Here is a teaching on chapter 21 of the book of Acts. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.
Before we get completely into this Bible study, I did want to say a quick prayer... Lord, I pray that you lift up every single person reading this right now. I pray that you open up our eyes to see the truth of your words. Lord, please give us knowledge and understanding to know exactly what it is that we're reading and the wisdom to implement it in our daily lives. Please help us, guide us, and direct us through every aspect of our lives. Holy Spirit please show us the truth. Help us to see the truth, know the truth, discern the truth, and live by the truth. I love you with every ounce of my being Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Acts Chapter 21:
1 After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. 2 We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. 3 After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. 4 Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way. All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. 6 After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.
7 We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day. 8 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.' "
12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." 14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done."
15 After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples.
So in verses 1-6 they found the disciples in Tyre and stayed with them for a week. These disciples urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem, but he knew that he had to go. Just like we saw from our Bible study last week, the Holy Spirit had been guiding Paul to go to Jerusalem and he knew that he had to stay faithful and complete his task no matter what happened. When they left to continue on their way all of the disciples, their wives, and their children went with them out of the city and knelt to pray on the beach. Prayer is so powerful and it's so important to pray to God every single day. When you're praying in numbers that just helps so much more, but this is just a good example of the fact that we need to pray and pray with others. Even whenever we know that the situation that we're facing or we're about to face may not go in our favor. Paul was guided by the Holy Spirit to go to Jerusalem and the disciples knew that he was going to face hardships in Jerusalem. That's why they urged him not to leave, but Paul had to stay faithful, so they prayed and all stayed faithful and obedient to the Lord.
So then in verses 10-11 we see that a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea to Caesarea where Paul was, he took Paul's belt and showed him how the Jews of Jerusalem will bind him up and hand him over to the Gentiles. Then in verse 12 whenever Luke and the other people that were with Paul heard this, they pleaded with him not to go to Jerusalem, but Paul asked him why they were weeping and breaking his heart. Paul was ready to be bound and to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. Like we saw in the other Bible studies that we've been doing on the book of Acts, Paul was fully submitted to finishing the task the Lord had given him and he wasn't going to let anything stop him.
We saw in our Bible study from chapter 9 of the book of Acts that Paul went from being full of hate and leading Christians to their death, to loving Jesus and being fully submitted to the will of God the Father. In verses 1-2 of chapter 9 of the book of Acts, Saul (which later we know his name was Paul) went to the high priest and asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus so that if he found anyone who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. We know that the Way is Jesus Christ, and the people that are followers of Jesus Christ, Paul wanted them to go to prison. Then also in chapter 9 of the book of Acts we see that while he was on his way to Damascus a light from heaven flashed around him, he fell to the ground, Jesus came to him, and he ended up being blind for three days. The Lord told Ananias that Paul would be His chosen instrument to carry His name before the Gentiles and the people of Israel and that he would show Paul how much he must suffer for His name. So Ananias went to the house where Saul, which is Paul, was at and placed his hands on him, and immediately Paul was able to see again, he received the Holy Spirit, and he got up and was baptized. Then after that, we see all throughout the book of Acts where Paul had been preaching in synagogues, spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, and testifying about Jesus.
Jesus had to suffer so much for us to forgive us of our sins. He died on the cross and was severely beaten and hated by the Jews. We as Christians, as believers of Jesus Christ, are going to also have to suffer for his name. We also know, just like Paul knew here, that it's worth the suffering because Jesus has given us the gift of eternal life in heaven with Him and God the Father. Our true home is in heaven and this world is just our temporary home.
17 When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly. 18 The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. 19 Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. 21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22 What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23 so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know that there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality."
26 The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.
So in verses 19-20 Paul had told James and the elders what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. He told them all of the amazing and wonderful things that we've seen in our past Bible studies in the book of Acts, where many of the Gentiles believed, how Paul and the others preached to the Gentiles, and just all of the things that God had done among the Gentiles. When James and the elders heard this they praised God. Then they told Paul that many of the Jews that have believed had been informed that he teaches the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses and telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to the customs. These Jews took the law very seriously. So James and the elders told Paul that there were four men who made a vow and that he should take them and join in their purification rights so that they can have their heads shaved, and this would show that he lives in obedience to the law.
In verse 25 James and the elders said for the Gentile believers they had written them that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. Which we know from our Bible study in chapter 15 of the book of Acts that the council at Jerusalem had sent a letter to the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Silica telling them to abstain from these same things. So they didn't think that the Gentiles had to circumcise or be a part of that at all and that they only needed to abstain from the things that were mentioned in the verses above. Then in verse 26 Paul had taken the men and purified himself along with them the next day. Then he went to the temple to give a date of when the days of purification would end.
27 When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, 28 shouting, "Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place." 29 (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)
30 The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. 31 While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
33 The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. 34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. 35 When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36 The crowd that followed kept shouting, "Away with him!"
So those are all the verses that I'm going to be reading here in chapter 21 of the book of Acts. The last few verses of this chapter I'm going to read when we do our Bible study next week on chapter 22 because they go hand in hand with the verses from the beginning of chapter 22. But I'm going to discuss all of these verses here that I just read. So in verse 27, we see that some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple, they stirred up the whole crowd, and they seized Paul. In verse 30 the whole city was just an uproar and they came running from all directions seizing Paul and dragging him from the temple.
In verses 31-32, while these people were trying to kill Paul the commander of the Roman troops found out and he took some officers and soldiers and ran down to this crowd. Then the rioters stopped beating Paul whenever they saw the commander and his soldiers. These Jews in this crowd were so caught up in the chaos that half of them didn't even know why they were trying to kill Paul. They were full of evil and corruption and only saw what they thought was bad instead of all the good that Paul had done on his journey. They had seized him because they said that he taught people everywhere against their law and against the temple and that he brought Greeks to the temple to defile the holy place. They were blinded by their evil and corrupt thoughts and they weren't even wanting to know the truth or all of the good that God had done through Paul. In verses 33-36 we see that the commander arrested Paul, ordered him to be bound with two chains, and he asked what he had done and who he was. Then he ordered Paul to be taken to the barracks because some people were shouting one thing and some people were shouting another thing. He couldn't get the truth and because all of the chaos and the violence of this mob was so crazy Paul had to be carried by the soldiers once he reached the steps.
Acts Ch 21 Study Guide
Why did the disciples urge Paul not to go to Jerusalem?
Why is it important to pray?
In verse 13, what does this show about Paul?
In verse 26, why did Paul join in on the purification rites with these men?
Why did these Jews seize Paul in verse 27?
In verse 33, why did the commander arrest Paul?
What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible study?
So this concludes our Bible study for chapter 21 of the book of Acts. Next week we're going to go on to chapter 22, so make sure you stay tuned for that.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
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