AWAKE BIBLE IN A YEAR DECEMBER 8

by charityrattray

Read Acts 24-26

Paul will stand before military, 470 Roman soldiers escorting him by night, governors and kings, and finally the emperor of Rome.

His story won’t change at all, his methods won’t change at all. Jesus is not a dead man, but an immortal KING, who has commissioned Paul as his messenger.

King Agrippa II, in this story is in the line of kings from the Jewish King Herod the Great, (who killed all the babies in Bethlehem), the Defeater of the Parthians, the restorer of the Temple who died roughly when Jesus was 4 years old.

Following this Herod we have his son Herod the Tetrarch who orders the execution of John the Baptist (Mark 6:20,27-28) and has Jesus paraded before him during Jesus trial and death (Acts 4:25-28). All of this is going according to God‘s predestined plan.

Recapping the Herods — Herod the Great and his son Herod Antipas. Herod Antipas is the same man Herod the Tetrarch. (Luke 23:6-12) He was complicit when Jesus was accused of subverting the nation, opposing Roman taxes, and claiming to be the Messiah, King. Got that?

Herod Antipas is uncle to Herod Agrippa I. Yes this is our third Herod.

Stay with me! The third Herod — King Herod Agrippa I of Judea, killed James the apostle. (Acts 12:1-2) Herod, the great is his grandfather. His father Aristobulous IV was executed by his own father Herod the Great. Agrippa was sent to Rome when he was younger and trained in the imperial court. It said that the emperor Tiberius took a great liking to him, and had him educated alongside his son, Drusus. Herod Agrippa, in 39AD returned to Rome, where he gained the dominion over Judea and Samaria, so that his domain was virtually the whole of Israel, approximately equal to that of his grandfather Herod, the Great. And in Acts 12:23 Luke documents his demise.

And the final king in the ‘HEROD’ line, is Agrippa’s his son and subsequent King of Jerusalem. He is in our reading today as the Agrippa who Paul presents the gospel and his reason for imprisonment to. Acts 25:13-27

Agrippa is the last Jewish ruler from Herod’s line. He will serve as King in Jerusalem, and will rise to power at 17 years old when his father dies in 44 AD.

In Paul’s defense to avoid being sent back to Jerusalem Paul appeals to Caesar the emperor of Rome, which is roughly 2000 miles away a journey by sea. Governor Festus wanted to defer judgment and send him back to Jerusalem, only 67 miles away. Paul’s prior escape route out of Jerusalem was done under the cover of darkness escorted by 470 Roman soldiers. Acts 23:16-21

The whole situation is more familiar to the visiting client King Agrippa II as Festus, the new governor knows.

There is an ongoing power struggle between Rome, the Jewish nation, and God’s Church. Who will listen to the truth? John 18:37 Who will oppose it?

FOR the first time, a descendant of Herod, King Agrippa declares on the side of the kingdom of God. He plainly states Paul is innocent. However, Festus has already ruled to send Paul to Caesar and the opinion of Agrippa was a dollar short and a day late.

What strikes me as fascinating is Paul says to Agrippa, I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become as I am, except for these the chains. Acts 26:29
Paul shares his testimony — his first hand experience in the frontline battle with the kingdom of heaven ie KING JESUS. In Acts 9:2 he had letters of legal authority to arrest Christians and transfer them to Jerusalem. However, as he states in Acts 26:11-15 Jesus appears to him, and says you are persecuting me. And right then and there he was appointed as God’s servant and witness.
For King Agrippa, perhaps he has knowledge about how Herod his grandfather opposed the birth of the king Jesus, and was on the wrong side of the kingdom of heaven. And perhaps King Agrippa also has knowledge about how his uncle Herod the Tetrarch saw the destruction and execution of Jesus, the Son of God. And the rumors of the explosion of the church, a multiplying and expanding community of converts despite the bought and paid for lies from the guards of the tomb. Matthew 28:12
And I’m sure he is aware how his father, King Agrippa I, opposed truth even using force and death to squelch the early church.

Paul shows such Christian agape and forgiveness. For this brutal family line of kings salvation is possible right here in this moment, as the opportunity to put their faith in Jesus standing before them. An opportunity for a turn from darkness to light, an immediate transfer from the power of Satan to God, is given to King Agrippa II. And Paul is not shy HE PRAYS Agrippa would receive forgiveness of his sins, and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus. We don’t know, did he ever take it?

What we do know is King Agrippa II will be the FIRST in the line of Herod’s ruling royalty to side with Paul, which is to side with God declaring Paul is wrongfully imprisoned and could have gone free.

Change for Rome is inevitable. Christ is King. In Acts 23:11 Jesus told Paul he would ‘bear witness also at Rome’ — and Paul is on his way.