a Grace Notes course

The an expositional study by Warren Doud

Lesson 406: Acts 26:19-32

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ACTS

ACTS406 - Acts 26:19-32

Contents

ACTS 26:19-32...... 3 Paul’s Missionary Labors ...... 9 Damascus ...... 15

The Acts of the Apostles Page 3 ACTS 406: Acts 26:19-32 a Grace Notes study

ACTS 26:19-32 persecution of his apostles, ministers, and people; and of their trust in, and dependence ACTS 26:19. Whereupon, O King Agrippa, upon, their own righteousness for justification: Having been favoured with this illustrious and the latter of their immoralities, appearance of the Lord and with this superstition, and idolatry; and both not of the declaration and commission from him: outward gross actions of life only, but of inward I was not disobedient unto the heavenly sins and lusts: and repentance of each of these vision; to Christ himself, who appeared from lies in a different sentiment of them; in a heaven in so much light and glory, and spoke detestation and abhorrence of them; in shame unto him, and appointed him what he should and confusion on account of them. be, and do, and declared what use he should be In self-reflections upon them, and humiliation of: he did not disbelieve what Christ said, nor for them; in an ingenuous acknowledgment of was he disobedient to the orders he gave, but them, and turning from them: and this is not a immediately set about the work he called him national repentance which the ministers of the to, without consulting flesh and blood; (see Gospel are to show to men the necessity of; Galatians 1:16). though this is not unworthy of them, when ACTS 26:20. But showed first unto them of there is a call in Providence to it, and the state Damascus, The Jews at Damascus to whom of things require it; much less a legal one, but the apostle first preached; (see :20,22). an evangelical repentance; which has along and at , and throughout all the with it faith in Christ , dealing with his coasts of Judea; observing the order of his blood and righteousness for the remission of mission, (Acts 26:17) though it was not until their sins. after he had been in Arabia, and had returned Their justification before God; and which to Damascus, that he went to Jerusalem,and springs from, and is encouraged and preached there; (see Galatians 1:17,18) heightened by, a sense of the love of God: and compared with (Acts 9:28). now this being a part of the Gospel ministry, and [then] to the Gentiles; as at in does not suppose it to be in the power of men , at Iconium, , and in to repent of themselves, since no man, whilst he ; and at , Thessalonica, and remains insensible of the evil nature of sin, and Berea in Macedonia; and in many places in the hardness of his heart continues, which none Greece and , as at , Corinth, , but God can remove, can repent; and when he and others, as this history shows; and indeed he becomes truly sensible, he then prays to God to preached the Gospel from Jerusalem round give him repentance, and to turn him: nor does about to Illyricum; it at all contradict its being a blessing of the that they should repent; that is, that they covenant, a gift of Christ, and a grace of the should repent of their sins; of sin in general, as Spirit of God; nor does it suggest, that the it is committed against God, is a transgression preaching of the word is sufficient of itself to of his law, and as it is in itself exceeding sinful, produce it; the contrary of which the ministry and in its effects dreadful; and of particular of John the Baptist, of Christ, and of his apostles, sins, such as men have been more especially declares. addicted to, and of which the Jews and Gentiles, The design of its being insisted on in the Gospel the apostle was sent unto, and to whom he ministry, is to show that men are sinners, and preached, had been guilty: as the former of in such a state and condition, that they are in their will worship, and following the need of repentance, and that without it they commandments and traditions of men, thereby must perish; and the rather this is to be quietly making void the law of God; of their rejection inculcated, since true repentance is unto life, is and crucifixion of the Messiah; of their the beginning and evidence of spiritual life, and

The Acts of the Apostles Page 4 ACTS 406: Acts 26:19-32 a Grace Notes study issues in eternal life; and since there is a close of internal repentance and outward worship, connection between that and salvation, and that and all goodworks, are parts of the Gospel without it there is no salvation. It follows, ministry, and to be insisted on in their proper and turn to God; this is to be understood, not of places. the first work of conversion, which is God’s ACTS 26:21. For these causes the Jews caught work, and not man’s act, and in which man is me in the temple, He means the Asiatic Jews, passive, and which is before repentance, who finding him in the temple, laid hold on him, whereas this follows upon it; though the and dragged him out of it: and, as he says, went ministers of the word have a concern with this; about to kill me; for no other reason, but for to bring about this is the design and use of their preaching to the Gentiles, and for preaching the ministrations; their business is to show the above doctrines to them: what he refers to is in nature of conversion, what it is, and wherein it (:27-31). lies; to rectify mistakes about it, and to observe ACTS 26:22. Having therefore obtained help the necessity of it: but here is designed a of God, Both to preach the Gospel, and escape turning to God, in consequence of the grace of danger; for he had delivered him many a time first conversion; by an acknowledgment and both from Jews and Gentiles, according to his confession of sin to God, by an application to promise, (Acts 26:17) and particularly from the him for pardoning grace and mercy, by a trust Asiatic Jews, when they were about to kill him, and dependence on him for righteousness, life, by the means of Lysias the chief captain, who and salvation, and by obedience to his rescued him out of their hands; and also from commands and ordinances. It intends a turning the lying in wait of the Jews to take away his of the Jews from their evil principles and life, and the various methods they used both practices, from the traditions of their elders to with Felix and Festus to get him into their the law of God, the Gospel of Christ, and the power: but the Lord appeared for him, and ordinances of it, and of the Gentiles, from their saved him from all their pernicious designs idols to the worship of the true and living God: against him; and therefore he could say as and do works meet for repentance the same follows, with “fruits meet for repentance”, (Matthew I continue unto this day: in the land of the 3:8). And such as are particularly mentioned in living, though in bonds: (2 Corinthians 7:11) they are they which are witnessing both to small and great; to kings the reverse of the evil actions they have been and subjects, as now to Agrippa, Festus, the guilty of, and which are properly good works. chief captains and principal inhabitants of And they are they which are done according to Caesarea, and to the common people the will of God declared in his word, this is a assembled; to high and low, rich and poor, bond requisite of a good work; what is not according and free, male and female, young and old; to to the word of God is not a good work, nor can persons of every state, age, and sex: it be any evidence of repentance; and they are also such as spring from love to God, for if they saying none other things than those which are done through fear of punishment, or for the prophets and Moses did say should come. sinister and selfish ends, they show repentance This he mentions in opposition to the charge to be a mere legal one: and they are such as are against him, as that he spoke against the law of done in faith, in the name and strength of Moses, as well as against the temple, and the Christ, and to the glory of God by him. All people of the Jews; whereas his doctrine was external good works are designed, which show perfectly agreeable to the writings of Moses, that the inward repentance professed, and that and the prophets, concerning the Messiah, they the outward change made in religion and speak of in many places, and the Jews expected. worship, are genuine and sincere: the doctrines

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There is an entire harmony and agreement deliver them from all evil, and from all enemies, between the writings of Moses, and the and bring them nigh to God. prophets of the Old Testament, and the apostles What he suffered were no other than what had of the New, in all the doctrines of the Gospel been foretold in the writings of the Old revelation; in the doctrine of a trinity of Testament, which all along represent the persons in the unity of the divine essence, and Messiah as a suffering one; and in particular of the proper deity of each person; in the that he should suffer in his character, be doctrines respecting the person, offices, and reproached, and accounted a worm, and no work of Christ; that he is the Son of God, God man, (Isaiah 53:3, Psalm 22:6, 59:9) and in his and man in one person, and the only Mediator soul and body, and be put to death and buried, between God and man; and that he is prophet, as the above prophecies referred to show; the priest, and King; and that the great work he was several circumstances leading on to, or appointed to, undertook, and came about, and attending his sufferings and death, are has fulfilled, is the redemption of hispeople; distinctly expressed; as the betraying him by and in the several doctrines of grace concerning one of his disciples, selling him for thirty pieces the choice of men to salvation, the covenant of silver, his being forsaken by all his disciples, made with Christ on account of them, their his crucifixion between two thieves, the parting redemption, justification, and pardon, their of his garments, giving him gall and vinegar to repentance and good works, the resurrection of drink, and the piercing his side with a spear, the dead, and a future state: the particular (Psalm 41:9, Zechariah 11:12,13) (Zechariah things instanced in, the apostle preached, and 13:7, Isaiah 53:12, Psalm 22:18, 69:21 Moses and the prophets said should be, and in Zechariah 12:10). which they agreed, are as follow. And to this agreed the doctrine of the apostle, ACTS 26:23. That Christ should suffer, Great who taught that Jesus of Nazareth was the afflictions in soul and body, and death itself; Christ that was to come, and that he had this is recorded by Moses, (Genesis 3:15) and is suffered all that Moses and the prophets did say the sense of many of the types, as of the should come upon him: but these were not the passover, brazen serpent, etc. and of all the present sentimentsof the Jews, who expected sacrifices which from God were appointed by the Messiah to be a temporal Prince and him, and is the constant account of all the Saviour, and to live in great outward prosperity, prophets from the beginning to the end; (see and for ever. Psalm 22:1,2,6,7,11-21, Isaiah 53:2-12) (Daniel And that he should be the first that should 9:26, Zechariah 9:9, 12:10, 13:6,7). rise from the dead: by his own power, and to The sufferer is Christ, or the Messiah, not the an immortal life, as Jesus did; and so is the Father, nor the Spirit, but the Word, or Son of firstborn from the dead, and the first fruits of God, and not in his divine nature, which was them that slept: a type of this, in the deliverance incapable of suffering, but in his human nature; of Isaac, is recorded by Moses in (Genesis though sufferings may be ascribed to his whole 22:12-14) compared with (Hebrews 11:19) and person, both natures being united in him: and the thing itself is foretold by many of the hence they became efficacious to answer the prophets, (Psalm 16:10, Isaiah 26:19, Hosea purposes for which they were endured; and 6:2). which he endured, not for himself, nor for and should show light unto the people, and to angels, but for chosen men, sinners, and the Gentiles: in his own person to the people of ungodly persons; in order to make peace and the Jews, and by his apostles to the Gentiles. In reconciliation for them, procure the pardon of the writings of Moses he is spoken of as the their sins, obtain eternal redemption for them, great prophet God would raise up in Israel, to whom they should hearken; and as the Shiloh to

The Acts of the Apostles Page 6 ACTS 406: Acts 26:19-32 a Grace Notes study whom the gathering of the people should be, writings which he knew nothing at all of. And as (Deuteronomy 17:15, Genesis 49:10) and that this sometimes is the case, that much reading, he should be a light to both Jews and Gentiles, and hard study, do cause men to be beside through the ministration of the Gospel, is said themselves, he thought it was Paul’s case: so by the prophets, (Isaiah 9:2, 42:6, 49:6) and the philosopher suggests, that men of great wit these were the things which the apostle and learning, and who are closely engaged in asserted in his ministry, in perfect agreement study, whether in philosophy, or politics, or with those writings. poetry, or in technical affairs, are inclined to be ACTS 26:24. And as he thus spake for himself, melancholy, and phrenetic. Asserting the integrity and innocence of his ACTS 26:25. But he said, I am not mad, most past life and conversation, in proof of which he noble Festus, That is, Paul said, as the appealed to the Jews themselves; setting forth Alexandrian copy, and some others, and the the prejudices to the Christian religion he had Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions been under; declaring the heavenly vision that read: he replied to Festus, to whom he gives his had appeared to him, and the divine orders he title of honour, not out of fear, nor flattery, but had received; alleging, that in his ministry there according to custom; and though he used him in was an entire harmony between him, and the such a reproachful manner, as if he was not writings of Moses, and the prophets, for which himself, which he denies; nor did what he had the Jews professed a veneration; as he was thus said show anything of that kind, but the vindicating himself, ere he had well finished his reverse, to which he appeals; apology, but speak forth the words of truth and Festus said with a loud voice; that all might soberness; which are true in themselves, being hear, and being moved with resentment at what perfectly agreeable to the Scriptures of truth; he had heard; and it may be, he was displeased and are what Christ, who is truth itself, had with Paul that he took so much notice of spoken, and of which he is the subject; and Agrippa, and so often addressed him, and which the spirit of truth leads into, and owns appealed to him, when he scarce ever turned to, and blesses: the Gospel in general, and all the or looked at him: doctrines of it, are words of truth; they are true, Paul, thou art beside thyself; not in thy senses, in opposition to that which is false, there is or right mind, to talk of such an appearance and nothing of falsehood in them, no lie is of the vision, and especially of the resurrection of a truth; and to that which is fictitious, as the person from the dead. This is no unusual thing counterfeit Gospel of false teachers, which for the ministers of the Gospel to be reckoned looks like the Gospel, and has the appearance of madmen, and the doctrines they preach truth, but in reality is not; and to that which is madness and folly: our Lord himself was said to but shadow, the Gospel, and the truths of it, are be beside himself, and to have a devil, and be solid and substantial ones; hence the law and mad; and so were his apostles, (Mark 3:21, John truth are opposed to each other, (John 1:17). 10:20 2 Corinthians 5:13) and it is not to be There are particular doctrines of the Gospel, wondered at that natural menshould entertain and such as the apostle had been speaking of, or such an opinion of them, since what they referred unto, which are called truth, words of deliver is quite out of their sphere and reach: truth, and faithful sayings; as that Jesus Christ is Festus added, the Son of God; that he is God manifest in the much learning doth make thee mad; the flesh, or is God and man in one person; that he apostle was a man of much learning, both came into the world to save the chief of sinners; Jewish, Greek, and Roman; and Festus that he suffered, died, and rose again from the perceived him to be of great reading by his dead; that justification is by his righteousness; making mention of Moses, and the prophets, and that as he is the first that rose from the

The Acts of the Apostles Page 7 ACTS 406: Acts 26:19-32 a Grace Notes study dead, others will rise also; or that there will be his resurrection from the dead was a well a resurrection of the dead by him; (see 1 John attested fact, and the ministration of his Gospel 2:21,22, 1 Timothy 3:15,16) (1 Timothy 1:15 to Jews and Gentiles was notorious. The Arabic 1Corinthians 15:1,3,4, Galatians 3:1 2 Timothy and Ethiopic versions refer this to Paul’s words 2:18). and actions, that what he had said and done These are “words of soberness” also; they are were not private but public, and of which words of the highest wisdom, which contain the Agrippa had had, by one means or another, a wisdom of God in a mystery, even hidden full account; but the other sense is best. wisdom, the deep things of God, and such as ACTS 26:27. King Agrippa, believest thou the could never have been found out by the wisdom prophets? What they have said concerning the of men; they are the means of bringing a man to person, office, sufferings, death, and himself, to his right mind, who before was not resurrection of Christ, and that what they have himself; of causing a man to think soberly of said is fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth? himself, and not more highly than he ought to I know that thou believest; that what the think, even to think of himself, that he is the prophets said were true, and are accomplished. chief of sinners, and the least of saints; and of ACTS 26:28. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, speaking soberly, wisely, and prudently; and of Either seriously or ironically; rather the former, living soberly, righteously, and godly: they are arising from the convictions of his mind, which doctrines, as delivered by the faithful ministers he could not stifle nor conceal: of them, which come from a sound and sober mind, and have a tendency to make wise and almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian; sober; and therefore should be spoken “forth”, to profess faith in Jesus as the Messiah, to openly and boldly, freely and faithfully, embrace his doctrine, and submit to his constantly and continually, as they were by the ordinances, which is to be a Christian, at least apostle, whatever reproaches, calumnies, and externally: and when he says “almost”, or “in a reflections may be cast upon them for so doing, little”, his meaning is, that within a little, or very even though they may be called fools and near, he was of being persuaded to embrace madmen. Christianity; or in a little matter, and in some respects; or rather in a few words, and in a ACTS 26:26. For the king knoweth of these small space of time, Paul had strangely wrought things, Something of them, of the sufferings upon him to incline to the Christian religion; and resurrection of the Messiah, and of his though the first sense, that he was almost, or showing light to Jews and Gentiles, as they are within a little of being a Christian, seems to be spoken of by Moses and the prophets, whose the best, as appears by the apostle’s reply to it: writings Agrippa was conversant with, and of what it is to be a real Christian, (see Gill on these things as fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth; at “:26”). least he had heard the report of them, how that they were said to be accomplished in him. An almost Christian is one that has much light and knowledge, but no grace; he may know Before whom also I speak freely; because of something of himself and of sin, of its being a the knowledge he had of these things: violation of the law of God, and of the bad for I am persuaded that none of these things consequences of it, but has not true repentance are hidden from him; as that Moses and the for it; he may know much of Christ in a prophets have foretold then, and that they have speculative way, concerning his person and had their fulfilment in Jesus; offices, as the devils themselves do, and of the for this thing was not done in a corner: the good things which come by him, as peace, ministry of Jesus was, public, his miracles were pardon, righteousness, and salvation; but has done openly, his suffering the death of the cross no application of these things to himself; he under Pontius Pilate was generally known, and

The Acts of the Apostles Page 8 ACTS 406: Acts 26:19-32 a Grace Notes study may have a large notional knowledge of the , as he was; that they knew as much doctrines of the Gospel. of Christ, and had as much faith in him, and love He has no experience of the power, sweetness, to him, as he had, and were as ready to serve and comfort of them in his own soul; all his and obey him. knowledge is unsanctified, and without He does not wish that Agrippa and the rest that practice: he is one that has a taste of divine heard him were as he had been, a bigot for things, but has not the truth of them; he may traditions and ceremonies, that trusted in his taste of the heavenly gift, of the good word of own righteousness, did many things contrary to God, and of the powers of the world to come; the name of Jesus, was a blasphemer of him, a yet it is but a taste, a superficial one, which he persecutor of his saints, and an injurious has. person; but as he now was, not meaning with He does not savour and relish these things, nor respect to his civil circumstances, as a mean is he nourished by them: he has a great deal of poor man, and a tent maker, or with respect to faith in the historical way, and sometimes a his single state of life, which he elsewhere bold confidence and assurance of everlasting advises to, (1 Corinthians 9:5) or with respect happiness; but has not faith of the right kind, to his ministerial capacity, as an apostle of which is spiritual and special, which is the faith Christ, and a preacher of the Gospel; but as a of God’s elect, the gift of God, and the operation Christian, and in a private capacity. of his Spirit; by which the soul beholds the His sense is, he wished that they were as he, glory, fulness, and suitableness of Christ, under regenerated by the Spirit of God, new creatures a sense of need, and goes forth to him, in Christ, called by the grace of God with an renouncing everything of self, and lays hold holy calling, believers in Christ, lovers of him, upon him, and trusts in him for salvation; and pardoned by his blood, justified by his which works by love to Christ and his people, righteousness, sanctified by his grace, children and has with it the fruits of righteousness: he of God, and heirs of eternal life: and all this he may express a great deal of flashy affectation to wishes for of God, saying, “would to God”, etc. the word, and the ministers of it, for a while, knowing that the whole of this is not of men, but has nothing solid and substantial in him;. but of God; all grace, and every blessing of it, It is one part of the Gospel ministry to persuade which make or show a man to be a Christian men, but this of itself is ineffectual; a real indeed, are from him. Christian is made so by the power of divine This wish is expressive of true grace, which grace. Agrippa was only persuaded, and but desires the good of others, and also of a spirit almost persuaded by the apostle to be a trulygenerous, that is not selfish and Christian, but not by the Lord, nor altogether, monopolizing; and which is concerned for the who persuades Japheth to dwell in the tents of glory of God, the interest of Christ, and the Shem. weakening of Satan’s kingdom: and from the ACTS 26:29. And Paul said, I would to God, whole of this it appears, that a person may This prayer of the apostle’s shows his affection arrive to true satisfaction of his own state; and for the souls of men, and his great desire for that it is an evidence of grace, when the heart is their conversion, and also his sense of the drawn out in desires, after the salvation of power and grace of God, as necessary to it: others; and that altogether Christians are the only desirable ones; and that to be made a real that not only thou, but also all that hear me Christian is the work of God, and to be ascribed this day, were both almost and altogether to him. such as I am; that is, his wish was that not only Agrippa, but that all that were present, were This the apostle wished for, for Agrippa and all not only within a little, or in some low degree, that heard him; as does every Gospel minister but entirely, in the highest and fullest sense, for their hearers, the hearing of the word being

The Acts of the Apostles Page 9 ACTS 406: Acts 26:19-32 a Grace Notes study the ordinary means of believing; and the rather him; but so it was ordered in divine Providence, it is desired by them, because the that he should appeal to Caesar, that he might condemnation of those that hear the word is go to , and there bear a testimony for otherwise thereby aggravated: the apostle adds, Christ; however, this declaration of Agrippa, except these bonds; which were both and what he and the governor and the rest said troublesome and reproachful: not but that he among themselves, are a considerable proof of cheerfully endured them himself, and thought it the innocence of the apostle. the duty of Christians to bear them patiently, Paul’s Missionary Labors when called to it, but then they were not things The public life of Paul, from the third year after to be desired and wished for; the exception is his conversion to his martyrdom, A.D. 40–64, not only Christian like, but humane and genteel. embraces a quarter of a century, three great ACTS 26:30. And when he had thus spoken, missionary campaigns with minor expeditions, These words are omitted in the Alexandrian five visits to Jerusalem, and at least four years copy, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic of captivity in Caesarea and Rome. Some extend versions: this period to A.D. 67 or 68. It may be divided the king rose up; from the judgment seat; that into periods, as follows: is, King Agrippa: A.D. 40–44 and the governor; the Roman governor, The period of preparatory labors in and Festus: his native , partly alone, partly in and Bernice: the sister of King Agrippa: connection with , his senior fellow- and they that sat with them; either in council, apostle among the Gentiles. or to hear; the chief captains, and principal On his return from the Arabian retreat Paul inhabitants of Caesarea. began his public ministry in earnest at ACTS 26:31. And when they were gone aside, Damascus, preaching Christ on the very spot Into some apartment adjoining to the judgment where he had been converted and called. His hall: testimony enraged the Jews, who stirred up the they talked between themselves; that the deputy of the king of Arabia against him, but he common people might not hear their debates, was saved for future usefulness and let down and the result of them, and what were their by the brethren in a basket through a window sentiments concerning Paul and his case: in the wall of the city. Three years after his conversion he went up to Jerusalem to make saying, this man doth nothing worthy of the acquaintance of Peter and spent a fortnight death, or of bonds; according to the Roman with him. laws; for as yet there were no laws among the Romans against the Christians as such, or Besides him he saw James the brother of the against their professing and preaching Christ. Lord. Barnabas introduced him to the disciples, who at first were afraid of him, but when they ACTS 26:32. Then said Agrippa unto Festus, heard of his marvellous conversion they As declaring his sense, and by way of advice “glorified God” that their persecutor was now and counsel; but not as determining anything preaching the faith he had once been laboring himself, for that lay in the breast of Festus, the to destroy. He did not come to learn the gospel, Roman governor and judge: having received it already by revelation, nor to this man might have been set at liberty; from be confirmed or ordained, having been called his bonds and imprisonment; for ought that “not from men, or through man, but through appears against him, or any law to the contrary: Jesus Christ.” Yet his interview with Peter and if he had not appealed unto Caesar; James, though barely mentioned, must have wherefore an inferior judge could not release been fraught with the deepest interest. Peter,

The Acts of the Apostles Page 10 ACTS 406: Acts 26:19-32 a Grace Notes study kind-hearted and generous as he was, would enemies of the gods; the stoning of the naturally receive him with joy and missionaries, their escape from death, and their thanksgiving. successful return to Antioch, are the leading He had himself once denied the Lord—not incidents of this tour, which is fully described in malignantly but from weakness—as Paul had and 14. persecuted the disciples—ignorantly in This period closes with the important apostolic unbelief. Both had been mercifully pardoned, conference at Jerusalem, A.D. 50, which will both had seen the Lord, both were called to the require separate consideration in the next highest dignity, both could say from the bottom section. of the heart: “Lord thou knowest all things; From A.D. 51–54 thou knowest that I love thee.” No doubt they would exchange their experiences and confirm Second missionary journey. After the council at each other in their common faith. Jerusalem and the temporary adjustment of the difference between the Jewish and Gentile It was probably on this visit that Paul received branches of the church, Paul undertook, in the in a vision in the temple the express command year 51, a second great journey, which decided of the Lord to go quickly unto the Gentiles. Had the Christianization of Greece. He took for he stayed longer at the seat of the Sanhedrin, he his companion. Having first visited his old would undoubtedly have met the fate of the churches, he proceeded, with the help of Silas martyr Stephen. and the young convert, Timothy, to establish He visited Jerusalem a second time during the new ones through the provinces of and famine under Claudius, in the year 44, , where, notwithstanding his bodily accompanied by Barnabas, on a benevolent infirmity, he was received with open arms like mission, bearing a collection of the Christians at an angel of God. Antioch for the relief of the brethren in Judaea. From Troas, a few miles south of the Homeric On that occasion he probably saw none of the Troy and the entrance to the Hellespont, he apostles on account of the persecution in which crossed over to Greece in answer to the James was beheaded, and Peter imprisoned. Macedonian cry: “Come over and help us!” He The greater part of these four years was spent preached the gospel with great success, first in in missionary work at Tarsus and Antioch. Philippi, where he converted the purple dealer, A.D. 45–50 Lydia, and the jailor, and was imprisoned with Silas, but miraculously delivered and honorably First missionary journey. In the year 45 Paul released; then in Thessalonica, where he was entered upon the first great missionary persecuted by the Jews, but left a flourishing journey, in company with Barnabas and Mark, church; in Beraea, where the converts showed by the direction of the Holy Spirit through the exemplary zeal in searching the Scriptures. prophets of the congregation at Antioch. He traversed the island of and several In Athens, the metropolis of classical literature, provinces of Asia Minor. he reasoned with Stoic and Epicurean philosophers, and unveiled to them on Mars’ The conversion of the Roman proconsul, Hill (Areopagus), with consummate tact and , at ; the rebuke and wisdom, though without much immediate punishment of the Jewish sorcerer, ; the success, the “unknown God,” to whom the marked success of the gospel in Pisidia, and the Athenians, in their superstitious anxiety to do bitter opposition of the unbelieving Jews; the justice to all possible divinities, had miraculous healing of a cripple at Lystra; the unconsciously erected an altar, and Jesus Christ, idolatrous worship there offered to Paul and through whom God will judge the world in Barnabas by the superstitious heathen, and its righteousness. sudden change into hatred against them as

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In Corinth, the commercial bridge between the because he had taken into it an uncircumcised East and the West, a flourishing centre of Greek, ; dragged him out of the wealth and culture, but also a sink of vice and sanctuary, lest they should defile it with blood, corruption, the apostle spent eighteen months, and would undoubtedly have killed him had not and under almost insurmountable difficulties , the Roman tribune, who lived he built up a church, which exhibited all the near by, come promptly with his soldiers to the virtues and all the faults of the Grecian spot. character under the influence of the gospel, and This officer rescued Paul, out of respect for his which he honored with two of his most Roman citizenship, from the fury of the mob, important Epistles. set him the next day before the Sanhedrin, and In the spring of 54 he returned by way of after a tumultuous and fruitless session of the Ephesus, Caesarea, and Jerusalem to Antioch. council, and the discovery of a plot against his During this period he composed the two life, sent him, with a strong military guard and a Epistles to the Thessalonians, which are the certificate of innocence, to the procurator Felix earliest of his literary remains excepting his in Caesarea. missionary addresses preserved in the Acts. Here the apostle was confined two whole years (58–60), awaiting his trial before the A.D. 54–58 Sanhedrin, uncondemned, occasionally Third missionary tour. Towards the close of the speaking before Felix, apparently treated with year 54 Paul went to Ephesus, and in this comparative mildness, visited by the Christians, renowned capital of proconsular Asia and of the and in some way not known to us promoting worship of Diana, he fixed for three years the the kingdom of God. centre of his missionary work. He then revisited After the accession of the new and better his churches in Macedonia and Achaia, and procurator, Festus, who is known to have remained three months more in Corinth and succeeded Felix in the year 60, Paul, as a Roman the vicinity. citizen, appealed to the tribunal of Caesar and During this period he wrote the great doctrinal thus opened the way to the fulfilment of his Epistles to the Galatians, Corinthians, and long-cherished desire to preach the Saviour of Romans, which mark the height of his activity the world in the metropolis of the world. and usefulness. Having once more testified his innocence, and A.D. 58–63 spoken for Christ in a masterly defence before The period of his two imprisonments, with the Festus, King II. (the last of the intervening winter voyage from Caesarea to Herods), his sister Bernice, and the most Rome. In the spring of 58 he journeyed, for the distinguished men of Caesarea, he was sent in fifth and last time, to Jerusalem, by way of the autumn of the year 60 to the emperor. He Philippi, Troas, (where he delivered his had a stormy voyage and suffered shipwreck, affecting valedictory to the Ephesian presbyter- which detained him over winter at . The bishops), Tyre, and Caesarea, to carry again to voyage is described with singular minuteness the poor brethren in Judaea a contribution from and nautical accuracy by Luke as an eye- the Christians of Greece, and by this token of witness. In the month of March of the year 61, gratitude and love to cement the two branches the apostle, with a few faithful companions, of the apostolic church more firmly together. reached Rome, a prisoner of Christ, and yet But some fanatical Jews, who bitterly bated him freer and mightier than the emperor on the as an apostate and a seducer of the people, throne. It was the seventh year of Nero’s reign, raised an uproar against him at ; when he had already shown his infamous charged him with profaning the temple, character by the murder of Agrippina, his

The Acts of the Apostles Page 12 ACTS 406: Acts 26:19-32 a Grace Notes study mother, in the previous year, and other acts of If he was set at liberty, it must have been before cruelty. the terrible persecution in July, 64, which In Rome Paul spent at least two years till the would not have spared the great leader of the spring of 63, in easy confinement, awaiting the Christian sect. It is a remarkable coincidence decision of his case, and surrounded by friends that just about the close of the second year of and fellow-laborers “in his own hired dwelling.” Paul’s confinement, the celebrated Jewish He preached the gospel to the soldiers of the historian, Josephus, then in his 27th year, came imperial body-guard, who attended him; sent to Rome (after a tempestuous voyage and letters and messages to his distant churches in shipwreck), and effected through the influence Asia Minor and Greece; watched over all their of Poppaea (the wife of Nero and a half spiritual affairs, and completed in bonds his proselyte of Judaism) the release of certain apostolic fidelity to the Lord and his church. Jewish priests who had been sent to Rome by Felix as prisoners. It is not impossible that Paul In the Roman prison he wrote the Epistles to may have reaped the benefit of a general the Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and release of Jewish prisoners. Philemon. The martyrdom of Paul under Nero is A.D. 63 and 64 established by the unanimous testimony of With the second year of Paul’s imprisonment in antiquity. As a Roman citizen, he was not Rome the account of Luke breaks off, rather crucified, like Peter, but put to death by the abruptly, yet appropriately and grandly. Paul’s sword. The scene of his martyrdom is laid by arrival in Rome secured the triumph of tradition about three miles from Rome, near the Christianity. In this sense it was true, “Roma Ostian way, on a green spot, formerly called locuta est, causa finita est.” And he who spoke Aquae Salviae, afterwards Tre Fontane, from at Rome is not dead; he is still “preaching the three fountains which are said to have (everywhere) the kingdom of God and teaching miraculously gushed forth from the blood of the the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, apostolic martyr. with all boldness, none forbidding him.” His relics were ultimately removed to the But what became of him after the termination basilica of San Paolo-fuori-le-Mura, built by of those two years in the spring of 63? What Theodosius and Valentinian in 388, and was the result of the trial so long delayed? Was recently reconstructed. He lies outside of Rome, he condemned to death? or was he released by Peter inside. His memory is celebrated, Nero’s tribunal, and thus permitted to labor for together with that of Peter, on the 29th and another season? This question is still unsettled 30th of June. As to the year of his death, the among scholars. A vague tradition says that views vary from A.D. 64 to 69. The difference of Paul was acquitted of the charge of the the place and manner of his martyrdom Sanhedrin, and after travelling again in the East, suggests that he was condemned by a regular perhaps also into Spain, was a second time judicial trial, either shortly before, or more imprisoned in Rome and condemned to death. probably a year or two after the horrible The assumption of a second Roman captivity wholesale massacre of Christians on the Vatican relieves certain difficulties in the Pastoral hill, in which his Roman citizenship would not Epistles; for they seem to require a short period have been regarded. of freedom between the first and a second If he was released in the spring of 63, he had a Roman captivity, and a visit to the East, which is year and a half for another visit to the East and not recorded in the Acts, but which the apostle to Spain before the outbreak of the Neronian contemplated in case of his release. A visit to persecution (after July, 64); but tradition favors Spain, which he intended, is possible, though a later date. Prudentius separates the less probable. martyrdom of Peter from that of Paul by one

The Acts of the Apostles Page 13 ACTS 406: Acts 26:19-32 a Grace Notes study year. After that persecution the Christians were Note on Paul’s 2nd Roman Captivity everywhere exposed to danger. The question of a second Roman captivity of Assuming the release of Paul and another visit Paul is a purely historical and critical problem, to the East, we must locate the First Epistle to and has no doctrinal or ethical bearing, except Timothy and the Epistle to Titus between the that it facilitates the defence of the genuineness first and second Roman captivity, and the of the Pastoral Epistles. Second Epistle to Timothy in the second The best scholars are still divided on the captivity. The last was evidently written in the subject. Neander, Gieseler, Bleek, Ewald, Lange, certain view of approaching martyrdom; it is Sabatier, Godet, also Renan (Saint Paul, p. 560, the affectionate farewell of the aged apostle to and L’Antechrist, p. 106), and nearly all English his beloved Timothy, and his last will and biographers and commentators, as Alford, testament to the militant church below in the Wordsworth, Howson, Lewin, Farrar, Plumptre, bright prospect of the unfading crown in the Ellicott, Lightfoot, defend the second captivity, church triumphant above. and thus prolong the labors of Paul for a few Thus ended the earthly course of this great years. On the other hand not only radical and teacher of nations, this apostle of victorious skeptical critics, as Baur, Zeller, Schenkel, faith, of evangelical freedom, of Christian Reuss, Holtzmann, and all who reject the progress. It was the heroic career of a spiritual Pastoral Epistles (except Renan), but also conqueror of immortal souls for Christ, conservative exegetes and historians, as converting them from the service of sin and Niedner, Thiersch, Meyer, Wieseler, Ebrard, Satan to the service of the living God, from the Otto, Beck, Pressensé, deny the second bondage of the law to the freedom of the gospel, captivity. I have discussed the problem at and leading them to the fountain of life eternal. length in my Hist. of the Apost. Church, § 87, pp. He labored more abundantly than all the other 328–347, and spin in my annotations to Lange apostles; and yet, in sincere humility, he on Romans, pp. 10–12. considered himself “the least of the apostles,” I will restate the chief arguments in favor of a and “not meet to be called an apostle,” because second captivity, partly in rectification of my he persecuted the church of God; a few years former opinion. later he confessed: “I am less than the least of 1. The main argument are the Pastoral Epistles, all saints,” and shortly before his death: “I am if genuine, as I hold them to be, the chief of sinners.” His humility grew as he notwithstanding all the objections of the experienced God’s mercy and ripened for opponents from De Wette (1826) and Baur heaven. Paul passed a stranger and pilgrim (1835) to Renan (1873) and Holtzmann (1880). through this world, hardly observed by the It is, indeed, not impossible to assign them to mighty and the wise of his age. any known period in Paul’s life before his And yet how infinitely more noble, beneficial, captivity, as during his three years’ sojourn in and enduring was his life and work than the Ephesus (54–57), or his eighteen months’ dazzling march of military conquerors, who, sojourn in Corinth (52–53), but it is very prompted by ambitions absorbed millions of difficult to do so. The Epistles presuppose treasure and myriads of lives, only to die at last journeys of the apostle not mentioned in Acts, in a drunken fit at Babylon, or of a broken heart and belong apparently to an advanced period in on the rocks of St. Helena! Their empires have his life, as well as in the history of truth and long since crumbled into dust, but St. Paul still error in the apostolic church. remains one of the foremost benefactors of the 2. The release of Timothy from a captivity in human race, and the pulses of his mighty heart , probably in Rome, to which the author of are beating with stronger force than ever the Epistle to the Hebrews 13:23 alludes, may throughout the Christian world. have some connection with the release of Paul,

The Acts of the Apostles Page 14 ACTS 406: Acts 26:19-32 a Grace Notes study who had probably a share in the inspiration, if apostle, after his defence, again set forth to the not in the composition, of that remarkable ministry of his preaching and having entered a production. second time the same city [Rome], was 3. The oldest post-apostolic witness is Clement perfected by his martyrdom before him [Nero].” of Rome, who wrote about 95:, Paul … having Hist. Eccl. II. 22 (comp. ch. 25). But the force of come to the limit of the West (ἐπὶ τὸ τ τ ς this testimony is weakened first by its late date; δύσ ως ἐλθων) and borne witness before the secondly, by the vague expression λόγος ἔχ ι, magistrates ( τυ ήσ ς πὶ τω ν ἡγου ένων, “it is said,” and the absence of any reference to which others translate, “having suffered older authorities (usually quoted by Eusebius); martyrdom under the rulers”), departed from thirdly, by his misunderstanding of 2 Tim. 4:16, the world and went to the holy place, having 17, which he explains in the same connection of furnished the sublimest model of endurance" a deliverance from the first imprisonment (as if (Ad Corinth. c. 5). ἀπολογί were identical with ἰχ λωσί ); and lastly by his chronological mistake as to the Considering that Clement wrote in Rome, the time of the first imprisonment which, in his most natural interpretation of τ τ ς “Chronicle,” he misdates A.D. 58, that is, three δύσ ως, “the extreme west,” is Spain or Britain; years before the actual arrival of Paul in Rome. and as Paul intended to carry the gospel to On the other hand he puts the conflagration of Spain, one would first think of that country, Rome two years too late, A.D. 66, instead of 64, which was in constant commercial intercourse and the Neronian persecution, and the with Rome, and had produced distinguished martyrdom of Paul and Peter, in the year 70. statesmen and writers like Seneca and Lucan. Strabo (II. 1) calls the pillars of Hercules 6. Jerome (d. 419): “Paul was dismissed by Nero π τ τ ς οἰκου έν ς; and Velleius Paterc. that he might preach Christ’s gospel also in the calls Spain “extremus nostri orbis terminus.” regions of the West (in Occidentis quoque See Lightfoot, St. Clement, p. 50. partibus). De Vir. ill. sub Paulus. This echoes the τ τ ς δύσ ως of Clement. Chrysostom (d. But the inference is weakened by the absence of 407), Theodoret, and other fathers assert that any trace or tradition of Paul’s visit to Spain. Paul went to Spain (Rom. 15:28), but without Still less can he have suffered martyrdom there, adducing any proof. as the logical order of the words would imply. And as Clement wrote to the Corinthians, he These post-apostolic testimonies, taken may, from their geographical standpoint, have together, make it very probable, but not called the Roman capital the end of the West. At historically certain, that Paul was released after all events the passage is rhetorical (it speaks of the spring of 63, and enjoyed an Indian summer seven imprisonments, ἑπτάκις δ σ ὰ of missionary work before his Martyrdom. The φο έσ ς), and proves nothing for further only remaining monuments, as well as the best labors in the East. proof, of this concluding work are the Pastoral Epistles, if we admit them to be genuine. To my 4. An incomplete passage in the fragmentary mind the historical difficulties of the Pastoral Muratorian canon (about A.D. 170): “Sed Epistles are an argument for rather than profectionem Pauli ab urbe ad Spaniam against their Pauline origin. For why should a proficiscentis …” seems to imply a journey of forger invent difficulties when he might so Paul to Spain, which Luke has omitted; but this easily have fitted his fictions in the frame of the is merely a conjecture, as the verb has to be situation known from the Acts and the other supplied. Comp., however, Westcott, The Canon Pauline Epistles? The linguistic and other of the N. Test., p. 189, and Append. C., p. 467, objections are by no means insurmountable, and Renan, L’Antechrist, p. 106 sq. and are overborne by the evidence of the 5. Eusebius (d. 310) first clearly asserts that “there is a tradition (λόγος ἔχ ι) that the

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Pauline spirit which animates these last Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of productions of his pen. the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches, in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.” Damascus (Eze. 27:16,18) Leaving the Jewish annals, we from “The Life and Epistles of St. Paul” by might follow its history through continuous Conybeare and Howson. 1 centuries, from the time when Alexander sent Damascus is the oldest city in the world. 2 Its Parmenio to take it, while the conqueror fame begins with the earliest patriarchs and himself was marching from Tarsus to Tyre, to continues to modern times. While other cities of its occupation by Pompey, 4 to the letters of the East have risen and decayed, Damascus is Julian the Apostate, who describes it as “the eye still what it was. It was founded before Baalbec of the East,” and onward through its golden and Palmyra, and it has outlived them both. days, when it was the residence of the Ommiad While Babylon is a heap in the desert, and Tyre Caliphs, and the metropolis of the a ruin on the shore, it remains what is called in Mahommedan world, and through the period the prophecies of Isaiah, “the head of Syria.” when its fame was mingled with that of Saladin (Isa. 7:8) Abraham’s steward was Eliezer of and Tamarlane, to our own days, when the Damascus (Gen. 15:2), and the limit of his praise of its beauty is celebrated by every warlike expedition in the rescue of Lot was traveler from Europe. “Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.” It is evident, to use the words of Lamartine, (Gen. 14:15) How important a place it was in that, like Constantinople, it was a the flourishing period of the Jewish monarchy ‘predestinated capital.” Not is it difficult to we know from the garrisons which David explain why its freshness has never faded placed there (2 Sam. 8:6; 1 Chron. 18:6), and through all the series of vicissitudes and wars. from the opposition it presented to Solomon (1 Among the rocks and brushwood at the base of Kings 11:24). The history of Naaman and the Antilibanus are the fountains of a copious and Hebrew captive, Elisha and Gehazi, and of the perennial stream, which, after running a course proud preference of its fresh rivers to the of no great distance to the southeast, loses itself thirsty waters of Israel, are familiar to in a desert lake. everyone. But before it reaches this dreary boundary it And how close its relations continued to be has distributed its channels over the with the Jews, we know from the chronicles of intermediate space and left a wide area behind Jeroboam and Ahaz and the prophecies of it rich with prolific vegetation. These are the Isaiah and Amos. 3 Its mercantile greatness is “streams from Lebanon” which are known to us indicated by Ezekiel in the remarkable words in the imagery of Scripture (Cant. 4:15); the addressed to Tyre, “Syria was thy merchant by “rivers of Damascus,” which Naaman not reason of the multitude of the wares of thy unnaturally preferred to all the “waters of making; they occupied in this fairs with Israel.” (2 Kings 5:12) By Greek writers the emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine stream is called Chrysorrhoas, or the “river of linen, and coral, and agate. gold.”

1 Grace Notes: http://www.gracenotes.info 4 Editor: Warren Doud, [email protected] Its relative importance was not so great when it was 2 Josephus makes it even older than Abraham. under a Western power like that of the Seleucids or the (Antiquities, I.6.3) Romans; hence we find it less frequently mentioned 3 than we might expect in Greek and Roman writers. This See 2 Kings 14:28; 16:9,10; 2 Chron. 24:23; arose from the building of Antioch and other cities in 28:5,23; Isa. 7:8; Amos 1:3,5. northern Syria.

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This stream is the inestimable unexhausted were silent in the trees. The hush of noon was treasure of Damascus, The habitations of men in the city. The sun was burning fiercely in the must always have been gathered around it, as sky. The persecutor’s companions were the Nile has inevitably attracted an immemorial enjoying the cool refreshment of the shade after population to its banks. The desert is a their journey; and his eyes rested with fortification round Damascus. The river is its satisfaction on those walls which were the end life. It is drawn out into watercourses, and of his mission, and contained the victims of his spread in all directions. For miles around it is a righteous zeal. wilderness of gardens, gardens with roses Damascus among the tangled shrubberies and with fruit on the branches overhead. by Dr. Glenn Carnagey Everywhere among the trees the murmur of 1. THE CITY'S NAME HAS BEEN DAMASCUS unseen rivulets is heard. Even in the city, which FROM ABOUT 1500 BC UNTIL THE PRESENT. is in the midst of the garden, the clear rushing Egyptian inscriptions speak of TI-MAS-KU and of the current is a perpetual refreshment. Every SA-RA-MAS-KI between the 1500's and 1200's dwelling has its fountain; and at night, when the BC. sun has set behind Mount Lebanon, the lights of The Arab name is DIMASHK ESH-SHAM or the city are seen flashing on the waters. “DIMASHK of the Left”. The meaning of It is not to be wondered at that the view of DIMASHK or Damascus is unknown, but the Damascus, when the dim outline of the gardens ESH-SHAM means "the Left" and is to be has become distinct, and the city is seen compared to YEMEN or "The Right". gleaming white in the midst of them, should be 2. THE CITY IS LOCATED IN THE NW CORNER universally famous. OF THE GHUTA, A FERTILE PLAIN ABOUT All travelers in all ages have paused to feast 2300 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL, EAST OF MT. their eyes with the prospect; and the prospect HERMON. has always been the same. It is true that in the The Eastern part of the Ghuta, east of the city, is Apostle’s day there were no cupolas and no called the "Meadow Land" of Damascus, the EL- minarets; Justinian had not built St. Sophia, and MERJ. The River Barada (Abana) flows through the caliphs had erected no mosques. But the Damascus and waters the plains beyond the white buildings of the city gleamed then, as city. they do now, in the center of a verdant A few miles south of the city the river NAHR EL- inexhaustible paradise. AWAJ flows through the plain as well. It is The Syrian gardens, with their low walls and surrounded on three sides by barren hills and waterwheels, and careless mixture of fruits and on the east beyond the GHUTA by the desert. flowers, were the same then as they are now. The city is marked by fountains and streams, The same figures would be seen in the green orchards and fields, especially in the spring. approaches to the town, camels and mules, horses and asses, with Syrian peasants and road, with the ruins of a church on rising ground; (2) six Arabs from beyond Palmyra. We know the very miles south on the left of the road, where there are time of the day when Saul was entering these traces of a church and stones marked with crosses; (3) shady avenues. It was at mid-day. 5 The birds two miles south on the same road; (4) half a mile from the city; and this he prefers on the strength of earlier authorities and because it harmonizes best with what is 5 :6; 26:13. Notices of the traditional place said of the Apostle being led in by the hand. It one of where the vision was seen are variously given both by these cases there is an evident blending of the scene of earlier and later travelers. The old writer Quaresmius the Conversion and the Escape; and it would appear mentions four theoretical sites: (1) twelve miles south from Mr. Stanley’s letter that this spot is on the east and of Damascus, where there is a stream on the right of the not the south of the city.

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In Arabic literature Damascus is described as 4. INDUSTRY ASSOCIATED WITH DAMASCUS. an earthly paradise. It always was famous for its textile industry, The Barada River is the lifeblood of the city, from which the English word "Damask" is coming out of the hills in a narrow gorge, it taken. spreads out into many streams through the In the Middle Ages it was famous for the Ghuta and loses itself into the desert, where it "Damascus blades" of the time of the Crusaders. vanishes in the marshes. Timur (Tamerlane), the son of Genghis Khan, Its beauty can only be appreciated if seen from took the city and ended its armament the desert point of view, and especially in the production by carrying its armorers off to spring when its fruit trees bloom. (Apricot, Samerkand, but the city went right on after pomegranates, walnuts and many others. 1399 AD. 3. THE STRUCTURE OF THE CITY. 5. EARLY HISTORY OF THE CITY OF The main part of the city runs east to west DAMASCUS. along the south bank of the river. The earliest reference to it in Scripture is A long street called the Meidan stretches along Genesis 15:2, in which Abraham complains that the southern part of the city, passing beyond this "Son of possession", BEN MESHEQ, the city wall and terminating at the ELIEZER, the DAMESHEQ (Damascus), will BAWWABET ALLAH ("The gate of God"), which "inherit his house." is the starting-point of the annual HAJ, the This would indicate a date for the city of, at the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. oldest, 1800 BC. In the Greek and Roman period, a long Eliezer the Damascusite was from Damascus colonnaded street ran through the city. (Acts and the city name would thus mean something 9:11) DERB EL-MUSTAKIM. on the order of "The one who possesses or has - Archaeologists have uncovered parts of the possessions." (Based on Aram. relative pronoun Street Called Straight DIY + MESHEQ). - It runs from east to west with the Jewish The city is mentioned one additional time Quarter on the South and the Christian quarter during Abraham's time, in Genesis 14:15, where on the North. Abraham is said to have pursued the four kings - On the West end of town the street ends in of Mesopotamia "as far as Hobah, which is on the SUK EL- MIDHATIYEH, a bazaar built by the left hand (North) of DAMASCUS." MIDHAT PASHA, north of which is the Moslem 6. DAMASCUS DURING THE TIME OF DAVID. quarter of the city, in which are the citadel and Damascus allied itself with neighboring the Great Mosque. Aramaean cities against David. II Sam 8:5ff Part of the city wall has been preserved with a The center of Aramaic power during David's foundation going back to Roman times, with time was Zobah, whose king Hadadezer, was Arab rebuilding above it. executed by David after the defeat of the allied Biblical sites pointed out to the tourist are army. spurious. Unfortunately, Rezon, ben Eliada, an officer in - Traditional site of Paul's escape over the Hadadezer's army escaped and built an army of wall in a basket. II Cor 11:33; Acts 9:25 bandits and ultimately seized the city of - NAAMAN's House. II Kings 5:1ff Damascus, where he ruled as king and built a powerful kingdom. I Kings 11:23ff Rezon continued to be a thorn in the side of Solomon. I K 11:25.

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7. THE ARAMAEAN KINGDOM. (950-732 BC). (2) From then until about 810 BC, the Rezon may or may not be identical with Biblical Assyrians stayed home, allowing the Hezion, who fathered Tab-rimmon, Who in turn Aramaeans a free hand against the Jews. fathered Ben-hadad. I K 15:18 In 803 BC, Mari' (Ben-Hadad III, Son of Hazael) Ben-hadad (BIR-IDRI) is the first king after was forced to become a vassal of Ramman- Rezon of whom we have any first-hand Nirari III of Assyria. II K 13:3 knowledge, when he became the nemesis of This allowed tremendous expansion of Israel Ahab. under Jeroboam II. He played Israel against Judah beautifully to the The Assyrians attacked Damascus again in 773 detriment of both. BC - ASA hired him with a bribe to attack Israel Tiglath-Pileser III, (745-727 BC) campaigned in to relieve him. I K 15:18ff the West often, bringing about the payment of - Either the above Ben-Hadad I or his tribute by Rezin in 738 BC successor, Ben-Hadad II, defeated Omri of Rezin joined with Pekah of Israel to force Judah Israel, annexed several Israelite cities, and into an anti-Assyrian coalition. II K 15:37; 16:5; secured the right to have Aramaic "streets" or Isaiah 7. Bazaars in Samaria, in about 880 BC. In 734 BC the Assyrians advanced and placed Ben-Hadad II, then, campaigned incessantly Damascus under siege, taking the city in 732 against Israel. BC. Rezin was executed and the city was (1) Scripture account of his campaigns destroyed. against the Jews is found in I Kings 20:22. 8. Subsequent to its destruction by the (2) He won the first encounter, but later lost Assyrians, the city lost most of its twice to Ahab. prominence and is only incidentally mentioned during the remainder of the OT. (3) He became a prisoner of Ahab after the Jer. 49:23ff; Ezek 27:18; 47:16. Battle of Aphek, but was treated with great consideration by Ahab. 9. AFTER THE PERSIANS TOOK OVER, THE CITY REGAINED ITS PROSPERITY, THOUGH (4) Ahab demanded only the return of his NOT ITS COMMAND POSITION. cities and the reciprocal right of setting up "Streets" in Damascus as penalty. 10. WHEN THE SELEUCID KINGDOM OF SYRIA WAS ESTABLISHED IN 301BC, ITS (5) Primary enemy was Assyria, who under CAPITOL CITY WAS ANTIOCH ON THE Shalmaneser III, attacked a coalition of 10 COAST, AND THE CENTER OF POWER states including Israel & Damascus at the Battle SHIFTED WEST TO THE SEACOAST FROM of Qarqar in 854 BC, though the battle was a THE INTERIOR. draw, neither side winning a decisive victory. 11. IN 111 BC THE SYRIAN KINGDOM WAS (6) The Assyrians attacked Ben-Hadad twice DIVIDED, AND ANTIOCHUS CYZICENUS more, in 842 and 846, with no more decisive BECAME KING OF COELE-SYRIA results than at Qarqar. (TRANSJORDAN), AND MADE DAMASCUS HIS (7) With the death of Ahab at Ramoth-Gilead CAPITOL. the only threat to Damascus other than Assyria - His successors, Demetrius Eucaerus and was ended. Antiochus Dionysus, had problems including In about 844 BC Hazael murdered Ben-Hadad wars with the Parthians and with Alexander and usurped the throne. Jannaeus of the Judahite Hasmonean line as (1) He was attacked by the Assyrians in 842 well as with Aretas, the Nabatean, who took and 839, again without any decisive outcome. Damascus in 85 BC.

The Acts of the Apostles Page 19 ACTS 406: Acts 26:19-32 a Grace Notes study

- Tigranes, the Armenian, ruled thereafter until the Romans took the city under Pompey in 64BC. 12. UNDER ROMAN RULE ITS HISTORY IS OBSCURE, BUT THE NABATEANS SEEM TO HAVE GAINED CONTROL OF DAMASCUS FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME. - Roman coins indicate that the Romans held it from 31 BC to 33 AD. - Aretas IV, king of Nabatea held it and appointed an ETHNARCH to rule the city after this. II Cor 11:32 - Under NERO it reverted back to Roman rule. 13. DURING THE CHRISTIAN ERA IT PLAYED A MINOR ROLE IN HISTORY, THOUGH IT IS OBVIOUS THAT PAUL'S ASSOCIATION WITH THE CITY AT HIS CONVERSION DREW SOME ATTENTION TO THE SITE. ACTS 9:1-25 - All the NT references to it are to be related to that conversion. - Under the Emperor of the early Byzantine period the city continued to be an unimportant city, second to Antioch. - Passed out of Christian control to the Arabs in 634 AD. - Damascus has been a Moslem city ever since.