So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
Salamis - "The largest and most important town in the island, though not the political capital. It had a good harbour, and lay in the direction of the Syrian coast, on the southeast coast of Cyprus." (Walker)
they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues - "While Paul and Barnabas had been sent to labor chiefly among the Gentiles, they went first to the synagogues of Salamis, to minister the Word of God to their Jewish kinsman. This became, and continued to be, Paul's practice in all his journeys among the Gentiles until the close of the period covered by the Book of Acts. Consistently he went 'to the Jew First,' until, from his prison in Rome, he pronounced the sentence: 'Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is [Lit. has been] sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it' (Acts 28:28). There were at least three reasons why Paul made it a point to minister to the Jew first all this time. First, so that individual Jews outside of Palestine might be given an opportunity to place their trust in the rejected Messiah and be saved. Second, so that the nation as a whole, including Jews of the dispersion, might be without excuse before God when He set them aside for rejecting Christ. Third, so that they might have no reason to complain that salvation was being sent to the Gentiles apart from their instrumentality, since everywhere, from Jerusalem to Rome, salvation had been sent to the Gentiles because the Jews refused it, thereby disqualifying themselves as the agents of God's blessing to the nations (Acts 18:6; 28:27-28; Rom 11:11). That Paul went to the Jew first during his Acts ministry does not not mean, as some have concluded, that Paul's ministry at that time was primarily, or chiefly, to the Jew, for the record of his journeys in Acts, as well as his epistles written during that time, bear abundant witness that his ministry was principally to the Gentile, not the Jew." (Stam)
had John to assist them - "This was John Mark, son of Mary (Acts 12:12) and cousin to Barnabas (Col 4:10; 13:13; 15:38-40; 2 Tim 4:11). He did whatever Paul and Barnabas asked him to do." (Ryrie)
"Paul occupies now the prominent place. As soon as Perga was reached, John the helper, who had gone forth with them from Antioch, deserted them. It was a desertion, for later we find the statement that he departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work (Acts 15:38). No reason is given why John turned backward. Was it on account of the dangers or the hard labor? Or was it cowardice? The reason of his return was most likely of a different nature. He was still greatly attached to Jerusalem. His Hebrew name is mentioned only in this chapter and not the Gentile, the Roman, Mark. Perhaps he could not fully endorse the complete association with the Gentiles and turned back to Jerusalem to be in fellowship with them who were of the circumcision and 'zealous for the Law.' No matter what was the motive, he did leave them. It was failure on his part and for a long time John Mark had evidently little or no service. He was unprofitable. Blessed is the information we receive from the Second Epistle to Timothy by the Apostle Paul. He requested Mark's presence in Rome. 'Take Mark, and bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry' (2 Tim 4:11). He had been restored, seen his error and judged himself. There can be no question, but John Mark is the writer of the Gospel of Mark, in which the perfect servant of God, the Lord Jesus Christ is portrayed in His unfailing service." (Gaebelein)
"As we know, John Mark had set out with Paul and Barnabas on this journey, but when they reached Perga in Pamphylia he suddenly 'departed from them,' the record supplying no definite information as to either his activities on the journey or as to his reason for suddenly returning to Jerusalem. Some have thought that the perils of heathen surroundings may have frightened him. Perhaps the lad simply became homesick. We know he had lived with his mother in Jerusalem in the sheltered surroundings of a large and apparently comfortable home (Acts 12:12, etc.). It would not, therefore, be strange if on so extended a trip into strange and heathen territory, he did become afraid or homesick or both." (Stam)
with the proconsul - "Cyprus was a Roman senatorial province." (Ryrie)
"The official title of the governor of a Roman province subject to the authority of the Senate. Cyprus had, at one time, been an imperial province, when its governor bore the title of 'pro-practor', but Augustus transferred it to the Senate in 22 B.C. St. Luke, therefore is strictly accurate in calling the governor proconsul at this period." (Walker)
Elymas - "A name given to Bar-Jesus by Greek-speaking acquaintances." (Ryrie)
"This false prophet, the Jew Bar-jesus, Elymas the sorcerer, is a type of apostate Judaism, which has turned away from the truth, rejected the Gospel and perverts the right ways of the Lord. Such Judaism became after rejecting the offer of God's mercy. As Elymas tried to keep the Word of God from the Roman Sergius Paulus, so the Jews tried to keep from the Gentiles the Gospel, which they themselves had rejected. The judgment which fell upon the sorcerer is likewise significant. Blindness has been put judicially upon the Jews and without a leader they are groping around in the darkness. This judicial blindness was repeatedly predicted by the prophets. We find it mentioned in Isaiah 6:9-10. Their eyes were to be shut. Our Lord quotes this twice and each time in connection with His rejection in Matthew 13:15 and John 12:40. Then the Apostle Paul uses these words for the last time in the New Testament (Acts 23:25-28). The Salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles after the Jews refused to accept it, and the Jews were blinded. But the blindness is not permanent. 'Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in' (Rom 11:25). Corresponding to this is the blindness of Elymas, which was to be 'for a season.' The season is this present age. When this age is over, the judicial blindness, the veil which is upon their hearts, will be removed." (Gaebelein)
"What a picture we have here of exactly what was taking place with Israel and the Gentiles as recorded in Acts—some of it recorded even in this very chapter! In this same chapter we find the Gentiles asking to hear the Word of God (Acts 13:42) and the Jews, who should themselves have been the instruments of Gentile blessing, withstanding Paul and Barnabas and seeking to turn away the Gentiles from the faith (Acts 13:45). Israel, the supposed Son of Jehovah-Savior, God's appointed prophet to the Gentiles is found instead to be a false prophet, a son of the devil, and is given up to judgment (Acts 13:46) while the Gentiles receive the truth and rejoice in it (Acts 13:48). Thus again the apostle writes to the Romans: 'What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear) unto this day (Rom 11:7-8). One fact that is often overlooked, however, is that Elymas was blinded only 'for a season' (Acts 13:11). This is significant of the fact that Israel's blindness will some day pass away, for we read again in the epistle to the Romans: 'For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob' (Rom 11:25-26) ... This all has its bearing on the blinding of Elymas and of Israel for a season, for in the present dispensation God is demonstrating that Jew and Gentile must both be saved by pure grace and that even when the covenant nation is finally saved, it will only be by grace, through the merits of the Crucified. Thus the mystery had to be revealed before the prophecy could be fulfilled, so that Israel, when finally exalted, might not glory in herself, but in Christ." (Stam)
Saul, who was also called Paul - "Saul was his Jewish name and Paul his Roman or Gentile name. Both were given him at the time of his birth, but now begins to use his Gentile name in this Gentile environment." (Ryrie)
"We have called this journey 'Paul's first apostolic journey,' rather than that of Barnabas and Saul, because it is at the very outset of the record of this journey that the Spirit first uses Saul's other name, Paul, and begins referring to 'Paul and his company (Acts 13:13) 'Paul and Barnabas' (Acts 13:43, 46, 50) etc. Indeed, rarely after this do we find Barnabas mentioned before Paul. Now it is Paul who pronounces blindness upon Elymas (Acts 13:9-11). It is Paul who rises to speak in the Synagogue at Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:16). And from here on until the close of Acts the ascendancy of Paul as God's man for the day becomes more and more pronounced. As to the significance of the name Paul, it is generally agreed to be his Roman name, being the Latin word for 'little'. It may also, however, be derived from the Greek work 'Pau', meaning pause, or interval with, of course, the masculine ending. Either would be significant, for again and again the apostle insists that he is nothing, while the message he is sent to proclaim deals with a pause, or interval of grace, in the program of God as outlined by the Old Testament prophets." (Stam)
Salamis - "The largest and most important town in the island, though not the political capital. It had a good harbour, and lay in the direction of the Syrian coast, on the southeast coast of Cyprus." (Walker)
they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues - "While Paul and Barnabas had been sent to labor chiefly among the Gentiles, they went first to the synagogues of Salamis, to minister the Word of God to their Jewish kinsman. This became, and continued to be, Paul's practice in all his journeys among the Gentiles until the close of the period covered by the Book of Acts. Consistently he went 'to the Jew First,' until, from his prison in Rome, he pronounced the sentence: 'Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is [Lit. has been] sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it' (Acts 28:28). There were at least three reasons why Paul made it a point to minister to the Jew first all this time. First, so that individual Jews outside of Palestine might be given an opportunity to place their trust in the rejected Messiah and be saved. Second, so that the nation as a whole, including Jews of the dispersion, might be without excuse before God when He set them aside for rejecting Christ. Third, so that they might have no reason to complain that salvation was being sent to the Gentiles apart from their instrumentality, since everywhere, from Jerusalem to Rome, salvation had been sent to the Gentiles because the Jews refused it, thereby disqualifying themselves as the agents of God's blessing to the nations (Acts 18:6; 28:27-28; Rom 11:11). That Paul went to the Jew first during his Acts ministry does not not mean, as some have concluded, that Paul's ministry at that time was primarily, or chiefly, to the Jew, for the record of his journeys in Acts, as well as his epistles written during that time, bear abundant witness that his ministry was principally to the Gentile, not the Jew." (Stam)
had John to assist them - "This was John Mark, son of Mary (Acts 12:12) and cousin to Barnabas (Col 4:10; 13:13; 15:38-40; 2 Tim 4:11). He did whatever Paul and Barnabas asked him to do." (Ryrie)
"Paul occupies now the prominent place. As soon as Perga was reached, John the helper, who had gone forth with them from Antioch, deserted them. It was a desertion, for later we find the statement that he departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work (Acts 15:38). No reason is given why John turned backward. Was it on account of the dangers or the hard labor? Or was it cowardice? The reason of his return was most likely of a different nature. He was still greatly attached to Jerusalem. His Hebrew name is mentioned only in this chapter and not the Gentile, the Roman, Mark. Perhaps he could not fully endorse the complete association with the Gentiles and turned back to Jerusalem to be in fellowship with them who were of the circumcision and 'zealous for the Law.' No matter what was the motive, he did leave them. It was failure on his part and for a long time John Mark had evidently little or no service. He was unprofitable. Blessed is the information we receive from the Second Epistle to Timothy by the Apostle Paul. He requested Mark's presence in Rome. 'Take Mark, and bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry' (2 Tim 4:11). He had been restored, seen his error and judged himself. There can be no question, but John Mark is the writer of the Gospel of Mark, in which the perfect servant of God, the Lord Jesus Christ is portrayed in His unfailing service." (Gaebelein)
"As we know, John Mark had set out with Paul and Barnabas on this journey, but when they reached Perga in Pamphylia he suddenly 'departed from them,' the record supplying no definite information as to either his activities on the journey or as to his reason for suddenly returning to Jerusalem. Some have thought that the perils of heathen surroundings may have frightened him. Perhaps the lad simply became homesick. We know he had lived with his mother in Jerusalem in the sheltered surroundings of a large and apparently comfortable home (Acts 12:12, etc.). It would not, therefore, be strange if on so extended a trip into strange and heathen territory, he did become afraid or homesick or both." (Stam)
with the proconsul - "Cyprus was a Roman senatorial province." (Ryrie)
"The official title of the governor of a Roman province subject to the authority of the Senate. Cyprus had, at one time, been an imperial province, when its governor bore the title of 'pro-practor', but Augustus transferred it to the Senate in 22 B.C. St. Luke, therefore is strictly accurate in calling the governor proconsul at this period." (Walker)
Elymas - "A name given to Bar-Jesus by Greek-speaking acquaintances." (Ryrie)
"This false prophet, the Jew Bar-jesus, Elymas the sorcerer, is a type of apostate Judaism, which has turned away from the truth, rejected the Gospel and perverts the right ways of the Lord. Such Judaism became after rejecting the offer of God's mercy. As Elymas tried to keep the Word of God from the Roman Sergius Paulus, so the Jews tried to keep from the Gentiles the Gospel, which they themselves had rejected. The judgment which fell upon the sorcerer is likewise significant. Blindness has been put judicially upon the Jews and without a leader they are groping around in the darkness. This judicial blindness was repeatedly predicted by the prophets. We find it mentioned in Isaiah 6:9-10. Their eyes were to be shut. Our Lord quotes this twice and each time in connection with His rejection in Matthew 13:15 and John 12:40. Then the Apostle Paul uses these words for the last time in the New Testament (Acts 23:25-28). The Salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles after the Jews refused to accept it, and the Jews were blinded. But the blindness is not permanent. 'Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in' (Rom 11:25). Corresponding to this is the blindness of Elymas, which was to be 'for a season.' The season is this present age. When this age is over, the judicial blindness, the veil which is upon their hearts, will be removed." (Gaebelein)
"What a picture we have here of exactly what was taking place with Israel and the Gentiles as recorded in Acts—some of it recorded even in this very chapter! In this same chapter we find the Gentiles asking to hear the Word of God (Acts 13:42) and the Jews, who should themselves have been the instruments of Gentile blessing, withstanding Paul and Barnabas and seeking to turn away the Gentiles from the faith (Acts 13:45). Israel, the supposed Son of Jehovah-Savior, God's appointed prophet to the Gentiles is found instead to be a false prophet, a son of the devil, and is given up to judgment (Acts 13:46) while the Gentiles receive the truth and rejoice in it (Acts 13:48). Thus again the apostle writes to the Romans: 'What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear) unto this day (Rom 11:7-8). One fact that is often overlooked, however, is that Elymas was blinded only 'for a season' (Acts 13:11). This is significant of the fact that Israel's blindness will some day pass away, for we read again in the epistle to the Romans: 'For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob' (Rom 11:25-26) ... This all has its bearing on the blinding of Elymas and of Israel for a season, for in the present dispensation God is demonstrating that Jew and Gentile must both be saved by pure grace and that even when the covenant nation is finally saved, it will only be by grace, through the merits of the Crucified. Thus the mystery had to be revealed before the prophecy could be fulfilled, so that Israel, when finally exalted, might not glory in herself, but in Christ." (Stam)
Saul, who was also called Paul - "Saul was his Jewish name and Paul his Roman or Gentile name. Both were given him at the time of his birth, but now begins to use his Gentile name in this Gentile environment." (Ryrie)
"We have called this journey 'Paul's first apostolic journey,' rather than that of Barnabas and Saul, because it is at the very outset of the record of this journey that the Spirit first uses Saul's other name, Paul, and begins referring to 'Paul and his company (Acts 13:13) 'Paul and Barnabas' (Acts 13:43, 46, 50) etc. Indeed, rarely after this do we find Barnabas mentioned before Paul. Now it is Paul who pronounces blindness upon Elymas (Acts 13:9-11). It is Paul who rises to speak in the Synagogue at Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:16). And from here on until the close of Acts the ascendancy of Paul as God's man for the day becomes more and more pronounced. As to the significance of the name Paul, it is generally agreed to be his Roman name, being the Latin word for 'little'. It may also, however, be derived from the Greek work 'Pau', meaning pause, or interval with, of course, the masculine ending. Either would be significant, for again and again the apostle insists that he is nothing, while the message he is sent to proclaim deals with a pause, or interval of grace, in the program of God as outlined by the Old Testament prophets." (Stam)
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