'The Unknown God'

Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. wholly...: Or, full of idoles Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. babbler...: Or, base fellow And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? Areopagus...: Or, Mars-hill: It was the highest court in Athens For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. Mars' hill...: Or, court of the Areopagites For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. devotions...: Or, gods that you worship, 2. Thess. 2. 4 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. hath given...: Or, offered faith And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. - Acts 17:16-34

    Because of the uproar in Berea and the threat of persecution there, certain of the Berean brethren escorted Paul safely to Athens. Luke was left behind in Philippi, Timothy in Thessalonica, to minister to the new converts there, and Silas stayed in Berea, where he was later joined by Timothy. They were all to meet in Athens and from there continue their missionary travels. In verse 16 we find Paul waiting for his fellow-workers.

    The apostle of Christ was alone in the city of Athens, the cultural, educational, philosophical centre of the Gentile world. As he walked through the streets of the city, his spirit was stirred with both anger and compassion, 'when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry' (17:16). In the city of Athens it was easier to find a god than a man! Everywhere, down every street, in every comer, wherever a nook was found, there was a statue of some pagan god or goddess. Someone estimated that there were more than 30,000 gods in Athens! With his soul on fire and his heart bursting with the message of free salvation by the grace of God in Christ, Paul went into the synagogue, into the streets and into the market-place preaching 'Jesus, and the resurrection'. He preached that Jesus Christ is the one true and living God, incarnate, crucified, resurrected and exalted (Col. 1:12-20; 2:9-10; Heb. 1:1-3), the only God and Saviour of men. He preached the resurrection of the dead as a matter of certainty (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:50-58), declaring that there is a day appointed when all people must meet the Lord Jesus Christ in judgement (2 Cor. 5:10-11), to be rewarded by him with eternal life or eternal death upon the grounds of strict justice (Rev. 20:11-12).

    Paul spoke plainly and distinctly. Soon the whole city was talking about this strange preacher, his strange message and the 'strange gods' he preached. The controversy grew so hot that Paul was brought to the Areopagus, Mars' Hill, for trial (17:7-23). Mars' Hill was the highest court of the Athenians. This was the place where Socrates had been condemned for turning the people against their gods. Like a bold gladiator in an arena of lions, Paul stepped forward in the name of God, for the glory of Christ, to do battle with the powers of darkness. His only weapon was the Word of God, but that was enough! The man of God boldly declared the Lord Jesus Christ, 'the unknown God', to the assembled pagans at Mars' Hill, without thought of cost or consequence. May God raise up such men to speak for him today!

    We may note that the apostle took the Athenians' idolatrous inscription 'To THE UNKNOWN GOD', and applied it to the true and living God with good reason. Though the Lord God has plainly revealed himself in his Word and in the person and work of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one true and living God is still unknown to most people.

    1. A stern condemnation (17:22-23)

    Most of the commentators in recent times have tried to tone down the language Paul used, to make it less condemning, suggesting, 'It would not be in order for an invited speaker to insult such an august body.' But there is no way to honestly translate Paul's language into conciliatory words. It was Paul's intention to condemn the idolatry of the men. When he stood before this august body, the apostle sternly condemned the learned, philosophical religious customs of the Athenians as foolish idolatry.

    Human religion takes on many forms. It is always very tolerant and compromising, so that almost anything is acceptable as a religious practice or doctrine. The only thing that is always offensive to religious men and women is the plain declaration of the fact that salvation is by the free and sovereign grace of God alone, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only sin-atoning substitute for sinners. This is the doctrine of the Bible (Ps. 37:39; Isa. 53:1-12; Jonah 2:9; Rom. 3:24-28; Eph. 2:8-9; 2 Tim. 1:9). Any doctrine that is contrary to this message is a false gospel, damning to the souls of men and idolatrous (Gal. 1:6-9). But this gospel, the message of salvation by grace through the merits of the crucified substitute, is offensive to men (Gal. 5:11).

    Paul spoke plainly. He did not come to Mars' Hill to play games. He came to lay the axe to the root of the tree, and he did. His opening words were an unflinching condemnation of idolatry: 'I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious,' literally, 'too religious'! Though the Athenians had over 30,000 gods to whom they gave homage, only three religious groups are mentioned in this chapter. Those three groups essentially embrace the tenets of all false religion.

    The Jews worshipped Jehovah, the one true and living God. They kept the religious practices of the Mosaic law. They lived by the rule of the Ten Commandments. Their religion required them to be morally upright. They refused to worship graven images. But their religion was a vain pretence and an idolatrous substitute for divine worship. They rejected the revelation of God concerning his Son, refused to be saved by the merits of the crucified, risen, exalted Son of God, refused to bow to Christ the Lord and refused to be saved by grace alone. Christ is the door. He is the way (John 10:9; 14:6). There is no other. To reject him is to choose idolatry!

    The Epicureans were a band of philosophical liberals. They did admit the existence of God, or of some sort of a god. But they thought God was somewhat like themselves, good but not great, gracious but not glorious. They denied creation and the resurrection. The Epicureans lived for pleasure.

    The Stoics were philosophical conservatives. They believed in creation by God, some god. They believed in the resurrection of the body. They taught moral virtue. They believed in the power of the human will and, of course, denied God's sovereign rule of the world. The people of Athens, all three groups, were very religious and very lost. Though they called him a 'babbler', a nit-picker, for doing so, Paul told them their religion was a dark, damning delusion.

    2. A stubborn confrontation (17:24-29)

    The apostle confronted the men of Athens with the claims of God's character at the very points where they were most rebellious. He declared four things about the character of God that are essential to true worship.

    1. God is the Creator and original source of all things (17:24; Rom. 11:36).

    2. God is absolutely sovereign over all things (17:24;Dan. 4:35-37).

    3. God is Spirit (17:25). He requires that we worship him in spirit and in truth. He has no regard for imaginary, idolatrous, 'holy things' or 'holy places' (John 4:23-24; Isa. 1:10-14).

    4. God sovereignly rules and disposes of all men according to his own purpose in predestination (17:26-29).

    3. A straightforward command (17:30-31)

    When Paul says, 'The times of this ignorance God winked at,' his meaning is: 'In ages past God passed over the Gentiles in judgement, but now, in this gospel age, he commands all men everywhere to trust his Son,' before whom all men must soon stand in judgement.

    4. A solemn conclusion (17:32-34)

    When the message was finished and the day was over, 'Some mocked.' Some hesitated; wavering in indecision and unbelief, they lost the opportunity they had. They never heard God's servant again! But there were some who believed the gospel (17:34). When Paul's work at Athens was done, he left and went to Corinth, confident of God's blessing upon the message he preached (2 Cor. 2:14-17).