Acts 27 מעשי השליחים

מעשי השליחים
Acts 27

1. Who was Julius, and what do we know about him?

2. Who was Aristarchus, and where have we seen him before?

3. Why did the group stop in Sidon, why is this significant, and why did Julius allow Paul to go to his friends, what does this imply?

4. Describe the conditions after the departure from Sidon, why was it ideal to set down in Myra, and how was Paul connected to that city before?

5. What do we know about the type of ship Julius found, likely what commodity was it carrying and how was that significant in the ancient middle-east?

6. What does sailing for a “number of days” indicate, how long to scholars think this journey to Cnidus took and why?

7. What “fast” is this passage talking about, what time of year would this be referring to?

8. Why did Paul make such a stern warning, what personal experience of his made him qualified to warn as he did, (cite your source); and was Paul successful in convincing the crew, why or why not?

9. Explain what peril the ship and crew experienced, and how did they avoid “Syrtis”, and what was Syrtis known for?

10. What was the “cargo” that was thrown overboard and what multiple reasons were there for doing this; and what challenges were there for such an undertaking?

11. What is significant about Paul’s “I told you so…” message; and how is Paul like Jonah, and how is Paul “not like Jonah”?

12. Bonus: “How is the theme of Jonah connected to this narrative in ch. 27 regarding the time of year these events are happening”?

13. Why did the crew long for daylight to come, and how was this chapter similar to the story of Homer’s Odyssey?

14. Why did Paul warn against the secret escape by some of the sailors, why did he also encourage them to now eat after 14 days, what is significant of the “breaking of the bread” and why is it also very significant that the number of persons was mentioned?

15. Why did the soldiers want to kill the prisoners, and why did Julius ultimately decide against this, what was his motivation for this?

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Acts 26 מעשי השליחים

מעשי השליחים
Acts 26
Defense Before King Agrippa

1. What is the meaning of Shaul “stretching out his hand”; what does it mean and why was it worth mentioning?

2. Was it good in Paul’s view to now be testifying before Agrippa, if so, why?

3. What witnesses does Paul now provide for in his own defense; and what character references does he provide?  Does he cites his deeds or his beliefs more than the other, and how does this set a precedent for us today?

4. How exactly does Paul define the accusations against himself, what does he think he’s being accused of; and what is the implication he is making in mentioning the “twelve tribes”, how is this significant?

5. How does Paul portray himself in the narrative, what is his purpose; and what does it mean when it says that he “caused them to blaspheme”; what did he actually do?

6. What is the meaning of “kicking against the goads”; and what other Scriptures do we see this application, and how is this Jewish?

7. What purposes was Yeshua revealing Himself to Paul and how was this a Prophetic calling?

8. Why does Paul indicate that through him Gentiles are called to open their eyes and come out of “darkness into light”, what references are there concerning this in Tanakh (Old Testament)?

9. How does Paul’s testimony of what Yeshua told him regarding the salvation of the Gentiles have something also to do with Israel’s spiritual restoration coupled with their return to the Land out of exile?

10. Why was Paul originally arrested, did he defile the Temple, what does he say about it here as to the real reason he was seized?

11. What is the implication of Festus’ interruption and how does his own cultural background lead him to this exclamation?

13. Was Paul trying to convert Agrippa from being a Jew into now a “Christian”; how should the text be understood in light of the original translation?

14. In light of the whole chapter, was Festus successful in his own adjudication of Paul’s case and was Agrippa helpful to him; why or why not?

Acts 25 מעשי השליחים The Appeal to Caesar!

מעשי השליחים
Acts 25

1. Who was Festus, what do we know about him; and why did he go to Jerusalem so quickly?

2. Who were these ruling kohanim, and leading Judeans, are these the same guys from ch. 24?

3. Festus apparently did not want to bring Shaul up to Jerusalem to be tried, instead he proposed to take the accusers with him back to Caesarea, why was this problematic for the accusers?

4. What is significant of the “judgment seat” mentioned herein vs. 6, how is this term borrowed from Jewish and rabbinic writings.  Also, what was once again the plaintiff’s problem with their case similar to ch. 24?

5. What did Festus propose to Shaul, why did he propose it, and why did Shaul refuse his proposal decisively?

6. Who was Agrippa and Bernice and what do we know about them?

7. What was the purpose of Festus putting Shaul’s case before Agrippa, and how was his presence a benefit for Festus?

8. How was the way this case with Festus handled differently than the way it was handled before Felix?

9. How is Agrippa’s interest in hearing Shaul’s case for himself reminiscent of the case against Yeshua the Messiah?

10. What was Festus’s apparent real reason for bringing Shaul before Agrippa (and Bernice); and how was Festus’s own competence and career on the line in this matter?

Acts 24 מעשי השליחים

מעשי השליחים

1.   What is “odd” about the high priest of Israel hiring an attorney to argue this entire case on the Sanhedrin’s behalf, and what is most significant about how this case is being handled by the Judean leaders?

2.   What does Jewish tradition say about “informers” and how does it apply to this case against Shaul?

3.   The proceeding now formally opens where Shaul stands accused in front of a Roman governor, Felix; explain the significance of the attorney’s  opening speech and why it was done in that manner?

4.   What is the official accusation/charge against Shaul?

5.   What is the meaning of the title: Natzratim; and how is the mention of it here in the Bible significant?

6.   What is the definition of the word “ringleader” here and why is this title significant?

7.   What was the “proof” that Tertullus now gives as evidence of the accusation against Shaul?

8.   Did Shaul have the opportunity to obtain his own legal counsel, and if so, why did he not have one?

9.   Why was it significant for Shaul to point out that he was only in Jerusalem for 12 days before this whole event went down?  How would this help his defense?

 

10.                  How does Shaul challenge the Prosecutor’s “proof” of the charges laid against him?

11.                  Rather than concerned about his own defense, what does Shaul seem to attempt to clear up in his refutation of the charges?

12.                  Shaul now adds to his refute, his motives for appearing in Jerusalem, what are they and how do they add to his defense?

13.                  How is the absence of the “Asian Jews” significant in the outcome of this case before Felix?

 

14.                  What was the reason for Felix to adjourn the hearing at this time?  Why could he not make a ruling at this time?

15.                  What were the conditions in which Shaul now had regular access to Felix and later his wife, how did this contribute towards Felix becoming afraid when the topics discussed became personal?

 

Acts 23 מעשי השליחים

מעשי השליחים

Acts 23 

1.   Who was Ananias, and why did he order Shaul struck in the mouth?

 

2.    Why did Shaul object to the blow; and why did Shaul now apologize for his response and words to the Kohen Gadol?

 

3.   What were the main differences between the Pharisees and the Sadducees and how did Shaul exploit them to his own agenda and benefit?

4.   Now we learn of a new plot to murder Shaul, who formed the plot, how many were there, and what did they vow to do or not to do?

5.   Who now intercepts the plot, how is his identity significant; and what does he do to save Shaul?

 

6.   Why did the commander now make orders to move Shaul to Caesarea for Felix at “night”, with 200 soldiers?

 

7.   Why did the commander now write a letter to Felix and require his accusers to testify before Felix, and why did the commander not accompany Shaul himself?

8.   Why did the soldiers escorting Shaul stop at Adipatris? And what technical difficulty did Shaul’s native province of Cilicia pose to Felix and did he seem to want to try this case in the first place?

 

 

All Eyes should be on Turkey right now - Events of Biblical Proportions...

Who is Erdogan? Click Here for article

Especially here in Cleveland, Ohio, we Americans are distracted more about our own politics and the events surrounding our own lives, rather than on what the Bible says about the world we are living in and the prophetic events that are unfolding even in these recent days in the Middle East.


Tonight, at sundown, not only marks the Holy Sabbath, but also a very sad day in Israel's history.  The 17th of Tammuz.  The Seventeenth of Tammuz (Hebrew: שבעה עשר בתמוז‎, Shiv'ah Asar b'Tammuz) is a Jewish fast day commemorating the breach of the walls of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Second Temple, at the hands of the Romans.  Essentially, it is the anniversary of the current Exile of the people of Israel.  Observant Jews will begin fasting after the Sabbath on Sunday.  If that is not enough...


The liturgical reading from the Torah on this week's liturgical calendar is "Balak" Numbers 22:2-25:9, which is the story of Balak the King of Moab who hires a sorcerer by the name of Balaam to curse the Jewish people.  When that fails, instead they resort to seducing the men to commit sexual immorality with the Moabite women and to worship their gods in pagan idolatry.  Why is this significant at this time?

This sorcerer Balaam is also mentioned in Revelation 2, where Yeshua the Messiah rebukes a city in what is now called "Turkey".  It is the city of Pergamum.  Yeshua is rebuking the congregation or K'hal, a Messianic congregation that was there originally in the area now known as Turkey. And Yeshua had this to say to them, and to us...


Rev. 2

Pergamum: Beware the Trap of Balaam

12 To the angel of Messiah’s community in Pergamum write: “Thus says the One who has the sharp two-edged sword 13 I know where you live—where satan’s throne is. Yet you continue to hold firm to My name, and you did not deny your faith in Me even in the days of Antipas, My faithful witness, who was killed among you, where satan resides.

14 “But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who was teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before Bnei-Yisrael, to eat food sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. 15 Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent then! If not, I will come to you soon and make war against them with the sword of My mouth. 17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Ruach is saying to Messiah’s communities. To the one who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna,  and I will give him a white stone—and written on the stone a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

What do we know about this city Pergamum (i.e. Turkey)?  Why does the Messiah call it the "Throne of Satan"?

There are 3 factors of significance of this city in Turkey:

1. It was a city of great Roman influence – political power
2. A city of great Pagen influence – spiritual darkness
3. A city of great persecution of believers in Yeshua

According to Biblical scholar John Gill, writing in the 19th century: "this was a city of Mysia, situated by the river Caicus, formerly the seat of the kings of Attalia, and was bequeathed by Attalus, their last king, to the Romans: it is famous for being the native place of Galen the physician, and of Apollodorus the rhetorician, master to Augustus Caesar, and for the invention of parchment in it, from whence it seems to have its name: it is now called by the Turks Bergamo, and is almost sixty four miles from Smyrna..”

In it was a congregation (i.e. “k’hillah”) of Messiah, but when it begun, and how long it lasted, is not certain. 

Antipas, who is mentioned, Revelation 2:13; is thought, by some, to have been the pastor of it. Though, according to the Apostolical Constitutions F19L. 7. C. 46. , Caius was the first bishop of it; and it appears, that in the “second” century there were several in this place that suffered martyrdom for Christ, as Carpus, Papulus, and a woman whose name was Agathonice F20Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 4. C. 15. . Attalus, the martyr, who suffered in the same century, was also a native of this placeF21Ib. l. 5. C. 1. . In the “fifth” century there was a bishop of Pergamos in the council at Ephesus; and in the “sixth” century, there was one in the “fifth” synod at Constantinople; and in the “seventh” century, Theodorus, bishop of the church here, was in the sixth synod held at the same place; and in the “eighth” century one Pastilas was bishop of Pergamos; and in the same age, Basil, bishop of this place, was in the Nicene synod F23Hist. Eccl. Magdeburgh. Cent. 5. C. 2. P. 3. Cent. 6. C. 2. P. 4. Cent. 7. C. 2. P. 3. C. 10. P. 254. Cent. 8. C. 2. P. 4. ; and the Christian name now is not wholly, though almost extinct; for when our countryman, Dr. Smith F24 Notitia, p. 120. , was there, there was a little church called St. Theodore’s, whither a priest was frequently sent from Smyrna, to perform divine service, there being but a very few Christian families in it. This church represents the church from the time of Constantine, and onward, rising up to, and enjoying great power, riches, and honour Pergamos signifies high and lofty; things that were sublime and lofty, were, by the Greeks, called τα περγαμα, and also all high and lofty towers F25 Servius in Virgil. Aeneid. L. 1. P. 403, & l. 2. P. 633. Ed Basil. 1586. . It was built under a very high and steep mountain, upon the top of which a tower was erected, by the lords of the lesser Asia, which still continues F26Smith. Notitia, p. 112. . The church it represents had its principal seat at Rome, where Satan dwelt, Revelation 2:13; which signifies exalted likewise; and it introduces the man of sin, antichrist, the popes of Rome, who exalted themselves above all that is called God, princes, kings, and emperors; whom they excommunicated, dethroned, trod upon their necks, kicked off their crowns, and obliged them to hold their stirrups while they mounted their horses, with other haughty action, too many to name," 

Gill here explains the Roman influence of this city (remember the significance of this day... the 17th of Tammuz), but he also explains above the great persecution of the believers there.

Another significant point of Pergamum ("Turkey") is it's spiritual condition (i.e. "The Throne of Satan").

Christian Author Rick Renner writes in his book, “A Light in the Darkness”:

“So why does the book of Revelation call it the dwelling place of Satan? The answer lies in the ruins of the city's temples.

“On one side, it was a very beautiful city,” says Renner. “But on the flip side, it was one of the darkest, eeriest cities in the whole Roman Empire.”

The people of Pergamum were known as the "Temple-keepers of Asia." The city had three temples dedicated to the worship of the Roman emperor, another for the goddess Athena, and the Great Altar of Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. Many scholars believe this altar is the “Throne of Satan” mentioned in the book of Revelation.

Antipas was sentenced to death on the Altar of Zeus. Most of that altar still survives today, and surrounding it are some of the world's most famous marble friezes. They depict the Gigantomachy, or the battle between the Greek gods and the giants. At the top of the altar was a hollow bronze bull, designed for human sacrifice.

Renner describes the method of execution suffered by Antipas.          

“They would take the victim, place him inside the bull, and they would tie him in such a way that his head would go into the head of the bull. Then they would light a huge fire under the bull, and as the fire heated the bronze, the person inside of the bull would slowly begin to roast to death. As the victim would begin to moan and to cry out in pain, his cries would echo through the pipes in the head of the bull so it seemed to make the bull come alive.”

Even in the midst of the flames, the elderly bishop Antipas died praying for his church. The year was AD 92. 

A few years later, the Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation, mentioning the death of Antipas in Pergamum. Today, all that's left there is the foundation; the Altar of Zeus is more than a thousand miles away.

In the 19th century, German engineers dismantled the altar and took it to Berlin. The so-called "Throne of Satan" went on display in the city's Pergamon Museum in 1930, just in time to inspire one of the most brutal dictators the world has ever seen. (Robertson, 2016)

The reassembled "Altar of Pergamum" which has been in a Berlin Museaum since the 1930's currently being restored and will be unveiled again in 2020!

Hitler held his rallies in Nuremberg at the Zeppelin field in front of the tribune modeled after Satan’s Altar of Pergamos, above...

In 2008, after President Obama had visited Berlin and the Altar of Pergamum, which led to his inspiration of the Democratic National Convention that year in Denver Co.

From Pergamum to Berlin, the spirit of the "Throne of Satan" has traveled entered the heart of Adolf Hitler and produced a persecution unlike anything the ancient believers in Pergamum could have ever imagined. And while this altar is currently under restoration for another unveiling due in 2020; it appears that the "spirit of the Throne of Satan" is and has traveled back to it land of origin, "Pergamum" (i.e. Turkey).

Today, a new dictator has arisen, and he has been no friend of Israel.  In fact he has taken what was once a predominately "Secular Turkey" as is advocating for another "Islamic State" (see the article above "Who is Erdogan?"

And just tonight at sundown as we remember the anniversary of the Roman Exile beginning, this same evil Throne of Satan, this Satanic spirit is busy back again in Turkey, establishing a new Totalitarian Dictatorship, right under our noses!  Just this week, Erdagon survived a failed coup and he has forced his Parliament to grant him absolute power and control over the country!  He is currently rounding up anyone who has dissented against his authority - police, soldiers, even university professors are being rounded up, arrested and God-knows what else!

Turkey is under a State of Emergency!  See the article from yesterday: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/07/21/turkish-lawmakers-set-to-give-erdogan-sweeping-new-powers-after-failed-coup.html

Ladies & Gentlemen, friends, tomorrow on Shabbat, I will be addressing these current events from the pulpit and not only how they affect our world, how and why they are significant to us as believers who live much like the way the early Messianic Jews in Pergamum lived 2000 years ago.

We face a spiritual enemy, a threat to Israel and a threat to our own lives.  On this Shabbat, 17th of Tammuz, I pray that you will stay alert in the Messiah spiritually.  Let us not fall asleep!

1 Peter 5:8

Stay alert! Watch out! Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, searching for someone to devour. 

Luke 12:37 

37 “Happy are those slaves whose master finds them alert when he comes. Amen, I tell you, he will prepare himself and have them recline at table, and will come and serve them.

Keep your eyes open.  Stay awake, Stay Alert, Stay sober, Stay in the Word of God.

See you tomorrow, Shabbat Shalom,

R' Eric