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The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 17:1-34 Opposition in Thessalonica 17.1 After they travelled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. After encouraging the believers who met in Lydia’s house Paul and Silas travelled to Thessalonica where there was large group of Jews. 17:2 Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue, as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed them from the scriptures, As he normally did Paul goes to the Jews in the synagogue to give them the opportunity to hear the Gospel message. For three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the scriptures (Old Testament). 17:3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, saying, "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ." He not only explained but proved from the scriptures that the prophecies concerning the Messiah made it clear that he would suffer death and then rise from the dead. This Messiah is Jesus whom he was proclaiming to them to be the Messiah (Christ). This is what Jesus himself did to the two he met on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:25–27). 17:4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group of Godfearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women. Some of the Jews who were listening were convinced and believed and joined Paul and Silas also a large number of Greek proselytes among them a few important women. 17:5 But the Jews became jealous, and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. They attacked Jason's house, trying to find Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly.
However, the Jewish leaders became jealous of this and got together a few troublemakers from the marketplace, most probable giving them some money, they formed a mob and started an uproar in the city. They thought that Paul and Silas were staying at a believer’s house whose name was Jason so they went there and attacked it with the intention of bringing them to face the angry people. 17:6 When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, screaming, "These people who have stirred up trouble throughout the world have come here too, When they failed to find them they dragged Jason some other believers before the city officials screaming their heads off the NET translation say just as a mob out of control would do. The accusation made against them that they had caused trouble throughout the world was an exaggeration that had been fed to them by the Jewish leaders for the crowd would have had no idea where Paul and Silas had been or come from. 17:7 and Jason has welcomed them as guests! They are all acting against Caesar's decrees, saying there is another king named Jesus!" Jason had indeed welcomed them into his house as guests and was most probably aware of the risk to himself. They charged him with conspiring with those who he knew to be plotting against Caesar by saying there is another king named Jesus. By Caesar’s law no one could be called or call themselves a king without his permission. 17:8–9 They caused confusion among the crowd and the city officials who heard these things. After the city officials had received bail from Jason and the others, they released them. The city officials and the crowd were thrown into turmoil at this and set an amount of bail for them to be realized. The obviously didn’t know that else to do!
Encouraged in Berea 17:10 The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea at once, during the night. When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. The brethren sent Paul and Silas to Berea during the night for their safety. They were not put off by their reception in Thessalonica for when they arrived they went straight to the Jewish synagogue. 17:11 These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so. The Jews of Berea were nobler some translations say than those at Thessalonica they had better manners and were more responsive to the word of God. They not only heard the word but they meditated upon it very carefully. 17:12 Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men. It was because of this they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and were saved along with a few important Greek men and women.
17:13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God in Berea, they came there too, inciting and disturbing the crowds. When the Jews in Thessalonica heard that Paul was preaching the Gospel message in Berea they went there to cause trouble. They had rejected the way of salvation and were not prepared for anyone else to do so. 17:14 Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast at once, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. For his own safety the brethren sent Paul away but Silas and Timothy remained to strengthen the new believers. 17:15 Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. They escorted Paul as far as Athens after receiving orders from him that Silas and Paul should join him as soon as possible.
Vexation at the Idols in Athens 17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was greatly upset because he saw the city was full of idols. While waiting for them to arrive he was greatly disturbed and grieved by all the number of idols that were throughout the city. 17:17 So he was addressing the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles in the synagogue, and in the marketplace every day those who happened to be there. Therefore, he went to the synagogues and began reasoning with the Jews and Gentile worshippers and every day he went to the marketplace to speak with anyone who happened to be there. 17:18 Also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him, and some were asking, "What does this foolish babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods." (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) Among these were followers of Epicurus who taught Gill says “that the world was not made by any deity, or with any design, but came into its being and form, through a fortuitous concourse of atoms, of various sizes and magnitude, which met, and jumbled, and cemented together, and so formed the world; and that the world is not governed by the providence of God”. The Stoics taught “that there is but one God, and that the world was made by him, and is governed by fate; that happiness lies in virtue, and virtue has its own reward in itself; that all virtues are linked together, and all vices are equal; that a wise and good man is destitute of all passion, and uneasiness of mind, is always the same, and always joyful, and ever happy in the greatest torture, pain being no real evil; that the soul lives after the body, and that the world will be destroyed by fire.” (Gill). These encountered Paul and wanted to know what foolishness he was on about. Because he had proclaimed the message of
salvation through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and his resurrection others answered he was talking to them about foreign gods. 17:19–20 So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming? For you are bringing some surprising things to our ears, so we want to know what they mean." Wanting to know more about his new teaching they took him to the Areopagus generally accepted as a judgment hall. The things that he had been saying they had never heard before and so wanted to know what it meant. 17:21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there used to spend their time in nothing else than telling or listening to something new.) A notable characteristic of the Athenians and all the foreigners that lived there were that they loved to spend all their time listening and discussing new subjects.
Paul Proclaims the One and only God 17:22–23 So Paul stood before the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects. For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: 'To an unknown god.' Therefore what you worship without knowing it, this I proclaim to you. So Paul obliged them and stood in the Areopagus and told them that he had closely observed by his wandering around the city the many objects of worship to many different gods even discovering one with the inscription “to the unknown god”. It seemed obvious to him therefore that they were not sure of what it was they were worshipping so he had come to make know the one and only true God. 17:24–25 The God who made the world and everything in it, who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone. This God was the One who had made the world and everything in it who is also the Lord of heaven and earth (Nehemiah 9:6, Isaiah 45:18). He does not live in temples made by man and human hands cannot serve him what he needed even if it was possible for him to have need of anything because it is he himself that gives life and breath to everything and everyone. 17:26 From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live, From one man, Adam, every nation of men came forth and inhabited the entire world (Gen 1:26 28). It is He that has set the times and seasons and fixed the areas of the habitation. 17:27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
His purpose in doing all this was that they might seek after God and reach out to Him and find Him for He is not a God that is afar of but is near to everyone (Romans 1:20, Isaiah 55:6). 17:28 For in him we live and move about and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.' It is he that gives us power to live to move and to be what we are for even some of their own Greek poets have said that we are God’s sons. 17:29 So since we are God's offspring, we should not think the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image made by human skill and imagination. If we believe that we are the children of God then we should not think of Him as a God made of gold, silver or stone carved out by men’s hands made after a product of their own imaginations. 17:30 Therefore, although God has overlooked such times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent, Up until this time God had overlooked this ignorance but since Jesus Christ has come and made known God the Father (John 1:18) and uncovered sin (John 15:22) and made a way of forgiveness and salvation (John 14:6) he commands everyone to repent and turn from their sins to Him (Mark 1:15). 17:31 because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, having provided proof to everyone by raising him from the dead." The time of salvation is limited for God has fixed a day when the day of grace will end and will judge the world righteously by the one that He has appointed had has proved to everyone whom this is by raising Him from the even the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 2:16). 17:32–33 Now when they heard about the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, "We will hear you again about this." So Paul left the Areopagus. When they heard about the resurrection of the dead some began to laughed in contempt but others said that they would like to hear more about this another time. Paul then left the Areopagus. 17:34 But some people joined him and believed. Among them were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. There were those in his audience who had heard believed and joined themselves to him among them were Dionysius a member of the council of the Areopagus and a woman named Damaris and others also. © Derek Williams & Mathew Bartlett 2015. Bible Studies Online UK www.biblestudiesonline.org.uk You may copy, print or distribute our studies freely in any form, just so long as you make no charges. Sign up today for our FREE monthly Bible study magazine “Living Word” Scriptures taken from the NET Bible www.bible.org