The Bible Recap - Day 330 (Acts 17) - Year 3

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible recap. Before we dropped in on Paul's letter to the Galatians, we were hanging out with Paul and Silas in prison in Philippa and watching them get released, after which point the local authorities apologized for imprisoning them without a trial since their Roman citizens. Today they head for Thessalonica, where they're staying with a guy named Jason. Thessalonica is a big port city in Greece today, with a population of about a million people, except now it's called Thessaloniki. It's about 100 miles from Philippi, which is about a 4-day trip.

Starting point is 00:00:38 By the way, Paul writes two letters to the church in Thessalonica, and we'll read those letters tomorrow. The guys aren't Thessalonica for a long time and at one point Paul spends a string of three days going to the local Jewish synagogue to reason with them about the scriptures. He shows them how Jesus is the Messiah, the prophets wrote about.

Starting point is 00:00:55 Here's one thing I find interesting about this. Paul isn't just sharing his own personal testimony, even though he has a more compelling one than anyone I've ever met. Instead, he's sharing scriptures' testimony of Christ. It's true that personal stories are moving for many people, but Paul knows that subjective experiences can also be easily dismissed by anyone who has a different experience. So he takes a more objective and logic-based approach.

Starting point is 00:01:19 He's sharing facts, not feelings. He lets scriptures speak for itself. Per usual, the audience is split, some believe and some don't. The ones who believe include Jews, as well as a lot of Greeks and a lot of female leaders. The Jews who don't believe him, form a mob and start a riot, and they go to Jason's house to try to find the guys.

Starting point is 00:01:38 When they can't find them, they drag Jason and a few others out of the house and take them to the authorities. Like most of the accusers, they're saying that the early church is rebelling against the establishment. This time, Caesar in particular. They say, these men have turned the world upside down. Yes and amen.

Starting point is 00:01:54 The effects of the gospel are dramatic. That's the upside down kingdom of God. Jason posts bail for everyone and the authorities let them go home. This money probably has a bit of a promise attached to it as well. In the way that bail money serves as a promise that you'll return for your court date, Jason's money probably serves as a promise that Paul and Silas will leave town. They leave in the middle of the night and head to Berea. First up, the synagogue. And you know how Paul loves a good scripture testimony, so he shares it and they love it.

Starting point is 00:02:23 But they don't just take his word as fact. They crack open their scrolls every day and check his words against scripture. They walk in wisdom and humility, they're open to receive, but not just anything, they'll only receive the truth. And because of that, a lot of them believe, including Greeks and prominent male and female leaders. When word gets back to Thessalonica, they march over to Berea to try to shut it down, so Paul packs up to lead but Silas and Timothy stay behind. When Paul gets to Athens, he sends word that he needs Silas and Timothy their stat. We don't know why he needed them so urgently, but they don't make it to him for a while.

Starting point is 00:02:58 He's in Athens, maybe with Luke, we don't know for sure, and it's full of idolatry. People there worshiped so many different things. In part because they were open to many different ideas and philosophies. They are inundated with religious options, and the people love hearing new ideas. In fact, a lot of the prominent people Paul encounters are kind of professional seekers. They're always following the current trends, which change frequently. It seems like they love to seek, but they don't like to find. They prefer to just keep seeking. This is New Territory for Paul. He's mostly been used to talking to Jews or Gentiles who already have some kind of grasp on the Hebrew scriptures, but the Athenians are not on that page at all. Still, they're intrigued by Paul's message, not because they're moved by their own sinfulness and God's great mercy, but because it's a new idea they hadn't heard yet.

Starting point is 00:03:45 Paul is educated and knows how to lean into that when it's helpful, so he talks to them in the intellectual language they understand. Much like Jesus did when he used agricultural analogies in his parables to farmers and fishermen. Paul quotes philosophers and poets they're acquainted with, he points out that they know something is missing, amidst all their religious paraphernalia,

Starting point is 00:04:05 they still have an altar dedicated to an unknown God. He says, I know the God you're missing. I know the one your soul cries out for and hasn't bound amidst all these other altars and opinions. But you didn't make him like you made these idols in their altars. In fact, he made you. And when he did, he was intentional about every detail, including the time and location of your birth. It all serves to point you back to him. And he calls you to repent and turn to him. So repent, because someday he will judge the earth through the one he raised from the dead. Some of them mock the idea of the resurrection, but others believe, including Dionysius and Amarice. Today, my God shot was in Paul's quote from a Greek poet in verse 28.

Starting point is 00:04:48 It says, in him we live and move and have our being. Paul clips a quote from culture and paces it into his conversation about God because it speaks to the truth of who God is. Ultimately, all truth is God's truth. Anything that is true points back to him, the author of truth, the way, the truth, and the life. Which is kind of what this verse says. In Him we live. He's the life.

Starting point is 00:05:12 And move. He's the way. And have our being. He's the very truth at the core of who we are. And He's where the joy is. Tomorrow we'll be reading first and second Thessalonians. We'll link to a short video overview of both books in the show notes, so check those out if you have a chance.

Starting point is 00:05:30 Our Daily Study Guide and Journal are getting upgraded. If you're just joining us, you may not know what these are yet, so let me fill you in. The first is our Daily Study Guide. This is just for you to do it home by yourself. I've written roughly five questions a day to help you dig into the text and learn more on your own while you're reading. And the second thing partners great with the Daily Study Guide, it's our Daily Journal. This journal has writing prompts and a space for you to record what you're learning and

Starting point is 00:05:56 your Godshoket. If you've been with us for a while, you're most likely already familiar with the journal in the study guide and you maybe even have one or both. But we think you're going to want fresh copies of both of these things for next year and here's why. Every year you read, you're learning more about God's character and your answers and your thoughts are going to change as well. Having upgraded versions of the study guide or the journal gives you space to record new

Starting point is 00:06:19 ideas and God shots as God keeps revealing new things to you about Himself every day. The Bible recap is brought to you by D-group. The Cypleship and Bible study groups that meet in homes and churches around the world each week. For more information on D-group, visit mydgroup.org. you

The Bible Recap - Day 330 (Acts 17) - Year 3

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.