7/15/14

From Jim McGuiggan... OF WINE AND WINESKINS

OF WINE AND WINESKINS

1. Those who think that grape-juice just turns into drinkable fermented wine, that it just makes itself, need to listen to the wine industrialists. Winemaking was always that: winemaking. The ancient nations had to work at it and that’s part of the reason that the word “wine” has been claimed exclusively for manufactured wine! Winemakers would have a fit if you told them their wine was nothing but grape-juice.

2. But there’s abundant literary evidence from Roman times that not everyone wanted to make fermented wine. We’re told of many ways in which people could and did keep non-fermented wine from fermenting and one of them was the use of sulphur, a prime inhibitor of fermentation used by the modern wine industry. [Patrick McGovern, Ancient Wine, The Search...Princeton University Press, 2003, page 57, tells us ancient winemakers didn’t have sulphur as an inhibitor until the Roman period—he must have meant (as the index suggests) that there is no evidence of it. Sulphur mines were known from the Red Sea to the Zagros Mountains, and southern Palestine had more than enough to get Sodom’s attention. Sulphur technology was well established in the millennia before Jesus and the idea that the ancient winemakers hadn’t learned that there were things—sulphur among them—that prevented or retarded the fermentation process until the Roman period is too hard to swallow.]

3. Ancients who used skins as water and wine "bottles" had to treat the skins for various uses (“tanners” would have known all about that). It’s interesting that the Bible doesn’t ever speak of a tanning industry though in a settled society “tanners” would always be needed (“Simon the ‘tanner’” is in Acts 10:6). The same is true about winemaking. Though wine drinking is at least as old as Noah and there are plenty of general remarks about the process there is no development in the Bible anything like, “Here is how wine is made and kept.” You hear a lot of that among those scientific/agricultural types in Greece and later in Roman times but we’re not to suppose because the OT didn’t mention it that the technology wasn’t known to Semitic ancients—we know it was! The Bible simply doesn’t talk about it.

Moving on.

Matthew 9:14-17 gives us two “parables”. Jesus is responding to the question about set fasts of the Pharisees and the disciples of the Baptist. There was some criticism that Jesus and his group had no ritual fasts and Jesus responds by saying that devotion to God and a healthy response to life requires spontaneity and fitness to the circumstances.

No one wears a black arm-band or puts a wreath on their door unless the occasion calls for it. We don’t dace happy jigs at a funeral (well, maybe in New Orleans) or dress in mourning attire at a wedding. To fast without reason is to “manufacture” piety and engage in a contrived religious ordinance. Unless there is heartfelt repentance or mourning or some such inner experience the fasting ritual is without meaning. The parables are a call to heartfelt and spontaneous religion and especially in the face of criticism from those who (it appears) felt superior. An unshrunk piece of cloth doesn’t belong on an old garment; unfermented new wine does not belong in an old wineskin and fasting didn’t belong where the heart and the circumstances didn’t warrant it.

Imagine someone comes to work wearing a black armband. You go to him and express your sorrow for his loss and he cheerfully says he has suffered no loss. You ask about the mourning symbol and he says he just decided to wear it. You shrug, go about your business and for many months he wears his armband. One morning he rebukes you for joking and not commiserating with him and you say you didn’t know he was in mourning and he points to his black armband.

His pointless wearing the insignia of mourning not only destroyed the symbol, leaving it meaningless, it blinded you to the occasion—a time when mourning was appropriate. Something like that, I think, was what Jesus had in mind.

I see nothing in the text at all about someone trying to join the Old Covenant to the New Covenant or combine “legalism” and “grace”. I think Jesus’ teaching is just as potent and needful for Christians who make no attempts to put a patch of the New Covenant on the Old Covenant or vice versa.

Moving on.

See if what follows makes sense to you. Whatever the point of the two parables, the imagery should be plain enough. There’s a piece of “unshrunk” cloth (Mark 2:21) that’s sewn to an old (already shrunk) garment and there’s new unfermented wine (oinon neon—accusative) put in an old wineskin (2:22 and parallels).

In saying, “Nobody puts new wine in old wine skins” Jesus obviously is calling on common sense and practice. Yes, but what common practice?

It’s generally said, and on the surface it makes sense to say, that the “new wine” was not put in the old, already stretched and brittle wineskins because in the course of fermentation the production of carbon dioxide gas would be too great for the old skin and it would burst (so Ross, Bandstra and many others). But there’s a problem with that explanation!

A gallon of non-fermented wine in the process of fermentation would produce enough CO₂to burst any skin new or old if the skin was ventless. If you purposed to make fermented wine you would not only choose a new skin (rather than one with dregs of ferment, moulds and fungi now clinging to it) you would leave a vent to allow the gas to escape (Job 32:19). But if you purposed fermented wine and left a vent it wouldn’t make any difference if the skin was new or old—the gas would be no threat!

So what was Jesus talking about? If he had been talking about someone purposing to make fermented wine he must have forgotten that they vented the bags precisely to prevent bursting. No, it appears Jesus was talking about a sealed, ventless skin otherwise the skin wouldn’t be in danger of bursting. But if that’s true then he wouldn’t have had the manufacture of fermented wine in view because an unvented skin would burst, new or old. The aim was to keep the non-fermented grape juice from fermenting so it’d be put in a skin treated for the purpose—“tanners” would have known all about that.

Making the parable “work”

In making alcoholic wine they wouldn’t have chosen a ventless skin.

But Jesus had a ventless skin in mind.

He began with unfermented wine because if the wine had already fermented it would not have produced CO₂ to threaten the skin and the parable wouldn’t have worked.

If he had begun with partly fermented wine he wouldn’t have spoken of a ventless skin. Their common sense and practice wouldn’t have allowed them to use a ventless skin and the parable wouldn’t have worked.

He had a ventless skin in mind for the gas production in a vented skin would not have been a threat to any skin (new or old) and the parable wouldn’t have worked.

So it seems to me we’re compelled to say

1) Jesus started with unfermented wine,

2) spoke of it going into a ventless skin and

3) not generating explosive CO₂

4) and the wine and the skin are safe.

Taking it that the above is a fair understanding of the situation some things seem surely to follow. While it was certainly common for people to manufacture intoxicating wine it must also have been common for them to “bottle” and keep non-intoxicating wine otherwise Jesus couldn’t have implied it was common sense and practice.

Taking it to be a fair understanding of the case, we have Jesus calling the unfermented liquid that goes into the skin “oinon neon” and then, twice calling it “oinos”. That would mean that it’s perfectly acceptable in Jesus’ day to call unfermented grape juice “oinos” and that the NT does in fact speak that way on this occasion.

Finally—it sometimes happened that the new, sweet wine was allowed to begin to ferment before being sealed and it swelled to bursting point. Here’s what fuming Elihu says: “My heart is indeed like wine that has no vent; like new wineskins, it is ready to burst.” (Job 32:18-19 and the rest of the versions). Two things worth noting: Elihu calls the wine yayin and the LXX has gleukos (“sweet”—the word “wine” is contextually implied) and rendered “sweet wine” in English. It is rendered as “new wine” in Acts 2:13 and in Josephus’ Antiquities 2.5.2 the juice pressed from the grapes for the Pharaoh to drink is called gleukos [Philo calls it oinos.]

If we’re allowed to parallel Elihu’s words and Jesus’ words, and I don’t see why not, we have yayin put in a ventless skin. But if it was unfermented and it was called yayin perhaps we should allow the generic nature of yayin.

Summarising:

· It appears that oinos and neos oinos can be used to speak of unfermented wine.

· It appears that it was commonplace for people to put unfermented wine in skins with no intention of making fermented wine.

· It appears that gleukos [“sweet” (unfermented wine)] is a legitimate translation of the Hebrew yayin.

[Take issue with the above if you're in the mood.]

Thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.

The Silence of the Scriptures: An Argument for Inspiration by Wayne Jackson, M.A.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=259

The Silence of the Scriptures: An Argument for Inspiration

by	Wayne Jackson, M.A.

J.W. McGarvey (1829-1911) once was characterized by The London Times as the greatest Bible scholar on either side of the Atlantic. There is no question but that the professor of sacred history in the College of the Bible at Lexington, Kentucky (where he taught for forty-six years) was one of the most skillful defenders of the Scriptures in his day. His books on Christian evidences, and other topics, are still classics and should be circulated widely.
In the summer of 1893, McGarvey delivered a lecture on the “Inspiration of the Scriptures” before the YMCA at the University of Missouri. His arguments appealed mainly to certain internal evidences from the New Testament itself that argue for the Bible’s supernatural origin. One of McGarvey’s points was this: the very brevity of the New Testament narratives is astounding. For example, in connection with some of the most dramatic episodes of the New Testament, where we would expect the writers to satisfy our longing for loads of details, the sacred narrative contains only abbreviated descriptions.
Consider the episode of Christ’s baptism. How many pages might have been consumed in describing this epochal event, had such been left to the literary skill of human authors? God broke a verbal silence of fifteen centuries and audibly acknowledged His beloved Son. And yet, Matthew records the circumstance with but a dozen lines, Mark and Luke utilize about half that space, and John has only a sentence of about twelve words describing the occasion. McGarvey asked: “What man with a writer’s instinct could have stopped short of many pages in describing the scene so as to do it justice?” (n.d., p. 6). The scholarly professor cited other equally impressive examples of the startling restraint employed by the New Testament writers. It is quite reasonable, he argued, to conclude that God Himself was supervising the composition of the documents. The Bible was not designed to satisfy our inquisitiveness. Only such materials as were consistent with the Lord’s higher purpose were incorporated into the text.
McGarvey’s argument is quite compelling. Moreover, we are convinced that it may be pursued even further. A strong case can be made in favor of the Bible’s inspiration on the basis of things that it omits altogether. In other words, the silence of the Scriptures—in areas where human curiosity clamors for additional information—is another internal evidence that reflects the heavenly origin of the biblical documents. Let us consider this matter.

NO ORIGIN FOR GOD

The Bible begins with the simple declarative, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Neither in Genesis 1, nor elsewhere in Holy Writ, is any attempt made to explain the origin of the Creator of the Universe. His self-existence is assumed as a primary truth. The prophets speak of His eternal presence without any adorning explanation. From everlasting to everlasting, He is the eternal God (cf. Psalm 90:2 and Deuteronomy 33:27).
The religions of ancient paganism postulate bizarre origins for their deities. Egyptian theology “dwelt on the birth of the gods from Osiris, and told how he, the sun, brought forth the seven great planetary gods, and then the twelve humbler gods of the signs of the zodiac; they, in their turn, producing the twenty-eight gods presiding over the stations of the moon, the seventy-two companions of the sun, and other deities” (Geikie, n.d. 1:27). How significant it is that Moses, who grew up in Egypt, incorporated no such foolishness into the Genesis record. A Babylonian creation epic, Enuma elish, tells how pagan deities, Apsu and Tiamat, “procreated the other gods” (Mitchell, 1988, p. 69). The mythology of India spoke of Brahma, “the father of all creatures,” being hatched from a great egg of golden splendor. The Greeks constructed genealogical tables chronicling the history of their gods, etc., but the Scriptures stand aloof from such absurdities.

NO DESCRIPTION OF GOD

The literature of heathenism is filled with representations of its gods. For instance, Baal, a Canaanite deity, frequently became a factor in the apostasy of the Hebrew people. Baal was a god of fertility. He is depicted on ancient monuments holding a lightning bolt in his hand (suggestive of his control of the weather); at other times his genital organ is prominently displayed because he was the “god of sex.” His mother, Asherah, the patron goddess of sex, is depicted in a vulgar fashion in the artwork of ancient Ras Shamra (see Boyd, 1969, pp. 117-122). El, the husband of Asherah, is portrayed as an old man with white hair and a beard (Smick, 1988, 1:411). Many other pagan gods likewise are represented quite graphically.
The God of the Bible, however, never is given any sort of a physical description. While it is true that anthropomorphic (meaning “man form”) language is employed frequently in Scripture to denote certain attributes of the Lord (e.g., the “eyes,” “hands,” etc., of the Lord)—because such figures are necessary to accommodate a human level of comprehension—nevertheless, the divine writers clearly stress that God is a spirit being and, as such, has no physical composition (John 4:24; Luke 24:39). He is invisible to human sight (1 Timothy 1:17; 6:16). If the Bible is a work of fiction, why is there no description of God?

NO DESCRIPTION OF JESUS CHRIST

When William Manchester wrote his acclaimed biography, American Caesar—Douglas McArthur, he referenced descriptions of the illustrious military commander on more than seventy pages (1978, p. 781). By way of contrast (even though Jesus Christ is the central character of the Scriptures, and is found either directly or indirectly in every book of the Bible), there is not one line in the New Testament giving a depiction of His physical attributes. In fact, the only remote reference to Jesus’ appearance is a vague allusion in the book of Isaiah where the Savior is represented as having “no comeliness” that His fellows would consider desirable (Isaiah 53:2). Imagine that. No description is given of the most prominent person of the Bible, the founder of the Christian religion—only a passing prophetic remark that suggests He was less-than-handsome! What group of writers, desiring to ensure the success of Christianity, would have adopted such an approach?

THE SILENT YEARS

With the exception of the miraculous events connected with the birth of Jesus, we know little of the first thirty years of His life upon this Earth. When He was eight days old, He was circumcised according to Jewish law (Luke 2:21). Thirty-three days later He was presented in the temple (Luke 2:22-39). There is the account of the visit of those wise-men from the east (Matthew 2:1-12), and then the flight into Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod (Matthew 2:13-23). There is a general reference to His eventual settlement at Nazareth (Matthew 2:23:Luke 2:39-40), and then the record of a visit to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve years old (Luke 2:41-50). Following this, there is a blank space in the narrative that covers eighteen years in the life of Christ. Other than the generic notation that He was advancing in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God and men (Luke 2:51-52), we know absolutely nothing of this time span. Are we not curious? Would not an average human biographer have given some interesting data? That is a normal expectation. It was this very circumstance that called forth a number of ancient spurious writings, known collectively as the Apocryphal Gospels. These extra-canonical documents arose because of the desire to have a fuller knowledge of certain periods of the life of Christ that the genuine Gospels omitted. Consider, for instance, the Childhood Gospel of Thomas. It depicts the boy Jesus making little birds out of clay and causing them to fly away. Again, when another boy accidentally bumped into Him, Jesus supposedly caused him to die immediately (see Findlay, 1906, 1:671-685). No such absurdities deface the New Testament.

MISCELLANEOUS OMISSIONS

In addition to the foregoing cases, there are scores of biblical contexts within which there are strange absences of information—from a purely human viewpoint.
(1) Moses is the most prominent character of the Old Testament. He is mentioned more than 750 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, and approximately 80 times in the New Testament. At a very early age he was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter (a brilliant strategy by his mother to save her son’s life). He thus was reared as an Egyptian prince. The first forty years of his life were spent in the environment of Egypt’s splendor and power. Between Exodus 2:10 and 2:11, however, there is a silent gap of four decades. Only the book of Acts briefly says: “And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and he was mighty in his words and works” (7:22). What were those words and works? What exciting events occurred during that first third of Moses’ life? We long to know, but the Holy Spirit did not see fit to supply the information.
(2) The most revered item of furniture in Israel’s sacred tabernacle was the “Ark of the Covenant,” that small wooden chest, overlaid with gold, which contained the tables of the ten commandments, a pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod that had budded miraculously. What happened to the ark? Sometime after the chest was placed in Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:1-11), it simply vanished. Movies and television specials have speculated regarding its fate, but no one knows what happened to it. Surely a non-inspired literary genius would not have left the ark’s destiny shrouded in obscurity. Indeed, the apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees has Jeremiah hiding it in a cave until the time when God would restore His people (2:4-8). Men cannot resist the temptation to speak where God has been silent.
(3) Joseph of Nazareth was the foster father of Jesus, and Mary was his mother. The benevolent character of Joseph is tenderly revealed in Matthew 1. He was willing to endure the scorn of his peers by taking his pregnant betrothed into his home. What happened to him? He simply disappears from the New Testament record following that journey to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve years old (Luke 2:41ff.; cf. Matthew 12:46). And what of Mary? Surely she was one of the noblest women God ever made. Apparently she was in the care of the apostle John following the death of her son (John 19:26-27). We find her in the company of the disciples following Jesus’ ascension (Acts 1:14). But how did she eventually die? There is not a clue. What human biographer would have left these matters dangling?
(4) Is it not most unusual that there are no descriptions of the Lord’s apostles in the New Testament, and, except for a few scant references (see Luke 4:38; 1 Corinthians 9:5), there is no information regarding their families.
(5) The mission of John the Baptizer was to prepare the Jews for Christ. Accordingly, John immersed those who repented of, and confessed, their sins (Matthew 3:6-8). His baptism was “for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4), and those who rejected it were repudiating the very counsel of God Himself (Luke 7:30). Unquestionably the Lord’s apostles submitted to John’s baptism, but where is the record of such? One can only infer it. Furthermore, where, after the establishment of Christianity, is there any mention of the evangelistic work of Andrew, Simon the Zealot, Thomas, et al.? The labors of most of the apostles are missing from the record. Who in the world, following common literary impulses, is going to pass over things of this nature? Finally, with the sole exception of James (see Acts 12:1), there is not a word as to how the apostles died.
(6) When Jesus died, following His six hours of agony on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, there was a tremendous earthquake, and, perhaps most shocking of all, the tombs in Jerusalem were opened, “and many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised; and coming forth out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared unto many” (Matthew 27:52-53). Did these ex-corpses speak to folks on the street? What was the effect of this miracle upon the citizens of the city? What ultimately happened to those saints? Are we to be left hanging? Additionally, what was the impact of that severing of the temple’s veil? There is not a word concerning the panic that must have seized the Jewish leaders.
(7) The book of Acts is one of the great adventure narratives of the New Testament. It tells of the establishment and growth of Christianity. A major component of that expansion was the ministry of the brilliant zealot, Saul of Tarsus (later to become known as Paul, the apostle). Paul’s conversion and his fruitful missionary campaigns are detailed in thrilling fashion from Acts 9 onward. Towards the end of Acts, Paul is arrested as a result of Jewish harassment. Ultimately, he appeals his case to Caesar (the Roman Supreme Court, if you will), and is taken to Rome. As the book of Acts concludes, Paul has been under house-arrest—daily chained to a Roman soldier—for two years. But Acts then ends quite abruptly. When did Paul appear before Caesar (Acts 27:24)? What did he say? What effect was produced?
(8) There is a considerable amount of extra-biblical evidence indicating that the author of the third Gospel was Luke, the physician (Colossians 4:14). This view was “universally believed” by the middle of the second century. No one “speaks doubtfully on this point” (Plummer, 1896, p. xvi). Moreover, both external and internal evidence suggests that the author of the third Gospel also penned the book of Acts. The Muratorian Canon (a fragmentary list of New Testament books from the late second century A.D.) states that Luke compiled “the Acts of all the Apostles” for “most excellent Theophilus (see Acts 1:1; cf. Luke 1:3). Luke was an associate of Paul on several of the apostle’s missionary journeys and during the dramatic voyage to Rome. This circumstance is reflected in the “we” segments of the book of Acts (16:10-17; 20:5-21:18; 27:1-28:16). The character of Luke’s writings reveals that he was a brilliant scholar and a devoted companion to Paul—to the very end of the great apostle’s life (see 2 Timothy 4:11). And yet, as valuable as his contributions were, the New Testament student knows absolutely nothing of his background (e.g., where he was born, his educational training, his family associations, his conversion, etc.). Nor is anything known of his death. He is the only Gentile writer of the New Testament (his literary contributions comprising about 25% of that document), yet he is ever discreetly in the background. He is named in only three places in the entire New Testament (Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24; 2 Timothy 4:11). Given the propensity of ordinary journalists, would any writer—who played such a prominent role in the affairs he chronicled—have so veiled himself? Surely, to the analytical person, this must suggest the superintendence of the divine Spirit of God.

CONCLUSION

What shall we make of these—and many other—puzzling omissions from the sacred text? Simply this: the Holy Spirit was the guiding hand behind the composition of the Bible. He incorporated into the sacred volume only such materials as were germane to the divine purpose. He did not cater to human curiosity. Thus, Bible inspiration is demonstrated as much by its exclusions as by its inclusions. The wide variety of evidence documenting the authenticity of the Holy Scriptures is truly profound.

REFERENCES

Boyd, Robert T. (1969), A Pictorial Guide to Biblical Archaeology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).
Findlay, A.F. (1906), “Gospels (Apocryphal),” A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, ed. James Hastings (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark).
Geikie, Cunningham (n.d.), Hours with the Bible (New York: Hurst).
McGarvey, J.W. (n.d.), Sermons (Cincinnati, OH: Standard).
Manchester, William (1978), American Caesar—Douglas McArthur, 1880-1964 (Boston: Little, Brown).
Mitchell, T.C. (1988), The Bible in the British Museum (London: British Museum).
Plummer, Alfred (1896), The Gospel According to Luke (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark).
Smick, Elmer B. (1988), Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, ed. Walter Elwell (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).

From Mark Copeland... Journeys In Macedonia And Greece (Acts 20:1-6)

                          

"THE BOOK OF ACTS"

Journeys In Macedonia And Greece (20:1-6)

INTRODUCTION

1. The turmoil over Paul in Ephesus provided an opportune time for him to
leave...
a. He had made plans to go to Macedonia, Achaia, Jerusalem, Rome - Ac 19:21
b. He had sent Timothy to Macedonia and on to Corinth - Ac 19:22; 1Co 4:17
c. He had also sent Titus and another brother to Corinth - 2Co 8:6,
16-19; 12:17-18

2. And so Paul left Ephesus and headed toward Macedonia...
a. After embracing (encouraging, ESV) the disciples at Ephesus - Ac 20:1
b. At Troas (still in Asia Minor), he found an "open door" to preach
the gospel - 2Co 2:12
c. But not finding Titus, Paul continued on toward Macedonia - 2Co 12:13

[With anxiety over the condition of the church at Corinth, Paul continued
on his journeys to Macedonia and Greece. Luke records very little of
this part of Paul's travels, but by harmonizing what Luke wrote with what
Paul wrote in his epistles, we can glean the following regarding...]

I. PAUL'S ITINERARY

A. MACEDONIA...
1. Paul preached throughout Macedonia (northern Greece) - Ac 20:2
a. He had preached in Macedonia on his second journey - Ac 16:11-17:15
b. When he had established churches in Philippi, Thessalonica,
and Berea
c. On this trip he may have ventured to Illyricum - cf. Ro 15:19
2. Paul found Titus with comforting news from Corinth - 2Co 7:5-7,
13-16
3. The Macedonian brethren gave generously for the relief of saints
in Jerusalem - 2Co 8:1-5
4. Timothy returned to Paul, and joined him in writing 2nd
Corinthians - 2Co 1:1
5. Titus and "two brethren" are sent to Corinth - 2Co 8:16-24
a. Likely taking Second Corinthians
b. To assist the Corinthians concerning the collection - 2Co 8:6-8; 9:1-5

B. GREECE...
1. Paul spent just three months - Ac 20:2-3
2. This was his third visit to Corinth - 2Co 12:14
a. A visit he hoped would not be sorrowful - 2Co 2:1
b. A visit he hoped would not be embarrassing for them - 2Co 9:3-4
c. A visit he hoped would not require stern judgment - 2Co 12:20-21; 13:1-3
3. Paul wrote Romans (about 57 A.D.) from Corinth - Ro 16:23; cf.
1Co 1:14; 2Ti 4:20
4. Paul's acquaintances and companions while in Corinth
a. Phoebe, servant of the church in nearby Cenchrea - Ro 16:1-2
b. Timothy, Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, Paul's countrymen - Ro 16:21
c. Tertius, writer for Paul - Ro 16:22
d. Gaius, host of Paul and the church - Ro 16:23
e. Erastus, treasurer of the city, and Quartus, a brother - Ro 16:23
5. Paul's plans for when he leaves Corinth
a. To visit Rome and eventually Spain - Ro 1:8-13; 15:22-24
b. But first he must go to Jerusalem with the contribution for
the needy saints - Ro 15:25-29

C. MACEDONIA...
1. Paul's plan to sail straight to Syria was spoiled by a plot
against him - Ac 20:3
2. Paul decided to go through Macedonia to Asia - Ac 20:3
3. Seven travelling companions went on to wait for Paul at Troas
- Ac 20:4-5
4. We will review the seven companions shortly (see below)

D. PHILIPPI...
1. At Philippi, Luke evidently joins Paul - Ac 20:5 (note the use
of "we")
2. We last read of Luke with Paul at Philippi on the second
journey - Ac 16:11-16
3. Paul and Luke sailed from Philippi after the Days of
Unleavened Bread (Passover) - Ac 20:6

[In five days, they arrived at Troas where they stayed seven days (Ac
20:6). There they rejoined their other traveling companions (Ac 20:4),
at whom we shall now take a closer look...]

II. PAUL'S COMPANIONS

A. WHO WERE THEY...?
1. Sopater of Berea
a. A member of the church in Berea - Ac 20:4; cf. Ac 17:10-15
b. One of those who were more noble-minded? - Ac 17:11
c. Possibly the same man as Sosipater - Ro 16:21
2. Aristarchus of Thessalonica
a. A member of the church in Thessalonica - Ac 20:4; cf. Ac 17:1-4; 1Th 1:1; 2Th 1:1
b. Who was taken into the theater in the Diana incident at
Ephesus - Ac 19:29
c. Who travelled with Paul and Luke to Rome - Ac 27:2
d. Described as a "fellow prisoner" with Paul in Rome - Col 4:10
e. Described also as a "fellow laborer" with Paul in Rome - Phm 23
3. Secundus of Thessalonica
a. A member of the church in Thessalonica - Ac 20:4; cf. Ac 17:1-4; 1Th 1:1; 2Th 1:1
b. His name means "second"; little more is known of him
4. Gaius of Derbe
a. A member of the church in Derbe - Ac 20:4; cf. Ac 14:20-21
b. Other men named Gaius in the scriptures
1) Gaius of Macedonia, who with Aristarchus were taken into
the theater at Ephesus - Ac 19:29
2) Gaius of Corinth, Paul's convert and host of the church
- 1Co 1:14; Ro 16:23
3) Gaius the beloved recipient of John's 3rd epistle - 3Jn 1
5. Timothy of Lystra
a. The young disciple at Lystra personally selected by Paul - Ac 16:1-4
b. Who fulfilled special and often dangerous missions for Paul
- Ac 17:13-14; 1Th 3:1-8; Ac 19:22; 1Co 4:17; Php 2:19; 1Ti 1:3-4,18-19
c. A true fellow-laborer in the gospel, none other like-minded
as Paul - Php 2:19-22
d. Co-authored with Paul in writing six epistles - 2Co, Php,
Co, 1Th, 2Th, Phile
e. Recipient of two epistles from Paul - 1Ti, 2Ti
f. As Paul faced death, he asked Timothy to come (which involved
risk) - 2Ti 4:9
g. Timothy himself was imprisoned at some point, but later
released - He 13:23
6. Tychicus of Asia
a. A Christian from Asia Minor (western Turkey) - Ac 20:4
b. Sent with the letter to the Ephesians, a beloved brother and
faithful minister - Ep 6:21
c. Carried the letter to the Colossians, together with Onesimus
- Col 4:7-9
d. Sent to Ephesus on another occasion - 2Ti 4:12
e. And possibly to Crete on another occasion - Tit 3:12
f. Tradition holds that he died a martyr - Holman Bible
Dictionary
7. Trophimus of Asia
a. A Christian from Asia Minor (western Turkey) - Ac 20:4
b. From Ephesus, falsely accused as taken by Paul into the
temple - Ac 21:29
c. Left sick in Miletus toward the end of Paul's life - 2Ti 4:20
8. Luke of Philippi
a. The author of the gospel of Luke and Acts - Lk 1:1-4; Ac 1:1-3
b. Who joined Paul on his second journey at Troas - Ac 16:11
c. Then remained at Philippi when Paul when on to Thessalonica
- Ac 16:15; 17:1
d. Now to rejoin Paul as he passed through Philippi on his third
journey - Ac 20:5-6
e. From the use of personal pronouns ("we", "us"), we learn that
Luke accompanied Paul from this point forward until Paul's
arrival in Rome - Ac 28:16

B. WHY WERE THEY WITH HIM...?
1. In discussing the collection for the saints, Paul mentioned it
would be taken by representatives from the churches - 1Co 16:1-4
2. The intention was to do things honorable in the sight of all
men - 2Co 8:18-21
3. It is most likely that the traveling companions were
representatives of the churches they were from in regards to the
collection for the needy saints in Jerusalem - cf. Ro 15:25-26

C. WHAT MIGHT WE GLEAN FROM THIS...?
1. That the spread of the gospel in first century was a team effort
a. Not just the "first string" like the apostles
b. But many others we might call "God's second string"
2. Many others served at great personal expense and sacrifice
a. As emissaries of the apostles, bearing their letters
b. Whose lives were often in grave danger
c. Who suffered imprisonment themselves, and sometimes martyrdom
3. The extra effort to do things honorable in the sight of all men
- cf. 2Co 8:18-21
a. Transparent in their dealings involving money
b. Making sure that they were beyond reproach

CONCLUSION

1. A quick reading of Paul's journeys in Macedonia and Greece may not
seem to reveal much at first...

2. But when harmonized with what is recorded elsewhere in the
Scriptures...
a. We can learn more about what happened during this portion of Paul's
third journey
b. We can be inspired by what we know about those who travelled with
Paul

For seven days Paul and his traveling companions stayed in Troas (Ac
20:6). What happened before they left will be the focus of our next
two studies...

From Gary... Just one cookie

Food has been on my mind a lot lately because of the 10 pounds I gained on our vacation. However, I am back in control and have lost 5-7 of it already. And this picture made me think... well, Gary, you were on vacation and it may a long time before you get that KING breakfast sandwich again (potatoes, pork roll, egg and cheese on a kaiser roll). So, I had one and then something else and then something else; a whole series of "just one". The thing is... one moment of weakness can have drastic consequences- consider the story of Achan from the book of Joshua...

Judges, Chapter 7

Jos 7:1 But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.
Jos 7:2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." So the men went up and spied out Ai.
Jos 7:3 They returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not let all the people go up; only about two or three thousand men need go up to Ai; do not make all the people toil up there, for they are few."
Jos 7:4 So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but they fled from the men of Ai.
Jos 7:5 The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent, so the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
Jos 7:6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
Jos 7:7 Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan!
Jos 7:8 "O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies?
Jos 7:9 "For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?"
Jos 7:10 So the LORD said to Joshua, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?
Jos 7:11 "Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.
Jos 7:12 "Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.
Jos 7:13 "Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the LORD, the God of Israel, has said, "There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst."
Jos 7:14 'In the morning then you shall come near by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the LORD takes by lot shall come near by families, and the family which the LORD takes shall come near by households, and the household which the LORD takes shall come near man by man.
Jos 7:15 'It shall be that the one who is taken with the things under the ban shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.'"
Jos 7:16 So Joshua arose early in the morning and brought Israel near by tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken.
Jos 7:17 He brought the family of Judah near, and he took the family of the Zerahites; and he brought the family of the Zerahites near man by man, and Zabdi was taken.
Jos 7:18 He brought his household near man by man; and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was taken.
Jos 7:19 Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, I implore you, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me."
Jos 7:20 So Achan answered Joshua and said, "Truly, I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and this is what I did:
Jos 7:21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it."
Jos 7:22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was concealed in his tent with the silver underneath it.
Jos 7:23 They took them from inside the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel, and they poured them out before the LORD.
Jos 7:24 Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor.
Jos 7:25 Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day." And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
Jos 7:26 They raised over him a great heap of stones that stands to this day, and the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the valley of Achor to this day.

Achan had one moment of weakness and it cost the lives of not only himself, his family and possessions, but 36 Israelites as well. Just one cookie? There is no such thing!!! Remember that and Achan as well and some day you just might get to goal weight!!!!