WWUTT 2696 Paul's Journey to Jerusalem (Acts 21:1-16)

Paul's Journey to Jerusalem and the Prophecy of Suffering

God had revealed to the Apostle Paul that when he made it to Jerusalem, he was going to suffer. And God revealed this not only to Paul, but even to some of his fellow missionaries, so that they would trust God's will when we understand the text.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Acts, we come to chapter 21. This will be the chapter we're studying this week. And the section we're looking at today, we're following Paul's journey from Miletus to Jerusalem.

Let me begin by reading the first 16 verses. Hear the word of the Lord. Now when we had parted from them and had set sail, we came by a straight course to Kos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patera.

And having found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. And when 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.

And after looking up the disciples, we stayed there seven days, and they kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem. And 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. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home again. And when we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemaeus, and after greeting the brothers, we stayed with them for a day.

And 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. Now, this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

And as we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And 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. And when we had heard this, we, as well as the local residents, began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem.

Then Paul answered, What are you doing, crying 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. And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

Now, after these days, we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem. And some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us, taking us to Manassin of Cyprus, an early disciple with whom we were to lodge.

Now, in this section of chapter 21, we're journeying from Miletus to Jerusalem and looking at the various stops along the way. You'll notice that at each one of these stops, there are saints. There are beloved Christians there.

So we see how far and wide the gospel has spread. Churches have been planted in so many major areas that wherever they land, wherever they take a ship and stop, they're able to find believers and fellowship with them and spend time with them.

Now, two significant things that we read about here in this section regard to prophecies. There is the prophecy that is made in verse 4, and then there is the prophecy that is made at Agaba, saying that Paul is going to be bound when he gets to Jerusalem.

Now, his friends and even some of the residents there at Caesarea, they tried to convince Paul not to go to Jerusalem. But Paul says, I am ready to suffer and even to die for the cause of Christ. And so everyone says in response, the will of the Lord be done.

God's hand is over all of this. He is delivering Paul even into the hands of the Jews who are going to give him over to the hands of the Gentiles. But that's going to end up being a good thing because Paul, being in Roman custody, is going to get a free pleasure cruise from Jerusalem up to Rome.

It's not really going to be a pleasure cruise. There's going to be a shipwreck. But it's still by God's hand that Paul will finally make it to the capital city of the world and be able to preach the gospel there.

The Route from Miletus Through Rhodes and Tyre

That's this journey, this route that we are taking from Miletus to Jerusalem. Let me start back up at the beginning of the chapter. When we had parted from them at Miletus, the elders that had come there, the elders from Ephesus, they came to Miletus.

Paul had delivered that impassioned sermon to them. They set sail and come by a straight course to Kos and the next day to Rhodes and from there to Patera. Now I'm going to try to walk you through on a map what this would have looked like, even though you probably don't have a map in front of you.

But after Miletus, there is a grouping of islands there on the southwest edge of Asia. And the largest of those islands is Rhodes. Now what is Rhodes most known for, do you know? It is where the Colossus of Rhodes once stood.

This was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. We read about one of those ancient wonders in Ephesus. That was the Temple of Artemis. Colossus of Rhodes was a large statue, a big bronze statue to the Greek sun god Helios.

So just like the Temple to Artemis was to a false goddess, the Colossus of Rhodes was to a false god. But this statue would have fallen, it had already been toppled by the time that Paul sails by Rhodes.

And he would have sailed right by the very spot where the Colossus once stood. It was on the far northeast corner, that little notch. If you're ever looking at a map of Rhodes, you'll see in the northeast corner there's this little notch out there, and that would have been where the Colossus of Rhodes once stood.

But it didn't stand there for very long. I think it was only 50-something years or something like that. And then an earthquake was what eventually toppled it, some 200 years before Paul ever even passes by this place.

But these are two locations well known for a couple of wonders of the ancient world, Ephesus and now Rhodes. He lands at Patera, which is on the very southern end of Asia Minor, just about as far south in Asia that you could have gone in that piece of land.

Would that be called a peninsula? I mean, it's surrounded by water on three sides. I don't know. Or is it so large? Does eventually a peninsula get so big that it doesn't even qualify as a peninsula anymore?

Anyway, so then Paul travels from Patera and goes all the way across the Mediterranean Sea, that stretch of the Mediterranean, to Tyre. And he passes on the southern end of Cyprus. So they are to the west or to the south of Cyprus in getting to Tyre.

The Spirit's Warning at Tyre

That's where they end up landing, on that eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. And it's there at Tyre that we have this first prophecy that's mentioned in chapter 21. So verse 3, when we came inside of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to Syria.

That would have put Cyprus, of course, to the north or to the northeast. We sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre. For there, the ship was to unload its cargo. That was the destination for that particular ship.

And after looking up the disciples, we stayed there seven days. And they kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem. Well, remember, Paul is being led by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem.

So now they've got some people there at Tyre who, in the Spirit, are telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem. What's going on here? Is the Holy Spirit giving two different people conflicting messages? Well, I think the next prophecy that comes from Agabus sheds some light on what's going on here in verse 4.

There's not a lot of detail for us in verse 4. But what we're meant to understand is that there are people there who had received a prophecy or a vision from the Holy Spirit about what would happen to Paul when he got to Jerusalem.

So in the Spirit, they're trying to persuade Paul not to go to Jerusalem. This doesn't mean that the prophecy that was revealed to them was wrong or that the Spirit is giving two different people conflicting messages.

Rather, the Spirit has revealed, here's what's going to happen to Paul. And the way they react to that revelation is to try to talk Paul out of it. We see that come up again later, too, when Agabus has his vision and then Paul's own friends are trying to persuade him not to go to Jerusalem because he's going to end up being arrested there, persecuted, and then who knows what else would happen to him.

So that's what's happening here in verse 4. They kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem. They've received this same prophecy about what's going to happen to Paul. I think this is something else that really legitimizes Paul's ministry because the Spirit is with Paul.

The Spirit is revealing to believers what's going to happen to Paul. And this also is a word from the Spirit to those believers about what will happen for anybody who desires godliness and to preach the gospel of Christ.

They're going to be persecuted, exactly as Jesus said to his disciples would happen. They hated me. Remember, when they hate you, they hated me first, is what Jesus said. Paul's ministry is being authenticated here by the Spirit revealing what would happen to Paul, just as had happened to other apostles, as we've read about in the book of Acts.

So it's going to happen to Paul as well. When our days there, when our days in Tyre 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, and then we went on board the ship, and they returned home again. So we see entire families of believers there at Tyre. Again, this is a testament to how the gospel has gone out to all the world, and Paul's labors in spreading the gospel have had such success as well.

He was not the one that planted the church at Tyre, but we've seen all the other churches that have been planted, even on up the coast, as he and Barnabas had done so much work at Antioch. So then, verse 7, when we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemaeus.

Philip's Welcome and the Gospel's Reconciliation

Now, that's just a little bit down the coast. I kind of wonder if that journey was just like a day. So they were on board the ship for a day from Tyre to Ptolemaeus, and after greeting the brothers, we stayed with them for a day.

And on the next day, we left and came to Caesarea. This also would have been by ship. They're skirting further down the coast, coming to Caesarea, and then from Caesarea, the rest of the journey is going to be on foot, going from there down to Jerusalem, or up to Jerusalem is the way it's being described here, because you're going up, you're ascending in elevation.

Even though from Caesarea to Jerusalem, it was further south, they would refer to their journeys in terms of elevation. So from Caesarea to Jerusalem, they are ascending, and that's why it says they go up to Jerusalem.

Verse 8, 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. This is the same Philip who was talked about in Acts 6 as one of the seven deacons who were first chosen in the church, and then of course he comes up again later as sharing the gospel in Samaria.

We have Philip also being the guy who shared the gospel with the Ethiopian eunuch. So he's had a bit of prominence here in the book of Acts. This is going to be the last mention of him, but Paul coming into his company and staying with him for a while.

What's real fascinating about that, of course, is Paul was there when Stephen was stoned to death in chapter 7. Philip was one of the deacons along with Stephen. Philip, after Stephen's martyrdom, goes up into Samaria and begins sharing the gospel there.

So Philip surely knew who Paul was at the time that Paul played a role in Stephen's martyrdom. And yet here they are friends, here they are brothers, entering into the same house and fellowshipping with one another.

Philip is even opening a door of hospitality to Paul to come into his home. So we're seeing here not only how the gospel has gone out into the world and made many converts and built the church in many cities, but we're also seeing how the gospel is reconciling brothers together, men who were enemies of one another, one even trying to put the other one to death.

And yet here they are under the same roof, breaking bread and sharing with each other the joy of what God has been accomplishing through the spread of the gospel in the world. It says in verse 9,. Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

Prophecy, Philip's Daughters, and the Fulfillment of Joel

This is really like the second of three mentions of prophecy. The next one is Agabus coming and giving his prophecy. That's in verse 10. So these come back to back with one another. Philip's daughters who were prophetesses and then Agabus with his prophecy.

So we have the prophecy that was back up in verse 4 when Paul was at Tyre. We have this prophecy when Paul is in the home of Philip or at least his daughters who are prophesying and then the prophecy that has been given by Agabus.

And this is to show that what had been prophesied in the book of Joel, which the apostle Peter talked about at Pentecost in Acts 2, your sons and your daughters will dream dreams and prophesy. This is demonstrating that all of that has been fulfilled.

We're seeing that fulfilled even in this first generation of the church as the gospel is going out through the world, the spirit bringing people into the family of God through faith in Jesus Christ. It's all being accomplished exactly as it had been prophesied back in the Old Testament.

So we see it happening here. So we continue on with the prophecy from Agabus. Verse 10. As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet in hands and said, this is what the Holy Spirit says.

Agabus's Prophecy and the Test of a Prophet

In this way, the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. Now, I may wait on this until we get to Paul's arrest, but you've probably heard some charismatics in particular say that Agabus had a prophecy that could have been considered a false prophecy because then the text doesn't describe later on Paul being arrested in exactly this way, bound hand and foot with his own belt, just as Agabus had demonstrated it.

So it isn't described in the narrative as having happened to Paul that way. So did Agabus get this wrong? Was this a false prophecy? And the charismatics will use that to say, see, prophecies don't have to be exactly right.

Sometimes we can misunderstand the prophecy as Agabus did, but I think that we are trying to read too much into the text. The text does not have to tell us later on that Paul was bound hand and foot with his own belt.

It doesn't have to detail it for us in that way for Agabus's prophecy to be true. We know that Paul is arrested, and what Agabus said was going to happen did happen, even if the details don't exactly match.

Even if Luke did not intend to tell us later on, oh, look, Agabus's prophecy came true because we were right there, and yep, his belt was used to bind his own feet and hands, just like Agabus had prophesied.

Luke doesn't have to spell it out that way. Agabus has prophesied it that way. That is the way Paul will end up being arrested, even though Luke doesn't detail it in that fashion, because we're not seeing scripture against scripture here.

The author of Acts is not leaving it for somebody to be able to go, oh, look, the prophecy was wrong. It even happens right here in the same book. Somebody prophesied something that didn't actually happen.

It does happen the way that Agabus says that it is going to happen. So, my friends, if a person is going to prophesy anything, they're going to say, the Lord revealed this to me, and they say it, and it doesn't come to pass, the Deuteronomy 13 and 18 test still applies.

That is a person who had spoken presumptuously. It was not really the Lord that said something to him. He says something that doesn't come to pass. It's not just a mistake. He's a false prophet. Talking about prophets who prophesy today and get their prophecies wrong.

Agabus did not have this wrong. So, going on in verse 12. And when we had heard this, we, as well as the local residents, began begging Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. And then Paul answered, what are you doing?

Paul's Readiness to Suffer and God's Providence

Crying 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. And I think what his friends are doing here in verse 12 is the same as what we saw earlier in verse 4.

They kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem. Paul's friends end up doing the same thing. It's not that they are getting conflicting messages from the Spirit. It's not that there's some sort of prophecy that's been given to them that doesn't come true.

It is because they've seen the prophecy. They have received this vision from the Lord that Paul is going to be bound. He's going to be arrested when he gets to Jerusalem. And as a result of that prophecy, which comes from the Spirit, they try to convince Paul not to go.

But the Spirit has told Paul even what he awaits there in Jerusalem. We had heard that earlier. I mean, he said it to the pastors at Miletus when the Ephesian elders came and joined him there. He said there that the Lord had revealed to him what kind of sufferings await him when he goes to Jerusalem.

He already knows this. But there are other saints who are receiving the same prophetic message to verify that this is what's going to happen to Paul. It's an authentication of his ministry. But also that they would not lose heart because they will see that God has been in control this entire time.

It is part of God's providence that it would happen in this way so the gospel would be declared not only in Jerusalem but ultimately in Rome when Paul is taken there by the Romans after taking him into custody.

So Paul says to them, you're breaking my heart. I'm ready to be bound. I'm ready to suffer. I'm even ready to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And finally, his friends and even the other residents that are there, they accept that.

And they say, the will of the Lord be done. They trust in God. They know it is his will for this to happen. And so they are going to put the matter in the Lord's hands and desire to see that the gospel of Christ would continue to spread all the more.

Luke's Eyewitness Record and the Gospel's Continuing Mission

Verse 15. Now after these days we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem. And some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us taking us to Manasseh of Cyprus, an early disciple with whom we were to lodge.

And this is another example of Luke name-dropping so that whoever is reading the book of Acts at this particular time, this is all in the lifetime of the people that these things happened to, Luke is mentioning eyewitnesses so that whoever read this book could go to them and say, hey, was this you?

Yep, that was me. I was there. I saw it. I can testify to this. This is a worthy record. It is a trustworthy record that we are reading of the message of the gospel going out into the world. We have come to know and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ today because of the things that were accomplished here in the book of Acts.

God working his mighty hand and his will to bring you to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ because the gospel came to you. And so, beloved, may we be the hands and feet of the gospel of Christ to the next person, to the next place that it needs to go.

Share the gospel of Christ with somebody else because it is only by faith in Jesus that they can be saved. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we have read. I pray that it continues to assure us of your great working and your great plan, all things working according to your purpose and grace.

You have brought us into your kingdom by your purpose and grace. And Lord, would you purpose us to take the gospel of grace to somebody else that they may hear and believe and be saved. It's in the name of Jesus that we pray.

Amen.

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Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study When We Understand the Text.