Textus Receptus (TR)

Paulos klētos apostolos Jēsous Christos dia thelēma theos kai Sōsthenēs ho adelphos;

To the church of God which is at Corinth,

to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints,

with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
1 Corinthians 1:2 NKJV

Here in CORINTH we immediately read the opening of Paul’s Epistle written in Greek to the CHURCH, beginning with the Apostle’s universal greeting to ALL and specifically to the saints separated to the calling of Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul had been there and wrote back to encourage these Christians in Corinth.

See if this A.D. first century city of CORINTH sounds vaguely familiar to any city of destruction in our 21st century the Common Era.
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Once again, the commentary of John Macarthur on the culture of Corinth.
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Even by the pagan standards of its own culture, Corinth became so morally corrupt that its very name became synonymous with debauchery and moral depravity.

To “corinthianize” came to represent gross immorality and drunken debauchery. In 6:9, 10, Paul lists some of the specific sins for which the city was noted and which formerly had characterized many believers in the church there.

Tragically, some of the worst sins were still found among some church members.
John Macarthur Commentary – the Background and Setting of Corinth

Here the Apostle writes to a chosen few SAVED from the surrounding sinful culture of CORINTH (and most every other city in their culturally correct Roman Empire) in a CHURCH separated in worship yet living and working with all of those destined to the wrath of God’s punishment.
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These Corinthian Christians were taught and sought to live in complete contrast to sinful lifestyles hopefully left behind. 
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Later in his letter Paul will describe their love [ ἀγάπη ] more fully.

Although some contemporary Christians include parts of Paul’s list of LOVE in ceremonies of Christian marriage, the love of which Paul writes is not romantic or specifically marital in any way.

These CORINTHIANS were recognized in the city for their uniquely personal LOVE –

ἀγάπη – agapē love,

sometimes translated as CHARITY for each other and for others.

Their agapē LOVE stood against a CULTURE OF SIN characterized in a “corinthianized” city, fallen nation or evil empire.

Paul later writes what he knows of their Corinthian challenges warning:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived;

.. neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

And such were some of you…
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 excerpt LSB

Starting with Encouragement

Paul begins his Epistle with an agape-rooted encouragement.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace, for which Christians should be so well recognized, written χάρις in Greek charis is:
- that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech
- good will, loving-kindness, favour
- of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues
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CAN YOU THINK OF ANY GREETING WHICH ENCOURAGES MORE THAN 'GRACE?'
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I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all word and all knowledge,
even as the witness about Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, beyond reproach in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Paul practically embraces these Corinthian believers in a personal prayer written for them.

Could any introduction of LOVE and Grace be more encouraging?
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God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians 1:9 LSB [in context of 1:3-9]
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Theos is faithful, through Whom you were kaleō into koinōnia with His Son Ἰησοῦς Χριστός [iēsous christos] our kyrios.

*Linked definitions of GREEK words from 1 Corinthians 1:9 from BlueLetterBible.org 
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Reintroducing our Lord

Paul begins his letter to a beloved church in a city caught-up in the sins of SELF and worshipping multiple gods of ME with encouragement in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Apostle Paul’s two Epistles to the Corinthians he uses:
- iēsous – 45x
- christos – 111x
- kyrios – 95x
- θεός – theos – an amazing 185x
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- king - only once in his second letter & not referring to Jesus
- prophet - prophētēs - only once but referring to gifts of the saints
- priest not at all in writing to the Corinthians
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TO:

THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SANCTIFIED – ἁγιάζω – hagiazō – Paul uses this four times in this letter.

Are YOU sanctified?

ἅγιος – agios – sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated):—(most) holy (one, thing), saint.

That’s what the apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God asks the church of God which is at Corinth.
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(It's a good question for those claiming Jesus Christ facing a refining and sanctification of our sinful mortal flesh.)
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The Apostle Paul refers to the church as SAINTS, a most holy thing, TWENTY TIMES in his epistles to the Corinthians including his encouragement of the church in this introduction.

To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Κορίνθῳ ἡγιασμένοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ κλητοῖς ἁγίοις σὺν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ αὐτῶν τε καὶ ἡμῶν·
1 Corinthians 1:2 NIV, TR –
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The Apostle Paul has many more things to write to the Corinthians (and to you, God-willing).
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To be continued…

Talk of JESUS . com

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
June 12, 2024
Roman Oversight of Jerusalem’s god
There’s been some trouble in town.

Now controversary and crowds are nothing out of the ordinary here (or in Roman oversight of Jerusalem), but I have been trying to determine how best to present an equitable view of recent events.

Oh, I might mention that today’s look back at history incites reaction in some no different than the acts concerning religion that caused mobs of angry men to fabricate their own stories on what actually took place.
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Can you imagine such a riot in a Common Era familiar to US?
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Jerusalem ~A.D. 56

Previously we witnessed the arrival of the Jewish Christ-follower Paul, or Saul as the Jews knew this Apostle of Jesus as he worshipped in the Temple along with thousands of others.

Jerusalem – a City Stirred Up

Today we will skip over some of Paul’s “Jewish” speeches, with which most Christians and Jews are most familiar from the Apostle’s THREE MISSIONARY JOURNEYS that go back several years to A.D. 47.

ACTS on Mission

Acts of the Apostles 21:
- Then the whole city was provoked…
- .. and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut.
³¹And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. ³²He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
- Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains.
- Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another.
- he could not learn the facts because of the uproar
- he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.
Let’s STOP here for a moment to view some conflicting reports.

The Antonia Fortress Barracks
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Note the several differences in archeological conjectures about the Temple and Antonia Fortress.
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A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes a thousand words will not paint the true picture.
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Even a simple scene from Luke's account enters into the controversies of the Jerusalem, Rome and religion to this day.
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And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, for the mob of the people followed, crying out, “Away with him!”
Acts of the Apostles 21:35-36 ESV

A Greek View of Things

As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?”

And he said, “Do you know Greek?
Acts21:37 μέλλων τε εἰσάγεσθαι εἰς τὴν παρεμβολὴν ὁ Παῦλος λέγει τῷ χιλιάρχῳ εἰ ἔξεστίν μοι εἰπεῖν τι πρὸς σέ ὁ δὲ ἔφη Ἑλληνιστὶ γινώσκεις

WHY does a ROMAN military ruler even care that this Paulos knows Greek?

Are you not the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a * revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?”
* to excite tumults and seditions in the State: Acts 17:6; Acts 21:38.

ROMANS, like the GREEKS, worship a pan-Theon of gods and show tolerance for the religions of all.

AS for the politics of war and assassins, ROME had conquered a crumbling democracy of the Athens with many gods and overran a Senate of its own Republic with daggers and legions to establish this Roman peace unconditionally ruled by those who served Caesars.

Paul replied,

“I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.”
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So the ROMAN COMMANDER here learns that in addition to Paul NOT being an Egyptian opponent of Caesar that he is an out-of-towner from CILICIA (probably here for the festival). 
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40 And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people.

And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language [dialect, probably Aramaic]..
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This accused man speaks Greek, the universal language of his Roman Empire AND also the local Judean language.
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A Jewish View of Things

Let’s just highlight a few of Paul’s points to this mob of Hebrews who were just going to stone him.

.. he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.
Acts of the Apostles 21:28b-29 ESV
- Remember the controversy of the Jew Paul in Ephesus?
- But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
  - Acts 19:34
- The Ephesians are pagans!
Acts of the Apostles 22:

Rav Sha’ul said, “Anashim, Achim, Avot, listen now to my hitstaddekut (defense).”

²And when they heard that Rav Sha’ul was addressing them in the language of the Hebrews, they were even more quiet.
Acts of the Apostles 22:1-2a Orthodox Jewish Bible
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A few of Paul's points:
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- brought up in this city,
- educated at the feet of Gamaliel
- strict manner of the law of our fathers,
- zealous for God as all of you are this day.
I persecuted this Way to the death..
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.. near to Damascus [nearly 20 years ago  in ~ A.D. 37]
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.. ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me,

‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’
Acts of the Apostles 22:8b ESV

.. ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth..
Acts 22:14b

22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.”

A Roman Reaction

23 And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air..
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And remember, just like two-score years [14] before when they stoned Stephen and two years before that when they murdered their Messiah Jesus, THE ROMAN SOLDIERS AND GOVERNMENT IS IN CHARGE!
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the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this.
Acts of the Apostles 22:24 ESV
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Did these Roman soldiers under orders of their Tribune NOT believe this strange man the Jewish crowds insisted on killing?
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But when they had stretched him out with the leather straps [in preparation for the whip], Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it legal for you to whip a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned [without a trial]?”
Acts of the Apostles 22:25 Amplified Version
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Paul, of course, knew the answer. For Romans promoted their culture under Law enforced by Centurions loyal to Rome's Caesar.

Once more, skipping ahead in Paul's arrival in Jerusalem: 
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So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.
Acts of the Apostles 22:29 ESV

a glance back toward Rome’s Empire

Herod the Great, half-Arab and half-Jew, was a politically adept client King of ROME, more Roman some believed than Judean.

Mostly, this King of the Jews (an official designation of the Roman Senate), is best known Biblically for his efforts to kill the Christ child while he tested the political winds of his time.

Herod, more famous for rebuilding and expanding the Second Temple ALSO built Jerusalem’s ROMAN fortress, naming it after Marc Antony.

Marcus Antonius had helped Caesar drive Pompey from Italy..

After Caesar’s assassination, Octavian (later Caesar Augustus) initially opposed Antony but later formed the Second Triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus. Antony helped defeat republican forces at Philippi and took control of Rome’s eastern provinces. On a mission to Egypt to question Cleopatra about her loyalty, he became her lover.. Octavian declared war on Cleopatra. Antony lost the Battle of Actium, and he and Cleopatra fled to Egypt, pursued by Octavian. When resistance became futile, they committed suicide.
Source: Britannica

Antonia Fortress
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Antonia Fortress had 3 towers 50 cubits (86 ft) high and a fourth tower 70 cubits (120 ft./36.75 m) high. 
The view from this highest tower, that, according to Josephus “commanded a view of the whole area of the Temple”
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At the place where the northern and western porticoes met, there was a staircase leading up to the roof of the porticoes. At this place there was an entrance to the Antonia Fortress.
Here we can imagine the scene portrayed in Acts 21 and 22, when the Roman captain, Lysias, allowed Paul to address his fellow countrymen from the safety of the Antonia.
Source:

All Roads Lead To ROME

Paul’s three Missionary Journeys have proclaimed Christ in many places. Next: Rome

By now, in the year of our Lord 56, the Apostle Paul will continue to balance his evangelism of all the world as a Roman citizen defending his faith in Jerusalem, but also in a race to the finish in Rome.

ACTS of the Apostle Paul

To Be Continued…

Talk of JESUS . com
May 31, 2024