This subject has come up recently in another thread, but I thought that it would be of interest, if more time could be spent on it.
Acts 21:4. God speaks to the Apostle Paul through believers, saying he should not go to Jerusalem but Paul is not listening. He has made up his mind and is hastening to Jerusalem, but the Holy Spirit is speaking to His disciples, giving His express will that Paul should not go: “and finding disciples, we tarried there seven days who said to Paul through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem”.
Literally, that is, ‘not set foot in’, not as in Acts 20:23, a warning of danger, but now an imperative command. Perhaps they tarried the seven days due to lengthy discussions in the hopes of persuading Paul. It was not his wish that he was delayed in his intentions, the sign that he was not waiting on guidance moment by moment on the Holy Spirit, but presuming he knew the will of God, making a decision about where he was to go, rather than be content to be on the journey, in God’s will, waiting on the Lord as he did when he was stopped from going into Asia.
In Ephesus (Acts 18:20) he would not delay and said that he ‘must by all means, go to Jerusalem (Acts 18:21). He was determined but was he open to the leadings of the Holy Spirit, so that he could change his plans whenever the Holy Spirit would forbid action? It seems not for in Acts 20:16, it is recorded that Paul hastened.
Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus because he would not spend time in Asia, for he ‘hasted, if it were possible for him to be in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost’. Haste is actually the sign that the devil is at work, for to walk in the Light means that every step that we take (as had Paul previous to this) must be taken deliberately and carefully according to the minute by minute guidance we are afforded if we living in close communion with the Lord Jesus Christ and led by the Spirit. Confusion comes if we are not.
Paul has lost his way and is now driven by his own thoughts, which may not be wrong in themselves, such as wanting to get offerings to the brethren in Jerusalem, after all, his desire is still to serve Christ and those to whom he had preached the gospel. He had not turned aside from his ministry but he had ceased to hear God speaking to him and he was also refusing to hear those to whom God was having to resort to speak though and therefore playing straight into the hands of the enemy who delights in God’s children getting it slightly wrong (not to touch the fruit) with tragic results in putting oneself outside of God’s will.
More than anything else, Satan would want to end Paul’s missionary journey’s and have him out of action, and this is what happened. Paul called the elders of Ephesus to him at Miletus and said his goodbyes to them, explaining that he was ‘bound in the S(s)pirit’ (Acts 20:22) What he was meaning was the he was bound in his own spirit, whereas in 21:4 it is the Holy Spirit who tells him he should not go to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit does not bind a man and gives him the freedom to do as he wishes.
The final warning comes in Cesarea, this time not in words, which had so far failed to get through to Paul, but by way of a physical demonstration which convinced Paul’s travelling companions (21:12) so that they and Philip the evangelist, all men of God and led by the Spirit, united in discernment that God was commanding Paul not to go to Jerusalem and ‘besought him not to go’. Not just one person note, it was a company of brethren who Paul was ignoring.
Christ has said ‘when two or more are gathered in my name’ or are in agreement ‘there I am in the midst of them’ which is sufficient warning to us whenever we decide to go it alone and step outside of the counsel of brethren who are walking in the Light. What was Paul thinking of??
His fellow disciples gave up at that point, realising that Paul’s mind was set and closed, a dangerous thing for a follower of Christ. They ceased (21:14) and there was nothing left for them to do but to put the matter in the hands of God. “The will of the Lord be done” and resigned themselves to accompanying Paul despite their understanding that it was not God’s will, and that their brother in Christ, whom they would not abandon, was in mortal danger.
It is true that God used God in ‘the prison years’ but we do not know how much was lost with the leading Apostle out of action and what the long term result in the church would be. God brings good out of our stupidity, but it does not say that everything we lost is restored.
Acts 21:4. God speaks to the Apostle Paul through believers, saying he should not go to Jerusalem but Paul is not listening. He has made up his mind and is hastening to Jerusalem, but the Holy Spirit is speaking to His disciples, giving His express will that Paul should not go: “and finding disciples, we tarried there seven days who said to Paul through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem”.
Literally, that is, ‘not set foot in’, not as in Acts 20:23, a warning of danger, but now an imperative command. Perhaps they tarried the seven days due to lengthy discussions in the hopes of persuading Paul. It was not his wish that he was delayed in his intentions, the sign that he was not waiting on guidance moment by moment on the Holy Spirit, but presuming he knew the will of God, making a decision about where he was to go, rather than be content to be on the journey, in God’s will, waiting on the Lord as he did when he was stopped from going into Asia.
In Ephesus (Acts 18:20) he would not delay and said that he ‘must by all means, go to Jerusalem (Acts 18:21). He was determined but was he open to the leadings of the Holy Spirit, so that he could change his plans whenever the Holy Spirit would forbid action? It seems not for in Acts 20:16, it is recorded that Paul hastened.
Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus because he would not spend time in Asia, for he ‘hasted, if it were possible for him to be in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost’. Haste is actually the sign that the devil is at work, for to walk in the Light means that every step that we take (as had Paul previous to this) must be taken deliberately and carefully according to the minute by minute guidance we are afforded if we living in close communion with the Lord Jesus Christ and led by the Spirit. Confusion comes if we are not.
Paul has lost his way and is now driven by his own thoughts, which may not be wrong in themselves, such as wanting to get offerings to the brethren in Jerusalem, after all, his desire is still to serve Christ and those to whom he had preached the gospel. He had not turned aside from his ministry but he had ceased to hear God speaking to him and he was also refusing to hear those to whom God was having to resort to speak though and therefore playing straight into the hands of the enemy who delights in God’s children getting it slightly wrong (not to touch the fruit) with tragic results in putting oneself outside of God’s will.
More than anything else, Satan would want to end Paul’s missionary journey’s and have him out of action, and this is what happened. Paul called the elders of Ephesus to him at Miletus and said his goodbyes to them, explaining that he was ‘bound in the S(s)pirit’ (Acts 20:22) What he was meaning was the he was bound in his own spirit, whereas in 21:4 it is the Holy Spirit who tells him he should not go to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit does not bind a man and gives him the freedom to do as he wishes.
The final warning comes in Cesarea, this time not in words, which had so far failed to get through to Paul, but by way of a physical demonstration which convinced Paul’s travelling companions (21:12) so that they and Philip the evangelist, all men of God and led by the Spirit, united in discernment that God was commanding Paul not to go to Jerusalem and ‘besought him not to go’. Not just one person note, it was a company of brethren who Paul was ignoring.
Christ has said ‘when two or more are gathered in my name’ or are in agreement ‘there I am in the midst of them’ which is sufficient warning to us whenever we decide to go it alone and step outside of the counsel of brethren who are walking in the Light. What was Paul thinking of??
His fellow disciples gave up at that point, realising that Paul’s mind was set and closed, a dangerous thing for a follower of Christ. They ceased (21:14) and there was nothing left for them to do but to put the matter in the hands of God. “The will of the Lord be done” and resigned themselves to accompanying Paul despite their understanding that it was not God’s will, and that their brother in Christ, whom they would not abandon, was in mortal danger.
It is true that God used God in ‘the prison years’ but we do not know how much was lost with the leading Apostle out of action and what the long term result in the church would be. God brings good out of our stupidity, but it does not say that everything we lost is restored.
