Clearing the Docket

0:01 This time I'd like to invite Rabbi Ari to come give the drash. Avinu shebashamayim, El Yeshua teinu. Lord, thank you for my friend, my brother, and the rabbi of our congregation. Thank you for his devotion to you and to the name of Yeshua. Thank you for his devotion to your word and to the commitment of feeding on your word so that he can share this meal. Lord, I pray that all of our hearts, all the ears and eyes of our hearts would be open to your revelation that we may be transformed in the image of Yeshua.

0:46 We bless you, Lord, and we thank you. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Casey. This morning, before we dig into the book of Acts, I decided I want to share a few prayer requests with you that were sent to me by our ministry partners here at Brook Hashem and also some of my own personal friends in Israel. Because this season of war has been a difficult one for Israel and for all those in the Middle East, I have two pages. I don't want to share all of it, but I think that

1:32 some of these are very important to note from those who are living and experiencing what it is to live in the Middle East today. Most of them, in fact, if I could just, maybe I'll generally summarize first. Every person that reached out for prayer asked for protection and health for their family. It is, well, this is, I summarized all of these requests into three. Prayer and protection and health for the family, hearts to be transformed by Yeshua, and confusion among the enemy ranks.

2:21 Almost all of these prayer requests fit into one of those three buckets. Many of these are families who have children who are growing up in and out of the bomb shelter, living through alarms and disruption in normal life. There's been, one of our partners is asking for prayer request, for provision for their school and teaching staff during this time of loss of work due to the war. Maybe we don't think about that there's a loss of work going on around. For the best possible outcome for the Iranian people, for a

3:07 powerful revival to come to Iran, and for a swift end to the war. Another prayer request that was sent was on behalf of the soccer team captain of the Iranian women's soccer team who sought asylum in Australia. But she has withdrawn her application because her family in Iran has gone missing. And so prayer for her as she returns to Iran and the, what awaits her when she returns. Prayer for Jerusalem because the Iranian regime continues to target

3:55 not just the Temple Mount but Al-Aqsa Mosque. And Israel continues to shoot down missiles and defend Al-Aqsa Mosque. In fact, it was yesterday, yesterday, I think it was yesterday, that a missile hit 500 meters from the wall, from the Western Wall and Al-Aqsa Mosque. But it wasn't just on any day. It was on the preparation day for Shabbat, but not just the preparation day for Shabbat. Yesterday was a Muslim holiday. And it was on a Muslim holiday that they shot and targeted Al-Aqsa Mosque. One of my friends sent a prayer request praying for all of the wives and moms during this season as all the husbands are getting

4:44 called back up into reserve duty and active duty as they deploy specifically really into southern Lebanon. Prayer for the healing of family struggles and the stress that's within a family. I started thinking about this one. You know, in America, we have, our families, we get stressed. Like we come to Brook Hashem, everybody's got to be in the car at the right time and somebody's always late. And then when the someone's always late, the dad always gets upset. Then the dad explodes and then the mom gets upset because it's Shabbat and we're supposed to be, this is the one day of the week that we should be, you know, in control of ourselves.

5:32 So she explodes at him and then the kids in the back are arguing, why are you guys fighting? And it's all because of somebody wasn't ready to leave at the, on time. But here's the thing. That's our struggle in America. In Israel, they can't even assemble. They're not permitted to assemble right now because of the chance of a rocket being sent during an assembly time. And you have to stay within a certain distance of bomb shelters.And the str just imagine i, i it really shouldn't take that much to imagine for any of, anybody who's a parent.

6:17 If you're not a parent maybe make some friends among the parents in the, in the congregation and then you can begin to imagine. But the kids are stressed out because there's bombs. Okay, maybe as adults we can rationalize it. We can be like, "Okay, it's, it's relatively safe even though we hear explosions." The kids, it, it, it's different. It hits them differently. So as it hits them, it begins to traumatize them, which traumatizes the family. And then, then now on top of that, many of the husbands, dads, men of Israel are going out to war and now their, their chil- their child is not just thinking, "The bombs are coming at me, but my dad might not come back,"

7:05 which is ano- a whole another level of stress on the children. So you can imagine the stress in the society, in Israel in particular. And really, I, I, I say in Israel in particular, it's really in the entire Middle East at this point. It, it's not just one nation. Iran's throwing, throwing missiles at every nation, and Iran is being bombed. So even the people who don't agree with the regime in Iran are experiencing some of the repercussions of the choices of their government. Pray that many people will come to know Yeshua because only when hearts are transformed will true and lasting peace be possible.

7:53 This person also wrote, "Pray especially for the teenagers." He, he, is one of our partners who serves with youth camps. He wrote, said, "Pray especially for the teenagers of Israel. A freshman in high school today has grown up knowing only the COVID years and ongoing war. This is the reality that's shaping their lives psychologically, emotionally, and academically." And now on top of that, they just have had to cancel their Passover camp that was supposed to be in two weeks because they're not allowed to assemble. I think the, I think the limitation is groups over 50 and, their group was planned to be, I think, 90. Let's see what, what else is in here that's really good.

8:40 Um, yeah, I think I covered it. One of them ended their, their newsletter with this, which I think is good for us to keep in mind: "Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." So that's my... Maybe I'll change my, my name for, for this section to be prayer updates. We'll see. Before I get into the text, I want to tell a story. Elder Dave Pyles,

9:27 who has been, was an elder here for 20-something years, 20-plus years, passed away a- a- about a year and a half ago. Elder Dave, as we were building what is the two-story building, which was in our, in our, in our greater, building production, whatever you want to call it, was phase two. But he was the overseer of that project, and in, in that project, we got to the point of building inspection so that we could occupy the facility. And we failed inspection and we were at an impasse with the city of Dallas. So Dave went down to the city of Dallas.

10:16 I, I think we were in this impasse for somewhere between six months and a year. And Dave went down to the city inspector and said, "Tell me, like, tell me why we failed." He used to tell this story so often to me. In the hallway, in the, the stairwell that goes up to the upstairs, there are arm rails to, to g- to assist in going up and down the stairs. At the bottom of the stair, the, the the handrail, I can't remember exactly what it does. But the inspector said, "That's not the w- the approved way for the handrail to end. The handr- the handrail is supposed

11:04 to go down." And d- and Da- and Dave said, "Great. I'll go change that. We'll, we'll, we'll replace it." A- and before he did it, he said, "This is what we're gonna do so that it, it, it matches your description." And then the inspector looks at the plans and says, "Well, both of these are options. It doesn't tell me which one passes code. It's... They're, they're both there." And Dave said, "Just tell me which one." And he says, he says, "I, I don't know. I'm not, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna make that decision." And Dave said, "This... You're telling me a handrail is holding us up from occupying our facility."

11:53 And he says, "Well, I don't want to tell you the wrong one." Dave says, "Look, tell you what, just give us the occupancy. When you get the right answer, we'll replace it." And we got our occupancy. But I, I tell the story because sometimes in a bureaucracy you get hung up-Because you have two different options, and you don't know which one's right. The, the, the book tells us these are wrong or these are right, but it doesn't actually say if both are right. And, and, and then now all of a sudden it becomes an individual judgment which then becomes based upon the inspector.

12:38 So this is where we are in the narrative about Paul. Paul has been stuck waiting for a certificate of occupancy, if you will, for two years. He's been waiting for Felix to make a decision. In the text now we s- we switch over. We, we're in Acts chapter 25. We're finishing chapter 25 today. And Festus is now, the, the, the, procurator of Judea. And Festus in this time period... Well, let me just recall for us and really... No, before I recall, we're gonna read.

13:26 So we're gonna finish. We're gonna read- we're gonna cover today chapter 25, verses 13 through 27. "Now after several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. While they were staying there several days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, 'There is a man left behind as a prisoner by Felix. When I was in Jerusalem, the ruling Kohanim and the elders of the Judeans brought charges against him, asking for a judgment against him. But because I had the wrong protocols, I couldn't decide which one was right.'" No, I'm just playing. "'I answered them that it is not according to Roman practice to turn over anyone before the accused meets his accusers face to face and

14:13 has an opportunity to make his defense concerning the charges," or the handrails. "So when the day w- so when they came together here, I did not delay, but on the next day sat on the judgment seat and ordered the man to be brought in. When the accusers stood up, they were not bringing a charge of what crimes I suspected. Instead, they had certain issues with him about their own religion and about a certain Yeshua who had died who Paul claimed to be alive. Since I was at a loss, as to how to investigate these matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem to be tried there, in regard to them. But when Paul appealed to be held in the custody, in custody for the decision of His Majesty the Emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.'

15:00 Then Agrippa said to Festus, 'I would like to hear the man myself.' 'Tomorrow,' he said, 'you shall hear him.' So on the next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pageantry. They entered the audience hall with the commanders and the most prominent men of the city. Then at the order of Festus, Paul was brought in. Festus said, 'King Agrippa and all present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Judean population petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting out that he ought not to live any longer. But I found that he had done nothing deserving of death. And when he himself appealed to His Majesty the Emperor, I decided to send him. Yet I have nothing specific to write to my lord about him. Therefore, I have brought him before you, and especially before you, King Agrippa,

15:48 so that after the investigation has taken place, I might have something to write. For it seems illogical to me when sending a prisoner not to report also the charges against him.'" I'm telling you, they're trying to decide between a handrail that goes this way and a handrail that goes this way. What's, what's the right decision? So here we are. Felix has kept Paul in prison for almost two years, about approximately two years, maybe a little bit more, and he's succeeded by Porcius Festus, and Festus gets to work immediately trying to resolve the case between the Judean leaders and Paul. Three days after his arrival, after Festus' arrival, he goes up to Jerusalem, and after eight or ten days have passed, he

16:36 comes back down to Caesarea, and then several more days pass, and n- now here it is, we're at least two to three weeks, maybe four weeks into Festus' term. But he's trying to get to the bottom of it, so he says-- he comes to Paul and he says, "Would you go back up?" This is in last week's text. "Would you go up to Jerusalem?" And Paul says, "No. I appeal to Caesar." You see, Felix let Paul sit around for two-plus years. Here we are less than a month into Festus' term, and Festus is trying to clear the docket. He's like, "I don't want to have to deal with these problems," or, or perhaps, "I don't want to deal with these problem Jews anymore, so we're just gonna clear it out." So then by chance, within the first month of, of Festus

17:24 being the procurator i- in Judea, or of Judea, but he's there in Caesarea, now Agrippa and Bernice come to pay their respects to Festus. Herod Agrippa II and Bernice were two out of three siblings, and the third was Felix's wife, Drusilla, who we talked about I think two weeks ago. So it was Felix... Uh, no, excuse me. It was, Agrippa II, Herod Agrippa II, Bernice, and Drusilla, who were all children. W- in fact, should I-- Let's just look at this for no- for a moment. Let me, let me try technology again. See if it works.

18:17 All right, am I, am I on, you guys?There we go. Look at this. This is, this is the chart I tried pulling up two weeks ago and I, and I failed. Um, okay, so here on the bottom we have Herod Agrippa II, Bernice, and Drusilla. They are children of King Herod Agrippa the first. King Herod Agrippa the first as I will remind you at this moment... Let me just make sure I'm following my notes. King Herod Agrippa the first is the King Herod who's mentioned in Acts chapter

19:03 12. And in Acts chapter 12, if you'll remember, King Herod Agrippa comes in and... Let me see if I have the reference. Uh, king, by the way, King Herod Agrippa the first is the one who's respo- responsible for murdering Jacob or James the Apostle, who's brother of John, the son of Zebedee if that, if that will help you, and he's murdered in Acts chapter 12. He also imprisoned Peter and was going to have Peter murdered as well, but Peter was miraculously, if you'll re- recall from when we went... I know it's been over a year, maybe a year and a half since we were there. But Peter was in jail and was miraculously delivered, and he thought he was in a

19:50 dream. And he's just following this angel out, and then all of a sudden he's out, and he's like, "Whoa." A- and so he goes, he goes to, a prayer meeting there. And I don't know if you remember this, but, but there's the servant girl. He knocks, and the servant girl goes, "Who is it?" And he goes, "It's Peter." And she closes the door and runs back, and he goes, "Peter's at the door." And everybody's like, "Well, we should go get... Go get... Let him in." Like, "Don't leave him out there in the cold where everybody else can find him." So King Herod Agrippa the first imprisoned Peter. And then after all of that, he goes, y- if you'll recall, Luke narrates this. He go, he comes into the judgment seat in Caesarea, and he walks in, and the sun

20:37 bounces off of whatever he's wearing, and he's, he's just radiant. And all of the people there, they, they... It seems like... Uh, no, what they said, the people there, they, they say, "Oh, it's the voice of a god and not a human." And Herod says, "Oh yes, that's me, a god." And he struck at the... The text tells us the angel of the Lord struck him at that moment in that he was eaten by worms and then died. Like, talk about a bad death. I, I, I don't know if this is even worth it, but I recently was watching Fear Factor. And, like, some of those things they do with the worms and you got to put them all

21:22 over your face. And I was like, "Oh, my gosh, it's so gross." But he's being eaten alive from the inside out by worms. That's his death. That's the consequence of declaring himself on high like the God most high. That's, that's the dad of this Herod and Bernice, by the way. It was their aunt, Her- Agrippa and Bernice and Drusilla, it was their aunt, Herodias, who married Herod Philip the first. So Herodias is here. Herod Philip is here. Who married Herod Philip and then divorced Philip and married Herod Antipas.

22:10 Uh, so let's kind of draw some lines here like that. Married Herod Antipas, and then that, if you'll recall, that's the w- the marriage that John the Immerser spoke against and was beheaded before. And it was, it was at a banquet with Herod Antipas and Herodias and her daughter Salome. And Salome danced, and Herod's, Antipas said, "I'll give you anything you want." And she said, "I want John's head on a platter," for the sake of her mother. A- and so th- this is the family. I'm just telling you the family that we're dealing with. So king... So by the way, just so you are, are

22:58 clear, Luke calls Herod Antipas Herod. He calls Herod Agrippa the first Herod. But he calls Herod Agrippa the second Agrippa. So he changes names here. Maybe it's just a distinguisher to d- to distinguish him from his father. Maybe not. We don't... The, the text doesn't actually tell us. But I want you to think about this. This is not the first time an interaction between a Herod and, and Yeshua or the, the family of Yeshua occurs. The first time is with Herod the Great when he tries... Not he tries. He murders all of the under-two-year-old babies in Bethlehem trying to murder

23:46 Yeshua. That's where it starts. So we have from, from this point on a war between families, if you will, with, i- in some way within a Jewish context, it's a war between families. Is Herod Jewish? Uh, that's such a good question. Is Herod Jewish? Herod was an Idumaean who liked to consider himself to be Jewish, but he married, Mariamne right there, who was Jewish. And so Herod Philip, Herod Agrippa, and Herod Agrippa II are Jewish according to Halakhic measures, which is through the mother.So,

24:35 so Herod the Great was not necessarily Jewish, although he probably would have tried to argue with you and convince you that he was Jewish, and if he couldn't convince you, he probably would have beheaded you. Um, but but this is, this is... So, so it's interesting because actually at this point with Herod Agrippa, Herod Philip, and Herod Agrippa I and II, we actually have Jewish kings sitting on the throne of a kingdom kind of called Israel, or Judea, if you will. But it- so we- we're not entirely certain if Agrippa II is different and, and Luke just treats him differently by calling him A- Agrippa, or if Luke is trying to say he's not, he's not following in the line of the Herods that have preceded. We're not entirely certain. I just... I, I lay that as a potential.

25:26 So here, let's continue in the text. There's a man left behind as a prisoner by Felix. Let's see. When I was in Jerusalem, the ruling Kohanim, the elders of the Judeans, brought charges against him, asking for... Let me put this technology down. Asking for judgment against him. I answered them that it's not according to Roman practice to turn over anyone before the accused meets his accusers face-to-face and has an opportunity to meet his def- make his defense concerning the charges. So when they came together, I did not delay, but on the next day, I sat on the judgment seat and ordered the man to be brought in. Same judgment seat, by the way, where his father was and was then eaten by worms. When the accusers stood up, they were not bringing a charge of what crimes I

26:13 suspected. Instead, they had certain issues with him about their own religion and about a certain Yeshua who had died, whom Paul claimed to be alive. Since I was at a loss as to how to investigate these matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem to tr- be tried there to re- in regard to them, but when Paul appealed to be held in custody for the dis- for the decision of His Majesty the Emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar. So here Festus is presenting this case. He's like, "I got this really weird case. It's this guy. I went to Jerusalem. I tried to straighten it up. It didn't work. I tried bringing some, some level of reasonability to it, but that

26:59 didn't work." Festus, he's trying to... Listen, y'all, he's a politician. We are living in a political season right now for the next seven months. Is that right? Seven or eight months, something like that. You're gonna hear all these politicians saying all of these things. "Oh, I wanna do this and this and this for you, right?" Like, "The so-and-so, the incumbent, had-- they haven't done what they were supposed to be doing. But I'm distancing myself from that incumbent, and I'm this person." This is what-- Festus is coming in. Okay, Felix. I'm not Felix, guys.

27:44 But he comes in and he's like, "Wait a second, but I c- I can't operate a peaceful Judea without the ruling leadership of the Judean leaders." So he's going and he's like, "What's going on here?" Like, "Let's, l- let's have it, let's have it straight, y'all." You know, I'm sure he was saying y'all. He's like, "Let, let's have it straight." A- and they're like, "This guy." And, and he looks at it and he's like, he's thinking to his- he's thinking to himself, "What a worthless case." Like I could just see him. Man, this, this is the most worthless case. Uh, well, this isn't even worth my time. I, but I also can't lose, I can't lose the people. Lose the leaders and thereby lose the people.

28:29 So he's thinking, "Man, what do I do?" Like the- by the way, that's a difficult conundrum to be in. I'm not, like... I'm not, what do you call? Um, denigrating politicians who try to come in and, and, and... Like, every politician does it. It's a difficult place to be in. And the reality is, y'all, please put your toes out so I can step on them for a moment. The reality is no politician will ever be able to satisfy you. No politician will ever sa- You know why I know that? Because Yeshua doesn't satisfy us.

29:19 Yeah, there, there you go. I just s****d the air out of the room. Yeshu- I, I, I mean that proverbially. Like most of us aren't satisfied with what Yeshua has for us, and so we go find a politician. But if Yeshua can't do it, man, I don't care, red, blue, purple, yellow, green, whatever you vote, nobody's ever gonna satisfy you. In fact, if you ran, you wouldn't satisfy you. I know if I ran, I wouldn't satisfy you. Or me. No, I'm not running. Like please, that was a joke. Um, anyways, let me get on.

30:04 His response, he tells them, he goes, "It's not, it's not Roman practice to turn over anyone, without meeting their accuser first." I don't know if Festus knows anything about Judaism or not. If he does know, then he's throwing this in their face because that's Jewish practice also. You have to meet your accuser. If he knows that, then he-- there's a little bit of kind of like, "Hey, come on, you guys." Like, "What are you doing here?"If it's not, then he's just trying to figure out how to navigate it. The accusers that s- they stood up to state their position against Paul, they didn't bring a charge of crimes that Festus expected. He's thinking, man, murder or conspiracy to commit murder or conspiracy to rebel.

30:52 He's thinking something like this a- and, and they stand up, and these are their issues about their own religion, which he doesn't care about as long as they don't rebel, about a certain man named Yeshua who had died. Okay, he's dead. I don't care about him, and who Paul claims to be is alive. Can you imagine how ridiculous this sounds in Festus's mind? He's like, "This is y'all's problem. What are you coming to me with it for?" But I want you to note these are different than the accusations that were presented before Felix. Before Felix, Paul was a pest, and he stirred up riots everywhere, and he's a ringleader of a sect that has potential for

31:39 political rebellion, and Paul was trying to defile the temple, but they prevented it from happening. Those were the accusations just a, a, a... Well, I guess it was technically two years ago, but it was a chapter ago in Acts. So Festus now is like, "Uh-oh, I realize I got myself into something I, I, I don't know that I, I can navigate." He said, "I'm not familiar with Jewish practices like Felix, like Drusilla, Agrippa, Bernice." So he's like, "Let me have a conversation with Agrippa." Good thing Agrippa's showing up right now. So he there is-- He's having a conversation with Agrippa. He says, "I'm at a loss. I don't know what to do with this dude. He made the-- He seems innocent." Well,

32:25 Festus to me seems innocent, but it may just be his presentation of himself. We always pres-- By the way, anytime any one of us gets into an argument, and then we tell someone else, guess who the innocent party is? It's me. I'm the, whoever's the narrator. So Festus, he's like, "The, uh... This could be an innocent request to Agrippa, or it could be the handrailing goes this way, or the handrailing goes that way. Your decision. I'm not going to be the one who passes this building for inspection." Paul knows the consequences of going back to Jerusalem, and so he tells Festus, "I won't go back to Jerusalem." And it's good because Luke tells us there's already another assassination plot

33:12 developing, and this one may be successful. We don't know. But also, beyond the physical danger, Paul wasn't over- afraid of physical danger, by the way. Beyond the physical danger, Paul would be ca- walking contrary to what the will of the Lord was. And why do I know that? Because it was the Lord who stood by his side there in Jerusalem and said, "You are to go to Rome." So Paul was escorted out of Jerusalem and is now in Caesarea on his way to Rome, and now Festus wants him to go back, and Paul says, "That's not what the Lord told me to do. Otherwise, Yeshua would come and tell me right now, we're going back to Jerusalem."

33:58 So he's like, "Nope, I appeal to Caesar." The, it's quick with Festus that he sits in for two-plus years arguing. Uh, excuse me, with Felix. He sits for two-plus years arguing. With Festus, he's there for two weeks, and he appeals to Caesar. So now we continue. Oh, oh yes. Not only... Well, sorry, before we continue, not only did Yeshua stand next to him in Jerusalem and say, "You're going to Rome," but I guarantee you Paul had at the back of his mind his very first encounter with Yeshua when he was on the road to Damascus. And then in Acts 9, the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a choice instrument to carry my name before

34:44 nations, kings, and the sons of Israel, for I will show him how much he has to suffer for my name's sake." He knows he's not going back to Jerusalem at this point. He has completed, at least in some way, he, he's, he's tried to, to share with, with the, with the leaders of Israel. He now knows he has to go before nations, which he's been in, in nations. He's been in, in Greece. He's been in Athens. He's been in, in Asia, you know, in, in Ephesus and these other places. He's been in, in, in nations. Ah, but he has yet to be before kings. And here we now have, he appeals to Caesar with Festus, and who comes in but King Agrippa.

35:34 Here's his first interaction with a king. "So then Agrippa said to Festus, 'I want to hear the man myself.'" This is in verse twenty-two. "I want to hear the man myself." Wait a second. What's... Oh, yeah. Okay. We'll get there in a second. "I want to hear the man myself. Tomorrow,' he said, 'you shall hear him.' So on the next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pageantry. They entered the audience hall with the commanders and the most prominent men of the city. Then a- at the order of Festus, Paul was brought in." Agrippa appeals to Festus, and he wants to hear Paul's defense for himself, and Festus says, "Sure. Like, I'll take any, any advice you got at this point."

36:20 So A- Agrippa and Bernice come in with great pageantry. So now I want to show a couple slides before we move on because I think it's helpful knowing a little bit more the geography of a place. So here we are. Barry brought this out-Oh, was that a month ago, I think, when Barry spoke? And had a picture very similar to this. This is an idea of what Caesarea would have looked like. So Caesarea had, oops, hold on, had a private marina where, you know, where boats could enter. It also,

37:05 here we have on here, oops, excuse me, we have the Roman theater. This is just one of the depictions, by the way. We have the aqueduct, which is still remaining here. This, just as a recall for everyone, King Herod the Great built Caesarea in honor of Caesar Augustus probably 70 years before this, 70, 75 years, something like that. Okay. So this is one rendition of what it would have looked like. Here's another one of a potential of a current versus the current is on the bottom and the

37:53 original is there on top. Again, you see that there's a, oops, you see that there's a, like a private harbor. You have the, I just lost the name. Anyways, this, that bottom red circle is what's right here. And you have this jetty here corresponding here and then this up here corresponding to here. Oh, I see my circles are just now catching up. So you see, you can kind of see how they're similar in shape there in Caesarea. Here, let's look at another one.

38:40 Here's another potential rendering. Maybe. Oh. I don't know. Those, I don't know. Anyways, there's another potential rendering. You have, yeah, you have again here and this would be the, like the racetrack kind of thing. The Indy 500. Texas Motor Speedway. Caesarea Motor Speedway. CMS. Anyways, then you have the, the praetor, the praetor, is it called the praetorium? I think.

39:28 So this is, oh, those circles are just so slow. And one more. I think I need to update my software or something. So it's in this third area, this, this jetty that Paul is being kept prisoner, but it's also where the audience hall is that, where he's heard both by Felix and then Festus and then Agrippa and Bernice. Caesarea's population during this time period was approximately 100,000 people, which actually in, in, in

40:17 terms of, of steady size put it on par with Jerusalem. Jerusalem's population was somewhere between 100 and 200,000. However, Jerusalem would swell on feasts and festivals to a million to two million. So you, like you can just imagine how a, a, a, well, Dallas, DFW is about to swell in, in about two months when the World Cup shows up here and you're going to see if you like traffic or not. So just imagine it in, in ancient times. So we have that. Let's, let's see. Oh yeah, this, I, this, as I was studying, we'll let the technology catch up. Agrippa and Bernice enter the audience hall. So the audience, oh, let's actually, well, I got the

41:04 audience, the audience hall right up there is on the left side. If you can see the inner court where there's two different kind of like palm trees, the audience hall would be the left side of that, that two story element. That's the audience hall. Good thing the picture hasn't changed yet. Now let's try changing it. So Agrippa and Bernice enter the audience hall with the commanders and the most prominent men of the city. And it's now that Festus orders Paul to be brought in, which means that Paul is not staying in that part of the facility. Now I'm saying this because we had a really fascinating discussion on where Paul would be, would have been kept

41:52 during this time while he was, while he was in, in Caesarea being imprisoned. And why, why do I say we had a really fascinating discussion? Because it was during our Wednesday night Bible study. So I'm going to plug it to everybody. Like this is your opportunity. Don't forget to come. We have good discussions and there's lots of, lots of energetic enthusiasm. But this was under, I discovered this this week as I was researching. This was unearthed about three years ago now. And so, oh, come on. It'll be there for a second. It was unearthed. You had it in your mind.

42:39 Just picture it in your mind with me.It was unearthed about three years ago, and this is the, what is now recognized, ah, here we go, perfect, now recognized as the entrance through which Paul would have come from the prison area into the audience hall. So this is in Caesarea. And here's a little, once it catches up, there's a little descriptor that you're welcome to read if you can read it. Okay, we're moving on in the text. Festus, in verse 24, Festus said, King Agrippa and all present with us, you see this man about whom all or the whole of Judean population petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.

43:26 But I found that he had done nothing deserving death. And we, when he, when, mm-hmm, when he himself appealed to his majesty, the emperor, I decided to send him. Yet I have nothing specific to write to my lord about him. Therefore, I have brought him before you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I might have something to write. For it seems illogical to me when sending a prisoner not to report also the charges against him. Festus is presenting Paul and his case before the dignitaries present, and the purpose here is for Festus to receive counsel from Agrippa on how the case should be presented to Rome. Agrippa really has, he has no authority to do anything to make any

44:12 changes at this point because Paul has appealed to Caesar. So it doesn't matter what Agrippa thinks, but he can give Festus the right words by which to pre, by which to present Paul and the case to Rome. Does that make sense? So this is not a retrial. It's not, it's not even like an appeals court. It's just for the sake, ah, here we go, finally, catches up with me. It's for the sake of, Festus being able to provide justification as to why he's sending the case to Rome instead of making a ruling on it himself. Here's what's interesting. Festus says the whole of the Judean population

45:01 and all of Caesarea have petitioned me concerning Paul. Okay, I want to take a pause there and just tell you that's a lie. I don't care how you present it. Extra-biblical resources tell us that during this time period, Jerusalem was up to or maybe even a little bit more than 50% by population followers of Yeshua. 50%. I want, that's a number you need to keep in your mind. 50% at this time of the, of the Jerusalem population were followers of Yeshua.

45:48 So whether that is 100, 150,000 is the total, which would make 75,000 as the half, that's a significant portion. You can't do anything in a, in a, in a, in a governmenting, a, a, a, mm-hmm, what's the word I'm looking for? In a ruling arena when half disagree. In fact, you see how difficult it has been governmentally for the United States for the last 10 years when, when the, literally the United States government is split at half. It's difficult to get anything accomplished other than yelling at each other. This, if that was true, the population was 50% of

46:35 Jerusalem. So he, on the, on just on the outset, doesn't have Jerusalem. But I'll tell you what else is fascinating. Caesarea is the first major space of the landing of followers of Yeshua, landing and settling of followers of Yeshua after Jerusalem. If you'll recall, when the, Yeshua says at the very beginning of Acts, go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. When they go, they go to Jerusalem, then they go into the Judean area, then they hit Samaria, and it says in, I think it's in Acts 8, they went to all these different towns in Samaria. But if you'll recall, they all then went back, at least the people who went into

47:21 the towns, they, they left those towns and moved elsewhere. Philip was one of the primary ones who went to Samaria, and then he went and taught the Ethiopian eunuch on, on the Ethiopian eunuch's return trip to Ethiopia, somewhere south of Jerusalem. And then he went to Caesarea. I don't know if you remember, but the text, Luke tells us that he was caught up by the Lord and transported to Caesarea, however you want to, however you want to think that works. Philip settles in Caesarea to the point that when Paul comes back on his way to Jerusalem just a couple chapters ago, Philip is still there with his daughters. They've been there for decades now.

48:10 And not only that, but this is where Peter first goes and meets with Cornelius. He goes to Caesarea. Cornelius' household has done nothing but expand along this way. Maybe Cornelius is not involved in the military. I'm not saying that. But he still has influence. The, the community in Caesarea of Jews and Gentiles together has continued to grow and become influential to the point that Paul stops there for a significant moment on his way to Jerusalem.So Caesarea's population, if the population was about 100,000, it also is divided. So there's no way that Festus' line of all of the Judeans and all of those in the Caesarea are petitioning me.

48:58 It's just not possible. So here he continues. He says they're demanding his life. In other words, they're demanding capital punishment for his crime. Just as a reminder, the criminal charge was originally that he brought a Gentile with him into the section of the temple that was for Jews only. This is the original. This is why Paul got caught up in all of this. That's why they're demanding his death. The Torah prescribed punishment for bearing false witness is supposed to be that which you seek on the other person. So if you're seeking death,

49:44 then the person bearing false witness, the appropriate punishment is death. So here they are petitioning Festus for the death penalty. And Festus goes, I can't decide. I don't know what to do. This is not in my jurisdiction. From what he can discern, he's heard nothing that deserves death. So that when Paul appeals to Caesar, he's like, great, let me get him out of here. But now here's the dilemma. Here's the dilemma that Festus faces. What should he write to Caesar concerning Paul's case? Because he sends a case file on, just like what we do in American court system

50:30 today. You know, you have your case file and if you appeal, like if you go to another level, like they get all your court documents. The same is true here. They have court documents. You know, this is the accusation. This is the defense. But it would be customary for, in this case, Festus to write what we would call it, like a cover letter perhaps. Or if you're in the theological world, like an abstract, basically a summary of everything that's happened. And this is why I passed it on to you. But he doesn't know what to write. So he asks Agrippa for Agrippa's help. So this, let's see. I got to catch up in my

51:17 notes. Oh, yeah. So here's why does he ask Agrippa for help? Is it just because Agrippa has arrived at this point? I would say no. Agrippa is a trusted, a source trusted by the Romans in terms of the Judean province. So when Agrippa gives input, it's actually going to be a trusted source. So like let's just say in our context, trying to make this up on the fly and I don't know if I can. If we were to have some sort of court

52:04 issue going on here and we decided, you know what, we're going to appeal to the Supreme Court. So I'm going to be like, let me get somebody who the Supreme Court recognizes. You know who I'm not going to pick? Somebody off the side of the road. I'm going to go find me a well-respected judge, clerk, somebody who's in the law world to help me write whatever it is for my case to go on up. This is what Festus is doing. He's like, I don't know how to deal with you people. But you are a respected person and

52:51 you're a respected person and I need some help. So Agrippa there is there because he's trusted and because he knows a little bit about the Jewish people. Okay. I switched to the next slide, but it still hasn't caught up with me. I have two more slides to show you if it will ever catch up. But in the process, this is what we'll do. So what does this mean for you and us? You and us, you and me. What does this mean for us in our context? First of all, it's always good to get second opinions.

53:39 It's always good to go get a second opinion. Or in the case of Dave with the handrails, give me a opinion. I don't care which one. Just tell me and we'll eat the cost of switching it. Just give me something. Get a second opinion. Don't always trust that your first opinion, which is yourself, is correct. It's always good to go just, what does Proverbs say? In many counselors or in many wise counselors or in wisdom is in a multitude of counselors. Yes, thank you. That was the reverse of how I was trying to say it.

54:24 It's good to get some wise counselors, get a second opinion on whatever it is that you have as an issue. But secondly, this one ties more to Paul. And Paul, you'll notice the way Luke records Paul's details through the trial and everything are strikingly similar to the way he records Yeshua's details.What he's doing is he's setting up a parallel so that you can see that Paul is attempting to follow Yeshua and, and it, it just so happens it's in everything unfortunately, i- in trial, in beatings, and so on and so forth. But in that, how do we apply that to ourselves? This is my question: how do we conduct

55:13 ourselves when everyone else is watching? You see, Paul comes out and it's Agrippa, Bernice, Festus, and all of the other dignitaries. And before that it was Felix, it was the high priest. Every, every time Paul comes out, he's in the presence of dignitaries. But how do, how does he conduct himself? Is it admirable? Is it respectful? Is it truthful? In all these ways, we should continue to conduct ourselves also. It doesn't matter if we disagree with the other person. In fact, I think it actually matters more if we disagree with the other person, that we continue to conduct ourselves in an admirable,

55:58 trustworthy, even kind way. In fact, I was reading Proverbs. Was it this morning or yesterday morning? Either this morning or yesterday morning. And it says something like, "The wise man seeks righteousness and kindness and is rewarded with prosperity, peacefulness," and something else. You notice he's not seeking those other things. The wise person is seeking righteousness

56:46 and kindness, and that's how, exactly how we should conduct ourselves in, in, in moments. Now, here's, here's my final, my final challenge, shall I say. My final challenge is that words matter. Well, we know that because scripture says, "In, in the power of the tongue is l- is life and death." We also know that because in the beginning, God created how? He spoke, and the world came into being. Therefore, words have great power.

57:31 So words matter. The way we present our situation to others will affect the way others view us and our issues. And let me finish with this, this one scripture. Some of us, we worry. We get into ourselves into situations. "Oh my goodness, I, I was talking to this person t- yesterday and I never thought I would be speaking to the" fill in the blank. The mayor of Dallas, the president of the synagogue, the ... It doesn't matter who the, who it is. Whoever it is in your mind is someone that the conversation is an admirable conversation that is important because

58:17 they're in a, in a, in an important position, so whatever that position is. "I didn't know what to say. Did I say the right thing? Did I say the wrong thing? I don't know." By the way, all of you will be put into this situation at some point or another, every single one of us. It's inevitable. But what I want you to remember are the words of Yeshua. Yeshua sent out his 70 followers two by two. And he said, "Behold, I'm sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts, and they will

59:03 flog you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings because of me" This is what Paul is experiencing at this moment. "You'll be b- brought before governors and kings because of me as a witness to them and to the Gentiles." This is in Matthew, by the, by the way, Matthew 10:16-20. "But when they hand you over, don't worry about how or what you should say. For it shall be given to you in that hour what you say. For it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." Don't worry about what you're going to say in that moment, but prepare yourselves to be in the moment.

59:49 What do I mean by prepare yourselves? Study the scripture. Spend time in prayer. Interact with others of light, of ... Oh, look at that. It's changing. I- Interact with, interact with others is another, potential rendition, by the way. I'm trying to go for one more, one more slide. Hopefully by the time I finish it'll pop over. Don't worry about what you're going to say, but prepare yourself now so that you're ready, so that you're pre- the, you're prepared. By the way, this is exactly what in the parable when Yeshua s- talks about the, the, the virgins waiting for, for the coming bridegroom. Uh, isn't it? Or am I mixing two parables?

1:00:34 It's not in my notes. Anyways, he says, "Prepare yourself." Some of them weren't prepared, and they missed out. You have to be prepared, so prepare yourselves. Take your time. Read. Do whatever it is that you need to do to prepare yourself. But then when you're given that opportunity, don't worry about what you're going to say.Because the Spirit of the Lord will walk you through it. It's amazing. I can't tell you how many times I've been in a place, I've had conversations, and I've walked away, and someone was like, "Wow, that was a really g- really th- I don't know, good thing that you said or what." And I was like, "I don't remember what I said." Like, I have no recollection. It, it just ... I don't know. It's the Spirit of the Lord came out of me.

1:01:23 Now, that's the good times. The bad times, I, that's not the Spirit of the Lord. But all right, well, that's the end of my message, but I really wanted to show you one more picture. All right, well, anyways. Avinu shebashamayim, our Father in heaven. Lord, we thank you for this, passage. Lord, I thank you for, for Paul and his, and the way he conducts himself before others. Lord, I pray that you would continue to teach us, to mold us into the person you would have us be, Lord, and have us be ready to be a witness on your behalf. Lord, we bless you and praise you. In Yeshua's name,

1:02:08 amen. Amen. Oh, there it is. Anyways, the, the are- you see where it says Audience Hall, that's, that's where Paul would've been heard, and the area, that had the, the prison, the, where the excavation that had the prison was somewhere down near C, where that letter C is, on the other side of the upper courtyard, somewhere in that area. Um, so anyways, I just thought that was, it was quite fascinating to understand what was happening, during that time with, with Paul. Okay. All right. May the Lord bless you and keep you, and make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

1:02:54 May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Yevarechecha Adonai. Yishmarecha. Yaer Adonai panav elecha. Vichunecha. Yissa Adonai panav elecha. Ve'yasem lecha shalom. Beshem Yeshua Hamashiach. In the name of our Messiah, Yeshua. Amen.

1:03:40 Amen.