When God Calls, He Provides

Acts 23:11: "The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, 'Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.'"


It is amazing to see God's hand upon the Apostle Paul as he served the Lord by sharing the Gospel throughout the Roman world. At the time of the citation above, Paul had completed two very difficult but successful missionary journeys. Despite the personal afflictions that Paul endured, the Holy Spirit used the apostle to draw many people into a personal relationship with Him.


In Acts 23, Paul found himself before the religious leaders of Jerusalem, who desired no less than Paul's execution; in fact, many Jews had "formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul" (23:12). They despised Paul for he was propagating what they believed to be the heresy of the Nazarene, Jesus Christ (24:5).


In the midst of these dismal circumstances, Paul remained focused on His calling from the Lord, to teach the Good News of Jesus Christ to all whom God sent to him. Just before the conspiracy plot to assassinate Paul in Jerusalem, the apostle had received a word of encouragement from the Lord, who told Paul that he would go to Rome to testify about God's grace through Jesus Christ. What is fascinating is the way in which the Lord protected Paul and opened the door of opportunity to share the gospel with the most influential people in Palestine before being sent to Rome.


As the 40 men who had taken the oath (abstaining from food or drink until killing Paul) prepared to ambush Paul in Jerusalem, God placed Paul's nephew in the crowd at the right place and time to overhear their plot. The nephew was able to get to Paul, who was being held by the Romans in their military barracks for personal protection before trial. Paul sent his nephew to the Roman commander to warn of the plot, and the commander decided that the situation was too grave to keep Paul in the city. Thus, the Roman military leader devised a quick escape for the apostle. Under the protection of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen, the commander sent Paul out to Caesarea to be dealt with by the Procurator of Judea, Felix.


Felix was intrigued by the apostle and sent for him to hear of the Way of salvation to which Paul referred. Two years passed as Paul continued to teach righteousness, self-control, and God's eternal judgement to come. Eventually Felix was replaced by Festus by the directive of the Emperor Nero (AD 60). Just after three days after he arrived in the province, Festus went to Jerusalem and spent about a week and a half with the Jewish religious leaders, that he might learn of the disposition of the land to which he was called to govern. These religious leaders in turn pleaded with the new procurator to send Paul to Jerusalem, presumably to bring him to trial; however, they had not forgotten their clandestine plan to ambush him along the way and kill him. Festus refused their request; instead, he offered these leaders an invitation to join him on the trip back to Caesarea to bring their charges against the apostle. Although the Jewish leaders wanted Paul in Jerusalem, they nonetheless agreed to travel to Caesarea and present their charges. During the preliminary hearings in Caesarea, Festus, wanting to find the favor of the Jews, offered to Paul the opportunity to go to Jerusalem and stand trial before the procurator; however, Paul was aware of the intent of the Jews and also knew that God still had work for him to do in Rome. Therefore, Paul (a Roman citizen) appealed to Caesar. This was a proverbial "curve ball" not expected by the procurator; he conferred with his council as to the matter before releasing the prisoner to the court in Rome. Still, before Paul boarded the ship bound for Rome, he was given the opportunity to share the Good News of the grace of God to both King Agrippa and Festus.

In this rather descriptive account of Paul's final trip to Palestine, we again find that the Lord was resolved to protect Paul from the multitudinous threats so that he could speak in Rome. This is a good word for us, for we can trust that when God calls us to a task, He will be faithful to sustain us through difficult circumstances to fulfill the calling He has given to us.