Could a more obedient Paul have avoided his first arrest?

[Bob8102]

The Apostle Paul, at his first arrest, in Jerusalem, recounted to the crowd his earlier life, including his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. Then, he said, after he returned to Jerusalem, he saw the Lord speaking to Him and saying, “Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.” Shortly later, he was accosted in the temple by a crowd of Jews and then taken captive by Roman soldiers. Does this mean that if Paul had gotten out of Jerusalem immediately after the vision, he would have avoided being taken prisoner this first time?

 

[sandman]

Act 21:14 And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.


What was the will of the Lord….?

Act 21:4 And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

Act 21:9 And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.

Verse 9 does not state specifically what the four daughters prophesied …I speculate (being sandwiched between the other admonishments) that it was “don’t go to Jerusalem” …but it’s only speculation.

Act 21:11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

Act 21:12 And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.



Act 21:13 Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

That sounds sincere and committed…. but neither of those things override the Truth

Act 21:14 And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.


BUT ….In order to make it look like Paul was doing the will of God... the translators used commas to show Paul was walking upright ….He wasn’t…..he was being neglectful of Gods warning to him.

Take the commas out of Act 21:14 And when he would not be persuaded… we ceased saying The will of the Lord be done.

And the consequences of not listening to God, were devastating to Paul

 

[Bob8102]

I just remembered that that was not Paul's first arrest. But that's beside the point.

 

[Jonaitis]

The Apostle Paul, at his first arrest, in Jerusalem, recounted to the crowd his earlier life, including his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. Then, he said, after he returned to Jerusalem, he saw the Lord speaking to Him and saying, “Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.” Shortly later, he was accosted in the temple by a crowd of Jews and then taken captive by Roman soldiers. Does this mean that if Paul had gotten out of Jerusalem immediately after the vision, he would have avoided being taken prisoner this first time?

Why have I never seen this before? Paul was warned by God. Interesting...

 

[Ray Glenn]

In 66AD, following years of oppression by Jews and Romans alike, the Christians left Jerusalem and moved to neighboring countries. Perhaps God intervened and told the Christians to leave and avoid the coming sacking of the city. In his own way, God exterminated the Jews condemning the followers of his son. Noah's Ark once again but without water?

 

[Bob Crowley]

The relevant verse is Acts 22:18 NIV "... ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.’ ...".

The way I read it, Saul (later Paul) barely had time to recount his vision concluding three verses later in Acts 22:21 " ... ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ... ” than the Jews were ready to kill him.

Until recently he'd been their poster boy in persecuting the Christians, and here he was telling all and sundry the Christians had been right all along. Small wonder they took violent exception, and to make matters worse in their mind the "Gentiles" would have been synonymous with the hated Romans who occupied their country.

While the actions of the crowd and his almost immediate arrest were out of his control, he was quick off his feet to maneuver his way out of Jerusalem, first by convincing the Roman guards to respect his Roman citizenship as he was about to be scourged. Then he appealed to divisions in the Sanhedrin by pitting the Pharisees with their belief in the supernatural against the almost agnostic Saducees.

As a former Pharisee himself, he would have been very well aware of the political and religious undercurrents within the Sanhedrin.

The resulting tumult resulted in his being taken back into custody by the Romans.

Later he appealed to go to Rome to be judged by Caesar, in the meantime being kept "safe" under armed guard.

So he still got out of Jerusalem. Less quick witted thinkers might have found themselves on the sharp end of a sicae, the small sharp daggers carried by the Zealots or beaten to death by an enraged crowd.