May the Lord bless us together
this evening as we continue our meditation in the Acts of the
Apostles, chapter 21, and we'll speak tonight on verses 22 to
26. We'll just read them. What is
it therefore? The multitude must needs come
together, for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore
this that we say to thee, We have four men which have a vow
on them. Them take, and purify thyself
with them, and bear charges with them, that they may shave their
heads, and all may know that these things whereof they were
informed concerning thee are nothing. But that thou thyself
also walkest orderly, and keepest the law, as touching the Gentiles
which believe, were written and concluded that they observe no
such thing save only that they keep themselves from things offered
to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication." These verses are not easy to
understand but we need to recognize that they follow on of course
from the previous ones and you may remember that last week we
spoke about those verses and it was when Paul returns to Jerusalem
and he'd come there of course because he'd desired to be there
for Pentecost and now he'd arrived there and he had a good reception
and he was able to speak to the elders present and the congregation
and tell them particularly what things God had wrought by his
hand, not for his glory but for the honor and glory of God. And then we came down to the
21st verse and they are informed of thee that thou teachest all
the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses saying
they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk
after the customs." Well, we have to remember that in these
days they were very strange days to most of the Jewish people,
because they've been brought up so very strictly to keep the
law of God and all the ceremonial law so closely. And of course
it was an involved thing to be able to do. And now Paul had
come and was really just preaching Christ crucified, who had fulfilled
all that was necessary under the law. But of course, having
been brought up in it, in those important traditions and good
traditions that they were, it was very difficult for many of
the Jews to have to relinquish them. And we've already touched
in chapter 15 about the situation with regard to circumcision,
which the Apostle Paul refers to later, and how they had a
discussion, had an agreement that it was not necessary for
the Gentiles to be circumcised, and neither was it for the Jews.
Well, we come now to this question, the people then having have told
Paul that what he was proclaiming was for the people to depart
from the law of Moses. And so he's asked the question,
what is it there for? They wanted to know what the
true view was. The multitude must need come
together for they will hear that thou art come. And of course
they knew that Paul had been preaching throughout the nations
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore he had now
returned to Jerusalem and they wanted to hear what he had to
say about keeping the law. Do therefore this that we say
to thee and they are giving Paul some advice here. It's not really
a command but they're just telling him that he should really try
and do this. And then they tell him, we are
four men which have a vow on them. Now, we read together that
sixth chapter of Numbers, and that sixth chapter in Numbers
explains quite lucidly the vow of a Nazarite. And what it really
meant was that when somebody desired to separate themselves
unto the Lord, They were to not shave their head, they were not
to drink any strong drink or anything at all pertaining to
the vine. And those things were to continue
for the time of their separation. And when the time of that separation
ceased, then they were to shave their heads and go into the temple
and to offer offerings of thanksgiving for the goodness of the Lord
to them. Now, that's really the background
to these following verses. And if we have that in our mind,
we'll understand really then what these verses speak to us
about. And so he says, they say, do
therefore this, that we say to thee, we are four men which have
a vow on them. Them take, and purify thyself
with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave
their heads, and all may know that these things whereof they
were informed concerning thee are nothing. but that thou mayest
also, that thou thyself also walkest orderly and keepest the
law." Well, some things Paul was able to continue with. And
this was one of the things, because it wasn't contrary to the law,
it wasn't destroying the law, it was those who desired to separate
themselves unto the Lord. And therefore, the Apostle was
willing to go along with this situation. And it perhaps reminds
us of the statement he made when he wrote to the Corinthians.
And in writing to the Corinthians, the ninth chapter, and we come
down to the 20th verse, or perhaps the 19th verse, where the Apostle
said, for though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself
servant unto all that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews
I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews, to them that are
made under the law as under the law, that I might gain them that
are under the law. Well, really, the Apostle is
fulfilling that statement on this occasion that we have before
us in this 21st verse. He was concerned that he might
gain the Jews. Now, these four men would appear
to be converts, they would appear to be believers, but they perhaps
weren't very strong in the faith. They perhaps were weak in the
faith. And of course, there is that growth in grace. We don't
all become great people of wonderful spiritual knowledge immediately.
It is here a little and there a little. So the Apostle Paul
was willing to go along with that which they were proposing
to carry out. And then he says, as touching
the Gentiles, which believe, we have written and concluded
that they observe no such things, save only that they keep themselves
from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled,
and from fornication. So there were those things, therefore,
that the Gentiles were not to go along with. They were to keep
themselves separate from, but there were some things which
they were allowed to do. And again, just referring back
to the 15th chapter, where the apostle tells us, known unto
God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Wherefore
my sentence is, that we trouble not them which from among the
Gentiles are turned to God, but that we write unto them that
they abstain from pollutions, idols, and from fornication,
and from things strangled, and from blood." And so he really
is reiterating those words which the elders and the apostles agreed
when they had a conference two or three years previously. And
so here we have this statement then in these few verses to understand
why it was necessary that Paul should show to the Jews that
there were those things which could not be followed as Moses'
law or ceremony, but there were some things which could. and
therefore he was willing to go along with the desire of the
elders which had asked him to explain the situation, really,
when they asked the question, what is it there for? And so
we see, with the help of the sixth chapter in Numbers, which
is very useful, and it's a very interesting chapter, perhaps
sometime we'll spend some time and go through it, because the
Nazirite obviously is an important person in the history of the
Word of God. Well, may God instruct us and
bless us from his Word and give us some right understanding of
the truth of God's Word and to follow those things which the
Word of God describes to us. Amen.