Of all places the Apostles would not have ever thought the risen Christ would anoint yet another Apostle, a road to Damascus likely would have been the last place to come to mind.
Jesus had led them to places beyond Galilee (now formally a part of Syria under the administration of Rome for the readers of ACTS) like Tyre and Sidon.
Jews had built synagogues in many cities of the Roman Empire. By the time Saul studies in Jerusalem and now pursues disciples of Jesus in his zeal for the LORD, the politics of Rome, Jerusalem and the major cities of Syria, Galilee, Samaria and Judea are not-so-delicately intertwined.
Syria Cilicia Phoenice
Damascus, of course, was of strategic importance to Rome in governing all of Syria including Jerusalem and the cities of the eastern Mediterranean.
Tarsus, Damascus & the eastern administrative shore of Syria under Rome
The Roman prefects / procurators of Judea were directly subordinate to the Syrian governor.
In particular, the Legate of Syria was the next authority in complaints against the governor of Judea, as can be seen from the lawsuit brought by the Jews against Pontius Pilate to Lucius Vitellius in AD 36 and the Samaritans brought before the legate Gaius in AD 51
Click above for translations in English, Ukrainian and Russian.
On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria.
Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.
Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison.
..went to the high priest and asked for letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus..
Meanwhile, in Damascus..
10 There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias..
Many Jews (including these Christian followers of the Way) lived in Damascus, a city with multiple synagogues. [v.2] These included a disciple named Ἰούδας [Judas, a common name of that time] [v.11].
From terrorizing Jews in Judea & Samaria to the road to Damascus
To the Roman Citizen born in Tarsus, Damascus will be a familiar stop along the roads from Jerusalem.
Now as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
Acts 9:4b NASB – JESUS to Saul of Tarsus along the road to Damascus
5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”
“I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do.”
Acts of the Apostles 9:5b-6 NASB, Response of the Lord to Saul of Tarsus with command for his leading into Damascus
7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.
Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.
Prayer and Fasting
9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
ACTS of an Apostle to the gentiles + to be continued...
Our cover photo may look like an intelligence map for a modern military operation in Syria. That’s right. War in Syria is hardly anything new under the sun.
So you ask, what does this have to do with a first century Syria of the Roman Empire and Jesus’ great commission?
Some text on Talk of JESUS .com will appear in other languages for readers who translate our English language site for ease of reading.
Syria: A frequent field פַּדָּן of battle for all of the world
Follow the link above and you will discover that we have journeyed to these fields of Syria many times in the Bible.
And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; H6307and pitched his tent before the city. – Genesis 32:18 KJV
Padan or Padan-aram = “field”
a plain or tableland in northern Mesopotamia in Aram, a region of Syria
Today’s lesson on Syria sets the scene of ACTS in maps and history.
IF we are successful in this lesson in cartographyfrom a former C-minus geography student, we may all learn something about how Syria became a most important ‘where’ to go on our mission journeys of the first century Church.
From the shores to the mountaintops
Credits & Disclaimer:
I have taken due diligence to link sources of this publically available material; however, PLEASE NOTE: In spite of the reliable information included in these website sources, MANY write from an Anti-Christ and ANTI-GOD perspective, quoting theorized dates & other unsubstantiated editorial commentary as facts. Nevertheless you should gain an understanding of the lows and highs of these journeys on the roads of Acts through Syria.
War near Israel:
DCS Syria Map:
Historical and Geographical Introduction by 132nd.AssafB
This is presentation about the new DCS map: Syria made by Ugra Media, and it is focused on the area between the north of Israel and the neighbouring countries of Syria and Lebanon..
The goal is providing a solid background, both for building realistic DCS scenarios and for historical interests.
What struck the most was seeing places such as Tyre on the map, and many others that recur through history since ancient civilizations, I did not think about that!
Watch a little to see the terrain of Syria near Israel if you would like
Contemporary Squabbles, Wars, Conflits, etc & so on..
[Read more]
ARGUMENT An expert’s point of view on a current event. Syria Is Neither Stable Nor Safe An unfinished war has been almost forgotten by the West. By James Snell, a British writer.
JANUARY 29, 2022, 6:00 AM
At least three Syrian children are dead this month from inadequate protection against the snowstorms and subzero temperatures that have made 2022 the coldest winter in 40 years in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey. Their mothers are among Syria’s 6.8 million internally displaced persons.
Again, these same areas at issue surrounding the Promised Land had become areas where opposing military groups could lay siege of terror from the heights above the fields and towns of Israel just as has happened for thousands of years.
Meanwhile, returning to the Roman Empire and Syria
Syria was an important province of the Roman Republic and, later the Roman Empire. Both Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great favored the region and, after the rise of the empire, it was considered one of the most essential regions owing to its trade routes and ports on the Mediterranean Sea.
Fleeing another Empire
Here in Acts 6 we discovered a Jerusalem divided by traditions of east & west.
Truly, there was more than one Jewish diaspora;
most notably the one where Israel and Judah fell and the Jews were sent to other lands, mostly to the east.
These lands were later captured by Alexander of Macedonia to their west, riches of a world which Rome sought to control beyond Syria and the Jordan.
Syria – between two empires AD 14
In the early days of Judea, Herod the Great negotiated with Rome to build a shaky autonomy. But a generation and several Caesars later, Judea’s political alliance would be decimated by Rome with its imposing brand of a military peace.
So another diaspora (of sorts), one of Jews AND these new Messianic Jews or Christ–followers would take place.
Roman, Greek and Syrian towns would eventually try to send them all away.
Christ followers would read Luke’s account of ACTS 7 & 8 at a time of new persecutions to both Jews and Christians after A.D. 60.
Jerusalem, too, would once again fall to Rome’s Legions in A.D. 70.
In the Timeline of ACTS
If you had been following events back in Jerusalem (during the time Philip strategically fled to Samaria, ended up in Gaza and then amazingly found himself in Azotus), you would have observed several political attempts by Jerusalem’s rulers to follow such disciples of Jesus into all of the world – anywhere these men might threaten the rule of Judea-ism [sic].
Roman soldiers, as in years prior, were never far from the political wrangling between the Sanhedrin and Christians like Peter and Stephen who stood against Judea’s adopted Jewish traditions.
27 BCE – Tarsus is capital of Roman province of Syria-Cilicia Phoenice
66 CE – 73 CE – Syrian troops participate in the First Jewish-Roman War.
This second diaspora occurs after Rome tramples Jerusalem, when Christians have already fled to gentile and Roman cities. Disciples of Jesus in these places hear encouragement or read the record of earlier events in ACTS, which have taken place a generation or so earlier [30+ years].
Roman cities of Syria
“anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi”
Historical ACTS ‘in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ’
A.D., as world calendars denoted for nearly two millennia when men dared not overtly call any era 'common.' i.e. the anti-Christ designations of: BCE or CE
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dates below approximate from multiple sources:
- including Historical Atlas of the Bible
AD 6-AD14 – Judea is a ‘prefectorial’ province of Rome
AD26-AD36 – Pontius Pilate is Procurator of Syria-Cilicia Phoenice and its client states
AD27 – John the Baptist, a prophet-preacher popular in Judea is jailed then beheaded by Herod
AD30 – Pontius Pilate agrees to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, who surrendered to the Temple police, was subjected to a mockery of a public trial and attracted multitudes of men and women wherever He taught in Syria’s towns and deserted places, not to mention this troublesome town of Jerusalem.
AD30 – JESUS appears to more than five hundred men in various places for forty days RISEN from death!
The APOSTLES remain in Jerusalem, working miracles and challenged by the Sanhedrin.
AD34 – AD36 EVENTS RECORDED BY LUKE IN ACTS 7-8
AD37 – Caligula becomes Caesar of Rome
AD38 – Persecution of Jews in Alexandria in Aegyptus [Egypt}
AD39 – Mission of Peter in Samaria (More on that later from ACTS)
AD41 – Claudia becomes Caesar of Rome and Herod King of Chalcis [Lebanon]
AD44 – Judea returned to status as prefectorial province of Rome
AD45 – Paul begins his first of three mission trips (Much more later in ACTS)
AD50’s – Gospel of Mark most likely written, shared and preached
More mission trips of Paul, finally ending in Rome
AD60 – Estimated date Luke’s Gospel first published;
also Paul’s hearing before Portius Festus, Procurator of Judea, who hearing his appeal to Caesar sent him to Nero in Rome, where he writes and sends many letters to the Church throughout the Empire until he is beheaded in Rome in AD67.
~AD 64 – ACTS of the Apostles published
Acts of the Apostles + a History of Christ’s Church
AD67 – Vespasian (who will become Emperor in AD 69-79) recaptures Galilee, then subdues Judea in AD69, where Titus later lays siege to Jerusalem (one of four holdout cities) and burns down the Temple after its capture in AD70.
Most readers of Acts reading about Persecution beginning with Stephen have already experienced more persecution in the ensuing generations.
Starting with that day, there arose intense persecution against the Messianic Community in Yerushalayim; all but the emissaries were scattered throughout the regions of Y’hudah and Shomron.
2 Some godly men buried Stephen and mourned him deeply. 3 But Sha’ul set out to destroy the Messianic Community — entering house after house, he dragged off both men and women and handed them over to be put in prison. 4 However, those who were scattered announced the Good News of the Word wherever they went…
14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit…
.. the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away.. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
Meanwhile, Sha’ul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s talmidim, went to the cohen hagadol..
Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”
Joel 3:9-10
Consecrate them, says the LORD! Yes. It is a holy war – war between the Lord God and those who hold to their sins, following idols, false prophets, foolish sages and lying leaders.
What has been will be and what has never before been seen will blind the eyes of the nations.
Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
Borders and Nations Destroyed
By what proxy have the nations divided Tyre and Sidon to the spoils of nations beyond the valley of destruction?
Have the people not fled for their lives by land and by sea to places where they remain an enemy?
Though you rebuild fallen towers and repair the breach of five-walled fortresses, refugees will yet invade your borderless regions. Their helpless will expose the evil of princes; their plight unveils the nakedness of greed.
Has anything changed? Are these last times so different than the demise of the godless in the days of Joel?
Six centuries later Peter would preach the words of Joel’s prophesy fulfilled by the Holy Spirit speaking through a few Apostles heard by the crowd in many languages. [Acts 2:16-21] The last days have begun, Peter preaches, with the incarnation of Christ Jesus and the Lord’s crucifixion for our sins and His resurrection and ascension to the Throne of the LORD!
It is the Lamb of God who will judge. He was not a sword-wielding conquering King, general or prophet. God’s own compassion for the nations sacrificed the promised king of the jews as full payment for our sins, even the sins of His own enemies.
The Rumblings of Peace
One of the Apostles of Jesus lived to see Jerusalem fall once more under the domination of Rome. John wrote letters of love to the churches of Asia (modern day Turkey). Then as the last living Disciple prophesy came to John.
Rome has since fallen. A false prophet emerged from a cave to conquer the continents. Wars to end all wars. Emperors and dictators and despots have risen with sword and perished in humiliation. Even Israel is replanted after shameful killings of the remnant.
Only the message of the Lamb remains viable – a call to repentance and redemption in the blood of love, rather than the blood of war. Like in times before the falls of the mighty some claim peace, but it is war they invite. It is the Lord who will judge. Hear the Truth of these last days:
Revelation 6:1-8 excerpt
And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.
And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
Death Tolls of War
Current estimate of the population of the earth: 7,404,976,783
a fourth of the earth killed = 1,851,244,195
9/11 Death toll = 2,996
2016 Migrant deaths = 4,310 of 243,000+ war refugees
Syrian war deaths = c.300,000-400,000
Abortion deaths = 40,000,000 – 50,000,000
WWII deaths = 50,000,000 – 80,000,000
The current combined populations of China, Russia and the US = 1,831,278,025
I am not suggesting that these three empires will be those destroyed in the end. The number of souls tormented and killed on the earth will exceed the total number of people living in these three earthly super-powers!
Our sin is rampant! The judgment of evil is inevitable.
The Lamb of God IS and will be, forever, Lord and Savior!
He did not come to the world with a sword of power or a sickle to reap the riches of other lands. No, Christ Jesus came into the world as a Lamb of sacrifice for our sins. He will return on the clouds as John as prophesied.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.10 They cried out with a loud voice,
“O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
