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So how are we to think about Agabus? Are the details of his prophecy explicitly falsified? Did he err when he predicted that the Jews would bind Paul and hand him over to the Romans? I think the answer to this question is no. I don’t think Agabus got anything wrong in his prophecy. Let me give you five reasons why.
Number one, nothing in the text states that Agabus got his prophecy wrong. So the idea that this is explicitly falsified is in itself explicitly false. Neither Luke nor Paul, nor anyone else in Scripture, criticizes the accuracy of Agabus’ prediction or says that he erred. Thus at best, the continuationists’ conclusion about Agabus is based on an argument from silence.
Secondly, Luke’s description of what happened to Paul in Jerusalem farther down in Acts chapter 21 implies that the Jews bound him just as Agabus predicted. In fact, Luke doesn’t need to repeat those details because he’s already given us those details through the words of Agabus. But the details are implied as being perfectly fulfilled. So the rest of Acts 21 explains the Jews laid hands on Paul. They seized him, they dragged him and they sought to kill him and they were beating him when the Roman soldiers finally arrived.
Later when Paul stands before Agrippa, he reiterates that the Jews seized him in the Temple and tried to kill him. The mob would have had to restrain Paul in some way in order to do all of this to him, since Paul did not subject himself to it willingly. As they forcibly removed him from the Temple, the would have used whatever means were necessary to seize him and to bind him.
So the implication in both Acts 21 and Acts 26 is that Paul was bound exactly as Agabus said he would be. In fact, the Greek word “to bind” can mean to arrest or to imprison, but it can also simply mean to tie someone up, or to wrap someone up with rags. So when Agabus says you’re going to be bound in this way, that’s exactly what happened.
Number three, Paul’s later testimony confirms that the Jews delivered him over, or handed him over to the Romans. Continuationists claim that Agabus also erred when he predicted that the Jews would deliver Paul over to the Romans, but that error is not demanded by the text. In fact, in Acts 21:32, Paul is being beaten when the Roman cohort arrives, the Jews upon seeing the soldiers stop assaulting Paul and the implication of the text is that when the Roman soldiers arrived, the angry mob dispersed and relinquished Paul into the hands of the Roman soldiers. That, of course, accords perfectly with Agabus’ prediction. But there’s an even more explicit statement in Acts 28 where Paul has just arrived in Jerusalem. He’s under house arrest in Rome. Here’s what Luke says. “When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with a soldier who was guarding him. After three days, Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews and when they came together, he began to say to them,” and this is Paul speaking, “Brethren, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered.” That word for delivered is the exact same word that Agabus used when he said that Paul would be delivered by the Jews into the hands of the Romans. Here he says, “I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.”
So you can see, there’s no reason to cast aspersion or doubt on the details of Agabus’ prophecy. Now here’s probably the most important reason why I think it’s very dangerous to accuse Agabus of getting the details wrong. Agabus is quoting the Holy Spirit. In Acts 21:11 Agabus begins his prophecy by saying, “Thus says the Holy Spirit.” Just like the Old Testament prophets would declare, “Thus says the Lord.” Nothing in the text indicates that he was wrong to do that, and, in fact, the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to record Agabus’ prophecy in exactly this way.
So, those who accuse Agabus of error ought to be very careful. And I don’t say this flippantly but meaningfully, Agabus is quoting the Holy Spirit and I believe it is dangerous to then accuse the following words of being inaccurate.
Now finally and probably least important in our list of five, but one that I appreciate because I teach church history, no one in church history ever accused Agabus of errant prophecy until the modern Charismatic Movement. And we don’t have time this morning for me to read to you from Augustine and Chrysostom and Gregory of Nanzianzus, and Ambrose and others who talk about Agabus. But when they do talk about Agabus, which isn’t very frequently, they acquaint him with the Old Testament prophets like Isaiah and Ezekiel and they never ever imply that his prophecy was wrong.
So, based on these five reasons, I feel confidence stating that there is no hint of fallible prophecy not only in church history but in a straight-forward reading of the biblical text, no hint of fallible prophecy in Agabus’ prediction. Which means if Agabus didn’t get the details wrong, then there is no New Testament example of a prophet who got the details wrong."
A Word from the Lord? Evaluating the Modern Gift of Prophecy (Nathan Busenitz)
So how are we to think about Agabus? Are the details of his prophecy explicitly falsified? Did he err when he predicted that the Jews would bind Paul and hand him over to the Romans? I think the answer to this question is no. I don’t think Agabus got anything wrong in his prophecy. Let me give you five reasons why.
Number one, nothing in the text states that Agabus got his prophecy wrong. So the idea that this is explicitly falsified is in itself explicitly false. Neither Luke nor Paul, nor anyone else in Scripture, criticizes the accuracy of Agabus’ prediction or says that he erred. Thus at best, the continuationists’ conclusion about Agabus is based on an argument from silence.
Secondly, Luke’s description of what happened to Paul in Jerusalem farther down in Acts chapter 21 implies that the Jews bound him just as Agabus predicted. In fact, Luke doesn’t need to repeat those details because he’s already given us those details through the words of Agabus. But the details are implied as being perfectly fulfilled. So the rest of Acts 21 explains the Jews laid hands on Paul. They seized him, they dragged him and they sought to kill him and they were beating him when the Roman soldiers finally arrived.
Later when Paul stands before Agrippa, he reiterates that the Jews seized him in the Temple and tried to kill him. The mob would have had to restrain Paul in some way in order to do all of this to him, since Paul did not subject himself to it willingly. As they forcibly removed him from the Temple, the would have used whatever means were necessary to seize him and to bind him.
So the implication in both Acts 21 and Acts 26 is that Paul was bound exactly as Agabus said he would be. In fact, the Greek word “to bind” can mean to arrest or to imprison, but it can also simply mean to tie someone up, or to wrap someone up with rags. So when Agabus says you’re going to be bound in this way, that’s exactly what happened.
Number three, Paul’s later testimony confirms that the Jews delivered him over, or handed him over to the Romans. Continuationists claim that Agabus also erred when he predicted that the Jews would deliver Paul over to the Romans, but that error is not demanded by the text. In fact, in Acts 21:32, Paul is being beaten when the Roman cohort arrives, the Jews upon seeing the soldiers stop assaulting Paul and the implication of the text is that when the Roman soldiers arrived, the angry mob dispersed and relinquished Paul into the hands of the Roman soldiers. That, of course, accords perfectly with Agabus’ prediction. But there’s an even more explicit statement in Acts 28 where Paul has just arrived in Jerusalem. He’s under house arrest in Rome. Here’s what Luke says. “When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with a soldier who was guarding him. After three days, Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews and when they came together, he began to say to them,” and this is Paul speaking, “Brethren, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered.” That word for delivered is the exact same word that Agabus used when he said that Paul would be delivered by the Jews into the hands of the Romans. Here he says, “I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.”
So you can see, there’s no reason to cast aspersion or doubt on the details of Agabus’ prophecy. Now here’s probably the most important reason why I think it’s very dangerous to accuse Agabus of getting the details wrong. Agabus is quoting the Holy Spirit. In Acts 21:11 Agabus begins his prophecy by saying, “Thus says the Holy Spirit.” Just like the Old Testament prophets would declare, “Thus says the Lord.” Nothing in the text indicates that he was wrong to do that, and, in fact, the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to record Agabus’ prophecy in exactly this way.
So, those who accuse Agabus of error ought to be very careful. And I don’t say this flippantly but meaningfully, Agabus is quoting the Holy Spirit and I believe it is dangerous to then accuse the following words of being inaccurate.
Now finally and probably least important in our list of five, but one that I appreciate because I teach church history, no one in church history ever accused Agabus of errant prophecy until the modern Charismatic Movement. And we don’t have time this morning for me to read to you from Augustine and Chrysostom and Gregory of Nanzianzus, and Ambrose and others who talk about Agabus. But when they do talk about Agabus, which isn’t very frequently, they acquaint him with the Old Testament prophets like Isaiah and Ezekiel and they never ever imply that his prophecy was wrong.
So, based on these five reasons, I feel confidence stating that there is no hint of fallible prophecy not only in church history but in a straight-forward reading of the biblical text, no hint of fallible prophecy in Agabus’ prediction. Which means if Agabus didn’t get the details wrong, then there is no New Testament example of a prophet who got the details wrong."
A Word from the Lord? Evaluating the Modern Gift of Prophecy (Nathan Busenitz)
