NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
Paul's Concession and Arrest.
NOW WAS the golden opportunity for these leading men to frankly confess that God had wrought through Paul, and that they were wrong in permitting the reports of his enemies to create jealousy and prejudice against him. But instead of doing justice to the one whom they had injured, they still appeared to hold him responsible for the existing prejudice, as though he had given them cause for such feelings. They did not nobly stand in his defense, and endeavor to show the disaffected party their error; but they threw the burden wholly upon Paul, counseling him to pursue a course for the removal of all misapprehension. They responded to his testimony in these words: 'Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe, and they are all zealous of the law. And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. 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 be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads; and all may know that those 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, we have 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.' The brethren hoped that by this act Paul might give a decisive contradiction to the false reports concerning him. But while James assured Paul that the decision of the former council (Acts 15), concerning the Gentile converts and the ceremonial law, still held good, the advice given was not consistent with that decision which had also been sanctioned by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God did not prompt this advice. It was the fruit of cowardice. By non-conformity to the ceremonial law, Christians would bring upon themselves the hatred of the unbelieving Jews, and expose themselves to severe persecution. The Sanhedrim was doing its utmost to hinder the progress of the gospel. Men were chosen by this body to follow up the apostles, especially Paul, and in every possible way oppose them in their work. Should the believers in Christ be condemned before the Sanhedrim as breakers of the law, they would bring upon themselves swift and severe punishment as apostates from the Jewish faith. Paul's great object in visiting Jerusalem was to conciliate the church of Palestine. So long as they continued to cherish prejudice against him, they were constantly working to counteract his influence. He felt that if he could by any lawful concession on his part win them to the truth, he would remove a very great obstacle to the success of the gospel in other places. But he was not authorized of God to concede so much as they had asked. This concession55was not in harmony with his teachings, nor with the firm integrity of his character. His advisers were not infallible. Though some of these men wrote under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, yet when not under its direct influence they sometimes erred. It will be remembered that on one occasion Paul withstood Peter to the face because he was acting a double part. When we consider Paul's great desire to be in harmony with his brethren, his tenderness of spirit toward the weak in faith, his reverence for the apostles who had been with Christ, and for James, the brother of the Lord, and his purpose to become all things to all men as far as he could do this and not sacrifice principle,—when we consider all this, it is less surprising that he was constrained to deviate from his firm, decided course of action. But instead of accomplishing the desired object, these efforts for conciliation only precipitated the crisis, hastened the predicted sufferings of Paul, separated him from his brethren in his labors, deprived the church of one of its strongest pillars, and brought sorrow to Christian hearts in every land.—Mrs. E. G. White, in Sketches from the Life of Paul. PAUL, too conspicuous to be neglected, in vain endeavored, by the advice of James, to disarm the rage of his countrymen by conforming to the full requirements of the law. It was too late. His name was abhorred by every fanatic, by almost every Jew. In the Pentecostal festival, when the temple was filled with strangers from Ephesus and Asia, he ventured within the sacred courts. He was set upon by a ferocious mob. Feeble with age and suffering, he was beaten and tossed about, and the people dragged him beyond the temple walls to put him to death. North of the temple, and joined to it by a bridge or stairs, stood the castle of Antonia, now filled with a Roman garrison. From its turrets the sentinels kept watch over the excited worshippers below them in the sacred courts, and carefully observed their conduct. The Romans saw Paul struggling in the throng, and a band of soldiers sprung down the stairway into the temple court to save him from their rage. They dragged him up the stairs; he was safe. Yet, in the fierce excitement of this perilous moment, the apostle still hoped to soften and preserve his countrymen. He said to the Roman commander, 'May I speak?' He obtained permission, and then turned to the Jews below. He waved his hand, and suddenly the angry people grew still. The spectacle of that last appeal to Jerusalem still stirs the fancy more than the highest efforts of Cicero or Gracchus. Paul stood on an elevation looking down into the temple court. Above him glittered the holy house so soon to pass away. Before him shone the hill of Zion; below, the proud and prosperous city; silent at his feet hung the multitude from whose rage he had just escaped, bruised, beaten, and forlorn, whose coming doom he foresaw, whom he strove in vain to save.—Eugene Lawrence, in Historical Studies.