Verse 1 And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
Iconium was a city in Asia Minor and the name means “little image”. Here the apostles Barnabas and Paul had success in sharing the Gospel with both Jews and Gentiles who became believers in the LORD Jesus Christ.
Verse 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.
Once again the Jews who were serving their father, the Devil, created an adversarial situation in their attempt to silence the truth of the Gospel. This led to division as recorded in the verses below.
Application: Wherever the Gospel is preached there will be strife and division because Satan, the enemy of God, will always try to destroy the people of God and the doctrine of the Church. Since he is not omnipresent and therefore can only be in one place at a time, it is doubtful that Satan is visiting local churches or the readers of this web site, but he has all of his fallen angels assigned to various geographical regions throughout the Earth and they are busy because they know these are the last days and their time is short. Judgement is coming. So until the LORD returns, expect difficulties and divisions. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Verses 3-4 Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4 But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles.
How did people come to understand that the words of Barnabas and Paul were true? By the miracles that were done by their hands through the power of the Holy Ghost/Spirit. If someone is sick and they are told by a servant of the Most High God that through Jesus’ stripes that He received on His back they will be healed and, after prayer and the laying on of hands, they are indeed healed, there is belief. Jesus promised, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Mark 16:14 The signs followed to provide a testimony of the goodness of God. Those signs have never gone away and true Christian believers filled with the power of the Holy Ghost/Spirit can have these same signs follow them in their ministry to the lost.
Verses 5-7 And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them, 6 They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about: 7 And there they preached the gospel.
The contention and division became great enough that violence ensued and the lives of both Barnabas and Paul were threatened. So the only solution was to flee. “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.” Luke 12:51-53 Why did Jesus say this to His disciples? Because under the New Covenant the Church would have to minister on this Earth in the midst of evil, both from sinful unrepentant mankind and from the devils under Satan’s command. Just as there was a battle going on in Iconium between unbelievers and believers which involved both Jewish and Gentile people, there is a battle going on today between unbelievers and believers of all races, genders, and ages. The battle is spiritual between righteousness and evil and it will continue until the last day when the LORD Jesus Christ returns to this Earth to judge and to put an end to this world and everything in it. And unfortunately, this battle can be physical also as seen by the persecution of the people of God from the time of Jesus’ ministry on Earth to today. Just get and read the book, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, to see some of the persecution of Christian believers in years gone by.
Verses 8-10 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked: 9 The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, 10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.
There were no social programs or government assistance programs in existence to aid those people born with or who developed disabilities. If one could not work, one had to rely upon family and upon begging in the streets of the city for survival. This nameless man in Lystra was born lame. Remember that he had never walked in his life. Scripture does not reveal this disabled man’s age, but he had been around long enough for the people living in Lystra to know who he was and to know what his disability was. When this man heard the Apostle Paul tell about Jesus he believed what he heard and the Holy Ghost/Spirit revealed to the Apostle Paul that conversion was taking place. So the Apostle Paul stared at him. One can only imagine what it would have been like to have this man of God stare into one’s eyes. When the command was given to stand up, the lame man did not just stand up but he leapt to his feet and began to walk around unassisted. This writer can attest to the fact that when someone has not walked for a while, their first steps are weak, halting and unbalanced. They need assistance getting up and staying up which can be in the form of human support, a walker, or wall rails. It takes time to strengthen muscles that have not been used for a while and so a regimen of physical therapy is given. And if one has never walked, there would be a major lack of coordination. But this lame man was made new, not only spiritually by believing in the Gospel message, but also physically by the miraculous healing by the LORD.
Application: Faith is a gift from God. “For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit;” 1 Corinthians 12:8-9 The lame man in the verses above was given this gift of faith in order to first believe the words of the Apostle Paul and be converted, and then to believe that God would heal him. The gift of faith is for every true born again believer as one cannot accept the message of the Gospel without faith. But faith, in order to grow, must be exercised. One has to pray with faith believing the promises of God, act with faith believing the promises of God, and speak with faith believing the promises of God. When a born again Christian thinks, acts and speaks completely believing in the LORD and in His Word, miracles will happen.
Verses 11-13 And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. 12 And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. 13 Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.
The heathen people of Lystra were pantheistic and worshipped many gods, two of which were Jupiter or Zeus and Mercury, both being Greek gods adopted by the Romans. Since there was a priest of these gods right there in the city, and since the people believed that Barnabas and Paul were these two gods, they were going to perform a blood sacrifice for them. They were going to honor their gods. They were ignorant and did not really know what they were doing as the Gospel message was new to them and not everyone had heard or understood it. When one’s culture worships various gods, one needs time and teaching in order to abandon that which has been taught throughout one’s life. Their gods were no gods and so miracles did not happen. So the miracle of healing performed at the hands of the Apostle Paul was understood by the people of Lystra in relationship to their pagan beliefs and practices.
Verses 14-18 Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, 15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: 16 Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. 18 And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.
The apostles Barnabas and Paul were able to stop all of this by declaring themselves to be but flesh and blood men and not gods. However, there was still a great cost to the apostles as the Jews who hated both them and Jesus and the Gospel were right behind them ready to take advantage of this event.
Application: The apostles made a point that leads to the book of Romans. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Romans 1:20-21 All of God’s creation shows His power, His love, His authority, and His lordship. His creation of, as the apostles stated above, heaven, the earth, the sea and all things that are therein are a witness to mankind that God exists, that He is in control, and that He is a good and righteous God. But the heathen people that the apostles Barnabas and Paul were encountering had failed to recognize the living God and were worshiping dead idols.
Verses 19-20 And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. 20 Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
The Apostle Paul received the brunt of the mistreatment at the hands of the Jews and the heathen people they were attempting to minister to and was stoned. Stoning was a Jewish invention most likely learned when in Egyptian captivity and a mode of punishment. It involved the victim being surrounded by a mob who pelted the victim with large rocks until his/her body was bruised, cut, bleeding, and broken and the victim died. These people knew what a dead person looked like, and so when they tossed the body of the Apostle Paul outside the city limits, he was dead. Under normal circumstances, even if not dead, a stoned individual does not and cannot rise up and walk away from the stoning as bones are crushed and broken and muscles torn and there is a lot of blood loss. Only a miracle from the LORD Jesus Christ caused the Apostle Paul to be able to survive the stoning, stand up and walk, return to the city, and then leave the next day to travel by foot to the town of Derbe.
Application: When working for the LORD His servants may receive much tribulation, trials, and persecution, but His servants will not die or be killed until they have completed their work for the LORD. He will sustain them. It is possible that this first stoning of the Apostle Paul was what he was referring to in 2 Corinthians 12:2-5 when he wrote, “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.” The Apostle Paul had what this writer will refer to as an out of body experience where his spirit left and went into Heaven and then returned back to his body. So this may have happened when he was stoned as recorded in the verses above.
Verses 21-22 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, 22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
After preaching in Derbe, the apostles Barnabas and Paul backtracked to check on the converts they had left in the cities they had ministered in. Their message was to not waiver but continue in their faith and walk with Jesus Christ and to not be afraid of any tribulation that would come their way as the goal which they needed to keep in mind was their being in the spiritual Kingdom of God and their future destiny of eternal life in Heaven.
Verses 23-26 And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed. 24 And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 25 And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down into Attalia: 26 And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
The apostles Barnabas and Paul then began to set up the various churches that were being born in the areas where they had preached and ministered so that they would have Godly leadership to help the churches grow and remain true to the Gospel. They then traveled back to Antioch from whence this missionary journey had started.
Verses 27-28 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. 28 And there they abode long time with the disciples. (Acts 14)
When they were back in their home church, the apostles Barnabas and Paul reported on all their ministry adventures and on all the works that God had done through them and of how the Gentiles had been reached with the Gospel and were now in churches serving the LORD Jesus Christ.