1. Guzik Bible Commentary © 2013 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission - For more information and resources visit EnduringWord.com Welcome to David Guzik’s Bible Commentary. The sad state of affairs on Cyprus is emphasized by the fact of such a practitioner of evil as Bar-Jesus enjoying the status of an advisor to the governor. Beware therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken in the prophets: Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; For I work a work in your days, A work which ye shall in no wise believe, if one declare it unto you. iii. But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. We can’t all be popular to the same degree, but we can all serve and please God to the same degree in Jesus Christ. Now there were in Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers, Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. But behold, there cometh one after me the shoes of whose feet I am not worthy to unloose. The Old Testament
To thinks so also gives us the glory for our own salvation instead of simply saying, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9). For a season ... shows that the unusual judgment against Elymas was not without its element of mercy. i. Paul's great sermon had fully captured the attention of many who were inclined to accept Christianity, and the conversations regarding this continued, apparently, throughout the whole day. Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? Johannine Writings
Some commentators complain that Paul here preached too much like Peter did on Pentecost. [29] Robert Milligan, Analysis of the New Testament (Cincinnati, Ohio: Bosworth, Chase and Hall, 1874), p. 364. Usernames should only contain letters, numbers, dots, dashes, or underscores. One killed John the Baptist and presided over one of the trials of Jesus before His crucifixion. (Act 13:5) On the island of Cyprus: The city of Salamis, on the east coast. iii. [27] G. H. C. MacGreggor, op. ii. John Mark as their attendant ... "Mark probably acted as baptist,"[12] is a speculation that is supported by the fact that Paul did not usually do the baptizing personally (1 Corinthians 1:14-17). (Act 13:24-29) Using the examples of John the Baptist and the Jewish rulers, Paul shows how people both received and rejected Jesus. Therefore Jesus was executed and laid in a tomb. Pentateuch
5. Paul's address falls into three logical divisions: I. i. And we bring you good tidings of the promise made unto the fathers, that God hath fulfilled the same unto our children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. An appeal to the people with a warning against rejecting Christ (Acts 13:38-41). "[7] In fact, the New Testament reveals this to have been the usual manner in which the Holy Spirit communicated God's will to men since the days of the new covenant. The Pauline doctrine of justification, as set forth fully in Romans, makes the final grounds of it to be the perfect faith and obedience of the Son of God. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia; and from thence they sail to Cyprus. Bibliography InformationCoffman, James Burton. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. We try to force ourselves into ecstasies in order to hear the voice, then we imagine we hear it!” (Morgan). That God had given to the Son all things (John 3:35). It was some sixteen miles downstream from Antioch and some five miles above the mouth of the Orontes. c. They sent them away: Notice that the church in Antioch sent Barnabas and Saul out. Preachers of the gospel sent into all lands by the church are no less sent by the Holy Spirit than were Barnabas and Saul. They were supported and sent by a specific congregation. He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. And now, behold the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. The following Sabbath there was a mixed response, some very hostile and some very receptive. The invariable rule, both of Christ and of the apostles who delivered his message to men, was "to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." a. This comes from Isaiah 55:3 where "the everlasting covenant" is mentioned as one of those blessings. As far as we know, this had never happened before in the history of the church. Certainly, Saul’s given name was Saul, a Jewish name after the first king of Israel. When they arrived in Salamis: We are not told why they went to Cyprus first, but we do know Barnabas grew up on that island (Acts 4:36). h. Now separate to Me: God gave a timetable – now. [10] Something of the immense size of this ancient city appears in the fact that the large Jewish population massacred some 240,000 of the Gentile inhabitants in a great uprising put down by Trajan's great general, Hadrian, who himself later became emperor. i. Paul meets Timothy in Lystra. Seeing ye thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. And when they had gone through the whole island unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesus; who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of understanding. (Act 13:3) The sending of Barnabas and Saul. a. Paul was an inspired prophet and teacher, under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit, and there was no possibility whatever of any mistake or error on Paul's part.