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Tag: jail

  • The Keeper of the Philippian Prison

    The Keeper of the Philippian Prison

    What is your experience as the keeper of something important?

    Have you ever been the one of importance kept safe in some place?

    (Were YOU ever the prisoner OR a jailer guard charged as the keeper a prisoner for justice?)

    Prison and Prisoners

    IF the only light you ever see seeped filtered though a hole in the ceiling of your cell WOULD YOU SING?

    (Likely, neither would I.)

    Roman prisons were nothing to sing about, but that didn’t stop Paul and Silas.

    S.O.P. – Prisons of Roman Cities & Colonies

    Imprisonment was not a sentence under Roman statutory law.. Incarceration (publica custodia) .. was intended to be a temporary measure prior to trial or execution; abuses of this principle occurred but were officially censured. Located near the law courts, the [prison (carcer) with a dungeon (oubliette)] was used as a jail or holding cell for short periods before executions and as a site for executions.

    Source: Wikipedia Commons

    Of course this Philippian carcer of the Roman colony is bound by the same same rules for jailer and prisoner alike according to Roman Law and the SOP manual of its occupying Legions of this Greek-speaking European colony of Macedonia.

    φυλακή – Strong’s translates G5438 in the following manner: prison (36x), watch (6x), imprisonment (2x), hold (1x), cage (1x), ward (1x).

    Paul and Silas end up in the ‘temporary’ place near the agora and forum where they have already been punished severely by flogging under the jurisdiction of a Roman Magistrate for unspecified crimes against culture and misdemeanors for which they will most likely be run out of town rather than executed.

    Therefore, this evening they have been placed into the care of a prison keeper (jailer) in Philippi for final disposition of their case in the morning.

    Previously:

    A cultural clash at the Agora in Roman Philippi
    ACTS 16: 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.

    .. they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

    Who is this Philippian keeper of prisoners for Magistrates of the Court?

    φυλάσσω –

    Strong’s G5442 – phylassō, Probably from φυλή (G5443) through the idea of isolation

    NOTE, however the same responsibility of the Roman 'keeper' of prisoners AND the jailer's two Roman prisoners, apostles sent out with the message of the Jerusalem Council to communicate interpretation of the LAW for these Gentiles as well as the few Jews of Philippi.

    to guard

    • to watch, keep watch
    • to guard or watch, have an eye upon: lest he escape
    • to guard a person (or thing) that he may remain safe
    • to guard i.e. care for, take care not to violate
      • to observe
    • to observe for one’s self something to escape
      • to avoid, shun flee from
      • to guard for one’s self (i.e. for one’s safety’s sake) so as not to violate, i.e. to keep, observe (the precepts of the Mosaic law

    Source: BlueLetterBible.org

    And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.

    ACTS of the Apostles 16:4 KJV – Mission of Paul, Silas and Timothy

    Scenario of a night in the Jail of Philippi

    A guard of the second watch [9 pm] comes on duty and shouts down to you in the hole and other prisoners in cells near you, “Lights out!” He then extinguishes the candle above expecting all to go to sleep.

    Unlike the other prisoners YOU and your brother have been locked in here with wooden stocks bound to your ankles and chained to the floor of your cell.

    What now?

    We prayed for a while. Out loud. In fact, we recited much scripture as we prayed. Other prisoners complained to us, but after no intervention from the keeper assigned to this second watch they had no choice but to sleep (or just ignore us).

    A little later we hear sounds through the darkness of the third watch [midnight-3 am] keeper coming on duty.

    Silas starts singing and Paul joins his voice to the familiar Psalm:

    Acts of Awesome Faith

    As we continue with the Acts of Paul, Silas and Timothy in Philippi put yourself in their place — an uncertain and unpleasant prison of the moment. Hear the cries of each soul cast into the trembling darkness — the fear of God resounding in each heart. 

    What Psalm? (For they knew so many from faithful worship.) 

YOU may find other PSALMS on TalkofJESUS.com which will encourage you in such dark circumstances: https://talkofjesus.com/shaken/ 

Perhaps this: The LORD is My Salvation from Psalm 27:13 OR

    Psalm 142 – You Are My Refuge

    A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.

    With my voice I cry out to the LORD;
with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD.
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.

When my spirit faints within me,
you know my way!
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
Look to the right and see:
there is none who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
no one cares for my soul.

I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
Attend to my cry,
for I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me!
Bring me out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
for you will deal bountifully with me.

    Suppose that you are another prisoner listening to the apostles sing..

    And then, something happens!

    Acts of Paulos and Silas

    δικαίωμα Παῦλος δέ Σιλᾶς

    Acts of the Apostles Missions trips of Paul, Barnabas, Silas and several others

    About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken.

    And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

    When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice,

    “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”

    29 And [he] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.

    “Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all,” Paul will write a decade later to the church in Philippi from a prison in Rome.

    Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
    And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

    ACTS of the apostles 16:30-31 ESV – Keeper of the Philippian jail to Paul & Silas, followed by the apostles’ answer.

    Acts of the Apostles 16 – To Be Continued in the light of a new day in Philippi

  • Arrested AND Released

    Arrested AND Released

    So they arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

    But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out..

    Acts of the Apostles 5:18-19a – CSB

    ACTS of Arrests witnessed by the Apostles

    Politically motivated religious leaders of Jerusalem now begin to develop a dossier of accusations against Peter, John and the Apostles, because as disciples of the Messiah Jesus they boldly proclaim the Lord’s resurrection from His horrific death on a cross.

    As they once again imprison the Apostles, let’s look back briefly at what Annas, Caiaphas and the ruling council of Jerusalem have on them. Herod’s palace records also add evidence.

    face of john the baptist in prison

    Simon, a Galilean fisherman, aka Peter, had been a disciple of John the Baptist.

    John baptized disciples, even JEWS, to REPENT about three years ago.

    Herod had John the Baptizer beheaded.

    painting of Christ and the Pharisees by Earnst Zimmerman

    Pharisees report that Simon and John were part of Jesus’ inner circle of Apostles.

    The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling to His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”

    Gospel of Luke 5:30 NASB20

    Simon Peter identified near Jesus’ trial

    Peter in courtyard of high priest

    Witnessed just three months ago just prior to the Passover feast by a servant of the High Priest:

    Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, “This man was also with Him.”

    Gospel of Luke 22:55-56 NKJV

    A Noteworthy Sermon from Solomon’s Portico

    Just days ago the Sanhedrin, Jerusalem’s High Court, orders Peter NOT to say anything about Christ Jesus. Although Peter and John were arrested for preaching repentance, Jerusalem’s leaders released them from prison as a politically palatable concession to the crowds who had witnessed Peter healing a man lame from birth.

    By what power? Political prowess by the powers that be
    And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. – ACTS 4:18

    Arrested, yet the Apostles boldly remain in Jerusalem

    ACTS of the Apostles 5:

    12 At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all together in Solomon’s portico…

    And increasingly believers in the Lord, large numbers of men and women, were being added to their number, to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any of them. The people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together as well, bringing people who were sick or tormented with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed. But the high priest stood up, along with all his associates.. laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public prison.

    Previously, the authorities brought Peter and John before the council, however on this occasion the Lord sends an angel to open their prison door!

    and leading them out, he said,

    “Go, stand and continue to speak to the people in the temple area all the words of the whole message of this Life.”

    ACTS of an Angel of the Lord 5:19b-20

    Daybreak after another night in prison

    At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.

    ACTS of the Apostles 5:21 NIV

    (Of course, these same officials of Jerusalem’s political elite who had seized them believed that the Apostles were still imprisoned as before.)

    Not just another day at the office

    BIG political victory last evening. Those Apostles opposed to OUR LEADERSHIP of JEWISH JERUSALEM await OUR VERDICT of what to do with them.

    (Or so they thought, as these religious officials arrived at work in a Jerusalem guarded by Roman centurions.)

    ACTS 5:21b

    Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

    But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported,

    “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.”

    (REMEMBER their dilemma of JESUS’ EMPTY TOMB just a couple of months ago?) NOW what?

    Who does this Galilean we arrested think he is?

    Narrative of this private conversation is a speculative fiction behind the scenes in ACTS 5.

    On that day when we arrested this Simon of Capernaum the first time what was it I said?

    When we released him after he drew crowds to himself in the Portico of Solomon proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead, he challenged our very authority to hold or release him.

    So when the others asked, “What are we to do with these men?”

    I insisted, DO NOT release them to cause more trouble.

    But when they couldn’t find cause to keep these men in prison I said, “You had better start a dossier on them, because we will just have to arrest them again.”

    For this Simon Peter had confirmed my distrust when he answered:

    “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, make your own judgment; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

    Acts of the Apostles 4:19b-20 NASB20

    Let’s punish them this time!

    So I was all prepared to tell you, “I WARNED YOU about these men.”

    But what’s this we hear now after having arrested these crowd-stirring Galileans again so soon? Listen to this new report as we assembled this morning:

    The Captain of the Temple Guard’s Report

    But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported,

    “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

    ACTS of the Captain of the Temple Guard 5:22-23 NIV

    Even though it seems impossible, these rabble-rousers must have escaped and run home to Galilee.

    (Maybe not such a bad thing for us.)

    NOW what do we do?

    Now when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come of this.

    25 But someone came and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple area and teaching the people!”

    The Apostles Now have Thousands of Disciples

    And Peter, John and the others are preaching boldly as the Angel has commanded them to continue with the words of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as they return to preach in the Temple.

    IT IS YET ANOTHER SIGN, not to be taken lightly by those who had seized them the previous day, throwing the Apostles into Prison.

    26 Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).

    (A riot against the capitol police? Roman soldiers in Jerusalem would certainly never condone such RAGE by any Jewish crowd throwing stones at Jerusalem’s politicized religious police.)

    Would you, the arrested, convict US?

    27 After they brought them in, they had them stand before the Sanhedrin, and [Caiaphas, or possibly Annas] the high priest asked,

    “Didn’t we strictly order you not to teach in this name?

    Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

    [Peter had convicted them of their complicity in Jesus’ Sacrifice on the Cross; however the Apostle had also stated that God the Father had allowed it AND that JESUS had been raised from the grave!]

    But Peter and the apostles answered,

    “We must obey God rather than men.

    30 The God [theos] of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince [archēgos] and a Savior [sōtēr], to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

    32 And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

    GUILTY!

    When they heard this, they were furious [diapriō – cut to the quick] and wanted to put them to death.

    It is what we should have done the first time we jailed them.

    WE know that these men have escaped, but HOW? Never-the-less, WE cannot allow them to continue to sway all of Jerusalem to become disciples of this JESUS we hung on a Roman cross just two months ago.

    AWAY WITH THEM!

    οἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες διεπρίοντο καὶ ἐβούλοντο ἀνελεῖν αὐτούς

    But when they heard this, they became infuriated and nearly decided to execute them.

    ACTS of the Sanhedrin 5:33

    An Appeal Against Rash Reaction

    But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time.

    ACTS of Gamaliel 5:34 NASB
    To be continued...