Verses 1-3 Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. 2 (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) 3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.
Why did the Apostle Paul address the crowd by “men, brethren, and fathers”? The Greek word translated as “men” is “aner” and it means an adult man as opposed to a boy, and it can also be used generically of a group of both adult men and women. So if there were any women in the mob, they would be included in his speech. The Greek word translated as “brethren” is “adelphos” and it means those having the same national ancestor, belonging to the same people, countryman, and/or a fellow believer. The Greek word translated as “fathers” is “pater” and it means natural fathers, male ancestors, a senior or someone advanced in age, or members of the Sanhedrin, or those deserving honor. So the Apostle Paul was addressing the different participants of the mob which included men (and perhaps women), fellow believers in Christ, his fellow countrymen or Jews, the Jewish leadership present, and the Roman soldiers. He was being respectful to people who were trying to kill him, trying to arrest him, and to those who were just along for the excitement of the event. He starts his discourse by stating that he was going to present a defense and he gives a brief summary of his early life and training so that all would know that he was trained by one of the most prominent Jewish teachers and scholars in Jerusalem and that he was very knowledgeable about the law.
Verses 4-5 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. 5 As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.
The Apostle Paul then goes on to share how he persecuted those of “the way” or “the Faith”, being responsible for some people’s deaths and taking his orders directly from the high priest and the Jewish religious leaders or elders, journeying to Damascus to bring Christian prisoners back to Jerusalem to be punished or executed.
Verses 6-8 And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. 7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
He then shares how he met Jesus. This story had been told for years and it is doubtful that the religious leadership in Jerusalem at this particular time were not aware of it, but not all the public would have heard this part of the Apostle Paul’s testimony.
Verse 9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
He then lets the mob know that there were witnesses to this event while on the way to Damascus.
Verses 10-11 And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. 11 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.
The Jews would have been very aware of the story of Moses and of how he met the LORD in the burning bush while in the wilderness. They would have been aware of how the LORD gave to Moses a mission and a ministry and of how that encounter and Moses’ obedience to the call of God lead to the destruction of the one world government and nation of Egypt and to the freedom of their ancestors from servitude and bondage. So they should have understood that the Apostle Paul, like Moses, had encountered the LORD in a blinding light while on the road to Damascus and that he had been given a mission and a ministry by God which he had to be obedient to. This mission and ministry was resulting in the destruction of Satan’s earthly kingdom and in the freedom of both Jews and Gentile from the servitude and bondage of sin, death, and Hell.
Verses 12-13 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, 13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
The Apostle Paul names yet another witness to his supernatural experience with the LORD Jesus Christ. This witness, Ananias, performed a miracle by the power of the Holy Ghost so that the blindness of the Apostle Paul’s eyes was healed. This would have been an incident well known and easily verified if the Jewish leadership wanted to behave in an honest and truth seeking manner. But they did not. They wanted blood because the Apostle Paul was a threat to their power and control over the people and to their financial interests.
Verses 14-16 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. 15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. 16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Application: Clearly the Apostle Paul was a chosen vessel by the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But Satan and his angels had infiltrated the Jewish leadership going back to their days in Babylon and they were doing his bidding and using the mob to get the results they desired. The amazing thing to see here is that the Jews did not care about what was true, about what was from God, or about what was good for the people they were ruling. They defied God and had no remorse in so doing. The Apostle Paul had written in the book of Hebrews, chapter 10 verse 31 that, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” And so a few years after the murder of the Apostle Paul, these Jews had their earthly domain totally destroyed, their city that they reverenced, and their Temple that was more important to them than the living God cast down stone by stone by the invading armies of the Roman one world government. God is a God of judgement.
Verses 17-18 And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; 18 And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
This statement by the Apostle Paul would have angered those listening except perhaps the soldiers arresting him for it revealed the hardness of their hearts and the fact that the LORD God to whom they gave lip service knew who they really were, not His people but people of Satan.
Verses 19-21 And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: 20 And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. 21 And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.
The religious Jews who were responsible for the murder of Stephen were confronted here of their sin and reminded of their evil and wicked behavior towards those who challenged their doctrines and beliefs and who were innocent of any crime.
Application: Because the Jews believed then and now that Gentiles are nothing more than cattle or beasts created by God to serve them and that their lives are insignificant, it angered them to hear that the LORD sent the Apostle Paul to testify and minister to them, therefore making the Gentiles important to the LORD. That was unheard of in their culture and in their way of thinking. Only the Jews were “God’s chosen people” and all other races of people were expendable and to be despised.
Verses 22-24 And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. 23 And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, 24 The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.
In traditional devil possessed Jewish manner these leaders and the Jewish mob ripped their clothing and threw dirt everywhere. This was upsetting behavior to the Roman soldiers and their captain as they would be held responsible by Caesar for any riots that occurred. So their response was to beat the Apostle Paul who had already been beaten by the mob. The idea was that whipping a man would bring forth confession of wrong doing.
Verses 25-26 And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? 26 When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman.
When the Apostle Paul pointed out that the punishment he was about to receive at the hands of the Roman soldiers was a violation of their own law, they reconsidered their plan of action.
Verses 27-28 Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. 28 And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.
The chief captain had purchased his Roman citizenship as apparently he had not been born a Roman. But the Apostle Paul was a Roman citizen by birth. This created fear in the heart of the captain as he was not permitted to punish a Roman citizen without a trial and a conviction of wrong doing. He was between Roman law and Jewish uprising and he knew that whatever he did could land him in trouble with higher authorities in the Roman government or with trouble from the Jewish rulers.
Verses 29-30 Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him. 30 On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them. (Acts 22)
The Apostle Paul was afforded better treatment even though he had been falsely accused and arrested and the captain arranged for him to be brought before the priests and their fellow conspirators only, instead of before an entire mob of out of control people. That way he hoped to get to the bottom of what the actual crime was that the Jews were accusing this Roman citizen of committing.