In-Depth Bible Study Notes For Acts 9:20-31

by William Hamon (aka Ewns)

In-Depth Bible Study Notes For Acts 9:20-31

 (Note: When I taught my Bible study on the Book of Acts I used a flannel map as a visual aid. In my lecture notes you will find reference to this flannel map. The primary commentary I used was Compton's Interactive Bible, a software CD; I sometimes refer to this as my Interactive Bible CD.)

Read Acts 9:20. It becomes Saul's regular practice to preach in synagogues every chance he gets. We will see this over and over again as we read through Acts. Read Acts 17:1-3. It seems that the main point of Saul's message is what he was convinced of during his Damascus experience: that Jesus was God and the Messiah.

Read Acts 9:21-22. Saul's dramatic conversion would have added considerable power to his testimony. Everyone in that area knew he used to persecute those who spoke in the name of Jesus and now here he was saying Jesus was the Christ! He would have drawn crowds just out of sheer curiosity. This murderous, hate filled man was now preaching about love and forgiveness. It would have knocked all their socks off!

Read Acts 9:23-24. In order to know the "rest of the story" we need to go to Galatians, where Paul tells us in his own words more about what he was doing during this time period, and how long was this "many days." Read Galatians 1:13-18. So we have a period of three years, some of this time spent in Arabia, some in Damascus. When Saul returns to Damascus, the governor under King Aretas orders his arrest. Read 2 Corinthians 11:32. My commentary gives a little blurb about Aretas: Aretas IV, father-in-law of Herod Antipas, ruled over the Nabatean Arabs from c. 9 B.C. to A.D. 40. The Roman emperor Caligula may have given Damascus to Aretas since it was once part of his territory. The absence of Roman coins struck in Damascus between A.D. 34 and 62 may indicate that Aretas was in control during that period.

Read Acts 9:25. { Put basket image on flannel map } We know from what Saul, himself, says in 2 Corinthians 11:33 that the opening was a window. Saul couldn't just walk through the gates since they were being guarded, so he needed to be lowered over the wall. The fact that he went down in a basket, rather than climbing down a rope by himself tells me that either 1) the walls were very high and/or 2) Saul was not a very strong man physically and may not have been able to make the climb without such help. I know I couldn't have!

Read Acts 9:26. We need to go back to Galatians 1:18-19 to see that all the apostles but Peter were away from Jerusalem at the time of his visit. James, the brother of Jesus was there; he was not an apostle, but he did hold a position similar to that of an apostle. The other disciples were afraid of Saul, with good reason. They lived in Jerusalem and had seen what Saul had done to their fellow believers, their loved ones. They probably feared that Saul was playing some sick game in hopes of infiltrating the church in order to ferret out all believers' identities so that they could be arrested and killed later.

Read Acts 9:27. Here we meet up again with Barnabas, the encourager. We met him briefly in chapter 4. Read Acts 4:36-37. Here we see Barnabas step forward and take the responsibility of taking Saul to where the apostles were; I believe it was necessary for the apostles to accept and publicly acknowledge Saul's status as a fellow believer in order for Saul to be accepted by the other disciples. Once again we see how important submission to church leadership is. Barnabas is a wonderful example of how God has all given us different gifts: Barnabas' gift was definitely one of encouragement; he comes along side of an individual and does what he can to allow that person's gifts to shine and be used. Barnabas will become an important companion of Saul in the years ahead.

Read Acts 9:28. Once Saul has the apostles' "stamp of approval" he begins his evangelistic efforts in Jerusalem and moves about boldly and freely preaching.

Read Acts 9:29. Remember that Stephen, too, got into heated debates with the Grecian Jews. Read Acts 6:8-10. This synagogue of the Freedmen would have consisted of Grecian (or Hellenistic) Jews. This was possibly Saul's own synagogue and he might easily have debated with Stephen, as well, in his pre-Damascus experience days. Now here Saul was back among his colleagues, a changed man, and now claiming Jesus was the Messiah! I'm not at all surprised that these same men, who had Stephen killed, didn't now turn on Saul. They would have thought him even twice the traitor Stephen was, since Saul had supported Stephen's death. It is very sad that they didn't look at Saul and wonder how such an anti-Christian fanatic could go through such an incredible transformation and realize the error of their own ways. 

Read Acts 9:30. { Show Caesarea and Tarsus on flannel map.} Caesarea has an excellent harbor, so it makes sense that one would catch a ship there to go to Tarsus. (We'll study more about Caesarea for chapter 10.) Tarsus was Saul's birth place. It was an important commercial center, had a university, and was a crossroads of travel. It makes sense that after all Saul had gone through that he would return to his home city, possibly to visit family.

Read Acts 9:31. It sounds like the church now enters into a second "golden age" of peace, where the persecution of the Christians dies down for a time. I can't help thinking that Saul's dramatic conversion took the proverbial "wind" out of the sails of the Jewish persecutors. We get the sense that he was the main leader or spokesman of the persecutors; unless someone else steps up to take his place, the Jewish persecutors no longer have a charismatic leader to keep their hatred going.

To be continued…

Sources

Editors. Compton's Interactive Bible (software)

Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version

Written by Gail_Sanders

A new acting school opens to teach students the art of being the unconventional, awkward lead. Featuring Eddie Brawley, Tony Rodriguez, Daniel Spenser, Jon Pack, Sam Horvath, Johnny McNulty, Emily Axford, Johnna Scrabis, Will Storie, Rory Panagotopulos, and Nate Dern. Written and directed by Ryan Rigley and Johnna Scrabis. Music by Jack Dolgen. Video Rating: 4 / 5

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