Henry: Welcome to immerse, the daily bible reading experience.
Day 18.
five days later, Ananias, the high priest, arrived with some of the Jewish
elders and the lawyer Tulis to present their case against Paul to the governor.
When Paul was called in Tulis presented the charges against Paul
in the following address To the governor, you have provided a long
period of peace for us Jews and with foresight have enacted reforms for us.
For all of this, your Excellency.
We are very grateful to you, but I don't want to bore you, so please give
me your attention for only a moment.
We have found this man to be a troublemaker who is constantly stirring up
riots among the Jews all over the world.
He is a ringleader of the cults known as the Nazarenes.
Furthermore, he was trying to desecrate the temple when we arrested him.
You can find out the truth of our accusations by examining him yourself.
Then the other Jews chimed in declaring that everything Tartus said was true.
The governor then motioned for Paul to speak.
Paul said, I know, sir, that you have been a judge of Jewish affairs for many years,
so I gladly present my defense before you.
You can quickly discover that I arrived in Jerusalem no more than 12
days ago to worship at the temple.
My accusers never found me arguing with anyone in the temple nor
stirring up a riot in any synagogue or on the streets of the city.
These men cannot prove the things they accuse me of doing, but I admit that I
follow the way which they call a cult.
I worship the God of our ancestors, and I firmly believe the Jewish law
and everything written in the prophets.
I have the same hope in God that these men have, that he will raise both
the righteous and the unrighteous.
Because of this, I always try to maintain a clear conscience
before God and all people.
After several years away, I return to Jerusalem with money to aid my
people and to offer sacrifices to God.
My accusers saw me in the temple as I was completing a purification ceremony.
There was no crowd around me and no rioting.
But some Jews from the province of Asia were there and they ought
to be here to bring charges if they have anything against me.
Ask these men here what crime the Jewish high counsel found me guilty of except
for the one time I shouted out I am on trial before you today because I
believe in the resurrection of the dead.
At that point, Felix, who was quite familiar with the way adjourned the
hearing and said, wait until Lius, the Garrison Commander arrives.
Then I will decide the case.
He ordered an officer to keep Paul in custody, but to give him some
freedom and allow his friends to visit him and take care of his needs.
A few days later, Felix came back with his wife, d Drusilla,
who was Jewish sending for Paul.
They listened as he told them about faith in Christ Jesus as he reasoned with them
about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment.
Felix became frightened.
Go away for now.
He replied When it is more convenient, I'll call for you again.
He also hoped that Paul would bribe him, so he sent for him quite often and
talked with him after two years went by in this way, Felix was succeeded
by Porsche's Festus and because Felix wanted to gain favor with the Jewish
people, he left Paul in prison.
Three days after Festus arrived in Cesarea to take over his new responsibilities.
He left for Jerusalem where the leading priests and other Jewish
leaders met with him and made their accusations against Paul.
They asked Festus as a favor to transfer Paul to Jerusalem, planning
to ambush and kill him on the way.
But Festus replied that Paul was at Cesarea and he himself
would be returning there soon.
So he said, those of you in authority can return with me.
If Paul has done anything wrong, you can make your accusations.
About eight or 10 days later, Festus returned to Cesarea, and on the
following day, he took his seat in court and ordered that Paul be brought in.
When Paul arrived, the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem gathered around and made many
serious accusations they couldn't prove.
Paul denied the charges.
I am not guilty of any crime against the Jewish laws or the
temple or the Roman government.
He said, then Festus wanting to please the Jews asked him, are you willing to go to
Jerusalem and stand trial before me there?
But Paul replied, no.
This is the official Roman court, so I ought to be tried right here.
You know very well.
I am not guilty of harming the Jews.
If I have done something worthy of death, I don't refuse to die.
But if I am innocent, no one has a right to turn me over to these men to kill me.
I appeal to Caesar Festus, conferred with his advisors, and then replied very well.
You have appealed to Caesar and to Caesar.
You will go a few days later.
King Agrippa arrived with his sister Bernice to pay their respects to Festus.
During their stay of several days, Festus discussed Paul's case with the king.
There is a prisoner here.
He told him whose case was left for me by Felix when I was in Jerusalem.
The leading priests and Jewish elders pressed charges against
him and asked me to condemn him.
I pointed out to them that Roman law does not convict people without a trial.
They must be given an opportunity to confront their
accusers and defend themselves.
When his accusers came here for the trial, I didn't delay.
I called the case the very next day and ordered Paul brought in, but
the accusations made against him weren't any of the crimes I expected.
Instead, it was something about their religion and a dead man named
Jesus, who Paul Insists is alive.
I was at a loss to know how to investigate these things, so I asked
him whether he would be willing to stand trial on these charges in Jerusalem.
But Paul appealed to have his case decided by the emperor.
So I ordered that he be held in custody until I could
arrange to send him to Caesar.
I'd like to hear the man myself, Agrippa said, and Festus
replied, you will tomorrow.
So the next day, Agrippa and Bernice arrived at the auditorium with great
pomp accompanied by military officers and prominent men of the city.
Festus ordered that Paul be brought in.
Then Festus said, king Agrippa and all who are here.
This is the man whose death is demanded by all the Jews, both here and in Jerusalem.
But in my opinion, he has done nothing deserving death.
However, since he appealed his case to the emperor, I have
decided to send him to Rome.
But what shall I write the emperor?
For there is no clear charge against him, so I have brought him before
all of you, and especially you, king Agrippa, so that after we examine him
I might have something to write for.
It makes no sense to send a prisoner to the emperor without
specifying the charges against him.
Then Agrippa said to Paul, you may speak in your defense.
So Paul gesturing with his hand, started his defense.
I am fortunate, king Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense
today against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders.
For I know you are an expert on all Jewish customs and controversies
now, please listen to me patiently as the Jewish leaders are well aware.
I was given a thorough Jewish training for my earliest childhood
among my own people and in Jerusalem.
If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees,
the strictest sect of our religion.
Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God's
promise made to our ancestors.
In fact, that is why the 12 Tribes of Israel zealously worshiped God night and
day, and they share the same hope I have.
Yet your majesty.
They accuse me for having this hope.
Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?
I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the
very name of Jesus, the Nazarene.
Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem authorized by the leading priests.
I caused many believers there to be sent to prison, and I cast my vote against
them when they were condemned to death.
Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus.
I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.
One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority
and commission of the leading priests, about noon Your Majesty.
As I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun
shone down on me in my companions.
We all fell down and I heard a voice saying to me, an Aramaic, Saul.
Saul, why are you persecuting me?
It is useless for you to fight against my will.
Who are you Lord?
I asked and the Lord replied, I am Jesus the one You are persecuting.
Now, get to your feet.
For I have appeared to you, to appoint you as my servant and witness.
Tell people that you have seen me and tell them what I will show you in the future.
And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles.
Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes so they may
turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.
Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a
place among God's people who are set apart by faith in me.
And so King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven.
I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout
all Judea, and also to the Gentiles that all must repent of their sins
and turn to God and prove they have changed by the good things they do.
Some Jews arrested me in the temple for preaching this and they tried to kill
me, but God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to
everyone from the least to the greatest.
I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen,
that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead
and in this way, announce God's light to Jews and Gentiles alike.
Suddenly, Festus shouted, Paul, you are insane.
Too much study has made you crazy.
But Paul replied, I am not insane.
Most excellent Festus.
What I am saying is the sober truth and King Agrippa knows about
these things I speak boldly for.
I am sure these events are all familiar to him for they were not done in a corner.
King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets, I know you do.
Agrippa interrupted him.
Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?
I.
Paul replied, whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone
here in this audience might become the same as I am except for these chains.
Then the king, the Governor, Bernice, and all the others stood and left.
As they went out.
They talked it over and agreed, this man hasn't done anything to
deserve death or imprisonment.
And Agrippa said to Festus, he could have been set free if
he hadn't appealed to Caesar.
When the time came, we set sail for Italy.
Paul and several other prisoners were placed in the custody of
a Roman officer named Julius, a captain of the Imperial Regiment.
Aris Starke, a Macedonian from Thessalonica was also with us.
We left on a ship whose home port was Adra Mitia on the northwest
coast of the province of Asia.
It was scheduled to make several stops at ports along the coast of the province.
The next day when we docked at Siden, Julius was very kind to
Paul and let him go ashore to visit with friends so they could provide
for his needs putting out to sea.
From there, we encountered strong headwinds that made it difficult to
keep the ship on course, so we sailed north of Cyprus between the island and
the mainland, keeping to the open sea.
We passed along the coast of CIA and Pamphylia landing at Myra in the province.
Ofia.
There.
The commanding officer found an Egyptian ship from Alexandria that was bound
for Italy, and he put us on board.
We had several days of slow sailing, and after great difficulty, we finally
neared nidus, but the wind was against us, so we sailed across Dec Crete
and along the sheltered coast of the island past the Cape of Ceremony.
We struggled along the coast with great difficulty, and
finally arrived at Fair Havens.
Near the town of Laia, we had lost a lot of time.
The weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because it was so late in the fall,
and Paul spoke to the ship's officers about it, men, he said, I believe there is
trouble ahead if we go on shipwreck, loss of cargo and danger to our lives as well.
But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship's
captain and the owner than to Paul.
And since Fair Havens was an exposed harbor, a poor place to spend the
winter, most of the crew wanted to go on to Phoenix, farther up the coast
of Crete and spend the winter there.
Phoenix was a good harbor with only a southwest and northwest exposure.
When a light wind began blowing from the south, the sailors thought they could
make it, so they pulled up, anchor and sailed close to the shore of Crete.
But the weather changed abruptly.
And a wind of typhoons strength called a northeaster burst across
the island and blew us out to sea.
The sailors couldn't turn the ship into the wind, so they gave up and let it run.
Before the gale, we sailed along the sheltered side of a small
island named Kata, where with great difficulty we hoisted aboard the
lifeboat being towed behind us.
Then the sailors bound ropes around the hull of the ship to strengthen it.
They were afraid of being driven across to the sandbars of certi off
the African coast, so they lowered the sea anchor to slow the ship and were
driven before the wind the next day.
As Gail Force winds continued to batter the ship, the crew began throwing the
cargo overboard the following day.
They even took some of the ship's gear and threw it overboard.
The terrible storm raged for many days blotting out the sun and the stars.
Until at last all hope was gone.
No one had eaten for a long time.
Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, men, you should have listened to
me in the first place and not left Crete.
You would've avoided all this damage and loss.
But take courage.
None of you will lose your lives even though the ship will go down.
For last night, an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I
serve stood beside me and he said, don't be afraid, Paul, for you will
surely stand trial before Caesar.
What's more God in his goodness has granted safety
to everyone sailing with you.
So take courage for I believe God, it will be just as he said, but we
will be shipwrecked on an island.
About midnight on the 14th night of the storm, as we were being
driven across the sea of Adria, the sailors sensed land was near.
They dropped awaited line and found that the water was 120 feet deep.
But a little later they measured again and found it was only 90 feet deep.
At this rate, they were afraid we would soon be driven against
the rocks along the shore.
So they threw out four anchors from the back of the ship and prayed for daylight.
Then the sailors tried to abandon the ship.
They lowered the lifeboat as though they were going to put out
anchors from the front of the ship.
But Paul said to the commanding officer and the soldiers, you will all
die unless the sailors stay aboard.
So the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboat and let it drift away.
Just as day was dawning.
Paul urged everyone to eat.
You've been so worried that you haven't touched food for two weeks.
He said, please eat something now for your own good, for not a
hair of your heads will perish.
Then he took some bread, gave thanks to God before the mall
and broke off a piece and ate it.
Then everyone was encouraged and began to eat all 276 of us who were on board.
After eating, the crew lightened the ship further by throwing the cargo
of wheat overboard When mourning dawned, they didn't recognize the
coastline, but they saw a bay with a beach and wondered if they could get
to shore by running the ship a ground.
So they cut off the anchors and left them in the sea.
Then they lowered the rudders, raised the fore sail, and headed towards
shore, but they hit a shoal and ran the ship of ground too soon.
The bow of the ship stuck fast.
While the stern was repeatedly smashed by the force of the waves and began
to break apart, the soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners to make sure
they didn't swim, ashore and escape.
But the commanding officer wanted to spare Paul so he didn't
let them carry out their plan.
Then he ordered all who could swim to jump overboard first and make for land.
The others held onto planks or debris from the broken ship.
So everyone escaped safely to shore.
Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta.
The people of the island were very kind to us.
It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.
As Paul gathered an arm full of sticks and was laying them on the
fire, a poisonous snake driven out by the heat bit him on the hand.
The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and
said to each other, A murderer.
No doubt though, he escaped the sea.
Justice will not permit him to live, but Paul shook off the snake into the fire
and was unharmed that people waited for him to swell up or suddenly dropped dead.
But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn't harmed,
they changed their minds and decided he was a God near the shore.
Where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island.
He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days.
As it happened, Publius father was ill with fever and dysentery.
Paul went in and prayed for him and laying his hands on him.
He healed him.
Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed.
As a result, we were showered with honors and when the time came
to sail, people supplied us with everything we would need for the trip.
It was three months after the shipwreck that we set sail on another ship that had
wintered at the island and Alexandrian ship with the twin gods as its figurehead.
Our first stop was Syracuse, where we stayed three days.
From there, we sailed across to re.
A day later, a south wind began blowing.
So the following day, we sailed at the coast to il.
There we found some believers who invited us to spend a week with
them, and so we came to Rome.
The brothers and sisters in Rome had heard we were coming, and they came to
meet us at the forum on the Appian Way.
Others joined us at the three taverns.
When Paul saw them, he was encouraged and thanked God.
When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to have his own private lodging,
though he was guarded by a soldier.
Three days after Paul's arrival, he called together the local Jewish leaders.
He said to them, brothers, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over
to the Roman government even though I had done nothing against our people
or the customs of our ancestors.
The Romans tried me and wanted to release me because they found
no cause for the death sentence.
But when the Jewish leaders protested the decision, I felt it necessary to appeal
to Caesar, even though I had no desire to press charges against my own people.
I asked you to come here today so we could get acquainted, and so I could
explain to you that I am bound with this chain because I believe that the hope
of Israel, the Messiah has already come.
They replied, we have had no letters from Judea or reports against you
from anyone who has come here, but we want to hear what you believe for.
The only thing we know about this movement is that it is denounced everywhere.
So a time was set and on that day, a large number of people came to Paul's lodging.
He explained and testified about the kingdom of God and tried to persuade
them about Jesus from the scriptures.
Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to
them from mourning until evening.
Some were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe.
And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left
with this final word from Paul.
The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet.
Go and say to this people, when you hear what I say, you will not understand.
When you see what I do, you will not comprehend for the hearts of these
people are hardened and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed
their eyes, so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their
hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.
So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to
the Gentiles and they will accept it.
For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense.
He welcomed all who visited him boldly, proclaiming the Kingdom of
God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ, and no one tried to stop him.
This concludes today's immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.