A PROVIDENCE BEHIND THE SCENES

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on August 23, 2023 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: August 23, 2023 from Acts 23:12-35

Theme: We can trust our God to fulfill His plans for us—though it may be ‘behind the scenes’.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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Someone once said that God often works behind the scenes … but sovereignly rules over the scenes He works behind. And we clearly see that in the passage before us. Acts 23:12-35 tells us the story of how Paul—who had just undergone great turmoil in Jerusalem—was about to be sent to bring the gospel to Rome. And clearly, God was working behind the scenes in it all—even to the point of ruling over the scenes themselves.

Dr. Harry Ironside pointed out that this story has a lot in common with the Book of Esther. That Old Testament book is unusual in that, though God’s sovereignty is very evident throughout it, He Himself is never explicitly mentioned in it. The manifest hand of God—working behind the scenes to protect His chosen people—is so obvious in the outworking of the events in Esther’s life that you almost don’t notice that His name isn’t spoken. And the same is true of the story before us. God Himself is not mentioned in the story; but it’s very obvious that He was at work in all that it describes.

And that should be a cause for encouragement to us as well. The Bible tells us;

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

We too wish to be put to use according to the Lord’s purpose. And even though we may not see how He does so—even though His sovereign ways may seem quite invisible to us—we can nevertheless rest assured that He is indeed causing all things to work out according to His good plan for us. We can go forward to His work at His call; and trust that our God is able to fulfill His plans for us—even though He does so through a seemingly invisible hand of providence behind the scenes.

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Now; this story takes up where Acts 23:11 left off. Paul’s hearing before the Sanhedrin—the ruling council of the Jewish people—had just sent the gathered leaders into a state of uproar. He had declared that he was a Pharisee who believed the Bible’s teaching about “the hope and resurrection of the dead” (v. 6). This resulted in such a dissension in the council that the Roman commander had to take him by force and bring him into the Roman barracks for protection.

This may have been a discouraging time for Paul. He may have felt that he was accomplishing nothing but trouble. But verse 11 tells us;

But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome” (Acts 23:11).

What encouragement this news must have then been to Paul! God was still at work in this situation after all. And He was even expanding Paul’s gospel ministry further than he could have imagined! Paul was now going to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the very center of governmental power and authority! Who but God could have accomplished such a thing … and even through such trying circumstances as those that had led to it!

And so, in this part of the story, that’s the last we hear of the Lord. He had established His plan and had revealed it to Paul. And then, Paul had to trust the sovereign hand of God to work in order to bring it to pass.

And God’s ‘behind-the-scenes’ hand was shown almost immediately. It began with …

1. THE PLOT AGAINST PAUL (vv. 12-15).

We’re told;

And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy (Acts 23:12-13).

This would have been a substantial group of individuals bent on murdering Paul. They may not have thought of it as evil, however. They were Jewish men who had probably been caught up in the turmoil that began almost as soon as Paul entered the city; and would have considered Paul a threat to the honor of God and the rule of His law. In John 16:2, the Lord Jesus warned that there would be a time when people who sought to kill His followers would think that they were offering service to God. Paul himself had thought this way at one time. He said in Acts 26:9 that he thought he must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

But just think of what darkness must have been going on in the hearts of these men! They were so passionate in their hatred of Paul that they took an oath—a very serious matter before God—to break a commandment of God! They made the matter more serious by the fact that they came to the religious rulers of the people with this oath—bringing them in on it:

They came to the chief priests and elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul. Now you, therefore, together with the council, suggest to the commander that he be brought down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to make further inquiries concerning him; but we are ready to kill him before he comes near” (vv. 14-15).

It didn’t end up working out as they planned, however. You’d have to wonder how long it was before they decided to break the terms of their ‘great oath’ … before they starved to death!

But this wasn’t somehow thwarting God’s plan at all. In fact, God even used it as a means by which He got Paul where He wanted him to be—and well on his way to Rome. This was brought about by …

2. THE INTERVENTION OF THE NEPHEW (vv. 16-22).

We’re told, in verse 16,

So when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their ambush, he went and entered the barracks and told Paul (v. 16).

Here’s the first time we’re introduced to the fact that Paul had a sister living in Jerusalem—and a young nephew also. Were they believers? It may be so. There were already many Jewish believers in Jerusalem; as is made plain to us in Acts 21:20. And how did this boy hear about this plot? We’re not told. (I can’t help wondering if it might have been a lot like Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island—sitting in the apple barrel and overhearing the plot of the pirates!) But however it happened, it was clearly in the perfect timing of the sovereignty of God. Somehow, the young nephew—who would naturally have had access to Paul as a family member—went to the barracks and whispered the plot to him.

But Paul didn’t go and inform the Roman commander of the plot himself. Instead, he sent his nephew. It may be that the Roman commander was outside the barracks, and Paul needed to stay inside. He didn’t even tell the boy to reveal the plot to the centurion. He urged the boy to go directly to the Roman commander—who not only had authority over the situation, but was also now committed to protect Paul as a fellow Roman citizen. The boy would be able to give accurate, first-hand information.

Then Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him.” So he took him and brought him to the commander and said, “Paul the prisoner called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to say to you.” Then the commander took him by the hand, went aside, and asked privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more fully about him. But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them lie in wait for him, men who have bound themselves by an oath that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him; and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you.” So the commander let the young man depart, and commanded him, “Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me” (vv. 17-22).

What an adventure it must have been for this young boy! And what a sovereign God!

Thus this evil plot against Paul was revealed and thwarted. But the providential hand of God at work behind the scenes—getting Paul well on his way to Rome—becomes even more evident. We next see this fulfilled through …

3. THE ESCORT OF AN ARMY (vv. 23-32).

It’s important to remember that—at this point—the Roman commander was under a serious obligation to protect Paul. He had—at one time—been prepared to put Paul under the scourge. Acts 22:25-29 says;

And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?” When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, “Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.” Then the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” He said, “Yes.” The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.” And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.” Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him (Acts 22:25-29).

As a result of this, Paul was not only spared a crippling Roman scourging, but was now placed under the protection of the Roman government. The band of over forty men who had put themselves under an oath to kill Paul had ended up—unwittingly—making an organized threat against a Roman citizen. The Roman commander was now under obligation to provide protection to Paul.

And he called for two centurions, saying, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night; and provide mounts to set Paul on, and bring him safely to Felix the governor” (vv. 23-24).

This would mean that there were 10 or more Roman soldiers to every Jewish would-be assassin. Could Paul have even imagined that he would be escorted by such an army? The sovereign hand of God was most definitely at work in getting His appointed preacher where He wanted him to be! And with an official letter too! We go on to read;

He wrote a letter in the following manner:

Claudius Lysias,
To the most excellent governor Felix:

Greetings.

This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with the troops I rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. And when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, I brought him before their council. I found out that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but had nothing charged against him deserving of death or chains. And when it was told me that the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him immediately to you, and also commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against him.

Farewell (vv. 25-30).

Now; even though the basic facts were accurate in this letter, it’s obvious that the Roman commander fudged the details just a little. He didn’t exactly ‘rescue’ Paul from those who were about to kill him. He arrested Paul and put him in chains to find out why they wanted to kill him. And he learned that Paul was a Roman citizen only after he had tied him down with leather straps and was about to scourge him. But the point of the letter was that the Roman commander couldn’t determine the nature of the accusation brought against Paul—this fellow Roman citizen; and therefore, he was obliged to him to the governor for protection and for a formal hearing.

Again, we see the providence of God–delivering Paul from certain death, and bringing him closer to Rome through the aid of a 470-man army of Roman soldiers!

And this leads us to a final piece of evidence of God’s sovereign hand at work; and that is how Paul came under …

4. THE PROTECTION OF THE ROYAL HEADQUARTERS (vv. 31-35).

We’re told;

Then the soldiers, as they were commanded, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. The next day they left the horsemen to go on with him, and returned to the barracks (vv. 31-33).

The time that they left Jerusalem would have been around 9 p.m. They would have traveled along the northwesterly road to Antipatris; which, historians tell us, was a winding path through hills that could have hidden many potential assassins along the way. And about twelve hours later, they would have arrived at Antipatris. Antipatris was a city built by Herod the Great; and it would have been the beginning point of the clear, straight road upon a plain that led to the Roman headquarters in Caesarea Maritima. What’s more, Antipatris was also a Roman military post. Paul’s safety would have been much more secure once they reached that point; and so, the two-hundred foot-soldiers and the two-hundred spearmen were permitted to return to the barracks in Jerusalem.

The remaining portion of the journey would have taken another day. But it would have been with 70 Roman horsemen. It would have been a remarkable trip to the Roman governor Felix.

When they came to Caesarea and had delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. And when the governor had read it, he asked what province he was from. And when he understood that he was from Cilicia, he said, “I will hear you when your accusers also have come.” And he commanded him to be kept in Herod’s Praetorium (vv. 34-35).

And it was in Caesarea that the events occurred that led directly to Paul going to Rome. God was amazingly at work—even though it was ‘behind-the-scenes’.

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In Acts 20:22-24, Paul told the assembled Ephesian pastors;

And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:22-24).

Paul did not know what would happen. But God did—because He pre-determined it and ruled over it. And He clearly worked behind the scenes to ensure that Paul would—indeed—finish the race God gave him to run.

We can trust God ato work behind the scenes for us as well.

AE