And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air,
Paul had been listened to until he declared that Christ would send him far hence to the distant Gentiles, and at that word tolerance ended. At that word rage erupted in shouts demanding his death as unfit and unworthy to live, with tearing off of clothes and tossing of dust into the air. The cause was the settled conviction that the Gentiles were not to have the light of truth.
The shouting, disrobing, and dust-throwing were a violent rejection of his message. The outburst echoed the crowd's response at Stephen's martyrdom. Such fury shows that believing a falsehood does not make men kind, tender, and compassionate, but bigoted and mad against the truth, and it was the inspiration of Satan, not of God.
Paul had been listened to until he declared that Christ would send him far hence to the distant Gentiles, and at that word tolerance ended. At that word rage erupted in shouts demanding his death as unfit and unworthy to live, with tearing off of clothes and tossing of dust into the air. The cause was the settled conviction that the Gentiles were not to have the light of truth.
The shouting, disrobing, and dust-throwing were a violent rejection of his message. The outburst echoed the crowd's response at Stephen's martyrdom. Such fury shows that believing a falsehood does not make men kind, tender, and compassionate, but bigoted and mad against the truth, and it was the inspiration of Satan, not of God.