GOING AGAINST THE FLOW
Acts 21:1-16
Bob Bonner
November 2, 2014
My recent trip to Israel was an eye opener concerning the tensions in the Middle
East. It’s one thing to read about it in the paper, and then it is another to be on the
ground nearby when a small incident can be suddenly blown into a dangerous lifethreatening situation. I spent most of my time in Tel Aviv where, in previous
weeks to my arrival, three to four Hamas rockets a day had been fired. Most of
them were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome protection system, but not all. In fact,
one landed in the field right next door to where I spent a week of meetings. Several
were intercepted ten feet above our host’s head while he was inside his home,
trying to get to his shelter which would protect him from shrapnel, but not from a
direct hit.
Tel Aviv is the number one target of all the Hamas rockets fired into Israel, because
it is the commercial center of the number two leading city in computer technology
start ups in the world. All this to say, the instability between Gaza and Israel
rattled some friends and relatives when they found out I was going to Israel. Yet,
because of God’s clear moving for me to be on that trip, I had to go. Several asked
me, “Are you excited about going?” Honestly, the word “excited” did not register
with me. The word “wonderment” better describes what I was feeling. I didn’t
know why the Lord was having me go, but I just knew I was supposed to. I was
restless to find out what He had in store. But excited? Not really. Why?
Honestly, because I love my church family, and I don’t want to leave here. It is not
that I feel insecure; I just love caring for you all.
Have you ever struggled with watching someone you love enter into a danger zone
where they could be ruined or killed? How about when you send your son or
daughter off to a secular college or university in a major city? Having to make
such decisions can put friends and family into conflict and emotional turmoil.
Today, we are going to witness this and how it was resolved for all.
Last time we were in Acts, we were touched by the heart-wrenching scene of the
Apostle Paul leaving his fellow workers from the churches in Asia Minor to head
back to Jerusalem. This group of leaders had been mentored and loved by Paul for
three years. Before he left them, he gave them the news that that would be the last
time they would ever see him this side of heaven. Upon hearing this, they openly
wept and grieved, leaving Paul with the struggle of having to literally tear himself
away from them so as to leave for the shipping docks. After a season of prayer,
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they escorted Paul to the docks as he and his entourage boarded the ship. They
gifted him with supplies for their journey home.
In our passage for this morning, Acts 21:1-16, Luke gives us Paul’s travel
narrative, presenting nearly a day-by-day account of the incidents that happened on
the journey from Miletus to Jerusalem. As we will read, he notes that in both Tyre
and Caesarea, believers warned Paul through the Holy Spirit not to go to Jerusalem.
In short, Luke introduces an apparent conflict: Paul was being compelled by the
Spirit to proceed to Jerusalem (20:22); and his fellow believers, including his long
time traveling companion, Dr. Luke, were warning him not to go.
As we will see, Paul’s first ship, a presumably smaller one, left Miletus to begin his
journey home to Israel. Paul had with him Luke and Timothy, along with six other
men (Acts 20:4). Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him as well as
Aristarchus and Secundus, the Thessalonians, Gaius of Derbe, Timothy, and
Tychicus and Trophimus, the Asians. These had been accompanying Paul from the
other churches of Greece and Asia Minor as extra guards to watch over the
financial gift that the churches were sending back with Paul for the believers who
were in need in Jerusalem.
Along with wanting to get the financial gift to Jerusalem, Paul was headed there to
fulfill a vow he had made while in Corinth--to be in Jerusalem before the feast of
Pentecost. Follow along as we travel with Paul’s trip back to Jerusalem, beginning
with Acts 21:1. “1When we had parted from them and had set sail, we ran a
straight course to Cos and the next day to Rhodes and from there to Patara;
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and having found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set
sail.”
From Miletus to Rhodes and then Patara, their smaller ship sailed closer to shore,
avoiding the well known open-water rough seas of that area. But when they arrived
at the seaport of Patara, they faced their next leg to the area known as Phoenicia (or
modern Lebanon today) and more specifically, the city of Tyre. They changed and
boarded a much larger cargo ship in Patara, one which was equipped for sailing the
rough seas ahead.
We continue, “3When we came in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept
sailing to Syria and landed at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload its cargo.”
Tyre was the main port for merchant traffic between Asia and Palestine, and it was
thus quite natural that Paul’s ship put in there to unload its cargo. It is presumed
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that it took a week for the ship to unload its goods from Asia and to reload its
hulls with goods before heading south. This gave Paul the opportunity to meet
some new believers and to build ties with them.
“4After looking up the disciples, we stayed there seven days; and they kept
telling Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem.”
The Greek verb “looking up” or “seeking out” is used to describe the searching for
something that one is unfamiliar with. Hence, Luke is telling us that previous to
this visit to Tyre, Paul was unfamiliar with the Christian community there. Most
likely the Christian community in Tyre had been established by Greek Jews who
had fled persecution twenty-five years before in Jerusalem when they came to
Christ, as is mentioned in Acts 11:19. Other than this, we know little about this
church from the Bible. However in postapostolic times, Tyre became a major
center of the Christian faith (which is the fulfillment of Psalm 87:4). But now, as
Paul was waiting for his ship to reload, he had time to minister to the disciples in
Tyre. During this visit, the Tyrian Christians “through the Spirit” urged Paul not
to go to Jerusalem. We will come back to address this struggle in a moment.
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When our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey,
while they all, with wives and children, escorted us until we were out of
the city. After kneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell
to one another. 6Then we went on board the ship, and they returned
home again.
The wording of the clause, “When our days there were ended” or “But when our
time was up,” proves that the crew had finished unloading and reloading the cargo
and was ready to continue the voyage. Hence, not Paul but the captain of the ship
determined the duration of the stay in Tyre.
Once again, Paul had touched people’s lives in a deep way for having been with
them for such a short time. The escort out of town was probably necessary for two
reasons: one was love for Paul, and the other was safety, for they were still carrying
with them a lot of money through a seaport town that supported gangs of thieves.
After praying, they waited until Paul and his entourage were safely aboard before
they returned to their homes.
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It was customary in those days to stand when praying in public, so for them to
kneel reveals their humility and dependency on the Lord, as well as the intensity,
solemnity, and sincerity of their prayers for Paul’s protection and their
perseverance.
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When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and
after greeting the brethren, we stayed with them for a day.”
Hospitality is to be a major trait for Christians, and opening their homes to visitors
is one example of this. Four times in these sixteen verses this is mentioned.
Sometimes it would be for just an overnight, as it was here; and other times for
more than a week. Paul seems to have always looked for fellowship with other
Christians when he was on the road. He was continually on the lookout for those
whom he could encourage in the faith. So it was in Ptolemais which today is known
as Acre. From here to his next stopping point in Caesarea the text gives no
indication whether Paul traveled on foot or by boat.
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On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and entering the house of
Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him. 9Now this
man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses.”
First, let’s briefly address who this Philip was and then talk a little bit about his
four daughters. Philip was not the Philip who was one of Jesus’ disciples. This is
the Philip who, along with Stephen, was “one of the seven men” appointed by the
apostles as deacons to serve the needs of the widows in Acts 6. Philip later became
a powerful evangelist. We will come back to look at Philip’s life more closely next
week. But for now, let’s simply observe that in his latter years, due to persecution
that may have come at the hands of this very one whom he had invited to stay at his
home, Philip fled Jerusalem and settled in Caesarea, where he raised a family. He
had a home and four daughters, who were known for their gifts of prophecy. It was
with this family that Paul and his entourage stayed. Philip must have done well for
himself, financially speaking, in order to house Paul and the eight others that were
with him.
There has been a lot written about Philip’s daughters, much of it conjecture. In
reality, these are the only verses in the Bible that mention them. We are told that
they were prophetesses, but we really are not told much about them or how they
used their spiritual gifts of prophecy.
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Luke mentions the subject of female prophets three times in his writings, once in
his gospel and twice in Acts. One time is in our passage and the other is mentioned
earlier in Acts 2. In Luke 2:36-38, Luke writes, “And there was a prophetess,
Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.” In Acts 2:17, he records
in Peter’s sermon at Pentecost that Peter specifically pointed to the prophesying of
“daughters” as a sign of the gift of the Holy Spirit in these last days.
The real challenge in understanding what Luke was trying to convey about Philip’s
daughters being prophets begins with understanding what the gift of prophecy is
and then how it was used by Philip’s daughters. So, let’s look first at the meaning
of the word “prophecy,” then at the various uses of this spiritual gift, and then
consider our text and how it was that Philip’s daughters used their gifts.
The term “prophecy” has two different meanings, both having to do with speech.
The term can mean either “to speak before” or “to speak forth.” To speak before
refers to the aspect of foretelling, as to a future event. For many today, this is the
fortune telling aspect of the gift of prophecy.
“To speak forth” refers to forth telling or speaking out publicly about something.
In other words, forth telling involves the imparting of information.
It is possible that the Holy Spirit gave these ladies information about personal
events that would take place in the future. We really don’t know, because the text
doesn’t say. In addition, there is no extra Biblical reference to their engaging in
this activity.
However, there are first century historians who do reference Philip’s daughters. I’ll
explain more about the evidence of this in a moment. But for now, let’s look at the
three different ways in which Scripture cites the practice of prophecy, the imparting
of information.
First, the most common form is that of preaching or teaching publically to many.
For the moment, as it concerns women using the gift of prophecy in this manner in
public before men, I can find no clear examples of women doing so in the Bible. It
is not to say that they didn’t do it, I just can’t find any examples of it. Furthermore,
there are no examples of Philip’s daughters doing this outside of Scripture either.
Second, prophecy can refer to the giving of a report or a message to someone. In
the Old Testament book of Judges, the prophetess Deborah first functioned as a
counselor to her tribe. During that wicked period of apostasy, there were no godly
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male elders or priests who were capable of giving spiritual guidance. All had
turned away from the Lord. The result of this was that their lives fell apart.
Deborah was known to be a godly, wise, mother-like counselor in the community.
People would go to her for counsel, and she would prophesy or impart a Biblical
truth to them about what they should do. One day in Judges 4:1-5, God spoke to
her and gave her a message of rebuke to impart to the then judge, Barak.
The third manner of prophecy exemplified in Scripture has to do with the giving of
spiritual information via public worship. In 1 Chronicles 25:1 we read this:
“Moreover, David and the commanders of the army set apart for the service
some of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun, who were to
prophesy with lyres, harps and cymbals.” In other words, those men were
leading worship, playing instruments, and singing songs--speaking forth or
imparting truth about God through music. Other than the future telling of events,
these are the only three uses of prophecy I can find in Scripture.
As it concerns women using the spiritual gift of prophecy today, there are some
different viewpoints being expressed. Some teach that New Testament women
only exercised their gifts of prophecy with other women or off-to-the-side with
men. In addition, they teach that a woman never used her spiritual gift of prophecy
in the formal church service where men were present. Yet, some of these very
same commentators tell us that what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1114 was written about what takes place during typical formal worship services.
However, these very same commentators ignore the fact of the formal worship
context in 1 Corinthians 11:5, in which women are told that when they prophesied
(in church where there were men) they were to do so with their heads covered. So,
obviously, women were doing some form of prophesying in a public worship
service.
Furthermore, their heads being covered was representative that they were not only
demonstrating their submission to God, but also to the male leadership in the
church that God put in place. This scriptural point brings balance to those who
teach that women can preach or teach anytime they wish in a formal worship
service where both men and women are present. For whatever reason, it is clear in
Scripture that the leadership and oversight of the church is given to male elders,
whether the men like it or not.
Hence, those who say that women were not allowed to prophecy in church,
whatever type of prophecy is being spoken of, are mistaken. Whatever one
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understands prophecy to mean, those women did prophecy in the church.
However, women prophesying in church was also regulated in 1 Corinthians 14,
and was to be done for edification (verse 26) and, because our God is a God of
order and peace, peaceably and in order (verses 33 and 40).
Well, who determines whether something is being done in a proper order? Paul
teaches us in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 that the elders have the responsibility to
oversee what is happening in the church. Hence, whatever it means for a woman to
prophesy, it is subject to the elders oversight. To put it more plainly, when women
prophesied in the church, they did so in submission to the leadership of the church.
As it specifically applies to Philip’s daughters, we are left with some information.
During New Testament times, according to early church tradition, Philip and his
daughters moved to Hierapolis in Asia Minor. The early church historian,
Eusebius, says that it was there Philip’s daughters imparted or forth told
information about the early history of the Jerusalem church to Papias, a church
father. Although this is non-Biblical support to clarify a Biblical issue, it does hold
some credence in the matter.
The Bible commentator, Longenecker, suggests that it seems unusual that Luke
would refer to these daughters as prophetesses without mentioning anything that
they had prophesied. And yet, he suggests that perhaps Philip’s daughters spoke
forth to Luke, giving him information about the early apostolic days of the church,
which he would later record in Scripture. If this assumption is correct, it would
parallel what Philip’s daughters are said to have done later for the early church
father, Papias. So, it is possible that this second understanding of the term
prophecy, that of simply imparting information, could be true of Philip’s daughters.
But the third understanding of the use of prophecy, that of leading worship, is also
a possibility. As John MacArthur in his commentary on Acts, writes, “That Luke
describes them as virgins suggests that they may have been set aside by God for
special ministry.” Could that special ministry have been a worship ministry? Dr.
Thomas Constable, in his published study notes leans that way.
Again, of the three senses in which the word prophecy is used, one should not be
dogmatic as to what Luke had in mind when he wrote this about Philip’s daughters.
Personally, as a father I see one significant takeaway from this passage: Philip’s
godliness was not lost on his daughters. To have all four grow up as virgin godly
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daughters suggests that this Philip was some kind of godly man. I heard it said
one time that, “It takes a godly man to raise godly daughters.”
Paul’s stay in Caesarea continued. As we return to our text, in verse 10 we
continue reading Luke’s description of Paul’s stay in Caesarea. He writes:
As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came
down from Judea. 11And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his
own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this
way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and
deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
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When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began
begging him [Paul] not to go up to Jerusalem.
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Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my
heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem
for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
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And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, “The
will of the Lord be done!”
This is the second time Luke mentions the prophet Agabus (11:28). Ten years
previously, Agabus had traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch, where he predicted the
coming of a severe famine in the entire Roman world. Paul and Barnabas heard
him prophesy in Antioch, and the believers there delegated them to carry gifts to
the elders in Judea. Now, once again Agabus met Paul. As a prophet inspired by
the Holy Spirit, Agabus came to Caesarea from Judea with a personal message
about Paul that I believe was meant more for the church at Caesarea than for Paul,
for Luke records in verse 11 that Agabus gave his prophecy not just to Paul, but to
“us.” Basically, the message was that when Paul went to Jerusalem, he would be
bound or put in prison. As we will see later, this prophecy came true.
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At this point, allow me to remind you of something that is mentioned in Romans
15:30-32. While on his third missionary journey and while in Corinth, Paul wrote
about his desire to return to Jerusalem in Romans 15. As a result, he exhorted the
Christians in Rome to pray to God on his behalf. He asked them to pray that he
might be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that his service to the saints in
Jerusalem might be acceptable. In other words, along with Paul’s desire came the
awareness that this former Pharisee would not be given a hero’s welcome when he
returned to Jerusalem, approximately twenty-five years later. Hence, the prophecy
that Agabus reported to them did not surprise Paul in the slightest.
But it sure upset his friends. They thought that Paul was being foolish and
stubborn and was about to waste his God-given life by going to a place he was not
just unwanted, but was hated! Even Luke had joined the effort to dissuade Paul
from going, for he writes in verse 12, “We . . . began begging him not to go.”
In verse 13, Paul’s response contains a picturesque image, when he says, “Why
are you breaking my heart,” or more accurately, “Why are you pounding away at
my heart?” The Greek word used here for “break” was often used of washing
clothes and referred to pounding them with stones in order to whiten them. The
well-meant pleas of his Christian friends only heightened the conflict for Paul. But
they could not deter him from his firm conviction that the journey was in God’s
will. He was indeed willing even to die for his Lord if need be (verse 13).
This was a very emotionally intense moment for Paul and the believers in Caesarea.
Who was right? What was the Spirit really saying? Was Paul being foolish and
stubborn about a deep desire he had to go back to his friends, the Pharisees and
other fellow Jews, one more time, with hopes to save them? Or was he being
rebellious against God’s warning not to go both in Tyre and Caesarea?
I think the solution lies with making a distinction between a prediction and a
prohibition. Notice that Agabus never said that Paul should not go to Jerusalem.
There is no prohibition given to Paul from God. Agabus knew better than to add
something to what God had said. Agabus only predicted that Paul would be bound
and handed over to the Gentiles. He simply told the folks what was going to
happen. Furthermore, the pleadings of Paul’s friends are not attributed to the Spirit
and were thus fallible (indeed mistaken) human deduction based upon the Spirit’s
prophecy. The warning was divine while the urging was human.
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In addition, the prophecy was not given for the purpose of stopping Paul or to
make clear to all that Paul was going to face trouble in Jerusalem because of his
foolishness. Quite the opposite. God was communicating that the problems Paul
was about to face would not be of his making. This was not going to happen to
Paul because he was being foolish or stubborn. This had to happen to fulfill God’s
plan.
Finally, in verse 14, after Paul responded to them, Luke writes again, “We fell
silent, remarking, ‘The will of the Lord be done!’” Paul’s resolve finally
dissuaded his Christian friends, and they ceased in their attempt to stop his journey.
They did not want to lose their leader, but they respected his firm conviction that
the journey was within God’s will for him. They came to the place that we all have
to when someone makes a decision to do something that is not against Scripture but
works cross grain against common sense. When they feel deeply that God has
called them to it, we have to step back, fall silent, and declare like the Caesarean
Christians, “God’s will be done!”
Sometimes God’s call upon a person’s life appears even to friends and family
members who are Christians to be foolish or a waste of talent. But if you know that
God has called you to do something, do it you must, whether it means you break an
engagement to someone you love in order to do God’s will, or you don’t accept a
huge pay raise or a great job offer because to do so would prevent you from
obeying God’s call. When God calls, you necessarily learn to live without apparent
security as you head to fields filled with danger, whether it be disease, bombs, or
dangerous critters in stone age cultures. When you know that God has called you,
you are compelled to do what God says.
A little earlier during this same missionary journey, the Apostle Paul wrote in 2
Corinthians 5:14-15 about this very thing. He said, “For the love of Christ
controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and
He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but
for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” That which motivated Paul,
drove Paul, was his love for God and the knowledge that too many people were
living for themselves and headed to an eternity without God. Paul’s love for Christ
and the lost and weak compelled him to continue on in ministry even though his
heart, even at that moment that he wrote the letter to the Corinthian Christians, was
broken because of their rebellion against the Spirit of God.
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Because Paul fully understood to what great extent the Savior reached down to
save Paul out of love, that saved saint could do nothing less than reach out to others
that they too might know Jesus.
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After these days we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem.
Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason
of Cyprus, a disciple of long standing with whom we were to lodge.
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Paul left Caesarea and began the two-day, sixty-four mile trek to Jerusalem,
stopping at Mnason’s (another believer) home along the way.
Here is one last observation about how Christ’s love for Paul transformed his life in
the view of others. Twenty-five years before, many in Jerusalem, Christians
especially, feared the Pharisee Saul. But as a result of the work of Christ in Paul’s
life, we see Scriptural testimony of the change in one who walked closely with
Christ. People, even newly made friends, loved Paul deeply and had great concern
for him and great hope for the impact of his ministry with others. So great was the
Ephesian elders’ love for him that Paul literally had to tear himself away from his
sorrowing friends. Departing from his new friends at Tyre and his old enemies in
Caesarea after only seven days was also heart wrenching. Do people know your
love for Christ and your personal knowledge and concern for them, that if you were
to leave, it would grieve them deeply? Are you that kind of encouraging brother or
sister in Christ?
Do you want to know how to become such a person? Draw close to Jesus!
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