(Act 21:19) After greeting them, he related one by
one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his
ministry.
Act 21:23-24 Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men
who are under a vow; take these men and purify yourself along with
them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads.
Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been
told about you but that you yourself live in observance of the
law.
No gentile permitted
Surrounding the outside
of the "azarah" courtyard was a low wooden fence. There were
markers written in Greek and Latin stating: No gentile is allowed
within the wall surrounding the sanctuary nor the enclosed
courtyard. Anyone apprehended doing so is at the risk of taking his
own life in his hands. This fragment is presently in the
Archaeological Museum in Istanbul, Turkey
Another "No Gentiles
Allowed" Fragment. This is fragment from another stone. It too is
written in Greek. This one can be seen in the Rockefeller Museum in
Jerusalem.
Into this area Paul
entered to complete the Nazarite Vow with some Jewish brothers.
"He shall shave his head on the day that he
becomes clean, he shall shave it on the seventh day. On the eighth
day he shall bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, to the
priest, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. The priest shall
offer one as a sin-offering, and the other as a burnt-offering, and
make atonement for him."
Paul was accused by preaching against Mosaic Law
and the temple. He was further condemned by bringing a Gentile into
temple grounds and defiling the temple.
The Uprising in the Temple (21:26-30)
"Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is
teaching men everywhere against the people and the law and this
place; moreover he also brought Greeks into the temple, and he has
defiled this holy place."
The riot was serious that it resulted in the Intervention of
the army and the arrest of Paul ( Act 21:31-36)
Act 21:33 Then the tribune came up and
arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains.
Paul asked for permission to speak to the people.
Paul’s Defense to the Jews in Jerusalem (Acts
21:26—22:29)
Roman Tribune
Paul’s Defense (21:40—22:21)
Acts 23:1-23
Before the Sanhedrin
The Jewish council or Sanhedrin had jurisdiction
over internal Jewish affairs. Since the charges against Paul had to
do with his relationship to Jewish law, he was brought before the
council. Paul played his resurrection trump to separate the
Pharisees and Saducees Acts 23:12-26:32
In Jerusalem, some plotted to kill Paul. He was
taken to Caesarea on the coast. The trip from Jerusalem to Caesarea
took two days. The first night the army contingent (numbering 470 !)
took Paul on the mountainous descent to Antipatras, 40 miles to the
northwest... The next day the soldiers of Paul's escort returned to
Jerusalem while the seventy calvary took Paul the rest of the way to
Caesarea. Caesarea was the headquarters of Roman rule.
Herodian theater just outside the southern wall of
Caesarea
High level aqueduct north of Caesarea, one of two
that supplied water to the city at the time of Paul.
Acts 23:12-26:32 He remained in prison there for over
two years.
Second Trial before Felix 57AD - Acts 24:1-23
Felix was the Roman Governor or Procurator of Judea. Caesarea was
his political capital, and it's seaport was called Sebastos. The
area was under Roman rule. Nero was the ruling Caesar in Rome.
Antonius Felix – Governor or
Caesarea
Herod's "Promontory
Palace"
at Caesarea, where Paul was
judged by the Roman governors Felix and Festus.
Remains of the podium originally
built by Herod for the temple to his patron Augustus Caesar; later
the site of the city's main Christian church
Remains of the wall and dry moat
built by King Louis IX to protect Crusader-era Caesarea.
Interior of the main eastern gate
of Crusader-era Caesarea.
Five days later the high priest
Ananias went down to Caesarea
with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they
brought their charges against Paul before the governor.
Felix trembled as Paul talked of
righteousness, temperance and judgment.
A dog named Felix 1751
Paul stands before the
court to defend himself. He directly appeals to a very worried
looking Felix, wearing a laurel wreath. On the left a judge tears up
a piece of paper into tiny pieces frowning at Paul. A monster at his
feet is putting the pieces back together. Paul is standing on a
stool, with an angel slumped in the corner asleep, and a tiny devil
sawing one of the stool's legs. A dog with the name Felix on its
collar cautiously walks up the steps behind Paul. To the right of
Paul stands a figure representing Justice holding a sword and
weighing scales. Hogarth tells us at the bottom of the image that he
has designed it "in the ridiculous manner of Rembrandt", and the
figure of Justice has been made to look like Rembrandt.
Paul Before Felix and Drusilla
Acts 24:27
Third Trial
The 2nd time, under His Excellency Governor Felix.
It was a Roman Policy not to leave untried
prisoners for your successor.
And before certain days, when Felix came with his
wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him
concerning the faith of Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness,
temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go
thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call
for thee. Acts 24: 24, 25.
Porcius Festus (A.D. 59 to 62)
Act 24:27 But when two years had elapsed,
Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus
"But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said
to Paul, "Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem, and there be tried on
these charges before me?" - Acts 25:9-12
Fourth Trial : Trial before His Excellency
Governor Porcius Festus a Roman.
Acts 25:1-27
I Appeal to Caesar.
This was the right of every Roman citizen and
could not be denied. So Paul was taken into Roman custody and went
to Rome.
Agrippa the king and Berni'ce arrived at Caesare'a
to welcome Festus.
Eldest daughter of Herod Agrippa I,(Acts 12:21-23)
After the early death of her first husband
Marcus), she married her uncle, King Herod of Chalcis. After his
death in approximately 40 AD, she began another incestuous
relationship, this time with her brother, Agrippa II. Bernice was
later briefly married to King Ptolemy of Sicily, before returning to
her brother. She thereafter also became the mistress of the emperors
Vespasian and Titus Herod Julius Marcus Agrippa II: 48-100.AD
Almost persuaded
Emperor Titus Destruction of
Jerusalem
70 AD
"Festus declared Paul's cause unto
the king"
