Always Listen to the One Closest to God

This is the study page for the Thursday Night Study Group meeting on April 25 to study Acts 27.  This chapter is a lot like Luke's former narrative on Paul's voyage to Jerusalem.  The major differences are the events themselves, and the places...and the people involved actually.

Read through the chapter a few times, and feel free to go and include chapter 28 (we'll get to that next week).  Look for odd things whether explained or not.  Ask "why" questions; try to imagine who says what, what things and places look like, especially pay attention to Julius.

After reading through a few times read through again considering the questions below:

• What does "Augustan Cohort" suggest about the centurion?
• Where is Adramyttium?
• Who travels with Paul?
• Look at the route Paul takes from Caesarea (see map below). How much of this is familiar ocean for Paul?

• Where is the second vessel from?  Where is that?
• What seems different about the second part of the voyage right off the bat?
• When they reach "Fair Havens" what does Paul say, and how does he say it to them?
• Look up "admonish" in the Strong's Concordance.  What sort of emotion is Paul feeling as he speaks to the sailors and soldiers?
• Who does the centurion listen to instead of Paul?  What would you have done?
• What was wrong with Fair Havens?  What was so "great" about Phoenix (besides spring training baseball)?
• What was the storm called?  Look the name up in the Strong's Concordance. Be sure to "listen" to it pronounced.  What does it mean?
• What was done at Clauda?  What was it supposed to do?  What did they use to do it?
• After hope is abandoned, what does Paul say?
• Where does Paul find his hope?
• Where is the Adriatic Sea?  Does that seem to be where they were on the map?  What explains the difference (click through to the complete article)?
• In a huge storm, why would the sailors try to escape?
• What does Paul do?  What do the soldiers do? (so, now who's in charge of the ship?)
• What is Paul's next word and deed of encouragement?
• How many people are on the ship?  Do you need to revise how big you imagined it to be?
• Consider all three words used for "ship", what do you think of the third one?
• What does the ship hit on its way to the beach?  Look up 'a place where two seas met' or 'reef', 'sandbar' or 'shoal' in Strong's Concordance.  It's really made of two words, the other one is 'place' which may look or sound familiar if you like maps.  This is one of many technical nautical terms Luke uses.  So where do you think Luke learned all these terms?
• Why would the soldiers want to kill the prisoners?
• What does the centurion do to change their plans?
• Where do they all end up?

This should be a fun study, and we're almost done!  This is the exciting part though, the dramatic climax.  After this the account calms down, but also closes to a point (again, we'll get to that next week).  I look forward to studying with you Thursday!

Of Cabbages and Kings

This is the study page for the Thursday Night Study Group meeting April 18 and studying Acts 26.  This chapter represents the most detailed testimony of Paul, and the last recorded.  From here on is the trip to Rome.  Some excellent elements are touched almost unnoticed, like repentance.  Others, like Paul's desire to pull others into his faith in Jesus are obvious.

Read through the chapter several times noting various things that make you wonder why, what, how, or who.  Jot those questions down.  Imagine you are in the court room, don't just read, listen to Paul; watch him deliver his defense, note his gestures and expressions.  Look around at the crowd, watch their expressions and behaviors.  Read through again reading slow and intentionally.

After jotting down some questions, be sure to look around for some contextual pieces that may help explain various curiosities in the chapter.  After you have a good handle on the chapter, go back through with these questions.  You may have asked them already or ones very like them, consider what you learn from the view from a different 'knot-hole'.

• Why does the king give permission to Paul and not Festus?
• How does Paul begin his defense (in verse 1)?
• Where does Paul begin to explain himself?  What does he say about his "origins" that seems surprising?
• What does Paul claim forms the basis of the accusations against him?  Why go back to this?
• What does Paul say his belief has in common with all Jews?
• In verse 9 what does Paul begin to unpack from his past?  Why bring that up?
• In verse 14, what part of his vision do those with him experience?  How does that correspond with Acts 22:9?  Or with Acts 9:7?
• How does the charge God gives to Paul differ here from the wording in Acts 22?  Who gets the gist of this charge in Acts 9?
• In verse 20, the wording is typically "repent and turn to God", but really, what's the difference?
• Look up "repent" and "turn" in the Strong's listing on the Blue Letter Bible.  What's the difference between them?  Which one do we typically think of as "repentance"?
• How does Paul view repentance?  What else is necessary?
• In verse 21, for what reason did the Jews seize Paul in the temple?
•  What has enabled Paul to stand and speak in that place?
• What support does Paul claim for his faith?
• And what does Paul claim they support?  What is his faith in?
• Who can't stand his testimony any further?  Of whom does his response remind you?
• What does Festus claim has happened to Paul?
• Toward whom is Paul's testimony focused?  What does Paul claim about him?
• What does King Agrippa say?  What is odd about his comment?
• How does Paul respond?  Who is trying to convince?
• How is this defense a legal defense?
• How does the king respond to Paul's reply?
• What seems to be the consensus of everyone there?
• Why is King Agrippa's comment odd?

Be sure to go back over your questions and fill in gaps in my set.  Consider all of them, and be ready for a lot more 'knot-hole' views on Thursday.

Two Governors, An Incestuous King, and a Another Cliff-Hanger

This is the study page for the Thursday Night Study Group meeting April 11 to study Acts 24 and 25.  I suspect we will get through both chapters since the events aren't that problematic.  There are some interesting issues in the text, and the characters (especially the Roman governors) are really interesting.

Read through both chapters (and continue on if you just can't stand it, and even if you can) several times.  This is nearly the end of the book, so Luke is wrapping up the final elements.  He spends considerable time on both Roman governors, Felix and Festus.  Think about that, and why.  Imagine being in on the conversations, and speeches.  What do things look like, and who says what?

After reading through the chapters a few times, consider the following questions as you read through a final few times:

Chapter 24

• Who makes up the group from Jerusalem?
• Who is Tertullus?  What does he say happened?  How accurate is his account?  Read the article about him on the Blue Letter webpage. What do you think of his argument after that?
• Read the argument of Tertullus in as many translations as you can find.  What is in some, but not in others?  What do the "footnotes" say about that (there should be footnotes regardless of the translation)?
• Paul has several elements to his defense, how long ago did he go up to Jerusalem?
• What did he studiously avoid his whole time in Jerusalem?
• So what does he claim they cannot prove?
• With what about the charges does he agree?
• How does he describe his belief?  Consider what he says here with what is recorded in the rest of Acts about how Paul spreads the Good News.  How does this affect your understanding of what he was doing and how?
• Where does Paul get the support for his beliefs?  What does he claim about his beliefs and those of his accusers?
• What parts are similar to his defense in Jerusalem?
• Who does Paul name as having accusations, but not being present?  Why should that be significant?
• What might Paul be admitting in verse 21?  Read it in a few translations.
• What does verse 22 mean about Felix?  How is this borne out in the rest of the chapter?
• What disturbs Felix about Paul's discussions?
• What is Felix waiting for?  Why not render judgment?
• How long does Felix wait?
• So what happens after that?  Why does Paul remain in custody?

Chapter 25

• What is Festus' first order of business?
• What is the chief priests and elders' first order of business?
• What does Festus offer to do?  Why can't/won't he do what they ask?
• What do the Jewish leaders want to do...again?
• What is Festus' second order of business once he arrives back in Caesarea?
• What is the problem with the charges brought against Paul?
• What is the essence of Paul's defense?
• Why does Festus want to defer the trial to Jerusalem?
• From Paul's response, what is his opinion of the new governor?
• How long before the arrival of King Agrippa and Bernice?  Why do they come?
• Who is King Agrippa? Who is Bernice? Read the article in the Blue Letter Bible about them (it's at the bottom of the "Herod" article).  What bothers both Jews and Gentiles about this "king"?
• What interest and prior knowledge would Agrippa have about Paul and Christians in general?
• What does Festus tell Agrippa?  How accurate is he?  What is his dilemma now?
• What do they decide to do?
• Who all comes to this hearing?
• What does Festus claim here?  Again, really?

So that should do it for these two chapters.  There are obviously lots of stuff in there not included in these questions.  You will hopefully have come up your own and will bring them to the group.

When Slap-Fights Go Horribly Wrong

This is the study page for the Thursday Night Group meeting on April 4, to study Acts 23.  We will begin with Paul's defense before the Sanhedrin, and move to his eventual removal to the Judean coast.

Read through Chapter 23 several times.  It will be hard not to continue on to the succeeding chapters, and continuing may be a good thing to do.  Chapter 24 is fairly short and the story moves quickly to its conclusion from here.  We have two governors, a king and a boat trip left after this chapter.

As you read through the chapter, slow down, re-read difficult sentences, try and imagine yourself in the event. Ask yourself questions about what it would have been like to have been there, what it looked like, what are the expressions on faces, what do their voices sound like.  Once you can put together some idea of a "setting" using your imagination, ask yourself the "why" questions.  This is narrative, and fast-moving narrative.  You have to think and imagine in order to slow it down to really observe.  This is inspired of God, so it's worth the effort; there's a goal in mind here, find it.

Once you've sifted through the chapter a few times, and come up with some questions, read it through again, and consider these.  They're not replacements, or the "right questions", they're ones from my different perspective.  We need your perspective in order to get a more full view of these events; we can't really understand the game with just the view from one "knot-hole".

• Paul's opening statement seems to offend the high priest, why?
• To whom does Paul address his "rebuke" when he is struck?  What tells us he knew who the man was?
• When Paul is told who the man was to ordered he be struck, how does he respond, with what sort of attitude?
• Paul then changes tactics dramatically.  Why?  What about how he started won't work with this group?
• What does his declaration about the resurrection do to the assembly?
• If you're the "commander", what has happened to your dilemma?  Now what do you do?
• Who appears to Paul to encourage him?  What is remarkable about that?
• What is really "stupid" about the oath the Jews take concerning Paul?  What is really important if they are going to live out this oath?
• What do the "oath-takers" do to try to get to Paul?
• Why would the council, divided the night before, play along with the conspiracy?
• Who hears of the plot?  Where must he have been?  Why might he have been there?
• What does that tell you of Paul's family?  This is really the first we hear of any of them, so where are some or many of them?  How is Paul viewed by his family?
• To whom does Paul send his nephew?  Why not go himself or with his nephew?
• How does the commander respond when the boy is brought to him?  Why this way?
• What does the commander do when he hears what the boy has to say?
• What does he tell the Sanhedrin?  When does he tell them?  Where is Paul when the Sanhedrin hears from the commander?
• What does that mean for the oath-takers?  I suppose that's "more than forty" fewer problems for Paul?
• What does the commander tell the governor about Paul?  What does he leave out or change about his involvement?

So we leave Paul, again waiting on another "trial" and will have to wait until next week to continue the story.  It may be possible to get chapters 24 and 25 done at once since 24 and 25 are so short.  Chapters 26, 27 and 28 will not be so easy.  So, possibly 4 weeks after this.