 Acts 23 - 28 Questions and Answers |
| Q. What is a good way to make sure God is in the words I say? |
A. Acts 23:1 = 1) Don't speak right away. Gaze intently at those your words are for. Doing this always reminds me of who they are in God's eyes, and how precious people are to God. It also gives you opportunity to wait on God. It's His words you wish to speak! 2) It also gives your audience ample time to look you in the eye and receive you as someone who cares about them sincerely. Eye contact is vital when communicating. |
| Q. What did Paul say first? | A. Acts 23:1 = Something they all knew. That he lived before God in all good conscience. |
| Q. How did they respond to his words? | A. Acts 23:2 = The high priest, Ananias, ordered Paul to be slapped! |
| Q. What happened? | A. Acts 23:3 = Paul rebuked Ananias for breaking God's law with this act. He called him a whitewashed wall. |
| Q. How did the Jewish leaders respond to Paul's words? | A. Acts 23:4 = They asked him if that was the proper way to talk to God's high priest. |
| Q. How did Paul respond? | A. Acts 23:5 = With an apology. |
| Q. Why? | A. Acts 23:5 = He didn't know Ananias was high priest and the Scriptures were clear about not speaking evil of those who ruled over us. |
| Q. How did Paul proceed? |
A. Acts 23:6 = He realized the members of the high council were both Saducees and Pharisees. Note: The Saducees didn't believe in the resurrection of the dead. The Pharisees did. |
| Q. So Paul had the resurrection in common with the Pharisees, his own brethren? | A. Acts 23:6 = Yes. He declared he was on trial for believing in it as they did. This made the Pharisees guilty too! |
| Q. What else did the Saducees believe that the Pharisees did not? | A. See the diagram below as answered by Acts 23:7-8: |
| Pharisees | |
| resurrection |
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| Q. Did this cause dispute? | A. Acts 23:9 = Yes. Some of the Pharisees jumped up and began defending Paul. |
| Q. What did they decide? | A. Acts 23:9 = That an angel or a spirit must have spoken to Paul. |
| Q. Then what happened? | A. Acts 23:10 = They played tug-o-war with Paul's arms, arguing about his innocence or guilt. |
| Q. Did the commander intervene? | A. Acts 23:10 = Yes. He feared they'd tear Paul (a Roman citizen!) apart so he ordered him to be taken back to the fortress. |
| Q. What happened next? | A. Acts 23:11 = God came to Paul. |
| Q. With what message? | A. Acts 23:11 = God encouraged Paul and told him he would evangelize Rome. |
| Q. Were the Jews satisfied with the hearing? | A. Acts 23:12 = Some were not. They vowed together to kill Paul before they touched food or drink again. |
| Q. How many of them took this vow? | A. Acts 23:13 = More than forty! |
| Q. Were these Jews leaders? | A. Acts 23:14 = No. But they approached the Jewish leaders who hated Paul and joined with them to abush Paul in a plot to kill him. |
| Q. What was the plot? |
A. Acts 23:15 = 1) To call another meeting 2) To kill Paul on the road to the meeting. |
| Q. Did the plot work? | A. Acts 23:16 = No. Paul's nephew overheard theplot and told Paul at the fortress. |
| Q. What happened when Paul heard? | A. Acts 23:17 = He had an officer take the lad to the commander to tell him of the plot. |
| Q. So the commander knew? | A. Acts 23:20-21 = Yes. |
| Q. What did the commander tell the boy? |
A. Acts 23:22 = To tell no one else of the plot. Note: If the commander had any doubts who was really guilty, he knew for sure now that it was the Jewish leaders who were ready to break Roman law in order to have their way. |
| Q. What was the commander's plan? | A. Acts 23:23-24 = To whisk Paul away from Jerusalem to Governor Felix in Caesarea, and explain to him why Paul was brought there. |
| Q. What would happen in Caesarea? | A. Acts 23:30 = The Jews would bring their charges against Paul to Felix. |
| Q. Did Governor Felix comply? | A. Acts 23:35 = Yes, nd he ordered Paul to be taken to Herod's headquarters prison until the Jewish leaders arrived. |
| Q. Who showed up in Caesarea? | A. Acts 24:1 = Ananias, Tertullus and some Jewish leaders. |
| Q. Did they file formal charges against Paul? | A. Acts 24:1 = Yes. Tertullus, the lawyer, laid out the charges against Paul in an address to the governor. |
| Q. What were the charges brought to Felix? |
A. Acts 24:5 = 1) Toublemaking, instigating a riot against Roman government 2) Being a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes 3) Defiling God's Temple Lying witnesses confirmed the charges. |
| Q. What was true? |
A. 1) The Jewish leaders and high priest instigated all riots which were against Roman law. 2) Paul was no ringleader at all. He traveled, preaching the Good News, working and paying his own way, feeding the poor too. 3) Paul never defiled the Temple. They earlier claimed he took a Gentile into the Temple. This was assumed and not witnessed. |
| Q. What did Paul say in response to these charges? | A. Acts 24:10-13 = To Felix he assured him he was innocent of all charges and assured the governor they couldn't prove any of it. Then he gave his testimony to Felix. |
| Q. Was Felix fair with Paul? | A. Acts 24:22-23 = He knew about the movement, The Way, and would let Lysics, the garrison commander, hear the case from Paul and then decide. Meanwhile, Felix treated Paul as his guest. |
| Q. How so? | A. Acts 24:23 = Felix kept Paul in custody, but allowed Paul's friends to visit him and take care of his needs. |
| Q. Did this take some time? | A. Acts 24:24 = Yes. A few days later, Felix sent for Paul who at that time met Felix's wife. |
| Q. Who was Felix's wife? | A. Acts 24:24 = Drusilla, a Jew. |
| Q. What did they want from Paul? | A. Acts 24:24 = To hear about what he did. Paul told them about faith in Jesus and the Good News. |
| Q. How did Felix respond? | A. Acts 24:24 = Felix was terrified as Paul reasoned with them about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come. He sent Paul away. |
| Q. Why would Felix send for Paul again? | A. Acts 24:26 = To try to get bribe money from Paul for his release. |
| Q. So he kept sending for Paul? | A. Acts 24:26 = Yes. |
| Q. How long did this last? |
A. Acts 24:27 = Two years. Note: God brings all kinds of unbelievers in our lives. Will you endure their unbelief until opportunity ceases? Reasoning takes time. |
| Q. What happened after two years? | A. Acts 24:27 = Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. |
| Q. Did Felix release Paul before leaving office? | A. Acts 24:27 = No. |
| Q. Why not? | A. Acts 24:27 = Felix wanted to gain favor with the Jewish leaders. |
| Q. Was Paul retried? | A. Acts 25:6 = Yes. The Jewish leaders told Festus their case and it began all over again. |
| Q. What did Festus decide about Paul? | A. Acts 25:7 = All charges were unfounded. |
| Q. What happened next? | A. Acts 25:9 = Festus asked Paul if he'd be willing to be tried in Jerusalem when there was no Roman court to protect him. Paul said no and appealed to Caesar. |
| Q. Did Festus comply? | A. Acts 25:12 = Yes. |
| Q. Who visited Festus before Paul was sent to Rome? | A. Acts 25:13 = King Agrippa and his wife, Bernice. |
| Q. Did Festus tell the about Paul? | A. Acts 25:14 = Yes. |
| Q. How did the king respond? | A. Acts 25:22 = King Agrippa wanted to hear Paul speak for himself. |
| Q. Did he? | A. Acts 25:23 = Yes. Paul was brought to the auditorium. It was a very big deal, with much pomp because of the king and queen. |
| Q. What did Paul say to the king? | A. Acts 26:4-23 = Paul told his testimony and told of the differences he now had with his own people. |
| Q. What is a Jewish Christian? |
A. Acts 26:6 = 1) One who looks forward to the fulfillment of God's promises made his ancestors. 2) One who believes some of the promises of the bible have been fulfilled in Jesus. 3) One who believes God raised Jesus from the dead. |
| Q. What did Festus say in response to Paul's defense? | A. Acts 26:24 = He told Paul he had become insane as a result of too much bible study. |
| Q. How did Agrippa respond? | A. Acts 26:28 = Accusing Paul of trying to make him a Christian very quickly. |
| Q. What did Paul say to that? | A. Acts 26:29 = He would pray for the situations of everyone present. |
| Q. Was Rome inevitable for Paul? |
A. Acts 26:32 = Yes. Note: If Festus didn't ask Paul to be tried in Jerusalem, Paul wouldn't have appealed to Caesar (cf. Acts 25:9-11). And Agrippa would have freed Paul. But this was not to happen, as God told Paul he would preach in Rome (cf. Acts 23:11). Note: Does your life resemble Paul's? Has God completely diverted your path inevitably to touch hardship, no matter how cautious and prepared you are for the future? Take heart and be encouraged. God is still in it. Let Him lead. Your destiny should not be a tug-o-war with the inevitable. God is always in control. He is the Blessed Controller of all things! |
| Q. So Paul was sent to Rome? | A. Acts 27:1 = Yes, just as Jesus said he would. |
| Q. What were Paul's circumstances on the trip to Rome? |
A. Acts 27:1 = 1) There were several other prisoners traveling with him. 2) Captain Julius was in charge of all the prisoners. 3) Paul's traveling companion, Aristarchus from Thessalonica, came too. 4) They traveled on a cargo ship scheduled to stop at several ports along the Asian coast. |
| Q. How was Captain Julius? | A. Acts 17:3 = Very kind to Paul. At their first port in Sidon, he let Paul go ashore to visit friends so they could provide for his needs. |
| Q. Where did they go from Sidon? |
A. Acts 27:4 = Rough weather turned them to go: 1) Along the coast of Cilicia 2) Pamphylia 3) Myra in Lycia They changed ships here to an Egyptian ship from Alexandria, which was bound for Italy (having 276 people on board) 4) Caidus 5) Past the leeward side of Crete 6) past the Cape of Saluse 7) to Fair Havens near the city of Lasea. |
| Q. What happened in Fair Havens? | A. Acts 27:9 = Paul talked with the ship's officers about something looming ahead. |
| Q. What was that? | A. Acts 27:10 = A shipwreck coming if they continued to sail this late in the Autumn months. |
| Q. Did they listen to the warning? | A. Acts 27:11 = No. They only listened to the ship's captain and owner. |
| Q. Why did they not listen to Paul? | A. Acts 27:12 = Fair Havens was not suited to winter at because it was an exposed harbor and foul weather could hurt them. |
| Q. What did they decide? | A. Acts 27:12 = To sail further up the coast of Crete to Phoenix and winter there. |
| Q. Why? | A. Acts 27:12 = The harbor was protected there. |
| Q. What happened next? | A. Acts 27:14 = They pulled up anchor in Fair Havens with a light wind blowing from the south, thinking they'd make it to Phoenix without a problem. |
| Q. What happened instead? | A. Acts 27:14 = The weather changed abruptly. A storm at sea called a "northeaster" came with typhoon strength caughter the ship and blew it out to sea. They lost control of the ship and let it run before the gale. |
| Q. Did they perform any emergency safety measures? |
A. Acts 27:16-17 = Yes. And with great difficulty they: 1) hoisted aboard the lifeboat they were towing 2) banded the ship with ropes to strengthen the hull 3) Lowered the sea anchor. |
| Q. And the gale continued to take the ship? | A. Acts 27:17 = Yes. |
| Q. How long did the storm last? | A. Acts 27:27 = 14 nights. |
| Q. Why did they all survive? |
A. Acts 27:23 = An angel of God appeared to Paul 1) to ensure him that he would stand trial be3fore Caesar 2) as a bonus, no life would be lost 3) but they would be shipwrecked on an island. |
| Q. Did sailors measure the depth of the sea in those days? | A. Acts 27:28 = Yes. They took soundings on the 14th night of the storm and found the water to be only 120 feet deep, then 90 and feared being driven against the rocks along the shore. |
| Q. What did they do to try to avoid it? | A. Acts 27:29 = They threw out 4 anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight to come. |
| Q. Did they wait for an answer from God? | A. Acts 27:30 = No. They tried to abandon ship, lowering the lifeboat. |
| Q. What did Paul do? | A. Acts 27:31 = He warned Captain Julius and his soldiers that unless everyone stayed on the ship, they would all die. |
| Q. Did they listen? |
A.Acts 27:32 = Yes. They cut the lifeboat loose and let the boat fall off. Note: How do you surrender everything to God? This story is a great example of human behavior: 1) Ignoring God's warning (v.11) 2) Fear (v.12) 3) Thinking one's way out of trouble (v. 12,13) 4) Fear (v.17) 5) Loss of hope (v.20) 6) Apathy toward self(we'll starve!)(v.21) 7) God sends a messenger to speak hope (v.21,22) 8) Encouragement (v.25) 9) Waiting (v.27) 10) Fear again (v.29) 11) More thinking (v.30) 12) God sends a messenger again to say Surrender! (v.31) 13) We surrender (v.32) 14) God's messenger encourages us to take care of ourselves (v.34-36) 15) We take care of self (v.37) 16) God's Word is fulfilled (v.41-44) 17) Beyond all we could ask or think (Acts 28:1-2) Ignoring God's Warnings produces: Fear (v.12) which produces stupid solutions producing fear (v.17), which produces hopelessness which produces fear (v.29), which produces more stupid solutions yet at each stage mentioned above, God intervenes, offering His help. Thinking (v.13) produces hopelessness which produces more thinking (v.30), which produces self-affliction which produces more thinking (v.42), which produces fear. A lot of good fear and thinking does us! Where is God in all our turmoil? 1)Our stupid solutions beckons God's intervention 2) Our hopelessness brings God's intervention 3) Our self-affliction brings God's intervention 4) Our fear brings God's intervention Do you see a pattern here? We find trouble when we ignore God. Then God intervenes and saves us. So it has been from the beginning. In this case, tribulation lasted 2 weeks. |
| Q. Where were they shipwrecked? | A. Acts 28:1 = On the island of Malta. |
| Q. Was it inhabited? | A. Acts 28:2 = Yes. With very kind and hospitable people. |
| Q. What happened there? | A. Acts 28:4-5 = Paul encountered a poisonous snake while gathering firewood. |
| Q. And the locals witnessed this? | A. Acts 28:4-5 = Yes. They expected him to swell up and die. |
| Q. What happened instead? | A. Acts 28:5-6 = Nothing. Paul shook off the snake into the fire and lived. |
| Q. How did the people react to the event? |
A. Acts 28:6 = They thought Paul was a god. Note: Let God show Himself in you. He shows unbelievers His goodness through the way He takes care of His own. God readies hearts in this way. |
| Q. What happened later? | A. Acts 28:7 = The chief official of the island, Publius, welcomed and fed them for 3 days. |
| Q. What trial did Publius face at that time? | A. Acts 28:8 = His father was sick with fever and dysentery. |
| Q. How did Paul react to the news upon hearing it? | A. Acts 28:9 = He went to Publius' father and prayed for him, laying his hands on him. The man was healed as a result. |
| Q. What followed? | A. Acts 28:9 = All the other sick people on the island came to Paul and were cured. |
| Q. What happened as a result of these events? |
A. Acts 28:10 = They were showered with honors and the people restocked the new ship. Note: When you hear of someone who is sick, go and pray and lay hands on him. Carry anointing balm with you. (It doesn't open up and spill like anointing oil does!) Be God's vessel, ready to be used for glory. |
| Q. Were they able to salvage the ship? | A. Acts 28:11 = No. Another ship was harbored at Malta. They boarded it and continued the journey to Rome. |
| Q. Where was the other ship from? | A. Acts 28:11 = Alexandria. |
| Q. What was Paul's travel log on this one? |
A. Acts 28:12-14 = 1) Syracuse in Cicily (3 days stop) 2) Rhegium (the southern tip of Italy) 3) Puteoli (7 days stop with believers there) |
| Q. Did Paul meet believers in Italy? |
A. Acts 28:15 = Yes. 1) They met Paul at the Forum, 43 miles from Rome. 2) They met other believers at the Three Taverns, 35 miles from Rome |
| Q. What happened in Rome? | A. Acts 28:16 = Paul was allowed to have his own private lodging, though he was guarded by a soldier at all times. |
| Q. What happened next? | A. Acts 28:17 = Three days later, Paul called together the local Jewish leaders. |
| Q. Could Paul have pressed charges against the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem? | A. Acts 28:19 = Yes. But he didn't. |
| Q. Had the Roman Jewish leaders heard about Paul's plight? | A. Acts 28:21 = No. There was no communication between Jerusalem and Rome about Paul. |
| Q. What had they heard? | A. Acts 22 = That Christians were denounced everywhere, though they didn't know what they stood for. |
| Q. Did Paul tell them? | A. Acts 28:23 = Yes. He invited a large number of people to his house, still under guard, and told them about Jesus from the Scriptures. |
| Q. What parts of Scripture? |
A. Acts 28:23 = From the five books of Moses and the Prophets. Note: MOses prophesied on Jesus in all five books! |
| Q. How did Paul inform them? | A. Acts 28:23 = In lectures that began in the morning and went on into the evening. |
| Q. Did all believe? | A. Acts 28:24 = No, but some did. |
| Q. Did this fulfill prophecy? | A. Acts 28:25-27 = Yes. Isaiah 6:9-10, also quoted by Jesus in Matthew 13:5 in a parable. |
| Q. Would it be easier for the Gentiles to accept salvation as a result? | A. Acts 28:28 = Yes. |
| Q. How long did Paul live in his rented house in Rome? | A. Acts 28:30 = 2 years. |
| Q. Did he have visitors? | A. Acts 28:30 = Yes. He welcomed all. |
| Q. Did Paul proclaim the Kingdom of God to the Romans? | A. Acts 28:31 = Yes. He did it with all boldness and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| Q. Was he stopped? | A. Acts 28:31 = No. Hallelujah! |